Post by giotto on Jul 25, 2006 9:42:42 GMT -5
Does anyone know what specifically makes one photograph a masterpiece of the form, and another a souped up Polaroid? I have difficulty perceiving the parameters in photography that classify it as an art. I can discern a few different kinds of photography that I enjoy visually and seem to perceive as standard, which I'll try to sketch out from DT photographs.
1. The Fruitful Moment: This is the photograph where the photographer just happens to be in the right place at the right time. The famous Lee Harvey Oswald photo, Vietnam photos, just a realistic rendering of an overwhelming chance event. Also maybe nature at certain times of day. I might put "Luke 1:78," the beautiful sunset photo in the last DT, in that category.
2. The Visually Stimulating Still Life: These are those natural or artificial visually stimulating still life photos. A canyon taken at an odd angle, a flower taken close up, in black and white, etc.
2a. (and its corollary) The A-Ha Moment, a quirky still life:
Anderson's "The Door" is especially noteworthy in this case. I don't know if he arranged the crucifix like that, which would start to seem like traditional art, of just captured an odd reality, but it's really cool. Also "44,000,000 Lost" a still life that points forcefully at something beyond itself.
3. The Human Photo: Here's where I think photography really excels... capturing human faces and postures. Something in the camera really does seem to glimpse a bit of the soul along with just the body. Especially of the poor, the suffering, or the truly alive, it lends a dignified light from which to view people, seeing beneath externals even as we are looking at the externals.
I guess action has something to do with it... is the subject still or moving? I guess the subjective photographer has something to do with it... why this subject, why from this distance or angle, why this location, what did the photographer want to say? anyway, these are just sketched thoughts.
What do you think?
G.
1. The Fruitful Moment: This is the photograph where the photographer just happens to be in the right place at the right time. The famous Lee Harvey Oswald photo, Vietnam photos, just a realistic rendering of an overwhelming chance event. Also maybe nature at certain times of day. I might put "Luke 1:78," the beautiful sunset photo in the last DT, in that category.
2. The Visually Stimulating Still Life: These are those natural or artificial visually stimulating still life photos. A canyon taken at an odd angle, a flower taken close up, in black and white, etc.
2a. (and its corollary) The A-Ha Moment, a quirky still life:
Anderson's "The Door" is especially noteworthy in this case. I don't know if he arranged the crucifix like that, which would start to seem like traditional art, of just captured an odd reality, but it's really cool. Also "44,000,000 Lost" a still life that points forcefully at something beyond itself.
3. The Human Photo: Here's where I think photography really excels... capturing human faces and postures. Something in the camera really does seem to glimpse a bit of the soul along with just the body. Especially of the poor, the suffering, or the truly alive, it lends a dignified light from which to view people, seeing beneath externals even as we are looking at the externals.
I guess action has something to do with it... is the subject still or moving? I guess the subjective photographer has something to do with it... why this subject, why from this distance or angle, why this location, what did the photographer want to say? anyway, these are just sketched thoughts.
What do you think?
G.