Decay # 7 ~ asparagus
Monday, December 10, 2007 at 09:46AM 
8 day old asparagus • click to embiggenPersuant to Friday's discussion, er, ah ... I mean, non-discussion re: Is Photography Dead, let me say this about that -
Obviously, photography is not dead. As long there are people taking/making pictures, the beat goes on. However, that does not mean that photography can not become lifeless as an Art form.
At the end of his article, IPD?, Peter Plagens states, "As the great modern photographer Lisette Model once said, "Photography is the easiest art, which perhaps makes it the hardest." She had no idea how easy exotic effects would get, and just how hard that would make it to capture beauty and truth in the same photograph. The next great photographers—if there are to be any—will have to find a way to reclaim photography's special link to reality. And they'll have to do it in a brand-new way."
OK. In large part, I agree with that. I'm all for capturing 'beauty and truth in the same photograph'. And, doing so in 'a brand-new way' would be nice. Although, IMO,Mr. Plagens is missing the point of many of photography's 'fabricator practitioners' - in most cases, they are dealing directly with 'beauty and truth'. Even though their pictures may be 'staged' or 'constructed', they, in fact, touch on very real subjects in a brand-new way.
IMO, new life has been brought to the medium of photography - a medium that may have been sliding into a kind of postmodern, 'detached / dispassionate' stasis. In a way, the postmodern picture takers / makers taught us a new way of seeing and now the fabricators are injecting more than a little passion back into the vision.
decay
Reader Comments (4)
So, you're surprised that only one person responded to your rambling sermon on Friday? You left little room for "discussion". Once again, you climbed up on your soapbox and let us have it - the "truth" according to Mark. Too bad, too, since most would probably agree with much of what you said. But certainly not all of it.
What exactly, after all, does "truth" have to do with photography? I would suggest that the answer to that question is nothing, nada, zip, zero. When you talk about "truth" in the context of photography, you are essentially adding a religious or philosophical aspect to it - an aspect that is completely unnecessary and undesired. Heck, we're not even talking about "objective truth" here. We're talking about what I guess could be termed "subjective truth". And if it can be argued that objective truth is an illusion (it most certainly can), then what hope is there for subjective truth?
Your "truth" is simply what you believe. It may not be what I believe. If that's what you're talking about, then I would agree. Photography is just another way to express what you believe. It's what you believe about life, about humanity, about relationships, and about the world that surrounds you. But don't try to pass your beliefs off as "truth". Leave that to the ministers and philosophers.
I'll find my own truth, thank you very much.
"IMO, new life has been brought to the medium of photography - a medium that may have been sliding into a kind of postmodern, 'detached / dispassionate' stasis."
Well, IMO, much of the staged photos I've seen suffer from the same illness. Not all mind you. Some of it is very good, but Jeff Wall for instance just leaves me cold. His work seems to me pretty lifeless and "detached/dispassionate"
Apropos of "photography is the easiest art" that may be but...
for a long time I've thought many painters essentially covered up lack of technical competence in tales of concept and emotion. I think that many photographers are covering up a lack of concept and emotion with technical excellence.
Real Art needs to combine the 2, I think: the intellectual effort of content and the skills to make it happen.
I don't think I'm even going to bother discussing the idea of "truth" and "reality" any more in photogrpahy - I've seen so many definitions of the 2 over the past few days that almost anything could be described as real & true.
I'd offer a comment on the feelallsoftical aspect I desire in photography, but I think I'll leave that for the more sophisticated commenters. Instead, I'll say that the Decay series is growing on me, especially with he surrounding elements: floor, counter, and sink. They just work (it's true).