The Seeing Eye

 
click to view larger I trust everyone had a great weekend. I believe introductions are necessary: I’m Chantal, and I’m honored to be your guest-host on The Landscapist for the next week.

Let’s get right to it:

I’m completely obsessed with photography. From the minute I wake up in the morning to the minute I go to sleep, it’s all about photography (with a brief moment or two of mothering in between). At first I did it just for the 'Art' of it, I was content with not making any money at it, but as my family grows so does our need for increased cash flow, hence my new pursuit at ‘photography as profession’.

It’s fun, and I love it, but it’s not always easy and I do sometimes ask myself this: of all the things I could have been, why a photographer? In "Dialogue with Photography" by Paul Hill, Imogene Cunningham states:

…There are too many people studying it [photography] now who are never going to make it. You can’t give them a formula for making it. You have to have it in you first, you don’t learn it. The Seeing Eye is the important thing.

That always stuck with me. The ‘Seeing Eye’... what is that exactly?

The Seeing Eye isn’t a noun, really, it’s a verb. It’s the act of seeing the world in a different perspective from everyone else: noticing the little things, the larger things, the lines and shadows, the colors and forms, and the spaces in between. It’s having a wide open perception of one’s surroundings.

The act of ‘Seeing’ seems to be an innate ability to see Life fully: the good, the bad; wonder in the tiniest of things, splendor in the ordinary or even beauty in things others would find unsightly. Those who See understand that its more about looking with your eyes, its about knowing, and appreciation, and in that, there’s a desire to want to communicate what we see, how we perceive our world. For many, it’s a near spiritual experience.

But the Seeing Eye is also about feeling. I’ve always felt that feeling a scene is just as important as seeing it. A photograph is merely a moment frozen in time, and a good photograph illustrates how that moment felt; how it felt to the photographer, and also how it feels to the viewer. The photograph becomes a shared experience.

And that’s what attracted me to photography from the very beginning. To be able to stop time, to create a ‘feeling’ and illustrate emotion in two-dimensional form, and to share it with someone else, is like, amazing to me. It’s what I strive to do with every click of the shutter. I may not be successful all the time, but the quest and knowing the possibilities and power that a picture can hold is what keeps me going.

For the next week I will attempt to share with you, The Landscapist readers, my ‘Seeing Eye’. Some days I may just ramble aimlessly about whatever’s on my mind, the next day I may want to discuss an incredible book I am currently reading, and I’ll hopefully even have an interview with my all-time favorite photographer and inspiration (it’s a surprise!).

Thanks for reading.

~Chantal

Comments

[Eric Hancock]

My God. If it isn't about feeling, I don't know what it is about.

[Tim Kingston]

Hi Chantal,

Thanks for taking over and letting us know , a bit, of what you are all about.

As far as "the having it in you first" thing, I would argue the opposite. I'm just a nobody, but that's my belief.

I think what happens is people, when they are very young ( children ) are capable of anything and believe that statement.

However, soon they are singled out as being good at some things and just not good at others. The "others"being something they failed at.They learn the rules and learn to obey the rules. They are rewarded by this behavior.

I read somewhere, I think it was HP, that did a study about what made some of their most successful people who were obviously very creative and recognised as such, that way, What made them tick? What was different about them? Believe it ot not, there was a difference, a real difference that seperated these people from everyone else.

They believed they were creative, that was the only difference.

I think everyone has the ability to create Art, to become an Artist.

In my opinion its not so much about learning to see, we all have that ability, even as children, especially as children.For many people it's about learning to see past all the years of self doubt, the definite catogory you've placed yourself in, the label you or someone else has placed on you.

Thanks, and pleased to meet you, Tim

[Chantal]

Thanks Eric and Tim, for your comments.

Tim: what you said reminds of a Picasso quote... "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

What you say makes sense, but it sounds a little too much like a nature vs. nurture argument that I think just ends up going in circles.

The bottom line is, I believe, that creativity can come in different forms, whether its in Art, math, problem-solving. Some people are just naturally better in certain areas than others, IMO.

Thanks again!

~Chantal

[John]

You've got to have "the eye," and I feel if you weren't born with it, you're going to struggle. You can learn the mechanics, but you need the eye.