man & nature # 52 ~ please step away from the car (truck)
Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 11:02AM 
This morning's walk to the doctor's office • click to embiggenMany thanks to those who have sent me pictures for the within 30 feet challenge. This weekend, I will get around to prepping them for posting. Thanks again and I hope to see more from some of the rest of you out there.
And speaking of all of you out there, I think it would be interesting if those of you who have your pictures posted somewhere on the net would send me an email with a link. I would like to have a list of links to the photography of Landscapist readers. IMO, this would a great way to share your stuff with everyone who visits.
My intent with both the within 30 feet thing and the links list is to get The Landscapist a little less egocentric, a little less of a (mostly) one-way street. To be honest, I'm getting a little tired of hearing myself talk / think, so to speak.
I am also feeling that, after over 2 years of writing about the medium of photography, I/we have covered so many topics that there is very little left to say. Not that I mean that literally, but I/we have covered a broad range of ideas about the medium.
So, it occurs to me that at this point it's mainly just about pictures and what might be said / written about them on an individual basis.
Although, it does seem that there are very few out there who have anything to say. I attribute this to many causes, not the least of which has to do with the fear that what you might have to say is; a) of no real value, or, 2) might be embarrassing because you're not "educated" enough. That and the fact that most probably many out there just don't know how to express in words how a picture makes you feel.
In any event, I mention this because of this entry on Conscientious from which this is taken:
There appears to be fairly wide-spread consensus in the blogging community that there's a dearth of critical discussions of photography online. You wouldn't really know this from reading blogs, because nobody posts about it. However, the many email exchanges and conversations I've had with people tell me that there are lots of people who would actually like to see photography being discussed in a more critical manner.
I agree. But, of course, "critical discussions of photography online" is exactly what's been going on here on The Landscapist since day one. And, FYI, by the phrase "critical discussion", Jörg Colberg (and I agree) means:
A critical discussion is something you can disagree or agree with, something you can engage with (e.g. "No, Joerg, I think you're wrong. If the prints were smaller they would lose some of their impact, which is actually based on their scale and on their ability to allow the viewer to gain different perspectives by physically approaching the images"). If you have a blog you could write a counter-post and present your point of view. What is more, a critical discussion doesn't diminish either the photographer or her/his work.
Critical discussions, i.e. give and take - that 2-way street I referred to earlier in this post - has always been my desire for The Landscapist. At times, that has happened, although not nearly enough to satisfy me.
That said, please don't take this to be "negative". Think of it more as a "critical discussion" about the topic of critical discussions.
Reader Comments (2)
Almost completely unrelated to the topic of the post, but in response to the picture: I almost always include man-made things in my pictures--sometimes they are of nothing but man-made things--but I have a terrible time with automobiles. I just can't stand them and I try to exclude them the way that I imagine other people try to avoid power lines.
But that sometimes gives me a strange, artificial look to my pictures. Not only that, it isn't "true", especially since I always seem to be making photos of the interaction between the things we make and the natural world.
Do automobiles carry any stigma to you? Are they any different than other things like buildings or walls or utility poles?
I've been reading your blog for a while and have really enjoyed it. I don't think you've exhausted all the meaningful topics. There's always something to discuss - always a path to wander down.
I definitely enjoy reading about and discussing photography "in a more critical manner". Problem is that I don't have enough quality time each day to do so. Maybe I should say that I don't "make" enough quality time. I suspect that's what's going on with a lot of readers and potential discussion contributors. Putting forth the mental effort to make such discussions meaningful requires a little attention and thought, i.e. time.
Generally speaking, I see a lot of that in people these days. Call it AADD (adult attention deficit disorder). There is so much information being shoved into our faces every day and way too many distractions. A lot of people I know just skim through life, taking in a lot but retaining little. Very few people actually slow down and spend quality time on activity X in order to fully apreciate it and enjoy it.
In short, people do too much, and rarely stop to smell the roses (or, photographs in this case). I'm guilty of it too. There's always that "next best thing" in the distance grabbing your attention.
BTW, here's my photography website and blog for your list of links of Landscapist readers:
http://www.texbrick.com/photo
http://www.texbrick.com/photo/blog
Thanks for your great blog - I really enjoy it. Keep it up!