civilized ku # 127 ~ A SURVEY
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 10:14AM 
Rowers and bridge on the Schuylkill River ~ Philadelphia, PA. • click to embiggenThe nominal reason that the wife and I were in Philadelphia / South Jersey over the weekend was to watch college-boy compete in the Frostbite Regatta. Although it must be said that with coma-girl in college in Philly, the wife's family cluster just over the river in Merchantville, NJ, and a very good friend of mine who just moved to Philly, the excuses needed to travel there are many.
A SURVEY: I am very curious to know 2 things about you, The Landscapist visitor. Your responses will be a factor in how this blog evolves, so please respond.
1) a.Where are you on your picturing making journey? and, b. What do you most want to learn / discuss photography-wise at this point in your journey?
2) At this point, what keeps you coming back to the Landscapist?
As I mentioned a little while back, I am feeling that "everything has been said" or, at least, everything I have to say has been said. Now, I don't mean that literally, but most of time, judging by the number of comments, I don't have any idea whether I am striking a chord - word-wise, picture-wise - with visitors or not.
The reason that I am wondering about this is because one of the primary reasons I started and continued with this blog for the past couple years is because I was thinking out loud / talking to myself in order to clarify some of my thoughts and ideas about the medium of photography. Now, I'm not going to don a flight suit, stand on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declare, "Mission accomplished", but I am feeling that, for me, much has been resolved.
Consequently, these words have been on my mind:
Philosophy can forsake too easily the details of experience… many writers and painters - and photographers, I might add - have demonstrated that thinking long about what art is or ought to be ruins the power to write or paint. (or photograph) - Robert Adams
That said, I don't feel in any way that my power for picture making is anywhere near to being "ruined". However, I do feel that I need to move onto the next stage in all of this. That stage definitely includes continuing this blog - because of where I live, it's virtually (pun intended) my only contact on a regular basis with the "outside world" of photography - and continuing to make pictures pretty much as I have been (subject, style, vision). But ... I absolutely feel that the time has come to do something public (non-virtual) with my pictures.
In order to do that, I must spend a considerable amount of time editing my pictures and organizing them into coherent / focused bodies of work. At the same time, and here's the part that doesn't come easily / naturally to me, I have to start schlepping, backed with a heaping helping of chutzpa, my pictures to galleries and publishers.
Ugh.
The only way I am going to make this work is to start by making POD books of my edited work. I do enjoy doing that so hopefully the process will be more fun and ugh.
Reader Comments (18)
1) a.Where are you on your picturing making journey? and, b. What do you most want to learn / discuss photography-wise at this point in your journey?
7 years in to that journey, if time even matters. Competent at making images to a certain standard ( I suppose ) Frustratedly trying to work out why I can take pictures. In the 'what's it all about' sort of meaning of why. Or trying to work out what I should take pictures of, or for. Wanting to do something more interesting than make pretty pictures I suppose. Lost without a map, at the moment.
2) At this point, what keeps you coming back to the Landscapist?
Few enough blogs talk about the why and what of photography. Everyone is obsessed about the how. The technical trivialities of it. That bit seems easy. The rest seems hard, so it's good to find a few pockets of people willing to talk about it. The fact that I disagree with a lot that I read here and in the comments helps me think about why I feel that way, which is valuable.
I am still struggling to understand the visual language and grammar of photography (of any visual art, in fact). I have been trying to figure this out long enough that I feel like everyone else has some intuitive, built-in capability that's missing in me. I might read about a "strong composition" compared to a weaker composition and it must seem obvious to the author and most of the audience but it isn't obvious to me. People say that the best way to get better is to look at lots and lots of art. I have done that (it's all through books since I don't have access to great museums and galleries) but I don't know what I should be looking for. This ties into your next question:
I come back because this is one of the few places where people are talking about the content and the meaning and not worrying about the technical details. But I also come back because some of the pictures here look like the pictures I take. And I find great encouragement in that.
Some quick answers to your questions.
1.a) I am starting to see I feeble line in my doing. After a long battle I decided to give up and stay happily in company of my own confusion (typically mediterranean).
1.b) Well if it was for me I think that more evaluation of other contemporary (landscape) photographers (like the one on Charlie White) could be very useful. Mostly to confront the idea I have made by my own. I am not looking for a critic but for an Artist positioning himself.
2)lot's of things. The stream of visual thoughts with an emphasis on the stream. The presence, in recent times, of interesting and diverging points of view, a bit to much serious sometimes, not found elsewhere, and the links to their owners blogs. The various and entertaining arguments you produce on a daily basis....
Mauro
1) a.Where are you on your picturing making journey? and, b. What do you most want to learn / discuss photography-wise at this point in your journey?
Well, where I am at in my journey is still floundering around. I actually haven't taken many photos this year at all, to be honest. I have been unhappy with what I do take for the most part, as I find myself falling into the same old song and dance that I want to get out of so badly and end up disliking everything.
2) At this point, what keeps you coming back to the Landscapist?
What keeps me coming back is to be pushed out of the rut, mentally so I keep trying to get out of it myself. It keeps my mind stimulated.
As far as where I am on the picture making journey, I am still on the road and the journey will end when I die.
Why do I keep coming back?
I learn something new here all the time and when I finish reading your blog I check out the blogs of the commentors, and sometimes learn a little more.
I tried to leave a comment once, but you saw fit to not post it. So why ask me?
Jim - Sorry to hear that you have had a problem with leaving a comment but I have never deleted a comment. Not once. A few have run into SquareSpace software glitches, but all comments are unmoderated and appear as soon as you hit the "Create Post" button.
Ditto what Don said. As for what to discuss, I still think (wasn't there a previous question on this?) that it could be helpful for all to deal more with specific pictures, whether your own or others you're seeing in books, galleries, or on line. I agree that discussion of generalities can become tiresome. But sometimes the focusing on the small gives insight into the large.
Been doing photography for approx 42 years, not sure where I am but I like what I'm doing enough to keep doing it.
I keep visiting because you don't overly self-edit either in the pics you present or the editorial content. I like the variety and candid opinion.
Where am I? Easily asked. Gordon sums up my situation and thoughts. I'm trying to figure out why I'm making images - where's it all going, and how am I going to get there? I'm inspired to make art, but feeling my way towards a style and a statement.
I want to learn about the art-making process of others. Their doubts, their inspirations, their failures and successes and why.
I come here because this is one of the few places that discusses issues beyond the camera, lenses and software that are used. I want to know why you (and I) get up in the morning with an idea of making something.
Simple, huh?
I think I'm at the point in my picturing journey where the camera has become an extension of who I am. That may sound a little corny but I can honestly say that I have finally let go of all the notions of "rules and regulations" and begun to consistently make pictures that reflect a bit of what I think and feel or simply just notice about the world around me. Since I always seem to become expressively constipated with pen and paper (keyboard and screen in today's world) it's reassuring to have a tool that allows me to get things across in a way that is at least somewhat coherent. What a relief! ;-)
Part of what keeps the drive alive (and this is where you come in Mark) is reading and viewing the words and pictures of people who are passionate about photography. Photography as more than pretty pictures. I've never been a great discusser of things but I am a pretty good listener and learner. Your blog and your way of picturing keeps me inspired and motivated to keep thinking deeper and picturing with honesty.
I wanted to add that I'm a little surprised to hear that the focusing, schlepping and chutzpah part of photography doesn't come naturally to you. While I will admit to having absolutley NO chutzpa regarding my photography, am just now learning to focus and have no real desire to schlepp, I always had the impression that you were old hat at this kind of thing.
i come back because it is like TIVO. I can fast forward past the stuff I am not that interested in, but enjoy the good stuff.
Where am I? At the point where I have a reasonable idea what I want my photography to be. Way down in the foothills of the mountains of actually achieving that. What do I want to learn? More discover, I suppose: how to turn view of the mind's eye into pictures. What are the expressions of my views? How does one know when that point is reached?
What brings me back? Like others, discussion away from gear and technical. As a self-confessed gear-head, it's nice to discuss things around why I raise the camera to my eye. This blog has done more to change my notions of what photography is and what represents a legitimate photographic expression. It's probably been the greatest influence on my progress as a photographer of anything I've seen or read.
Plus, I love your photographs.
1) There are other roads as indicated by the following quote; "A man may sing a song with expression and without expression. Then why not leave out the song - could you have the expression then?" (Wittgenstein)
2) The combination of photos and reflections.
1) Recently, I have become much more comfortable with where I am on my photographic journey. I have long since given up the constraints of the pursuit of camera club imagery.
2) At the risk of sounding like broken record, I too come to this site because of the fact that technical mumbo jumbo is hardly if ever discussed here.
I've only been reading this blog for a week or two; I came across it via a link, and felt it was of interest, especially as it seems that your photographic aims are very similar to my own, although our styles differ somewhat.
Anyway, to answer the questions:
1a. I am at a point where I have just come to the end of a large book project, in a fairly 'pictorial' style (albeit still trying to produce pictures which weren't just pretty).
This has led to a reviewing of my style and aims, and a crystallisation of various thoughts and influences gathered over the last few years, resulting in a move towards a quieter (probably less popular) style.
In the future, I shall probably make less of an effort to please others, and more of an effort to please myself.
1b. To be honest, I have no idea! I guess I simply want to remain open to as many different ideas and influences as possible, and to build my own style and approach based on onsideration of these.
2. See 1b! Seriously though, it offers some very interesting food for thought, although I am cautious of over-intellectualising (a mistake I have made in the past). It was interesting to read Robert Adams' quote in this context, as it very much echoes my own experiences.
Where am I?
I am at a point where I feel quite confident about my images, where I produce quite a number of them, and due to the self-imposed rules of my blog I do it with great regularity. This is a tad at the expense of project-type photography, but that's fine for me. As long as it feels good to post an "Image of the Day", I will go on. I guess you will at least see #1000, if there will ever be #10000 is more questionable :)
I come here for the images and the texts. Your images are nothing short of extraordinary, they feel like a very consistent body of work. What I probably like most in your images is your sense for balance. That's incredible and makes me breathless over and over again. Balance is important for me, it's a quality that I always look for.
The other thing that brings me back is your writing. I love your elaborate style, your precision and your humor. I often don't have time to read your posts, then they pile up in Google Reader, but I never skip them. Your blog is amusing and interesting at the same time. What more could I want for?
As to future directions, well, I'd be happy to follow what you do, whatever you do. The things that I like, your images and your rambling, well, I guess it would be against your nature to stop that anyway :)