civilized ku # 83 ~ the air you breathe
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 08:57AM 
Appraoching darkness • click to embiggenYesterday I mentioned my friend Mel who is never without a camera. I don't how many pictures he makes in a day, a week, or a month but I have no doubt that the number is a big one.
Like Mel, I am rarely without a camera when I am out and about. Rare also are the times that I can make it from point A to point B without making a picture or two, or three, or more. Unlike Mel, whose pictures feature people, my pictures are mostly about places. People make appearances here and there, but rarely are they the featured subject (family "snapshots" excluded).
That said, if Mel has 1 zillion pictures, I must have 1/2 zillion pictures - which leads me to this question for you;
How often do you make pictures? Is it a "special" event, as in when you are in the mood or have the time? Or, do you carry a camera everywhere you go? Can you stop "seeing" or are you always attuned to the act of picturing? Ever wish you had a camera when you didn't have one at hand? Ever wish you didn't have a camera draped somewhere on your person?
In a nutshell, I guess what I am asking is how important in your life is the act of picturing?
Reader Comments (8)
I don't do deadpan, portraits, sports, nature, or "snapshots".
So I never use my camera. My mother actually complains about the lack of photos of her grandson, considering the fact that his father (me) is a photographer. I probably won't even have a camera at his birthday party (but you'll be there, so it's covered)? I don't take my camera on vacation, I don't take my camera on road trips, etc.
I don't know why, but for me the camera deters me from "seeing" what I'm experiencing at that moment. I think that's why I don't use it. If my wife and I are walking around Paris, the last thing I want to do is stop and fidget with my camera to get a shot? Maybe I'm the oddball out on this, but that's my 2¢.
I only use it as a tool to release and express creativity. And that creativity needs some sort of control for me. I want to completely control my location, my time of day, my perspective, etc.
I am always thinking, planning and seeing photography. But I only pick up the camera once or twice a week. I want to create something worthwhile with my photography, so I need to set aside time to travel and work without interruption. Night photography usually means one "trip" per month, which may be consistent, but it never seems like it's enough.
I divide my life into two parts: family and photography (doing and viewing). I only feel alive when I'm with one or the other. Everything else is an annoyance that I'd prefer to be rid of. I don't have a single friend who is a non-photographer aside from my wife. I have no interest in having friends who aren't photographers.
I almost always have a camera with me and I use it when the compulsion becomes overwhelming. My wife is used to getting everywhere late because, even though we leave early, I have to stop and pull out my camera wherever we go. Frequently.
My photography is usually the result of planning ahead. I am not a "picture hunter". I work with concepts, then work on how to execute the ideas. Like Aaron I don't take many snaps. I do my best work close to home where I know things intimately. I know when and where the light is optimal at any given time of day. However I do some snapshooting/walk around with the camera, but I consider it mostly as an act of practicing seeing and working the gear (which has way too many buttons and menus these days).
Taking the 4x5 anywhere is an exercise in logistics. There's loading film holders — there's shifting the gear (two full camera bags and a sturdy tripod) — there's unloading the film holders. It's not something done "off the cuff".
I seldom have my camera with me, though I keep it in the car in case conditions turn good and I'm free to get out there. I am constantly visualizing photographs, but I'm only interested in capturing one if it gives rise to a project idea or fits into an existing one (which actually covers a lot of ground). It's not rare for me to haul camera and tripod around all day in gorgeous scenery and not make a single picture. Nevertheless, those are days full of photographic seeing and thinking.
I am always "seeing", sometimes to the extreme as when I am driving and looking elsewhere! My camera is always in my car. I hate being without it easily accessible. It does seem that there are times I wish I had one with me, even a P&S (such as when I am on my bicycle). As for how often I pull the camera out of the bag, it goes in waves. Sometimes every day, sometimes not for weeks.
I have never been without a camera for roughly the past 10 years, over the course of which I've made roughly 400,000 exposures.