picture window # 10 ~ no talking!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 10:42AM 
Covered bridge in Jay • click to embiggenI came away from this weekend with an embarrassment of riches, photography-wise - the result of twice fleeing the house while the wife was doing her DIY thing. FYI, I will not be asking her to give up her day job.
A couple days ago, I mentioned a piece by Joe Reifer wherein he wrote about "going deeper" into the depths of what inspires us to carry around these little boxes that leave an imprint on film or sensors .... In my response / entry on the topic I addressed part of what I think it takes to go deeper in the picturing process, but, when I stated that Joe had been kicking around some thoughts that were also on my mind, the thought of his that I was/am most interested in is:
I started participating in this modern new fangled photography blogging thing because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Somehow I’m still rolling with it. The very existence of all this verbal photography food has created a strange sort of dependence on the Words Words Words. Maybe we don’t need all of this jabber ....
Like Joe, I started doing the "modern new fangled photography blogging thing because it seemed like a good idea at the time". And, by and by, it has proven to be a reasonably good idea but, of late, I too have been questioning "all this verbal photography food", Although, I am not questioning it from this dumb-ass brain-dead POV (a comment on JR's blog) -
It’s all so much pontificating and ego blather ... Writing about photography is meaningless ... Writing about visual art defeats the whole purpose of why visual art exists, which is to inspire the viewer on a personal level, specifically without words.
According to that wacky theory, all anyone can do is look at photographs with the dictate of "NO TALKING!!" (here is where I imagine one of my grammar school nuns - stern expression, arms folded, one foot tapping, ruler in hand while I am writing 1,000 times, "I must not talk about photography."). No, that idea is pure bullshit.
I am questioning it strictly from a personal perspective, as in, I have been writing about photography for the better part of 2 years now and, in doing so, I have worked out - with a little help from my friends - many of my ideas, questions, and issues that I have had about the medium, its possibilities, its vernacular, and its potential for "meaning".
After 2 years, I feel as though I am running out of things to write about, at least as far as my own personal curiosity and gratification are concerned.
By that, I do not mean that I have figured everything out, that I know it all. Far from it. I have, however, arrived at at place where I am, with some degree of confidence, able to think about the medium from a more "informed" perspective and apply that thinking to my picturing in a manner that I was not able to do in the past. This "thinking" has also enabled me to be more discerning in my recognition and appreciation of good photography (my own and that of others).
All of that said, I feel that the time has come for me to really focus on my picturing and my pictures (please note my recently stated desire to launch a photo-only site). Not that I am about to stop photography word blogging ... but ... as I mentioned, I am running short of notions and ideas from a purely personal interest. Soooo ...
I sit at the ready to answer and/or address any questions, notions, ideas, postulations, etc. that any of you might have a personal interest in, unless, of course, all of you already know it all. In that case, please fill us in.
Any questions?
gravitas et nugalis
Featured Comment: Steve Durbin wrote: "I think a fair number of people have followed a similar trajectory. Blogs like The Landscapist provoked discussions with a much broader audience than we were used to. We learned a little or a lot (probably the writers most of all), but there's a law of diminishing returns. One comes to the realization that some issues will never be (and shouldn't be) settled, certainly not by talking alone. They are just things that are worked out for each photographer by making photographs.
But blogs are nice for sharing, as well as for learning. How about more focused blogs on single projects with fewer issues? Writing could be copious or occasional or non-existent, with input from readers or not. One could aim for something closer to reading a photography book than a magazine, which by nature lacks the "deep" that Joe and Mark and others are looking for. It might not work for everyone, but I'm thinking of giving it a try."
Reader Comments (3)
I think a fair number of people have followed a similar trajectory. Blogs like The Landscapist provoked discussions with a much broader audience than we were used to. We learned a little or a lot (probably the writers most of all), but there's a law of diminishing returns. One comes to the realization that some issues will never be (and shouldn't be) settled, certainly not by talking alone. They are just things that are worked out for each photographer by making photographs.
But blogs are nice for sharing, as well as for learning. How about more focused blogs on single projects with fewer issues? Writing could be copious or occasional or non-existent, with input from readers or not. One could aim for something closer to reading a photography book than a magazine, which by nature lacks the "deep" that Joe and Mark and others are looking for. It might not work for everyone, but I'm thinking of giving it a try.
In blogs there is always some kind of imbalance. You, the producer,
write about things that, from your pint, have been already achieved. We, the consumers, read about things which, as in your case, can give us more insight, let us feel a little bit less alone etc.. It is a no win game for you and we always win some more bits of information.
But others too are blogging so, i hope, you can also be a satisfied consumer.
Mauro,
You're quite right there's an asymmetry, but I strongly disagree it's a no-win game for the blogger. From my experience, not only do we gain a lot by the effort of putting together a (sometimes only semi-) coherent post, but we also gain a good deal of insight from commenters. Every blogger has his or her own reasons for blogging, but that's been by far the most important for me. Readers learn something too, of course, but for the blogger the subject is close to the heart.