civilized ku # 744 ~ Autumn color # 54 / thinking - on seeing
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 12:17PM 
Point Park ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenIt has been suggested by Sven W that ... Perhaps a complementary way of explaining your thoughts is to "work through" a few of your images? i.e Explain the what & why of your thinking before / during the creation of an image ... Perhaps from this "bottom up" approach you might also discern some of the principles that go into the seeing process.
On related note, it has been stated by Ken Bello that ... I take a more pragmatic approach to my own work, more gut-feeling than thought process. When I go out with my camera, I don't have any preconceptions of what I want. I just let it happen. It requires less discipline but allows me a little extra freedom.
IMO, these 2 comments are related, re: how I make my pictures.
In answer to Sven W's suggestion to explain "the what & why (and I would add "the how") of your thinking before / during the creation of an image", it's very simple - I don't "think" at all before / during the creation of an image. Much like Ken Bello, I "just let it happen".
In fact, as I have stated quite a number of times, I make a very concerted effort to keep my mind free of picture making thoughts when I am picture making. My state of awareness is totally centered around just the act of seeing. That said, I can walk and chew gum at the same time, so, quite obviously, some part of my awareness is still based upon getting one foot in front of the other and not failing into a ditch / over a cliff / or some other calamity. But, truth be told, I no longer need to make a concerted effort to to keep my mind free of picture making thoughts - over time it has become second nature to me to remember to forget all that stuff and just concentrate upon the act of seeing.
However, it must be stated that one's ability to "just let it happen" is, in reality, an act of letting go of all - not just picture making stuff - that one has seen and learned in his/her life. Nevertheless, part and parcel of the act of letting go, is also the act of trusting that all that all that one has seen and learned in life will, in fact (despite being "forgotten" during the act of picture making), influence, guide and inform the what, the why, and the how of one's picture making.
As was opined by the aforementioned Robert Henri (in his book, The Art Spirit) ...
.... The best art the world has ever had is but the impress left by men (I, The Landscapist would amend that to read, "by men and women") who have thought less of making great art than of living full and completely with all their faculties in the enjoyment of full play. From these the result is inevitable ... it is the measure of the man. (and woman).
Ultimately, the notion of great art as "the measure of the man/woman", is the reason why explaining the what, why and how of one's picture making as an instructional guide for another's picture making is ultimately rather futile, perhaps even counterproductive to learning how to see.
IMO, the only way to learn how to see for one's self is by engaging in self-education. Again, from Robert Henri:
Let a student enter a school with this advice:
No, matter how good the school is, his eduction is in his own hands. All education must be self-education ... [A] school should be an offering of opportunity, not a direction and the student should know that the school will be good for him only to the degree that he makes it good ... [T]he man who goes into to a school to educate himself and not be educated will get somewhere. He should start out as a master, master of such as he has, however little that may be. By being master of such as he has in the beginning it is likely that he may later be master .. of much.
In other words, spend your time / efforts, or most of it, understanding and then building upon that which you already possess.
Understanding what you possess is an exercise in self-knowledge and no one can undertake that endeavor but oneself. And, once understood, no one can build upon that foundation other than oneself by determining and knowing one's direction and goals.
It's really that simple, and make no mistake about it, it's also really that difficult. There are no shortcuts. There are no instructional books that can teach you how to "master" yourself. In fact, IMO, most such books lead you away from understanding one's self by taking you down the primrose path of following the "leader".
Reader Comments (2)
OK, at the risk of being branded a trouble-maker here's my take on things so far.
1. I also try to shoot by instinct, just try to let it happen, trust myself. But I believe the reality is that I've internalised a lot (ok, maybe a few) compositional rules.
2. My ability to see - however limited that may be - is a product of being able to apply these compositional rules in "real time" (on the fly) when looking at the world.
3. As with most things, once we've internalised a technique we can bend or break it as the moment sees fit.
4. I should re-frame my suggestion: instead of describing your approach to pictures before you press the shutter (where the rules are internalised) what about later when you are deciding whether or not to post-process an image? The compositional rules kick in again, perhaps at a more conscious level. As you indicated in the previous post:
"at the point of processing the pictures, I was immediately struck by their Caravaggio-like chiaroscuro"
5. From the point above, one of the compositional rules you apply (albeit subconsciously) is chiaroscuro. Looking at your images, I can see that complementary colours (e.g yellow / blue) is another.
6. Again from point 4, chiaroscuro is about [creating] contrast from tonal values, something dear to the heart of B&W photographers.
7. I'm not entirely convinced by Robert Henri's notion that great art is the measure of the man (or woman). Consider this biographical note for a famous artist:
"He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age of 37, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
Not an examplar of "living full and completely with all their faculties in the enjoyment of full play".
The artist is Van Gogh.
8. In regards to point 7, there is no doubt that a person's art (or creative endeavours, at least) is some reflection of who they currently are.
That's enough of a ramble (even if each point has been assigned a number). I'm still thinking a good way to explain "seeing" is by example. The examples I have in a mind are a carefully selected series of photos that illustrate one, two or more compositional rules. The rule can be applied, bent or broken.
I also think that taken together, a number of compositional elements can infer meaning e.g placing two referents close together implies a "relationship" of some sort.
There are some interesting ideas in your posts, Mark. I like this one you teased out from Robert Henri:
"spend your time / efforts, or most of it, understanding and then building upon that which you already possess".
On seeing, self education and forgetting it all, along comes Alec Soth with a commission from the Brighton Photo Bienniale and Alex "collabrorates" with his seven year old daughter, Carmen. Carmen has a show in a major photography venue and Alec is proclaimed a "Genius". www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/sep/19/alec-carmen-soth-brighton-biennial.
So much for "seeing", "self education" and "forgetting everything that you know about what makes a good picture", my kid can do that!