civilized ku # 748 ~ Autumn color # 58 / on seeing
Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 10:30AM 
Apartment No. 5 Long lake, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenA few weeks back, in the entry, civilized ku # 728, there was a link to a blog entry on Kept Light - Photography by A. Cemal Ekin. In response, A. Cemal Ekin has left a comment here on The Landscapist, re: his brief thoughts on seeing:
"Seeing", I believe, is not a static thing. It not only changes, or should change over time, but also gets affected by our experiences. I will also suggest that photographic seeing may very well differ from seeing in painting or sculpting. In sculpting, the sculpture is in the stone the artist removes the unnecessary parts, "subtraction". In painting the painter "synthesizes" the finished work by adding content. Where a photographer "selects" what to photograph, a process akin to analysis.
In the process of "seeing" one needs to refer to ones "database" of mental images, mental photographs. It is the connection of a detail, a gesture, a faint smile, to a mental image that generates the "seen" photograph. At the bottom of all this is a "prepared mind" equipped with some level of knowledge of photography, photographic tradition, the characteristics of the medium, some level of understanding the concept of art, and aesthetic sensibilities. One cannot see by looking harder but by learning about the issues I mentioned above. (italic emphasis is mine)
Reader Comments (2)
I believe Mr Ekin's viewpoint parallels (and expands) on my comment a little while back, I used the word "composition" but the key idea was how we internalise information and patterns which we can then apply when looking at the real world. The more we know about "good" photography the better we can "see" a photographic opportunity.
Sven, in general I am in agreement with you except I consider "seeing" an intrinsic joy whether I record what I see or not. Something I see may delight me in many different ways even when I am not photographing. That may very well be mental gymnastics which may make me more prepared when I hold a camera in my hand. Seeing may lead to photography, but mere action of photographing something may not necessarily lead to seeing. So, in that sense the two concepts may be tied with a one-way function.
There are also people who excel in seeing things either in the real world or in others' artistic works. These people may not photograph anything but may have a deep understanding of the medium through critical study of it.
These make me think separating seeing from photography while keeping the strong one-way function intact may be quite healthy.
What do you think?
Cemal