The Art and Business of Photography
Excerpt, Chapter 1
We live in a world of images. Frankly, we are inundated with them. Turn on your computer, your television, your cell phone, walk down the street, ride a bus or open a magazine and there is a constant flow of images before our eyes. Photography has, from its beginnings, been available to and used both by professionals and amateurs. Since the Kodak Brownie, with little skill or understanding of how a camera works, anyone can create a photograph. Today, however, we add to the mix the speed of digital imagery and the new ease of distribution that the Internet provides and the number of images out in the world has dramatically increased. Some images are used to sell a product or an idea, some are for reporting news, others to record an event and many are simply being shared for the fun of it.
One result of all this abundance is a more visually literate culture than was the case in previous generations. It is now readily acknowledged that imagery can both educate and manipulate. Photographs can evoke emotion, reveal a truth and also lie. Furthermore, an image’s importance is frequently not measured by any standards of craft or creativity, but rather by impact. Remember the images from Abu Graib Prison in Iraq? The quality (or lack of quality) of these photographs has nothing to do with their continuing resonance. This occurs when the subject matter trumps artistic merit. Dramatic or horrifying subject matter , however, is not what makes up the typical everyday photograph. For the professional, the concern of this book, our role is more frequently to unveil what is special or unique in the flow of everyday events. Cameras literally record, making photography inherently tied to subject matter. The photographer brings a point of view to the process and therefore, for the artist, subject matter is only the starting place.
Consider Lewis Hine’s photographs documenting early twentieth century child labor. These images facilitated the introduction of child labor laws in the United States and have become an important record of this period of American history. The social impact of Hine’s images is undisputed, but the subject matter is only one ingredient of the lasting value behind this work. Hine’s masterful compositions draw the viewers attention to precisely indicate his concerns. His portraits of children in these harsh work environments reveal an intimate connection between the subject and the photographer, as well as, a deep haunting sadness. Hine’s vision pushes these images beyond photographic record making and speak to universal truths about the human condition.
Lauren Greenfield explores the social and personal life of American girls in her 2002 published book, Girl Culture. Greenfield expertly employs a raw journalistic style and produces images that are bold, honest and intensely intimate. Again, we see an artist exposing harsh cultural realities, but through her vision and tenacity the photographs move far beyond sociological study and become artful expression.
And now think about Aaron Siskind’s photographs of ripped posters and graffiti. This series takes the subject matter out of context and transforms it into exquisite formal compositions. The strength of this vision then evolves further to express competing emotions of tension and tranquility. Siskind’s subject, vision and composition coalesce and bring lasting power to this work. Together these elements create something more than the sum of their parts.
Marilyn Bridges creates aerial photographs of ruins in Peru, Egypt, Greece, Britain and the United States. Her image, “Arrows over rise, Nazca, Peru” is a breathtaking landscape photograph that not only describes the location but also transforms it. The composition draws you in by forcing a circular visual movement as you grasp the scale of the scene and then the markings of an ancient culture are revealed jetting through the vertical center of the image. The quietest visual component, and subject of the image, suddenly takes on an undeniable power. Bridges elegantly describes her process, “By consciously maneuvering the aircraft in such a way as to place light and shadow in relationship to material forms, I control the shapes and patterns within the photograph. By maintaining the relationship between tone, shape and texture, the gesture evoked by the symbolic nature of the subject is reinforced. If all this works, then the photograph is alive and meaningful and not merely a record of the charted landscape.” A well-seen photograph is, as it has always been, the most powerful communication tool available.
A photographer finds distinction in our visually saturated society through the pursuit of personal vision, refined through the practice of unwavering persistence. The art of seeing is perfected by the act of working. I had the privilege a few years back of hearing photographer Ken Josephson speak at the Society for Photographic Education Midwest Regional conference. While discussing his own struggle with blocks in creativity or direction, he clearly stated his own mantra, “work begets work.” You must be dedicated to finding your own vision and, to do that, you must make the photographs. There is no easy button to push in becoming an artist; and there is no one size fits all formula for success. It is personal and it is work.