Monday, March 28, 2011

Why Did You Photograph This?

I made this image when we went to Pozos for Kate McKenna's show at Galeria 6. The small blue vase was sitting on a sunny yellow bench with the light streaming in from a window to the back right. So why did I photograph it?

This week I had a friend look at a stack of photographys that I have printed large and I'll take back them to Texas when we go so I'll have some recent work to show friends. She asked questions like . . . . Why did you photograph this? Did you know that this was going to be in the photograph? What are thinking about when you are making photographs? I think some artist are really good at answering questions like this. I can give an answer that talks about the form, the light, the color or whatever, but that doesn't answer the question except in art speak for the observer.

Andy Ilachinsky in his blog Tao of Photography writes about these very questions in the entry, Experiential "Flow" in Photography.  He writes, "I am often asked, 'What do you think about when you do photography?' To which I typically respond with something like, 'the less the better'."

My answer to my friend was that actually I was just responding on an emotional level. Yes, sometimes I may make a number of images of the same thing but it is about an emotional conversation with the object. My rather feeble explanation included something about how you are not really thinking about every move you make when driving a car, it is just happening and you are responding. Ilachinsky's explanation about being the "Flow" is a much more thoughtful essay about the process.

5 comments:

Steve Cotton said...

A friend asked me a similar question once. Out of nowhere, I responded: "Because the light restored the balance that indifference has taken from my life." Unfortunately, he stopped asking questions.

Marc Olson said...

Interesting. I agree with you, "the less the better." The less I analyze the better the images are, and more importantly, the more I get out of the experience.

Not long ago I blogged about this topic:

http://marcoyucatan.blogspot.com/search/label/flow

Heather said...

I have a tendency not to analyze while I'm photographing as well. I go with the flow and sometimes I don't even know I have a gem until later.

Babs said...

I am in no way comparing my photography to yours - but I just snap when I see something I think is out of the ordinary or tells a story. Often lots of photos. The fun is coming home, downloading them and once in a while, not often, having one that I think is good.

Yours ALWAYS are good, in my humble opinion.

Linda Lou and Senor, Too said...

Love the photo. I don't think either when I photograph, I like it, I look and shoot, but then I am not that great of a photographer........