Are YOU a photographer?

[Shadams]

I’ve been reading and re-reading this thread and wondered how I’d respond. I can’t really point to a particular photo that caused me to say to myself ‘yes I am a photographer’, though I do have a number of photos that I’d consider touchstones/milestones throughout my almost fifty years of taking photos.

Am I a photographer? Well I did it as a full-time profession for twenty-eight years and went to school for six years for it etc, so I guess I was one during that time (at least as a ‘what do you do for a living’ response). Nowadays? Well some days I take pictures and some days I don’t, so I dunno. I guess when I’m in the moment of doing it then I suppose the answer is yes, and when I’m not doing it (which is likely more than when I am taking photos) I’m just a regular person. At this point I don’t feel the need to prove to anyone or even myself that I am one. When I think of it we pretty much all carry cameras around with us in our pockets daily without even realizing it, so can we then all claim the ‘mantle’ of being a photographer?

A propos of nothing, I recently went to the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario and saw two exhibitions there (both of which are still on). One was a photo exhibit about the camera and the street, then other was primarily a painting exhibition that had to do with winter/snow. Despite the fact that I recognized a number of the images in the photo exhibition (a few of which were by former teachers of mine), I seemed to identify more with and feel more inspired by the painting exhibit. I’m thinking of even going back to Ottawa before the painting show closes in March to spend more time with it. The photo exhibit, mmm probably not. Don’t know if that has anything to do with the question at hand, but it’s just something I considered with regards to where I’d fall in the answer.

Mr. Lupo, I just took a tour through your Mapping the West. A helluva body of work. I'm working right now but I'll come back to it later this evening. Bravo Zulu, sir.

 

[Shadams]

Wonderful colours. Reminds me of Ernst Haas. Great shots. You qualify.

You're kind. I see you are a colourist too. Winogrand's photos are incredible, but some of his observations around "photographic problems" are the real takeaway. I'm thinking of solving colour problems. Not in the technical sense but in the aesthetic. This is more a "shapes and form" thinking process for me; I'm not very good at turning my perception of colour problems into words. I should try harder - written thoughts are often more clarified. Although this is perhaps what GW was doing graphically - expressing the un-wordable. No narrative. Just the thing photographed. Thank you for letting me ramble.

 

[Shadams]

Thank you all for the very kind words for these little pictures. I apologize for mishandling the image sizes so badly.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I don't know if I am a "photographer", but once in a while I make a darkroom print that pleases me. That's enough for me.

Chris