Do You want your camera to “Create”, or “Record” an image?

[David Hughes]

Hmmmm, "while Brady posed and lit subjects to “create” an image" which the camera was then used to record.


I see the photographer moving lights around as creating a look and nothing that the camera does.


Regards, David

 

[peterm1]

Did Edward Steichen merely record this image? I would argue that he made a whole bunch of choices about composition, exposure, printing etc. that mean he created an image. This was quite conscious of course as he was a member of the pictorialism school and as Wikipedia says "There is no standard definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the photographer has somehow manipulated what would otherwise be a straightforward photograph as a means of "creating" an image rather than simply recording it."

But what about this photo by Ansel Adams? If you say he only recorded it would you feel the same way if you knew he used his "zone system" to seek a particular photographic result? And undoubtedly chose to use a deep red filter and long exposure to achieve the high contrast depicted? Or the fact that he is reputed to have spent many hours in the darkroom working on prints to get just the result he wanted?

We all make artistic choices in photography. Just that sometimes we are not aware that we are making them because the process of making the image has become so automatic to us............and perhaps even more so with modern program controlled cameras that allow us to do nothing more than press the shutter button. But even then there are still artistic choices to be made.

 

[Bill Clark]

“Create”, or “Record” an image?

It’s the photographer that does this.

Not the equipment.