have you ever seen a photograph...

back alley

back alley

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...and then wanted to know more about the photographer?

i am experiencing this phenomena more and more lately...
 
Not so much a single photograph. But one picture leads to a portfolio or a larger body of work that resonates with me, and then i get interested in the person.

John
 
Usually it's negative -- as in, "What sort of _____ could try and pass him/herself off as worthy of consideration with stuff like this?"
 
yes, often.

i think, because a photograph is taken so quickly and also somehow impulsive, there is lot of the personality of the photographer in the picture. the subject in front of the camera is somehow altered by his personal view, believes...

the more elaborated or conceptual a photography is, the less i am interested in the photographer himself. the picture stays more for itself then...
also when looking at paintings, i am rarley interested in the painter.
 
Holden Caulfield said that a good book was one that made you want to meet and hang out with the author.
 
Look at any set of photos and you will see some resemblance. That is the person behind the camera . Like a book. First pages can cause you a sleepless night. As for me, I am a curious person. I always read books on one breath.
 
gns said:
Holden Caulfield said that a good book was one that made you want to meet and hang out with the author.
Click to expand...

charles bukowski wrote, he liked d. h. lawrence, because "he could describe Australian taxi drivers so well, you hated them". but he is glad, that he never met him.
 
If a picture really gets to me, I will look at more of the person's work. Usually I don't take it beyond that, unless the pictures are extremely imaginative or unusual.
 
when i look at an image...if the image has interesting looking people or a place or objects in it ...it starts me thinking about the photographer...does he know these people? are they friends or did they just meet? then i want to know more about the photographer...so, if content is interesting is the photographer interesting also?
 
back alley said:
. . . . ...so, if content is interesting is the photographer interesting also?
Click to expand...

I can't decide that for myself until I see a bunch of pictures that the photographer (or the painter or computer artist) made.
I struggle with making conclusions about peoples personalities based on the pictures they make. I like to see their websites and whatever commentary they post there.
For me, if the picture is very unusual and it fascinates me, it's important to get to know the image maker and what she or he is trying to tell me.

Sorry to run on so long, but that is a very fascinating question about sharing images with strangers.
 
i don't think i can tell much about the photographer from the image...that's why i would like to know more about them...
 
Almost never. I'm often very pleased or fascinated by one or a couple of pictures from one person, but the pictures are enough for me. I can stare at a photo for minutes and then come back to it several times, but the photographer is not so much in my interest, though I sometimes read something about photographers, when they had an interesting life and had something to tell.

The only real exception long time ago was, when I for the first time saw a bunch of photos from Elliott Erwitt together with some of his comments. I thought, what a nice man he must be and what obviously genius photographer and observer. That man I would like to know in person.
 
It's not so much about whether the subject is interesting, but whether the photo is interesting (or the music, the painting, the novel, whatever). What art does, is let the viewer/reader/listener into the head of the person who made it. It describes that person's creativity, intelligence, etc. There is a connection made with the artist. If we like it or find it interesting, I thing it's obvious and natural to want more. The thing is, the artist probably gave his best in the work.
 
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