Intuition or Intent?

[Jack Conrad]

Perhaps we give too much credit to our intellect, our egos,
since it only constitutes a tiny fraction of the mind.
The vast majority of thought sallies forth
from the unconscious...


Where tiny fungal colonies manipulate and direct us incomprehensibly.

 

[jsrockit]

Immediate goals when you go out for some photographing. Do you have a plan in mind or just wing it??

I go out and wing it. The only plan I have is what area I'm going to photograph at that moment. As far as subject, I'll photograph anything that I think will make a good photo... the great thing about being an amatuer is that you don't have to limit your self or your subject matter.

 

[peter_n]

The interviewer seemed to assume that Webb had deliberate conscious intent for each photo as he made it.

I think Webb may be truthful in his response to the goals question but he seems to have a visual template that when he sees it in the VF he presses the shutter. You look at his pictures and there is often a division into three planes with something going on in each one. The more interesting ones have disconnected events going on in the planes. I don't particularly like a lot of his stuff but some of it is really good.

 

[jsirevaag]

OTOH, driving home from a paid gig photographing for the Department of the Interior while passing through Hernandez New Mexico near dusk, he spots a full moon and the last traces on daylight illuminating crosses in a graveyard next to an old church. And he actually says something similar to "Holy sh!t, where's my camera!"

Maybe the real answer is "it depends"

Actually, it was "Holy Sh!t, where's my light-meter!" of course Adams happened to be a human light-meter...

 

[gho]

Intuition or intent. Hard to say.

This one for example was taken in a split second. I just recognized the scene, the camera was set up, so I just had to frame and push the shutter. There was not much time for deliberate planning.

Same here:

The scene just presented itself and I took a quick snap, hoping the best.

On the other end of the sprectrum is this:

Tripod, shifting, careful considerations trying to get a good exposure. Using a loupe to get the focus right.

I think both approaches work.

Equipment - of course - does play a role. For the first approach I like to use a setup that is fast and does not get into the way between me and the picture that may suddenly present itself. I do not want to loose time for adjusting controls or waiting for the autofocus to lock on, so wide angle lens and a fully manual camera are - for me - ideal for this type of photos.

On the other hand, if I am thinking more in the frame of slow photography, that allows for careful considerations and planning, I think the view camara is a better approach.

Personally I find that there are all kinds of mixtures between these two ends of the spectrum and in the end equipment may not matter so much, because sometimes it is interesting to work within a cameras limitations. Think Holga for example or gameboy photography. Oh well, photography is an endless topic.

 

[Araakii]

Sometimes you use intuition, sometimes you use intent. Sometimes you start out with an intent and rely on your intuition afterwards. They come hand in hand and everyone would have a bit of both.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I found this outside the front door of my adopted family's house as I was leaving to go around the corner and have a drink. I only photograph in b&w in Cuba for my serious work but I was done photographing for the day as I had been out walking and shooting for 7 hours.

I stepped back inside and picked up the compact digital that I use for family happy-snaps. I shot this, put the camera up and went on to partake of Cuba's finest rum.

Was this intuition or intent? consider:
* I was in Cuba to photograph people
* but I was finished photographing for the day
* I shoot b&w film
* but for some reason I picked up my digital
* I am diligent about editing and printing my b&w work
* but this was so casual that I forgot I shot it and just found the digital files that I shot six months ago. I never looked at them before

So would you call this intuition or intent?

 

[Araakii]

This is not the photo association thread but I can't help not to post this shot.


Mexico City #4 by Araakii, on Flickr

 

[candidcameraman]

Intent

Intent

With intent makes for better photography

Intuition... makes for average photography

 

[jsrockit]

With intent makes for better photography

Intuition... makes for average photography

And this is an absolute?

 

[candidcameraman]

And this is an absolute?

Of course not - based on my experience, pretty much all intentional photography produces better resulting images versus intuitive photography... A mix of both can be magical but one versus the other is very different. I'll choose intent over intuition any day of the week

My intuition made me lift my camera to capture a subject to the right which has been cropped out as my intent was to make better and more relavent images not subject base, to make images which were context based - to trump the subject in favor of context.

Had I just followed my intuition... I would have aimed the camera lens in the direction of the subject, throwing out all composition rules, the proverbial baby, with the water - out the window, making instead a rather pedestrian image, a grab shot versus an intentional thought out composition. One more image to delete as opposed to a keeper.