Making the world better with photography?

[pmazer]

I find that I'm having a slow falling out with photography as I begin asking myself: what's the point? All I'm doing is taking pictures, showing them to people who are like minded with me, and getting congratulated with "Great shot!" every so often. I love photography as a form of expression, but I want to find a way to use it, to take it to it's full potential. I know that there must be a way to use photography for a greater purpose, but I just can't find it and need some advice. Any ideas?

 

[back alley]

volunteer!

for a church, poor community agency, community league etc.

something local is good as it helps to show the impact one person can have.

 

[RML]

Do photo projects that you find interesting.

I was (and actuallystill am) getting a bit tired of shooting the same old things over and over again. Every time I was going to Mongolia (or India for a couple of years) I got back the buzz of shooting. I'm now doing an ongoing project photographing the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar.
That started out quite well but I felt I was not getting close enough. I felt I needed a better understanding of Mongolian culture and history, so I'm delving into those things more and more. I also felt I needed a better "scientific" basis on which to place my "research", so next September I'll start a university course in Social and Cultural Antropology. I'm also practising getting closer to people, shooting closer-up with my wide angle lenses, etc.
So, the project gave, gives and will keep giving me direction, expands my knowledge, increases my purposes for shooting and gives me more frustration as well as more satisfaction from my shooting. That's not to say I've stopped shooting the same old things. 🙂 I'm currently breaking in my new R-D1, and what better than to shoot things I've done tons of times before?

 

[aizan]

photography itself can't be a greater purpose? that's not a rhetorical question. if you're coming at it from the perspective of an activist, the answer is either clear or very difficult. depends on how angsty you are, 😉

 

[RML]

photography itself can't be a greater purpose? that's not a rhetorical question.

IMO photography is only a means to get there. Whether it is art, documentary or just for fun, photography is just the tool to do it. I can't see how photography could be the goal. Then you end up like Garry Winogrand, shooting thousands of rolls without even developing htem and see the results. Of course, this can be satisfying for some but that's more like an addiction, isn't it?

if you're coming at it from the perspective of an activist, the answer is either clear or very difficult. depends on how angsty you are, 😉

I'm not sure I understand this but it sounds like an interesting angle, so, please, enlighten me. 🙂

 

[simonankor]

If you do want to change the world, do a series for a local charity, run an exhibition (as well-publicised as possible) and let the profits go to the charity.

It'll give you good publicity.
It'll give the charity good publicity.
It pricks people's consciences.
AND you get lots of warm fuzzy feelings!

😉

 

[aizan]

you forgot hcb. he also shot "for the hell of it", except he wasn't addicted to it.

anyhow, i'm just questioning pmazer's love for photography. he says he loves it as a form of expression, which i assume he's doing by "just taking pictures", and yet he is unfulfilled. why? he's expressing himself and he supposedly loves that. what's missing? more praise? more validation? i bet that's what's going on, because he's asking other people for suggestions on greater purposes he might pursue, instead of, it's so cheesy, following his own heart. and if that doesn't come first, there's no such thing as self-sacrifice because it's not in your possession.

activists of every stripe allegedly serve a greater purpose, though how sure they are about themselves, how truthful and dedicated that service is varies according to what i just talked about.

so be true to yourself! if you were really expressing yourself, you'd cherish it.

 

[RML]

you forgot hcb. he also shot "for the hell of it", except he wasn't addicted to it.

HCB was also rich enough to do whatever he wanted.

anyhow, i'm just questioning pmazer's love for photography. he says he loves it as a form of expression, which i assume he's doing by "just taking pictures", and yet he is unfulfilled. why? he's expressing himself and he supposedly loves that. what's missing? more praise? more validation? i bet that's what's going on, because he's asking other people for suggestions on greater purposes he might pursue, instead of, it's so cheesy, following his own heart. and if that doesn't come first, there's no such thing as self-sacrifice because it's not in your possession.

Maybe it's more like being "in love" and wanting something more. Being in love is nice but in the end unfullfilling. It's love what most people crave, and it can take many forms and ways. I guess his period of "being in love with photography" is slowly making way for the need for "love for photography". A big step and often a difficult adjustment to one's attitude. Some make the transition easily, others take more time, yet other fail completely and won't touch a camera for years until one day they fall in love again.

activists of every stripe allegedly serve a greater purpose, though how sure they are about themselves, how truthful and dedicated that service is varies according to what i just talked about.

Aizan, I'm still not sure what you mean with this activist analogy. Activists come in many forms and shapes and attitudes. I don't think that an unsure, half-truthful, semi-dedicated activist is less valuable to the cause he/she supports. It's just that some people don't/can't/won't give themselves over body and soul to some cause. How many can honestly say they do, even when it comes to their marital partner?

so be true to yourself! if you were really expressing yourself, you'd cherish it.

Isn't being true to yourself the hardest thing to achieve? Don't we all have to make compromises?

I think pmazer is just looking for some depth in his shooting, a bit more challenge and "adventure". He's asking us for ideas. At least he didn't (yet) go the GAS way. 🙂

 

[aizan]

I don't think that an unsure, half-truthful, semi-dedicated activist is less valuable to the cause he/she supports.

quantitatively, maybe not. but qualitatively, the person is short changed.

Isn't being true to yourself the hardest thing to achieve? Don't we all have to make compromises?

making compromises is part of being true to yourself. give and take, not "i want it my way." (i should probably add, i love/hate frank sinatra.)

i agree, pmazer's looking for 'some depth in his shooting, a bit more challenge and "adventure"'. like all adventure heroes, the journey will be of inner struggles, and he'll make his way home as the curtains close. point being that "just taking pictures" is nothing to look down upon.

 

[bmattock]

I find that I'm having a slow falling out with photography as I begin asking myself: what's the point? All I'm doing is taking pictures, showing them to people who are like minded with me, and getting congratulated with "Great shot!" every so often. I love photography as a form of expression, but I want to find a way to use it, to take it to it's full potential. I know that there must be a way to use photography for a greater purpose, but I just can't find it and need some advice. Any ideas?

One might well ask what the point is. The point can be that there is no point. If you enjoy taking photographs and showing them to your friends, then why is that not good enough? Is that not a point? How would you feel if you were not doing photography? What would you do in place of photography?

What is the "full potential" of photography? To me, that's like saying "I want to breathe to my full potential." I don't measure my breathing or rate it or desire to do it for a higher purpose - I just breathe.

There are those who live their lives to bring a better life to others - and I applaud them and respect them. From Mother Theresa to Mohandas Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr., they had vision and drive and determination and they had a demonstrable positive effect on the world around them. But my dad had a positive effect on my life - and I'll bet he didn't spend a lot of time trying to live his life to the higher purpose of giving positive inspiration to me. He did that just by living.

I am a photographer. I also write. I never stopped to ask myself why I write, I just write. Some time ago, I wrote about a lady who lived on my block. She was very sad and alone and she ended up ending up. It was a very sad thing and I felt I had to make some sense of it to myself, so I wrote about it here.

I heard recently from the family of that poor woman, and found that my words had helped them to touch a part of their sister's life that they felt was closed and lost to them in the wake of her leaving.

I did not mean for that to happen. It just did. I wrote for myself - and for you, my friends on RFF. And it happened to serve another purpose as well.

I take photographs for a variety of reasons. I don't ask myself what purpose they serve, or whose lives they make better, or what they give to the world. I am driven to create and share and that is enough for me.

But who knows when my photographs, or yours, might serve another purpose - one you never intended. We're all chevaliers accidentels.

Other than knights of old, I'm not sure any of us set out to perform noble work. Some of us do, and that's good. One thing for sure - you can't improve anyone's life with a photograph you didn't take.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks, Le Chevalier Mal Fet

 

[BJ Bignell]

But who knows when my photographs, or yours, might serve another purpose - one you never intended. We're all chevaliers accidentels.

Well put... I like the idea of being a chevalier accidentel. 🙂

The only "real" reason I have for photographing is because someday, I hope it'll be important. In fact, I believe that it will be important. Whether they become insight into my life to my future family, or simply become a found "treasure" like this, I know that someone will one day see what I've shot, and that maybe it'll make a difference in their life.

Aside from that, I do it because I can and because I like the craft. And besides, when I'm old and gray, I'm gonna need the pictures to remind me of where I've been so I can tell the grandkids some stories. "This one is from when Grandma and Grandpa were in Germany. We drank a lot of beer in Germany... that's all Grandpa remembers about Germany!" 😀

 

[TEZillman]

Pmazer,

The photos of William Henry Jackson were instrumental in Yellowstone becoming a national park. The photos of Louis Hines were instrumental in the establishment of child labor laws. Think of the impact that the photographers of the Farm Service Administration had during the depression. The list can go on and on. The medium isn't the message. The question is not "What is there to photograph?" It’s "What is there to be discovered?" (I think that came from one of John Shaw's books)

Tom

 

[TPPhotog]

my typos getting wurst

my typos getting wurst

Another use for your pictures (even those you don't like) are local image archives. They tell me it's amazing how many people will donate historical pictures found in family albums of buildings and landmarks, but never think of donating recent street shoots / reportage / people.

Many of the street pictures I shoot locally of markets, demonstrations, carnivals, etc. I donate to the Totnes Image Bank here in South Devon. I usually print on average 1 to 3 prints from a roll of 36 exposure, but the ones I don't print may be still of interest to students or historians even though they are of little interest to myself.

An unexpected spin off to the photographer is that it "legitimizes street shooting" if a Paranoid Neanderthal challenges your right to shoot in public.

Every picture will tell a story even if the photographer isn't listening 😉

 

[pmazer]

Thanks for your replies everyone. Bill Mattocks and BJ's comments really hit home. Photography isn't a straight forward thing. Just because I'm not directly impacting something, doesn't mean I'm not impacting something else in an indirect way.

 

[TPPhotog]

If your ever in doubt about your Photography just remember when a butterfly beats it's wings on the other side of the world ..... it's time to put your umbrella up 😀

 

[pmazer]

This one image explained to me better how photography can move people than any amount of words. I was downloading images from my beach trip tonight and was just browsing through them when I hit this one and was wowed. I didn't even see the clouds while I was taking the picture, but they MAKE the picture.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

volunteer! / for a church, poor community agency, community league etc. / something local is good as it helps to show the impact one person can have.

That's a great suggestion!

I also think you've hit one slump which everyone of us hits at some time or another; don't get discouraged. The bug will hit you again. Sometimes it can just be therapeutic. I think if nothing else works, you should take Backalley's suggestion and consider it seriously.

Good luck, and cheers. We're pullin' fer ya.

 

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

Thanks for your replies everyone. Bill Mattocks and BJ's comments really hit home. Photography isn't a straight forward thing. Just because I'm not directly impacting something, doesn't mean I'm not impacting something else in an indirect way.

You are recording at least one person's view of their existence. Someday, your kids, your great-grandkids, some person who inhabits a time beyond yours, will view your photos, no matter how mundane they seem to you, and they will be amazed. Think of what it would be like to view photos from the 16th century.... you are doing that for someone else.

 

[reagan]

I read this thread when it was posted and have knocked it around in my head several times since. Hope you guys don't mind the late reply and bump.

Photography isn't a straight forward thing. Just because I'm not directly impacting something, doesn't mean I'm not impacting something else in an indirect way.

True for sure. And the fact is, many of us want to actually see at least some evidence of impact, see some fruit of our labors in whatever we do, whether it be by capturing a moment on film and seeing the subject smile approvingly when awarded a copy of the photo or by looking back over a half-mile of trashless highway you've volunteered to clean up.

Armed with a recent FSU aquisition and it's first roll of film, I wandered downtown today just to shoot anything that moved checking out my new toy. In the process, I ducked into an old cafe, one I'd passed but never been in before and had a conversation with a "sweet-somebody's-mom" waitress I'd never met before. The conversation started as she sat down my cup of coffee and asked, "Ya takin' pitchers?"

I plan on being a regular there - with camera - and furthering the relationship with the sweet lady and other of the daily patrons. The hunting/finding/buying/waiting on/getting/cleaning/tinkering with and actually using old cameras is simply a way of relaxation for me. I planned on nothing else... originally. But I can't even count how many people I've met simply because I was taking photos or maybe just carrying a camera. If I can in some way touch, encourage, lift up or even minutely inspire just a few of those along the way, then my hobby takes on a double impact, double blessing. I can build up and be built up in one afternoon on a stroll with a cheap camera and a half-roll of film.

It's happened so often, I now look for it and expect it. Like wrinkled, brown wrapping paper and "yak hair" string, it's part of the package. I have no doubt that those chance meetings with strangers and the insuing conversations are as much the purpose of my occasional morning or afternoon outings as is the relaxation. When I'm old[er] and grey[er], some friend or family member might say, "Hey, that's a pretty good shot," but the hobby-produced image will then have greater value to me, reminding me of a moment captured when my enjoyment of cameras gave opportunity to contribute positively to the human race.

 

[oljim]

Great post, CVBLZ4! That is exactly what photography is rapidly becoming for me - a chance to experience, to get a brief peek into the lives of people I would not have normally met. This creates some absolutely golden photo opportunities.

People come up to me, especially older people, completely out of the blue for a chat. Why? Because I've got a camera "just like grandpa's." We chat about the old days and how life was then, and how things were "built to last!" They enthusiastically tell me about dear old Auntie Mary's Box Brownie that they still have in the cupboard at home. "It's in perfect condition and must be worth thousands." I smile and tell them to hold onto that precious gem.

No-one with a digital P&S or, dare I say it, a mobile phone camera (what is it with the merging of phone and camera technology? Can we expect a new telephone-back for our Hasselblads?) would get so much positive attention.

So my one or two hour strolls around town have turned into full afternoons, walking, thinking, relaxing, meeting, chatting and shooting. It's probably as close as I can get to a Zen moment.