Photography for the sake of photography

I don't understand the question. Please clarify.

What is your thesis or hypothesis?

What is your definition of 'photography'?

What is your definition of 'exist'?

What is your definition of 'possible'?
 
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No need to justify anything.

If you enjoy taking photos, if you enjoy loading and unloading film (or memory cards ;)), if you enjoy using cameras, if you enjoy setting the shutter speed, rotating the aperture, then tripping the shutter...
Just do it :)
 
jonmanjiro said:
No need to justify anything.

If you enjoy taking photos, if you enjoy loading and unloading film (or memory cards ;)), if you enjoy using cameras, if you enjoy setting the shutter speed, rotating the aperture, then tripping the shutter...
Just do it :)
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Agree !!!
I'd say that for a good number of people here. photography is more about the act then the results.
 
Why not?




(please ignore these accompanying characters to meet the forum software's requirement of minimum letters per post)
 
If I have understood you correctly, I would say yes (in the following context). Sometimes when I am feeling flat (jaded with the idea of street work) I make myself go out and work through it i.e. just 'do' photography. The pictures are usually there, it's just that I have off days/moments and get knocked off mental course.

Hope this helps
 
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Gumby said:
I don't understand the question. Please clarify.

What is your thesis or hypothesis?

What is your definition of 'photography'?

What is your definition of 'exist'?

What is your definition of 'possible'?
Click to expand...

This topic is more about reflecting on photography than a constricted philosophical discussion so people should just share what comes to their thoughts first by reading the question in the main thread.



But to answer some of your questions I was talking about still photography and my premise was quite simple. Should a photographer simply photograph for the sake of photographs or try to share a thought/feeling/experience/comment/opinion etc with others - humanity at large.

In other words, is it sustainable to photograph in a bubble of one's own existence and not try to share it with others and in the process make a contribution to the shared human experience? And is it possible for that form of photography for the sake of photography to "exist" if its not seen, experienced and perceived by other people.
 
ebino said:
This topic is more about reflecting on photography than a constricted philosophical discussion so people should just share what comes to their thoughts first by reading the question in the main thread.



But to answer some of your questions I was talking about still photography and my premise was quite simple. Should a photographer simply photograph for the sake of photographs or try to share a thought/feeling/experience/comment/opinion etc with others - humanity at large.

In other words, is it sustainable to photograph in a bubble of one's own existence and not try to share it with others and in the process make a contribution to the shared human experience? And is it possible for that form of photography for the sake of photography to "exist" if its not seen, experienced and perceived by other people.
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Ahhh, thanks... relective/philosophical musing... I can deal with that.

My answer is that both approaches to photography, image creations and image sharing, are valid goals and can co-exist happily as independent activities.
 
Like others, I cannot quite understand the question. Try the following regression, after what most of us would regard as 'photography'

1: I shoot pics and have them developed and printed but never show them to anyone

2: I shoot pics but do not process the pictures

3: I shoot but have no film in the camers

4: I simply remember what I look at, without taking pictures

5: I invent fantasies about what I think I saw/ what I wanted to see

Cheers,

R.
 
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jonmanjiro said:
No need to justify anything.

If you enjoy taking photos, if you enjoy loading and unloading film (or memory cards ;)), if you enjoy using cameras, if you enjoy setting the shutter speed, rotating the aperture, then tripping the shutter...
Just do it :)
Click to expand...

This sort of sums up my shooting with a Hasselblad, I tend to enjoy using it more than I enjoy looking at the photo's it takes. It is even better if I can use it without an audience. The one thing I dislike about the camera is that it draws people to it, who then want to talk to you.

Of course it doesn't hurt that I love the look of the photo's that I get out of it! :D
 
Winogrand took photos for the sake of photography. He said he took photos of people and things because he wanted to see what they looked like in a photo. That some of his photos (and he) became famous is incidental.
 
ebino;1437128 In other words said:
For all I've been able to find it appears http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/ Vivian Maier did just that for a good number of decades during which time she shot close to 100,000 frames of Medium format film, none of which she appeared to have shared with anyone and in fact if it wasn't for fate her work would have been lost for ever.
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