dcsang
Canadian & Not A Dentist
(I posted this on my blog....thought that maybe some may find it interesting here..and while I state wedding photographers.. it could be any photographers really...)
I’ve been pouring over old slides that my father has given me to scan.
These are old.
They predate autofocus cameras
They are photos of our family over the years.
Family vacations, family outings, family birthdays, family Christmases, family Thanksgivings, family births, and everything else you can imagine a family doing over time.
Each of the photos, if looked at in context of when it was taken, does not look so important or artistic or even, at times, properly composed or exposed. Such was the life of trying to use an all manual camera I guess.
As I began looking through these slides; and there are hundreds if not thousands of them I tell you, I noticed that, when put together these are very very very important photographs. I can only really relate to the images that I either photographed (my parents had eventually given me a fantastic little Kodak Instamatic 126 camera when I was a boy and I tell you, I loved that camera) or the images in which I was in or was present at when they were taken but each of these images, to me at least, suddenly had become such treasures. None of these could be replaced; none of them.
I saw images of myself and my mother and recalled how I grew up.
I saw myself at the age of nine at a birthday party with my friends and I can recall, to this day, the taste of the cake, the joy that was had and the innocence of being so young.
My grandmothers and grandfathers remain timeless and material in these photos. They are as they were and always shall be in my minds eye.
I can smell the summer air in the photos of an adventure out west in 1981.
I can feel the heat of the tropical climate as a toddler in 1966.
I see these photos and they are more than mere photos to me; they are my history brought to life. I no longer would just talk about where I am from, what I have done and where I am now; I can actually show people and help them see my life through my eyes and images.
So, why would we deem any photographs we currently take any “less” important to our clients when we photograph their wedding or event. We should be honoured to do what we have been asked to do.
The “rock stars” in the industry want to create “art” - that’s a great thing I think - it advances the status of the wedding and/or event photographer from “that guy with the camera” to “our photographer” . It helps people see the value in hiring photographers with talent over “Uncle Bob” who happens to own the latest/greatest DSLR because “Uncle Bob” happens to be a dentist and/or doctor and can afford said DSLR.
But, not every photograph is “art” nor should it be - there are many candid moments that occur during a wedding/event which are captured. The dreaded “table shots” that some photographers seem to hold in disdain; the “Oh.. photographer.. can we get a photo with the bride/groom/guests of honour??” photos, the “Can you take a picture of me and my baby?” photos; all of them are hardly “artistic” per se however they do offer that “happy snap” (as Stan from Downtown Camera would say) photograph that one can look back on with fondness.
These images, for our clients, can be equally important to those I mentioned at the beginning of this entry and no one, not even we, the “professionals” should tell our clients differently.
“Art” be damned; I would be happier if I gave my clients something that brought a tear to their eye because of a memory thanks to one of my images rather than something that was well exposed, composed and artistic.
That’s just the way I see it…
Cheers,
Dave
I’ve been pouring over old slides that my father has given me to scan.
These are old.
They predate autofocus cameras
They are photos of our family over the years.
Family vacations, family outings, family birthdays, family Christmases, family Thanksgivings, family births, and everything else you can imagine a family doing over time.
Each of the photos, if looked at in context of when it was taken, does not look so important or artistic or even, at times, properly composed or exposed. Such was the life of trying to use an all manual camera I guess.
As I began looking through these slides; and there are hundreds if not thousands of them I tell you, I noticed that, when put together these are very very very important photographs. I can only really relate to the images that I either photographed (my parents had eventually given me a fantastic little Kodak Instamatic 126 camera when I was a boy and I tell you, I loved that camera) or the images in which I was in or was present at when they were taken but each of these images, to me at least, suddenly had become such treasures. None of these could be replaced; none of them.
I saw images of myself and my mother and recalled how I grew up.
I saw myself at the age of nine at a birthday party with my friends and I can recall, to this day, the taste of the cake, the joy that was had and the innocence of being so young.
My grandmothers and grandfathers remain timeless and material in these photos. They are as they were and always shall be in my minds eye.
I can smell the summer air in the photos of an adventure out west in 1981.
I can feel the heat of the tropical climate as a toddler in 1966.
I see these photos and they are more than mere photos to me; they are my history brought to life. I no longer would just talk about where I am from, what I have done and where I am now; I can actually show people and help them see my life through my eyes and images.
So, why would we deem any photographs we currently take any “less” important to our clients when we photograph their wedding or event. We should be honoured to do what we have been asked to do.
The “rock stars” in the industry want to create “art” - that’s a great thing I think - it advances the status of the wedding and/or event photographer from “that guy with the camera” to “our photographer” . It helps people see the value in hiring photographers with talent over “Uncle Bob” who happens to own the latest/greatest DSLR because “Uncle Bob” happens to be a dentist and/or doctor and can afford said DSLR.
But, not every photograph is “art” nor should it be - there are many candid moments that occur during a wedding/event which are captured. The dreaded “table shots” that some photographers seem to hold in disdain; the “Oh.. photographer.. can we get a photo with the bride/groom/guests of honour??” photos, the “Can you take a picture of me and my baby?” photos; all of them are hardly “artistic” per se however they do offer that “happy snap” (as Stan from Downtown Camera would say) photograph that one can look back on with fondness.
These images, for our clients, can be equally important to those I mentioned at the beginning of this entry and no one, not even we, the “professionals” should tell our clients differently.
“Art” be damned; I would be happier if I gave my clients something that brought a tear to their eye because of a memory thanks to one of my images rather than something that was well exposed, composed and artistic.
That’s just the way I see it…
Cheers,
Dave
Nh3
Well-known
A wedding photographer works for the bride and I'll rather work in a coal mine while suffering from asthma than work for a bride during her wedding!
dcsang
Canadian & Not A Dentist
It was your thread that made me post this here
I'll post a shot over there shortly
Cheers,
Dave
MickH
Well-known
Dave, your post has brought a tear to my eye. I have access to three or four photo albums of shots taken by my folks and their folks in turn which document a family history from around the early 1910's up until the 1980's. My wife has a carrier bag full of the same sort of stuff. We are both lucky, as is our daughter who has this archive to take forward.
I had hundreds of snaps taken between the 1980's up to around Y2K of my "first family" the first Mrs H & our daughter taken on a range of kit - from a kodak 110 to a pukka 35mm SLR. We split. My older daughter has moved on & I am no longer in touch with either of them (50% of which is a good thing, but the other half is a tragedy). I have no photographs of that period as they all disappeared with the dissolution of the family & household. I have no idea if they still exist. I'd give up photography today if I could get my hands on those pix again.
I had hundreds of snaps taken between the 1980's up to around Y2K of my "first family" the first Mrs H & our daughter taken on a range of kit - from a kodak 110 to a pukka 35mm SLR. We split. My older daughter has moved on & I am no longer in touch with either of them (50% of which is a good thing, but the other half is a tragedy). I have no photographs of that period as they all disappeared with the dissolution of the family & household. I have no idea if they still exist. I'd give up photography today if I could get my hands on those pix again.
dcsang
Canadian & Not A Dentist
Mick..
That's really heartfelt - thanks for sharing that - not everyone can (or does) do that here but it's appreciated.
It really makes us realize just how much of our lives are recorded... the good.. the bad.. and the ugly.. and in the end.. we don't care how "bad" or "ugly" it gets I think.. we want it.. because, well, after all's said and done, it's ours isn't it???
Cheers,
Dave
That's really heartfelt - thanks for sharing that - not everyone can (or does) do that here but it's appreciated.
It really makes us realize just how much of our lives are recorded... the good.. the bad.. and the ugly.. and in the end.. we don't care how "bad" or "ugly" it gets I think.. we want it.. because, well, after all's said and done, it's ours isn't it???
Cheers,
Dave
Haigh
Gary Haigh
Happy snapper
Happy snapper
I don't know if this is relevant but I snapped a whopole lot of shots for a wedding, some of them with a Hasselblad until the shutter in the lens jammed open and grossly over exposed the negatives. I had done a whole lot of shots with the Leica and the couple love them. The one she really loved was an almost unprintable shot from the 'blad. The point? I'm no wedding photographer really and what people like is a never ending surprise to this photographer. One relevant point: while reading the Happy snapper it occurred to me to mention Roland Barthes "Camera Lucida" where he explores the power of photography; in this case one of his deceased mother.
Regards to all,
Gary Haigh
Happy snapper
I don't know if this is relevant but I snapped a whopole lot of shots for a wedding, some of them with a Hasselblad until the shutter in the lens jammed open and grossly over exposed the negatives. I had done a whole lot of shots with the Leica and the couple love them. The one she really loved was an almost unprintable shot from the 'blad. The point? I'm no wedding photographer really and what people like is a never ending surprise to this photographer. One relevant point: while reading the Happy snapper it occurred to me to mention Roland Barthes "Camera Lucida" where he explores the power of photography; in this case one of his deceased mother.
Regards to all,
Gary Haigh