W/NW Photos of Nothing Special

OK this should qualify as a very ordinary casual snap:

U11787I1499435029.SEQ.0.jpg
 
Belgian Railway Stations

Belgian Railway Stations

U776I1499511057.SEQ.0.jpg

Bruges Railway Station

U776I1499511058.SEQ.1.jpg

Mouscron Railway Station

U776I1499511141.SEQ.1.jpg

Kortrijk Railway Station

U776I1499511141.SEQ.0.jpg

Kortrijk Railway Station
 
I have yet to find a really "meh" shot in that thread, because there is an intent somewhere in all these pictures. That's the problem.
What's more, in the 1980's, the artist Akasegawa Genpei even wrote a book about how urban "nothing special-ness" can become special if you look at it that way. He called it hyperart.
I believe that there is a way however. a) Drink a little bit too much so as to forget as soon as possible why you were taking a shot. b) Have your camera shoot accidentally at hyperfocal (a blurry picture doesn't count!). c) Or even better, have someone with no real interest in photography shoot something relevant with a wide angle lens. The relevant something will be there for sure, but it will be so well buried in the picture that it will be the closest it can be to nonexistant.

Case A


Case B


Case C
 
I have yet to find a really "meh" shot in that thread, because there is an intent somewhere in all these pictures. That's the problem.

I don't think it is a problem. 'Nothing Special' refers to the subject matter rather than the photography.
 
I have yet to find a really "meh" shot in that thread, because there is an intent somewhere in all these pictures. That's the problem.



I don't think it is a problem. 'Nothing Special' refers to the subject matter rather than the photography.

Yes I think that comment does apply. After reviewing all the comments so far, I think the ideas that come the closest to expressing what I had in mind are "Surfaces" (not necessarily American); "Ordinary"; or, "It is what it is, don't ask." There is a quality of "Here is someplace you have probably never been, not that you would want to go there just to look at this." Some of the shots I posted are like that. And some of my shots have not been well chosen for the category, being a little too 'nice" to fit. I will try to select better examples. Here's one:

U11787I1498895288.SEQ.3.jpg


Most of them should be nothing you'd want to hang on the wall.
 
Back
Top Bottom