Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
I’ll just say that the best advice I was given when I was getting into photography was to read the Kodak book “How To Take Good Pictures”. So, that would be my advice to any newbie interested in improving their photography. Educate yourself on the basics first and then go wild with creativity.
Okay, wait a minute… what am I thinking? Most of the young people I’ve met in the last 10 years have no interest in photography with anything other than a smartphone. Furthermore, none of them want a mentor. Their mantra is that anything they want or need to know can be found on youtube.
If anyone finds a young person actually interested in what you have to say about photography you are in a unique situation. I’d be suspicious! They probably want to make you so thrilled that your knowledge is so valuable to them that you’d give them one of your old cameras out of appreciation. They’d smile and say how much they appreciate your generosity and the next day post your damn camera up on eBay to make a quick buck.
Well, I’m sorry about the negativity but that’s my experience with most young people I’ve had the pleasure to meet lately.
Enjoy what you have, don't worry about the young, they'll be fine
All the best,
Mike
Okay, wait a minute… what am I thinking? Most of the young people I’ve met in the last 10 years have no interest in photography with anything other than a smartphone. Furthermore, none of them want a mentor. Their mantra is that anything they want or need to know can be found on youtube.
If anyone finds a young person actually interested in what you have to say about photography you are in a unique situation. I’d be suspicious! They probably want to make you so thrilled that your knowledge is so valuable to them that you’d give them one of your old cameras out of appreciation. They’d smile and say how much they appreciate your generosity and the next day post your damn camera up on eBay to make a quick buck.
Well, I’m sorry about the negativity but that’s my experience with most young people I’ve had the pleasure to meet lately.
Enjoy what you have, don't worry about the young, they'll be fine
All the best,
Mike
RichC
Well-known
I'll say something from my angle - which may annoy or be derided, but may also perhaps be of interest! I normally just tell people I'm a photographer or an artist, but when talking to someone in the contemporary art world, I call myself a photographic artist - and it's the latter audience that my photographs need to engage. So, to answer the OP's question, "What would you say to a photographer who asks you what your approach is to making your own unique images?", if they were interested in contemporary art photography...
Contemporary art and art theory are flip sides of the same coin. For better or worse, to be taken seriously as an artist by the today's art world, by contemporary galleries and critics, you need to know about art theory, and be able to write and talk about art - including your own photographs - from that perspective. You don't need a degree in fine art to be an artist, but it helps.
There are plenty of jokes about "art speak" but that's how language is used by scholars of art worldwide. Blame the French: modern art theory is heavily influenced by French philosophers, and the French prefer their philosophy obscure!
Writing and talking about your photography in this way requires thoughtful use of language. Despite the seeming jargon (and too many poor examples), it needs to be clear and concise to those familiar with art theory: as with all writing, keep the writing straightforward and to the point (though the point itself may be complex!); and definitely do not use obscure words for any reason other than to make your meaning clear. Mistakes I commonly see are "dressing up" something self-evident, lack of meaning, and being redundant. A word like "ontological" is entirely reasonable to use because otherwise you'd need a long sentence in its stead, but "radically question" - well, surely all questioning is radical?
Artists' statements typically have multiple audiences, so the language needs to cater to them all, for those who live for art theory and those who scoff at it.
Mine explains my approach to photography, answering the OP's question:
"Rich Cutler is a photographic artist fascinated by time and symbolism, and fractures and commonalities between the historical and the present, and tensions between the sciences and the arts. His cardinal subjects are technology and the environment. What draws him to science lies also at the heart of his fascination with art: their common drive to explore and understand ourselves and the world."
I could embellish this, for example "Rich Cutler is a photographic artist compelled by constructions of time and semiotics...", but "compel" appears to be pointless "arts peak" (use a simpler word) and "semiotics" is a fine word but not essential here.
Contemporary art and art theory are flip sides of the same coin. For better or worse, to be taken seriously as an artist by the today's art world, by contemporary galleries and critics, you need to know about art theory, and be able to write and talk about art - including your own photographs - from that perspective. You don't need a degree in fine art to be an artist, but it helps.
There are plenty of jokes about "art speak" but that's how language is used by scholars of art worldwide. Blame the French: modern art theory is heavily influenced by French philosophers, and the French prefer their philosophy obscure!
Writing and talking about your photography in this way requires thoughtful use of language. Despite the seeming jargon (and too many poor examples), it needs to be clear and concise to those familiar with art theory: as with all writing, keep the writing straightforward and to the point (though the point itself may be complex!); and definitely do not use obscure words for any reason other than to make your meaning clear. Mistakes I commonly see are "dressing up" something self-evident, lack of meaning, and being redundant. A word like "ontological" is entirely reasonable to use because otherwise you'd need a long sentence in its stead, but "radically question" - well, surely all questioning is radical?
Artists' statements typically have multiple audiences, so the language needs to cater to them all, for those who live for art theory and those who scoff at it.
Mine explains my approach to photography, answering the OP's question:
"Rich Cutler is a photographic artist fascinated by time and symbolism, and fractures and commonalities between the historical and the present, and tensions between the sciences and the arts. His cardinal subjects are technology and the environment. What draws him to science lies also at the heart of his fascination with art: their common drive to explore and understand ourselves and the world."
I could embellish this, for example "Rich Cutler is a photographic artist compelled by constructions of time and semiotics...", but "compel" appears to be pointless "arts peak" (use a simpler word) and "semiotics" is a fine word but not essential here.
Ste_S
Well-known
The only two that matter
Take photos of stuff that interests you.
Take a lot of photos. Then take some more.
Take photos of stuff that interests you.
Take a lot of photos. Then take some more.
Benjamin Marks
Veteran
I think it is really hard to give advice about a field if you aren't in it on a daily basis. I guess I would talk to as many working pros as you can and try to understand how they make a living, who their clients are, what kind of work pays the rent. I mean, one case it may be photographing socks for a catalogue, in another it may mean booking weddings or events at least 30 weeks a year. Then ask yourself whether that, or some version of that, is the life you want.
And by the way, my advice would be the same whether you insert "photographer," "cop," "lawyer," "bricklayer," or "orthodontist" into the equation. Most of use will spend more time working than we will with our significant others, friends, children, or sleeping. And given how important most of us think those other categories are, we'd better find our work damn interesting and rewarding.
In my case, I spent around three years with photography as my primary source of income. But I found the lifestyle too hand-to-mouth. And I found that producing photographs on a deadline sapped most of the enjoyment out of the process for me. So for the past 30 years I have made pictures for my own delight and made money in more practical ways. And that has made all the difference.
And by the way, my advice would be the same whether you insert "photographer," "cop," "lawyer," "bricklayer," or "orthodontist" into the equation. Most of use will spend more time working than we will with our significant others, friends, children, or sleeping. And given how important most of us think those other categories are, we'd better find our work damn interesting and rewarding.
In my case, I spent around three years with photography as my primary source of income. But I found the lifestyle too hand-to-mouth. And I found that producing photographs on a deadline sapped most of the enjoyment out of the process for me. So for the past 30 years I have made pictures for my own delight and made money in more practical ways. And that has made all the difference.
This sounds like a recipe for a “young” person to get discouraged. Basically you are asking them to find their personal, unique style from the beginning and if they can’t, don’t take photos. Nobody gets good (let alone great) at photography by not photographing.
Damaso
Photojournalist
What you enjoy about photography. What subjects interest you and why?
For me these are the essential starting questions...
For me these are the essential starting questions...
Ricoh
Well-known
Don’t buy too many cameras. ��
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Wait till we all go to the big darkroom in the sky and buy our cameras dirt cheap as they flood the market
CharlesDAMorgan
Veteran
That's no fun!
MrFujicaman
Well-known
Never do work for someone who says they can't pay you, but will give you "exposure".
Bob Michaels
nobody special
I have this situation with a step daughter. Being Cuban, she has had more exposure to art than most both in real life experience and education. Plus her mother is a poet and writer.
I encourage her to photograph letting her decide to shoot stills or video. I let her choose subjects and timing. I also encourage her drawing and painting by furnishing her with colored pencils, paint, brushes, and paper. She is developing her own interest for subject matter and her own eye for composition. She also makes up stories in her head, often strange variations combining children's stories and real life experiences. She is just beginning to merge her photography with her imaginary stories.
Most importantly, there is nothing that could ever been construed as a negative, only encouragement to pursue her own path. She experiments on her own, learns herself in her own manner. She asks few questions as she is strong willed as her mother is and has to learn on her own. I just let her run where she wants to go.
No questions or concerns about equipment. She photographs and videos with a cell phone. Never a suggestion that she needs a "real camera". She can't tell you a thing about f-stops or shutter speeds. She is just happy developing her own artistic concepts.
There will never come a day when her enjoyment and personal exploration tapers and she begins to suffer learning about technical details and/or constraints. Her mother had books of her poetry published before she started university in her early 30's. So her daughter will hopefully be the same with her 2D art.
I encourage her to photograph letting her decide to shoot stills or video. I let her choose subjects and timing. I also encourage her drawing and painting by furnishing her with colored pencils, paint, brushes, and paper. She is developing her own interest for subject matter and her own eye for composition. She also makes up stories in her head, often strange variations combining children's stories and real life experiences. She is just beginning to merge her photography with her imaginary stories.
Most importantly, there is nothing that could ever been construed as a negative, only encouragement to pursue her own path. She experiments on her own, learns herself in her own manner. She asks few questions as she is strong willed as her mother is and has to learn on her own. I just let her run where she wants to go.
No questions or concerns about equipment. She photographs and videos with a cell phone. Never a suggestion that she needs a "real camera". She can't tell you a thing about f-stops or shutter speeds. She is just happy developing her own artistic concepts.
There will never come a day when her enjoyment and personal exploration tapers and she begins to suffer learning about technical details and/or constraints. Her mother had books of her poetry published before she started university in her early 30's. So her daughter will hopefully be the same with her 2D art.
benlees
Well-known
I agree. The history of photography is short but vast. Pretty much every kind of image has already been made. Style and originality (which aren't actually necessary) come later, much later, if at all. Photography is merely a conduit for getting out there and exploring your ideas and your surroundings (which may be a studio, your backyard, or the top of a glacier). The first step is just doing it. A lot!
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
Like everything else you want to learn - immerse yourself in it and very often.
Orthogonal
Established
I feel there's a genre of unsolicited advice column directed towards a non-present audience of younger people that inhabits forums. In these threads what is new in photography is pejoratively described as superficial and temporary (fads, etc.), and these threads are invariably started by retired men with rarely (if at all) mentioned supporting qualification as credible photographers. The posts in said thread are made up almost entirely of tedious truisms with a pepperings of mentions of "the greats" and of out of touch faux pas.
I'm a bit puzzled as to what budding photography school student in the time of Tiktok and Snapchat one expects to open a gear head forum, trawl through dusty advice from total strangers, and actually take any of it to heart. To me a far more useful thread would be one talking about what can we learn from the latest developments in contemporary photography. I'm no longer young, the most actionable advice I've gotten is from people younger because they're more in touch with the present than I am.
My advice to the young would be to not listen to us.
Charlie Lemay
Well-known
I taught photography to young people for 20 years with that as my guiding principle. I was hugely successful. It’s not about style, it’s about actually seeing what you are looking at, instead of what others have told to expect to see. Anything can be the subject of a photograph when you see it as only you can. Nobody usually asks for this from beginners, but if you trust enough to ask for it, they will endlessly surprise you with their unique personal vision. Documentation, imitation and voyeurism, that pervade photography today, misses this potential entirely.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Go out, shoot a lot. Take a community college fine art drawing or paiting class. Fail doing something you like. Do it over and over again. Don't hide from life behind a camera, make sure to be a participant in life as well. Feel. Change careers when you don't love what you're doing, if you have the ability to do so. If you don't, find some light where you are and shoot it from the shadow side (shadow side: Ted Grant, RIP).
Photography is just part of the journey, not a means to an end, and not an end in itself.
Phil Forrest
Photography is just part of the journey, not a means to an end, and not an end in itself.
Phil Forrest
jawarden
Well-known
You're puzzled because the OP isn't suggesting anything of the sort. The OP never mentioned photography school, or forums, or trawling, or strangers, that was you. The question was simply: "What would you say to a photographer who asks you what your approach is to making your own unique images?"
I think it's safe to assume the young person has seen your work and wants your advice.
D
Deleted member 65559
Guest
Well said..... I was going to say, I wouldn't necessarily give any advice. But i Ricoh's statement got me thinking. I think i'd say "Be inspired by photography, not shiny gear."
Charlie, I think you are saying something different though. I'm saying that they should go out and photograph. I took his advice to be the opposite. Of course, something unique CAN come from someone beginning, but there is nothing wrong with doing the cliches in order to get past them. There is no one size fits all solution to this, but telling someone to "Don’t make the images we’ve all seen before" when they first start is a terrible position to put someone in... it's a huge burden in my opinion. Most people have an idea what they think photography is, and that is not usually a good thing, but most people do not learn the history of photography before taking their first photo either. Passion leads you to search beyond the cliches.
LCSmith
Well-known
What advice would I give a young photographer?
Stay young.
Learn the rules before you break them.
Don't make photographs for photographers. Make photographs for everyone BUT photographers. Trust me, the photographers will be impressed.
Stay young.
Learn the rules before you break them.
Don't make photographs for photographers. Make photographs for everyone BUT photographers. Trust me, the photographers will be impressed.