What makes a photographer serious about photography?

[Richard G]

What makes a photographer serious about photography? Mutliple meanings to this question. For me it was deciding to have less rubbish photographs. And the cost of the Fuji Velvia roll I took on my annual holidays in 2008. And the broken ribs on that trip that had me up early to focus my mind on the task of exposing some of that roll and coming back from a walk by the ocean with a few keepers. I told myself: look at your framing and during and especially before, ask yourself is that even a photograph worth taking at all. So a dissatisfaction and a decision were at the heart of it.

And then you are immersed, and take more photographs and look more keenly at ordinary things. And you look at more photographs by others. And you refine your vision and what you want to achieve in taking photographs. And you learn more to achieve certain effects and you keep reading and learning more.

How to pick it in another person:

They don't just have Leicas.
They have an M2 and an OM2n, not an M3 and an OM4Ti.
They have old film cameras given to them.
They have at least one 55mm lens for 135 format.
They have camera manuals on their hard drive for cameras they don't own.
They own one Rolleiflex at least.
They never did buy the Hasselblad they've coveted for decades.

There's more of course.

 

[telenous]

A credible statistic I read somewhere indicated that most serious photographers prefer taking photos over reading comics. I don't know anything about all the other stuff mentioned here but they read suspiciously like some people have too much time in their hands for frolicking.





😀


.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A credible statistic I read somewhere indicated that most serious photographers prefer taking photos over reading comics. I don't know anything about all the other stuff mentioned here but they read suspiciously like some people have too much time in their hands for frolicking.
😀

Very cool!

 

[pyeh]

RichardG, it's uncanny how you keep describing me.

 

[lukitas]

Serious photographers do not smile.

cheers

 

[Roger Hicks]

Every year I go to the Rencontres at Arles. Every year, there, I meet hundreds of people who are serious about photography. Not just photographers, but curators, gallery owners, publishers... Some are amateurs. Some are professionals. Many, like Chris and myself, derive some of their income from activities related to their photography, especially teaching or writing.

Some are better than others. Some can't afford the time or the money to get there every year (I live only 500 miles from Arles). But they're all pretty damn' serious.

And I'll tell you this. We almost never discuss cameras. They're just not that relevant. The only way it normally comes up is if someone comments on the fact I'm carrying a Leica, but Leicas are sufficiently common cameras at Arles that they don't really warrant much comment.

Inverted snobs will now start whining about how Arles (like Leicas) is the preserve of the idle rich. Well, not exactly. Our room costs 42€ a night (call it $45) and we live mostly on sandwiches. Many spend even less than we do, including camping instead of staying in an hotel. It's the nearest we have to an annual holiday; this year we spent around $1000 in getting there, staying there and eating there. That's for two people, remember.

Two photographers, in fact. Frances is known as one of the best hand colourists there is; you can see her latest series at http://rogerandfrances.eu/galleries/cars-as-ruins . At Arles, she sold one of the pictures straight out of her portfolio, even though we weren't exhibiting.

THIS is the sort of thing I mean when I say "serious about photography". It doesn't even matter how good you are: you can be utterly obsessed with photography, and bloody useless at it. But if you are serious, you don't say terminally stupid things like "It's the photographer that matters, not the camera." That's either a statement of the bleedin' obvious, in which case it's stupid, or it's a flat lie. Yes, it's a common stunt for a good photographer to show what they can do with a snapshot camera. But have you ever wondered why instead of using snapshot cameras all the time, most return to their preferred tools? It's because cameras do matter: you want the right camera for the right job.

This may be almost anything. A big advantage for a Leica for me is that if I'm walking 10-15 miles a day in the heat of Arles (maxima of around 90 degrees for most of the time we were there), carrying a camera all the time, then a small, light camera offers significant advantages over a big, heavy one.

Finally, it's pure nonsense to say that professionals can't afford high-end cameras. In most professional work, they're obligatory. But it's irrelevant to being serious about photography, just as is the distinction between amateur and professional. Professionals pretty much have to be serious. Amateurs have the choice. The ones who annoy me are the ones who don't really know what "serious" means; who've never even aspired to an exhibition or publication; who can't even be arsed to create a website; and yet who think they're "serious" because they post on forums like this.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Brian Atherton]

Since the middle years of my schooling photography has been my abiding love and passion, and a constant in my creative output.

Professionally I worked in advertising photography for thirty years, in a studio and darkroom, using formats from 35mm to 20x16 inch.

Over the years, I’ve been asked to lecture to my amateur photography club in the 80s, had one article published – Kunst und Stein 5/87 – and one amateur exhibition, which reinforces my opinion that in my personal work I’m an amateur.

 

[willie_901]

One word... marketing.

 

[mcfingon]

Serious photography is an addiction, like you're on intravenous D76.

 

[emraphoto]

Its the photographer that matters, not the camera

 

[unixrevolution]

You are serious about photography if you think you are.

All else is elitism, exclusionism, judgement and claptrap.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Since the middle years of my schooling photography has been my abiding love and passion, and a constant in my creative output.

Professionally I worked in advertising photography for thirty years, in a studio and darkroom, using formats from 35mm to 20x16 inch.

Over the years, I’ve been asked to lecture to my amateur photography club in the 80s, had one article published – Kunst und Stein 5/87 – and one amateur exhibition, which reinforces my opinion that in my personal work I’m an amateur.

Dear Brian,

Quite. I've never quite understood attempts to distinguish between amateur and professional. The key word is "serious".

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Its the photographer that matters, not the camera

Then why don't all photographers use Box Brownies? There must surely be some reason other than elitism, snobbism, etc.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

You are serious about photography if you think you are.

All else is elitism, exclusionism, judgement and claptrap.

Or possibly self-delusion. "Serious" requires a degree of commitment that some apparently fail to understand.

Cheers,

R.

 

[michaelwj]

The more I think about this and read others replies I wonder;

"Can one be serious about photography while not taking it seriously?"

I suppose it depends a lot on definitions, but in my case I know what I like to take photos of, I know my strengths and weaknesses, I know where I would like to improve, I enjoy looking at photos and reading about photography. Yet when I'm out taking photos I have fun and am not at all serious; if I miss a shot who cares, if I leave the lens cap on then so what, if a photo doesn't turn out how I hoped then I don't worry about it only think about what I could have done differently (not that I'd remember to do it next time anyway).

I'm comfortable with my skill level and just enjoy it. Am I "serious about photography"?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Serious photography is an addiction, like you're on intravenous D76.

Beautiful!

But depressingly many people keep their entire lives at arm's length: relationships, understanding, commitment...

They live in what Gibran called "the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not with all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears."

Cheers,

R.

 

[David Hughes]

Dear Brian,

Quite. I've never quite understood attempts to distinguish between amateur and professional. The key word is "serious".

Cheers,

R.

Hmmm, I'd use the word about cameras and it applies to P&S's as well as the SLR's and CRF's and so on.

Regards, David

 

[Roger Hicks]

A well known artist once summed it up this way to me at a party, "only a one man show at the Whitney Museum really counts."

Serious? Not a relevant concept in making art. I read thousands of reviews a year, I have never seen the line "the artist is serious."

True. But this is a one-way argument. Most photographers whose work is reviewed are, pretty much by definition, serious. They've made some effort. There's no need for the reviewer to remark upon it.

Those whose work is never even seen may or may not be serious. Those who bluster on internet forums, without ever providing evidence that they take pictures, probably aren't. They may not even understand what "serious" means.

Really, "serious" is a relevant concept in making art. Until you make the art (be it good or bad), you're not serious: you're just bloviating.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Hmmm, I'd use the word about cameras and it applies to P&S's as well as the SLR's and CRF's and so on.

Regards, David

Dear David,

This is not inconsistent with a word I've said.

Cheers,

R.

 

[nongfuspring]

I agree with photomoof in that "seriousness" is not necessarily relevant to art. There are artists/photographers that build careers out of being flippant, IMO some of the best artists I know often treat their work as a sort of trivial game, sometimes they were making art because it wasn't a serious thing to do. Not that being serious is also not often desirable, because it is often goes hand in hand with discipline, criticality, determination, professionalism and so on, but seriousness can just as easily be the enemy of creativity as well - to care too much, to be too serious, is often crippling.

An article in parallel:
http://momus.ca/how-to-be-an-unprofessional-artist/

I often wish I cared less and were less serious, I would probably get more and better work done.