Sometimes line, form, color, and texture are more important than any specific object in the photograph. The art of zen, some people call it. You feel something. You sense something. The subject itself may not be all that photogenic. Famous nature photographer Eliot Porter was the absolute master of recording images of natural arrangements that would ordinarily be missed by those looking for conventional subjects. He knew that there was a natural order amidst the chaos of what our eyes actually see in their entirety. He knew that the screening process of our brain acts like an automated filter that causes us to ignore ninety percent of what the eye really takes in. The mind is very prejudiced in this process and just like the algorithm in a Flickr group that just “rejected” your killer photo of an old sign because it didn’t fit a preconceived pattern, we stumble around like blind men unable to “see” much of what is actually out there. As photographers we have to train ourselves to turn off the filters and to really begin to see. This is why progressive jazz musicians for years before it was even popular used pot as an aid to going with the flow and not being mechanical. Yes, you are more mechanical than you think. You might have even dismissed this example image without really seeing it for what it is. Study the work of Eliot Porter for far better illustrations of what I’m talking about. It will open up a whole new world for you. Cheers.
Posted by lick creek hillbilly on 2021-10-06 10:29:47
Tagged:
Leave a Reply