Mountain

Ste Manns

Ste Manns

Messages
1,348
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all,

Just caught a re-run of Mountain with Griff Rhys Jones, the Lake District one.

There was a photographer on there, he's up this mountain talking about his photography and how "most photographers just do photography for photography's sake, and just produce calender type shots of places and how they don't do the landscape justice" etc. He said he wants to capture the landscape as it really is, and create more than just a pretty picture, how he likes to show it in its true reality.

Well, that's all very good I suppose. But then he proceeds to pack his equipment up again having sat there for hours waiting for the clouds to disappear. His parting comment being "that's the Lake District for you".

Erm, what happened to showing the landscape as it actually is? Surely if that's what he wants he should be finding that picture that shows the lakes as they are, and not waiting for the very brief moment when the light is just right, and the clouds are gone? It struck me as being a teensy bit hypocritical :thinking:

Or was it just me? This isn't a rant by the way, I've probably got the wrong end of the stick :D
 
What was his name? I'd like to see his work before I decide whether or not he's talking out of his rear entry or not.
 
I'm afraid I missed the guys name, I saw some of his shots briefly and they were good, that wasn't the issue, its the way he was putting other photographers down for doing something he then did himself that narked me! If he wanted to show the lakes how they really are, most of the time, why does he have to wait for hours and hours on end for the perfect light? And what marks him out as superior to all the rest of us?

When we all wait for the perfect light and the clouds to part, what we then capture is beautiful, but it's not the full picture and this guy was doing exactly the same thing.

It just struck me as being hypocritical and slightly off.
 
Photographer spouts pretentious, hypocritical ball-cocks shocker!:naughty::D
 
TBH nearly all photographers I've seen on TV are total arsewipes anyway, I'd have more enjoyment looking through the TP gallery than look at some generic blue sky crap from some douche
 
He has an odd website, but some interesting experiences over his life, maybe you are just being a little harsh on the guy - it was just a comment...
 
Ste Manns said:
Hi all,

Just caught a re-run of Mountain with Griff Rhys Jones, the Lake District one.

There was a photographer on there, he's up this mountain talking about his photography and how "most photographers just do photography for photography's sake, and just produce calender type shots of places and how they don't do the landscape justice" etc. He said he wants to capture the landscape as it really is, and create more than just a pretty picture, how he likes to show it in its true reality.

Well, that's all very good I suppose. But then he proceeds to pack his equipment up again having sat there for hours waiting for the clouds to disappear. His parting comment being "that's the Lake District for you".

Erm, what happened to showing the landscape as it actually is? Surely if that's what he wants he should be finding that picture that shows the lakes as they are, and not waiting for the very brief moment when the light is just right, and the clouds are gone? It struck me as being a teensy bit hypocritical :thinking:

Or was it just me? This isn't a rant by the way, I've probably got the wrong end of the stick :D
Click to expand...

You may not have got the wrong end of the stick....

I suppose we'd all like to think we've got that extra "je ne sais quoi" which sets us apart from all the rest. Perhaps we've even got a mate in publishing who'd actually said so for us, but in reality, very few of us actually have it.
 
Rob.Richards said:
He has an odd website, but some interesting experiences over his life, maybe you are just being a little harsh on the guy - it was just a comment...
Click to expand...


I wasn't 'attacking' the guy - I did like his work, what was flashed up on screen briefly, what I took exception to was his dillusional belief he was better than all the rest, and he did things differently to all others, when in actual fact all he does is what everyone else does. I saw nothing whatsoever that marked him out above all others, that's regardless of how interesting his life has been to date. :shrug:
 
To be honest, you could apply that argument to 99% of so-called great landscape photographers. A large part of what makes them 'great' is the fact that they tell people they are.
 
If it was Gordon Stainforth - I have his book of pics of the Cuillin mountains on Skye and it's superb imo. He also posts on ukclimbing forums and was very helpful in offering climbing route advice etc when I was asking on there.

:)
 
Ste Manns said:
I wasn't 'attacking' the guy - I did like his work, what was flashed up on screen briefly, what I took exception to was his dillusional belief he was better than all the rest, and he did things differently to all others, when in actual fact all he does is what everyone else does. I saw nothing whatsoever that marked him out above all others, that's regardless of how interesting his life has been to date. :shrug:
Click to expand...

maybe he was asked to set up for the programme and be interviewed and then had a day job to go to, so he had to leave and go to the real world.

Every person does photography differently i use tripod every shot, i dont do hand held, that is my style, i research the time i need to be there, so must agree with the bloke.

but also understand your annoyance that he is above the rest, but some photographers do stand out above the rest, but some just dont shout about it.
 
another way to look at it is the way the program was edited down, you can hardly get an impression of someone in just a few minutes of air time...

can you?
 
I don't doubt his work is superb - it looked very good, what I saw. It's just the comments he made about all us other photographers not "doing it right" that got under my skin. There's nothing wrong with bigging yourself up, and I don't blame the guy for taking the opportunity to do a bit of that whilst on telly, I'd have done the same! But I wouldn't say nobody else does what I do, and then do what everyone else does...:thinking: It's that that narked me. In reality he's probably a great photographer, a great guy and probably very helpful normally, but in that interview he came across as very arrogant and positively hypocritical.
 
Ste Manns said:
I don't doubt his work is superb - it looked very good, what I saw. It's just the comments he made about all us other photographers not "doing it right" that got under my skin. There's nothing wrong with bigging yourself up, and I don't blame the guy for taking the opportunity to do a bit of that whilst on telly, I'd have done the same! But I wouldn't say nobody else does what I do, and then do what everyone else does...:thinking: It's that that narked me. In reality he's probably a great photographer, a great guy and probably very helpful normally, but in that interview he came across as very arrogant and positively hypocritical.
Click to expand...

I've looked at his website and personally I don't think his work is that great at all, although you have to hand it to him, he does get up into the mountains with all his gear. I have to say that I couldn't quite understand it when his first book came out to rave reviews.

There are some truly exceptional photographers out there, whose work is recognised for what it is. On the other hand there are some who, on the quality of their work, don't deserve the recognition they have been given, and it sounds like GS actually believes his own hype.

He sounds an interesting and talented guy though and you can't really argue with a first class degree. It looks like he's quite well known within the meeja which might account for the reviews he gets and his appearance with Griff Rees Jones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top