what is photography to you?

jamiebonline

jamiebonline

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Jamie
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Not sure this is the right category for this but it certainly enters into the philosophical. We talk a lot about gear and processes. On the technicalities but I am interested in another question... Why photography? Why not another art form? Assuming you are doing it more for artistic reasons rather than only to make money (of course they can overlap). I have a background in music and have noticed I am not the only one who transitioned to photography from music. Seems kind of curious.

I have often thought about the question and don't have anything Earth-shattering to say except that I do seek beauty and I prefer portraiture because of the beauty of people. Dare I say, of women in particular. How light and form interact in this respect. But a close second is the moment. People really ''make moments''. It is unpredictable. I like the chance of it. Something shared with street photography.

Then after that there is the sense I have as an artist that I want a body of work and to advance in something. This then leads to the gear. They can be like toys in some way. I enjoy trying them and the exploration. .

Your thoughts are very welcomed
 
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It's a…
toolbox, a toy box, a word box…
a box of ideas, of ingenuity, of problem solving…
a colour palette…
a list of challenges…
a grid of tones, contrasts, and all the other goodies…
It's my "keep-me-alive-consuming-experience-driving-force-making-a-living-and-contemplative-approach-to the-world" passion… ouf!
 
I'm not trying to change the world. Photography, to me, is relaxing and satisfying.
 
For me...
It's art.
It's also way of recording things.
It's a Zen like thing.
It's a gear techy thing.
All of the above.
:D

Before I held a camera I used to draw and later came paint and ink and chalk and pottery and jewellery and poems, stories and songs and everything else.

Maybe photography is just easier, in the sense of taking less time.
 
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It's a means of communication I enjoy experimenting with. Why photography? Because I realised I found the technical requirements ridiculously easy and intuitive, so it became the medium I can utilise without any worries about technical things getting in the way. If I found I had a great facility with painting I'd just as likely use that as well.
 
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I like the technology and I like the creativity. I like that I can self-express if I want to, but I'd generally prefer people to think "that's wonderful" - to make the world a better place, rather than one that just thinks more intensively. It's very much like making music, as you say. I guess I try not to create art.
 
Photography for me is about doing something I enjoy, learning from others and then trying to pass it on to my daughter although sometimes the flow is now in the other direction.
 
I like the technology, the process, and the results of hybrid film photography. That is actually in reverse order.

The results.
A method of recording something that my eyes have seen.
Something that I can look back on, and hang on the wall.
Something that I made. I saw it, I saw the interest. It freezes a moment.
Something dare I say, that I can create. Or at least take part in it's creation.
Making records that are aesthetic - if only to me.
A frozen slice of light.
Something that I can share online, with a community of others, who's images I also enjoy viewing, perhaps more so than mine.

The process.
I enjoy the challenge of exposing light onto a film.
I enjoy sticking a used roll onto the "to do" queue
I enjoy developing, fixing, and rinsing. I like the smell. I like improving my method, and trying different techniques and chemicals.
I love it when I pull out a wet film from the tank, and hang it to dry.
I enjoy digital scanning, and going wow! Seeing what was actually captured at the time.

The technology.
I love scanning car boot sales for old cameras that might work with a little love.
I enjoy trying camera technology from fifty years of development.
I like loading a film into a camera, that hasn't been used for fifty years, and taking it out.
I enjoy the challenge of learning.
I love trying different films.

As for my photography. I enjoy looking at other peoples images more. A lot of my stuff could be categorised as street, or even snapshot, but I prefer to call it opportunistic photography, or "camera in the pocket" photography.

It's just for fun. Never serious.
 
It's a one way time machine for me, presenting a window to the past.
 
I loved being in a darkroom.. which is why I'm going to use film for the next project. Something very relaxing about the darkroom, and film is the only aspect left to present a challenge.
 
For me i used to be a music producer but when family life came along i had to give that up to spend time with family but i'd always craved something to replace that addiction and creativity. I think 90% of people are blind to the word around them so i try document both the beauty and not so beautiful. Plus it's relaxing and a good stress release that requires me to venture out into the world .
 
Good question Jamie

A few years before retiring I asked myself the same question " what do I do to have an interest when I retire ? Ballroom dancing was well out of the question as i have the proverbial 2 left feet. I wanted something I could do alone or with others, something to keep me occupied in an evening if there was rubbish on TV. Something that I would not have to spend a lot of money on after retirement. Thinking cap on and photography was the answer, something I did more years ago than i care to remember. So I started to build up my camera equipment and get used to this then new fangled "Digital Photography" that was being talked about. Painting? the only thing I can draw is a pint down the local, so that was out.
Now having got more or less what I want, in an evening i can "play " with the photos in editing and chat, as on here, with like minded people even though I don't agree with everything posted.
Also now getting into video work as it can show what is about and not just one fixed view
 
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A hobby,something to keep my mind active while I'm out walking the dog.
A hobby that I want to improve at and learn how to do better at.
 
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it's the only medium i've got anywhere near the facility to employ that I can take the pictures that are in my head and put them out for others to see...

can't draw, can't paint, can't sculpt, but I can build sets, and arrange props, and eventually after a lot of faffing about I can generally arrange lighting to do what I want as well... the camera is just a way of making the arrangement a permanent 2d rendering of whatever i've built.
 
To me it is relaxing. Behind the camera nothing else in the world can see me.

Also my camera helps me quite a bit with my problems with crowded places. Put me in a crowded place without the camera and i have panic attacks. In a crowded place with a camera up to my face i don't suffer from them at all. Weird i know but it probably means a lot more to me than other people. I guess it's just a shield of some sorts between me and the rest of the world.
 
something I where can channel my creativity, an escape from the chores of everyday life, personal satisfaction that I can do something well and gain the respect of my peers.
 
For me it's a means to an end. I have had issues with walking for the last 18 years after suffering a spiral fracture. I needed something to get me out of the house and using the leg more and to try and get a bit fitter. I cant get out much as my leg is in agony for a couple of days after, but that 3-4 hours of walking and photography every week keep me going.
 
Photography can be great therapy for all manner of things.
 
Working in a technical field it addresses my creative side, along with cooking. Discovering photography studies it also fulfils my thirst for knowledge.
 
It's a way of getting some of my thoughts down as images. The reason it's photography is that I don't have the skills I would need to show them as I would want to using pencils, pens or paint.
 
Photography is something:

I've been doing for fifty-years.
I did with my Dad, sat in the darkroom, with the red light on watching images appear as if by magic.
I did to capture the first images of my new born baby girls.
That has brought me a great deal of satisfaction, pleasure, frustration and challenge.
I will continue to do for the foreseeable future.
 
I got halfway though writing a lengthy response when I realised it boils down to this...

I have always needed something to obsess over and photography is so wide ranging there is always something different to get obsessed with.

I'm currently obsessed with the relationship between exposure and development when using B+W film.

Previously, I was obsessed with taking pictures of bins.
 
I like looking at old photos, not particularly mine, pictures from the past.
Isn't that what photography is for.
Anything and everything else is secondary, just sprinkles
 
Byker28i said:
Working in a technical field it addresses my creative side, along with cooking. Discovering photography studies it also fulfils my thirst for knowledge.
Click to expand...

I have heard of corn fields and even fields left as meadows, But I have yet to see a field of technicians.:withstupid: :whistle:
 
It's my successful attempt at doing something 'creative'. I tried painting drawing and music, but never found my feet.

It's something worthwhile I can give to others.

It's a second income, that helps keep the wolf from the door.
 
A reason to go out for a walk, a way to record memories, a hobby.
 
It's an easy way to make pictures that requires no skill. :D
 
For me I'm into nature and wildlife
The missus suggested that I got a camera and macro lens in 2006 when she saw me watching the bees in the garden
Photography is an extension of my interest in nature trying to capture what I see when I'm out
I'm happy to just watch wildlife any pictures are a bonus but if the conditions are right to get the image that I've got in mind I'll spend all morning getting just one or two images just right :D
I certainly don't find the technical side easy but understand just enough to get the sort of shot that I like :)
 
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To me photography is a serious hobby involving creativity, challenges, recording events for posterity and is often a way of gaining extra exercise plus much more. Although I enjoy the company when in a group of photographer, my best images are usually created when I am by myself.
 
It's a way of communicating the images in my head that doesn't require ability with a pencil.
At it's best it's a collaborative creative process which goes some way to replacing and enhancing the the acrobatic activities which used to dominate my life. There's some purple prose on the subject on my blog (mildly NSFW).
 
LCPete said:
For me I'm into nature and wildlife
The missus suggested that I got a camera and macro lens in 2006 when she saw me watching the bees in the garden
Photography is an extension of my interest in nature trying to capture what I see when I'm out
I'm happy to just watch wildlife any pictures are a bonus but if the conditions are right to get the image that I've got in mind I'll spend all morning getting just one or two images just right :D
I certainly don't find the technical side easy but understand just enough to get the sort of shot that I like :)
Click to expand...
This,I'm not a "photographer",I bought a digital camera when they became reasonably affordable to take on my wildlife watching trips,I can take the day home with me and keep more than just memories.
 
To me photography is -
- a way to capture experiences, sights and feelings
- the ability to share moments with those who were not there or remember moments with those who were there
- a way of learning to see things differently eg. sometimes a small tight/close up 'part' shot is better than a literal full shot
- the challenge, using an artistic eye and understanding of technology to capture moments in interesting or factual ways
- rising to the challenge of squeezing the technology available to achieve the best shots that you can
 
Freedom. I have the freedom to "choose" to do it like this or like that. Go here go there. Subject type this, or that. We like choice.

Once inspired I'm then "driven" to get the result. You can do great things if you are driven.

And finally the results. Occasionally out pops a gem, to be proud of.

Why photography and not something else? No idea.
 
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Way back, over 30 years ago I had no direction at school, so much so that I didn't pass any of my CSE's. The only thing I showed and interest in was photography. After I left school I went to college and studied photography. I really don't know what I expected from this, I'm not convinced I was taking things seriously but it really was the only thing I was good at. I followed this up with a job in photography, printing wedding photographs in a lab with my best friend who I had gone to college with. He ended up working as an assistant for Wendy Dagworthy's husband who had a studio on London, I ended up working in a clothes shop.
Now I have a really boring job in an office, paid well enough but incredibly boring. Over the last few years I have discovered, for my own sanity, that I need to do something creative. If I don't I know what will happen, I will get so bored and fed up that I will walk out of work and not come back.
So...What is Photography to me?
It's my sanity
It keeps me in a job I hate
It's one outlet for my craving to be creative
 
For me it is being able to have a permanent image of something I found pleasing to look at with my own eyes, 'simples'.
 
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