What is the aim of photography?

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big soft moose said:
going to Scotland ? :LOL:
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Ummm...k..u..c..f....you....how does it go? :D

Seriously though, how can the aim of a photograph be anything but an effort to record the scene you see at the point of pressing the shutter?
 
viv1969 said:
Seriously though, how can the aim of a photograph be anything but an effort to record the scene you see at the point of pressing the shutter?
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and there I was thinking it was 'to capture the definitive moment' :LOL:
 
I get the feeling nobody is taking this thread seriously....... :)
 
KIPAX said:
I get the feeling nobody is taking this thread seriously....... :)
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No, I do. I just find it a rather odd question.
 
i'm quantumly uncertain :LOL:
 
jon ryan said:
Photography is what saves Earth from destruction.

Ever since the first photograph was taken by Leonardo Da Vinci, who used both the time machine and the camera he invented to create the image we now call the Turin Shroud, aliens from distant stars - and even galaxies - have been purchasing photos of our planet, as Earth has been coming top of the 'Most Attractive Planet in Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha' polls for most of the last 10,000 Earth years.

Of course this has caused considerable jealousy among those from less attractive planets, and the Green Ink Overlords have been paying squadrons of inter-stellar mercenaries in photographs to protect Earth. Some of these are using Galactic Federation surplus flying saucers with dodgy cloaking devices, which is how the sightings of UFOs and 'orbs' sometimes show up on photos.

The aliens use a special ray to influence people into taking the sort of photos they favour, which is why people are unable to stop taking pictures of light trails, smoky water, over-cooked HRD, spot colour, and car-rig shots. This makes sense as no rational person would dream of taking such pictures otherwise.

I hope this helps.
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Have to disagree

You state Earth was the "Most Attractive Planet"

We on the Planet Zob have strongly questioned that claim.

The are 123 Trillion Zobbians (outnumbering all the other occupants of those beings on other planets by a factor of 4.67568881%)!

This means war!

What's God by the way?

Dertewxz 3321232
 
Photography is about capturing the moment

As for the person about light.

Light makes photography. Embrace light,admire it, love it. But above all know light, know it for all you are worth and you will know the key to photography.
 
KIPAX said:
I get the feeling nobody is taking this thread seriously....... :)
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Its rather a philosophical question... Your thread would probably benefit from one of those Open Univsrsity lecturer types voicing up, you know those guys from the early days on BBC2 with flares, hair all over the place, cord jackets and sideburns!
 
So do I understand correctly that if a question is deemed "philosophical" no one will actually take it seriously and discuss it? If so, I've learned a valuable lesson from this thread.
 
Mqta said:
Its rather a philosophical question... Your thread would probably benefit from one of those Open Univsrsity lecturer types voicing up, you know those guys from the early days on BBC2 with flares, hair all over the place, cord jackets and sideburns!
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Anna Ford the newsreader was one of them at the OU! She was Anna Biggles then......

S
 
not really - it depends how its couched , and how much beer has been collectively consumed

really what can you do with "did god intend man to take photos ?" - beyond 'well He gave us free will so He must have intended the choice to be there' (assuming one believes in sky pixies etc)
 
big soft moose said:
not really - it depends how its couched , and how much beer has been collectively consumed

really what can you do with "did god intend man to take photos ?" - beyond 'well He gave us free will so He must have intended the choice to be there' (assuming one believes in sky pixies etc)
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Or the "Invisible Man in the Sky?"
 
StephenM said:
So do I understand correctly that if a question is deemed "philosophical" no one will actually take it seriously and discuss it? If so, I've learned a valuable lesson from this thread.
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I don't think there's anything wrong with philosophical threads, but there's possibly a particular issue with this one. It appears to belong in the hinterland betwixt I'll conceived and half arsed.

What is the aim of photography? Seriously? It's not philosophical it's bonkers.
 
Bokono he say, man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day
 
Sorry, as a Christian I find a lot of the posts in this thread deeply offensive. So I'm out.
 
n0chex said:
+1 another member who don't believe in God :)
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Well that would make me a -1 then, as already said to capture the moment, preserve memories (mine is getting worse, age related I think) and to be creative, which since we are made in God's image and he was the original Creator, following true to type, perhaps non-creative types are atheists :D
 
Phil V said:
What is the aim of photography? Seriously? It's not philosophical it's bonkers.
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:notworthy:

It's like asking "What is the aim of knitting".
 
I predict lockage in the not too distant future
 
viv1969 said:
:notworthy:

It's like asking "What is the aim of knitting".
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he asked if god intended man to photogrpah... knitting would be the women question :)
 
viv1969 said:
It's like asking "What is the aim of knitting".
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somewhere in a parallel universe talk knitting are debating that very point - and it has just been hypothesised that aetheists do crochet :LOL:
 
The question may have been poorly put, but perfectly reasonable.

You lot deserve each other.

:thumbsdown:
 
I photograph because I cant draw or paint,- thats the artistic side dealt with.

I'm a Man and theres a technical challenge, although not so much of that now a days with modern equipment.

I capture a scene, a moment, a point in history. It helps me remember it years later and is some thing to pass on.

They're some of the reasons I do it.
 
if we are being serious for a moment

I photograph either because I want to, or because someone is paying me to do so.

in the former the aim is enjoyment derived from executing a skill well, and in the latter the aim is to derive an extra pile of cash to spend on wine women and song
 
simon ess said:
The question may have been poorly put, but perfectly reasonable.

You lot deserve each other.

:thumbsdown:
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Eh?

I don't know these people, I'm from the Planet Zob.

By the way, What Is God?
 
simon ess said:
There's no debate here, just a **** take. And you know it.

And that's my last "well reasoned and valuable contribution."
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A situation that a well reasoned answer could help change... but then slagging off other members is probably easier than actually taking the question seriously yourself
 
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simon ess said:
The question may have been poorly put, but perfectly reasonable.

You lot deserve each other.

:thumbsdown:
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If there's a reasonable question hiding in there I'll personally need someone to point it out. And that's as serious an answer as there is in this entire thread.
 
Big Soft Moose and Phil V

Salute !

Easily a clear answer from both of you!

S
 
For me, the purpose of photography is to produce something that someone (usually me) would like to look at. At the most basic level I suppose this applies to all creative activities.

I've no idea why I/we like to look at "nice" things (or listen to "nice" sounds), or even what makes "nice" things "nice", but the fact we have done so for thousands of years means it's probably served a very useful purpose.

So yes, metaphorically speaking I would say God intended us to take pictures, although I don't know why.
 
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RichardTaylor said:
@ PhotographyBuff

What do you think?
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(Thanks for asking the question to me too!)

I tend to agree with many of the answers already given. I think in photography we are trying:

a) To capture the moment.

b) To express ourselves and our point of view.

c) To document ways of life and culture and civilization.

d) To report news and events (since a picture is worth a thousand words).

e) To create art.

And to answer my other question (Did God intend for man to take photos? If so, why?):

Strictly speaking, I don't think that God really intends for us to take photographs insofar as he has created us to fully live in the moment and the place rather than frame and record them for another time and another place. Or, from the perspective of the photographic subject, I don't think that God intends for us to be photographed insofar as he has created us to fully live in the moment and the place rather than pose in it for another time and place and for other vantage points.

However, God may have intended for man to photograph as a way of:

a) Recording and sharing

b) Capturing the beauty of His creation

In the photo man might be said to be creating after his own image, just as God created man after His own image. In this sense, in the photo man reproduces what he sees for everyone else to see, to show others what he sees. And therefore, insofar as man is created after God's image, then man must be like God and create after his own image!

I think the goal of a great photograph is to convey the photographer's unique point of view, his/her eye as it were. As such, photography is the means for the photographer's message, for his/her expressing their point of view, the way they see things, their approach to things, their personality, their judgement. As such, I believe a great photo can as much bear the imprint of its photographer as a great symphony that of its composer.
 
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PhotographyBuff said:
I am asking the question at the broadest level. So I would prefer answers that consider the philosophical and artistic aspects of photography rather than the everyday practical ones. "Did God intend for man to take photos? If so, why?" would be another way to consider the question.
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We have eyes and we see and we sometimes want to remember what we and perhaps convey it to others and a picture tells a thousand words. Maybe sometimes we just want something to look at.

Plus it's like painting, or golf or a hundred other passtimes in that you can never get to the end, you can always change, improve, capture or create a better or just different image.

At least you didn't ask if God uses a Canon or a Nikon.
 
I agree with a lot of your points however it goes beyond that, for myself at least - it is memories.
(I do take a lot of photographs in your list).

What are the most important photographs to you. Is it a "moment" or subject, along with light or is it family etc.

A couple of examples.

#1 Last sunday (on our morning walk). Yes it may be seen as example of nautures beauty but that is it.


Blue by dicktay2000, on Flickr

#2 From last saturday. When we had a picnic with our children, and grandaughter, who live at least 4 hours drive away.


For great aunt C by dicktay2000, on Flickr

#3 First time we had seen our grandaughter.


Fatherhood by dicktay2000, on Flickr\

#4 One of the last ever (2006) photographs of my wife and her mother.


Mother and Daughter by dicktay2000, on Flickr
 
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