PanoTools NG:
For the love of photography - including Panorama Photography
Dave 360texas.com 2007-Sep-18 01:42:54
My brother is a professional photographer... he just sent me an email
from one of his photo professors...
Something to think about when you go out to take Panorama
Photographs.....
=====================
AJ Meek
The Art of Photography and the Amateur Ethic
From: LASM Quarterly
A Publication of the Louisiana Art and Science Museum
June/July/August 2005.
Students entering a beginning class in photography often warn me that
"They're not very creative." "If you can love, then you can
photograph"[1], said Alfred Stieglitz [1864-1946] who was often named
the father of modern photography. In addition to being in love with
life, Stieglitz championed the amateur ethic by the use of snapshots as
art.
In recent times, the use of the word "amateur" has come to mean an
uncommitted, hackneyed, immature, and unaware practitioners of a given
hobby such as photography. The true meaning of the word "amateur",
however, is doing something for the love of it. It would seem that a
such a gifted person making photographs for joy's sake would be the
salvation of many dreary academic art projects by providing a fresh
point of view and endearing spirit, benefiting humanity's quest for
enlightenment.
The invention of roll film by George Eastman around 1888 made small
cameras possible, freeing the creative eye of all photographers,
especially the amateur, to capture fleeting moments in time. Ever the
experimenter, Stieglitz used such a camera in 1893 to photograph the
horse-drawn mail coach from New Jersey racing down Fifth Avenue in a
snowstorm to make a delivery. The results amazed audiences around the
world. It was thought impossible to photograph in such inclement
weather. It became Stieglitz's highest prized photograph in many
international amateur contests. The medals it won for Stieglitz can
still be viewed today at the prestigious New York Camera Club.
On a bitter cold stormy night in 1898, Stieglitz once again
ventured out in inclement weather to make photographs. He reported:
"The gale blew from the Northwest . . . sheltering the camera from the
wind, I focused. There was a tree-ice covered, glistening-with the
snow-covered sidewalk. Nothing comparable had ever been photographed
before, under such conditions. My moustache was frozen stiff . . . The
frosty air stung my nose, chin, and ears . . . The Savoy Hotel was not
far away. Before venturing back it seemed wise to have hot lemonade and
a bit of warm toast. Or it may have been a chocolate ?air. Or
both."[2]
Love and passion for life seems to be the only explanation I can
think of why a person would endure such unpleasant conditions to make
photographs.
It has been humorously said of writers, "When a writer is in a
family, that family is finished."[3] Meaning, writers often embarrass
their family members by using them as models for the stories they tell.
In the case of Jacques Henri Lartigue [1894-1986] you have a parallel
situation, a curious, often mischievous, boy with a camera ready to
record forever, the eccentric activities of his wealthy family.
Encouraged only by his father, the young Lartigue received no formal
education that might "taint" him with the rules and pressures of making
Art. Lartigue made pictures for the joy of it. These early photographs
have delighted audiences through time.
Knowing when to push the button is a part of the blueprint for
making a great photograph. Good examples include the surreal pictures
Lartigue made; such as, the splash his uncle made while diving into the
swimming pool, his feet and legs dangling unexpectedly upright in
mid-air. Or the Grand Prix racing car with its wheel twisted in an oval
tilting to the right of the frame and the spectators on the side of the
road leaning to the left in a strange distortion of space and time. The
later photograph was made possible by panning with a slow moving focal
plane shutter. Another former colleague of mine, not understanding the
artistic nature of photography rudely asked me, "Where is the art?"
Dumfounded, all I could think of to do was wiggle my index finger in a
push the button gesture.
Camera ease and speed are essential for the tools used by many
amateur and professional photographers alike. Modern photographers are
used to faster lenses and film that freeze action in its tracks than
their predecessors but amateurs were among the first to use this
equipment. Examples of a quick eye, camera speed, and the decisive
moment can be measured by notables; such as, Henri Cartier-Bresson
[1908-2004] but the creative results by magazine photographer Gary
Winogrand [1928-1984] and war correspondent Robert Capa [1913-1954] say
it as well. In the case of Capa, the image that first comes to mind is
the moment a soldier fighting for the rebels in the Spanish Civil War
was struck by a bullet in the head causing him to fling his rifle, his
arms outstretched to meet death's mystery.
Winogrand was often criticized for his voyeuristic vision and using
his camera as a weapon. During a lecture, a member of the audience
challenged Winogrand's gunslinger style by asking, "How long did you
spend making that photograph?" The irascible Winogrand dryly quipped,
"About 1/250th of a second."[4] [At that rate Winogrand could make two
hundred and fifty pictures and the time would be a total of one elapsed
second.] Their manner and images often made people uncomfortable but no
one should deny their passion for life.
For photographic artists to grow in their work with energy and
without clich? suggest looking toward a renewing point of view
inspired by an ethic of love and creative energy. Coping with life and
all its foibles and joys, for being forever twelve and armed with a
camera, for following your bliss and making photographs with passion and
without fear of failure is what it means to be truly alive.
A. J. Meek
Professor Emeritus, School of Art
Louisiana State University
------------------------------------------------------------------------\
--------
[1] Alfred Stieglitz: An American Seer, Dorothy Norman, Random House,
1960.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Attributed to 1980 Nobel Prize winning poet, Czeslaw Milosz,
[1911-2004].
[4] History of Photography lecture by Arnold Gassan, Ohio University,
1970. Winogrand was member of a group of photographers working in the
seventies whose work would be later called the snapshot aesthetic.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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