My philosophy
What is photography, then you may as well ask what is an image, what is a painting or drawing or a design? It is an expression, it is an idea, an emotion, a moment frozen in time, sometimes well done, sometimes even superbe and often only mediocre if that. It is an extention of the person taking the photograph, yes it is mechanical, and yes it is very technical, but it is a noble craft, which takes years to fully understand and master if ever, and should be respected as is the painter and sculptor. But how can we respect something taken with a camera ? We all have cameras today, as we all have cars and stoves. But do we not appreciate the great driver, and do we not honor the great chefs of the world. Then why not do so with photographers, the serious ones who dedicate their lives to the art form and discipline?
Try and understand the difficulty in capturing in that small 35mm frame, that miniscule rectangle so much information, the same kind of information that a painter sometimes takes weeks and months to formulate. It is not just getting the image in focus, nor making an impeccable composition, nor achieving a deeper tone with proper lighting, nor transforming the subject into something more, so that we remember and feel something, take something away with us, after seeing the photograph. How many photos do you see every day that do that to you?? Not many if any I think, aside from the shock value of seeing death in the daily papers or some gratutitous sexual innuendos in some advertizing campaign to grab your attention. But how many photographs do you see that you would like to live with, hang up on your wall and look at every day? And how many photographs do you see that make you change your point of view, that infect your spirit, that forever change the way you saw something. And how many of you know how to not only look but see?? And that is the real test and the metre of how to measure a great photograph. And I am not talking posters of your favorite movie idol or music star either......
It is about emotion, it is about thought, it is about preserving something special, or ordinary so that you can see it differently and for the first time perhaps....it is about capturing the perfect moment that records history or a look of love or hatred or depression, that fleeting instant and then it is gone forever....it is a bit of luck and lots of hard work and hours and hours of patience and repetition till the day or the moment when everything converges and is perfect......
So please have a bit more respect for photographers and those who are serious about it, who spend their lives attempting to achieve that perfect harmony in that small rectangle or square...
Martin