Well, tonight I had somewhat of an epiphany. My wife was looking at our nephew’s Facebook page and leafing through his pictures and I was struck by the social commentary. I can’t speak for the quality at size but I looked at many of the shots on screen and considered how well they would hang in a gallery, nicely printed on canvas with a social narrative running through them.
I don’t have work quite like that.
Some were in B&W already; today that means someone already thought about what the image means and took the time to covert it. Colour can easily be labelled ‘no thought included’ when it comes to most photography these days. Having said that, B&W on some forums seems like the only way to say ‘I’m a serious photographer’ which is also tiresome. I guess I’d like to be someone that does B&W on its own merit.
Anyway, I’m moving away from the reason for the post. My point is that if a bunch of young students can produce images like they have, in such a ‘matter of fact way’, where does that leave me at my age?
I guess I have to develop my view of the world.
Things are changing for me. I got a copy of Digital SLR Photographer last week, a magazine I subscribed to for a couple of years and found it quite bland – yet the same publication used to inspire me. The pictures in there were just as good as ever, and also just as superlative ever. Mostly the right place, right time kind of shots (not saying that means it’s easy BTW) with a little creative inspiration here and there and a lot of gear and technique. All useful, of course, but I think I’ve moved on.
Wow, what a subject.