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From: William D. Tallman (nwotsaplalmmaatna_at_email.domain.hidden)
Date: Wed Jun 02 2004 - 16:48:36 EDT
Mike Henley wrote:
<snip>
> I realize i'm digressing here, but back to the question... what makes
> a photo "subject matter" interesting? Ironically, does the "subject
> matter" matter at all, because i just had this thought that maybe they
> do self-portraits to demonstrate technique or whatever regardless of
> subject, but then, why would a self-portraiture person regard other
> things "uninteresting"? Would it be fair to think that anything that
> catches your eye and you look at and wonder if you should photograph
> is therefore inteherently an "interesting subject matter"?
Your last question is where you start, I think.
The question that follows is this: Is it likely that you could get an image
of what you see that would be of general interest, and if so, how
would/could you do that?
Two parts:
1) What makes an image interesting? Do you know? How can you find out? Do
you suppose that some serious reflection on your own part would yield some
insights? Perhaps you should engage in some intensive self-observation, so
that you can discern what it is that catches your eye, what specific
aspect/attribute of a scene captures your attention, etc. That would allow
you to analyze the specific and discover whether or not, once having caught
your eye, it will remain of interest, such that it captivates on repeated
viewing.
It's pretty common for beginners to go out and shoot stuff that captures
attention and then discover that the resultant image lacks the compelling
nature of the original scene. "What the hell was it I saw that made me
take *that* picture???" What interests the initial viewer does not always
translate into a compelling image. Or does it?
Once you have engaged in some introspection in these regards, do some
reading on these matters, and not just limited to photography; all visual
arts deal with these issues. With your initial work, you'll be able to
recognize the reality of what you learn, and will thus be able to apply and
experiment therewith.
2) How do you do that?!?!?
Well, if you do the first step first, you'll have an idea of what is
important, and that will give you a clue about *what* needs doing, which
will then lead to the question of *how* that gets done. With this in hand,
then read some books/articles on photography, and it's quite likely that
you will readily recognize and be able to make use of what you read.
Here are some hints.
Note that when one views a scene, one does not take it all in at once.
Viewing a scene is comprised of rapid scans from one point of focus to the
next in some kind of pseudo-random order, where small sections of the scene
are (instantaneously?) assembled to make the whole. The reality is that as
long as one is looking at a scene, one finds oneself constantly inspecting
and reinspecting different parts of it.
Identify those parts of the scene to which attention is repeatedly drawn,
and then hone in on them. That means reframing to eliminate that which
does not contribute until just that essential part is accompanied only by
what is necessary for context. It's called "cropping in the camera". And
it's also likely that any scene that captivates one's attention will
contain more than one of these. Identify and get all that you find.
Note that it is primarily motion that catches our eye. You are not going to
recreate motion in a still image, but you can frame so as to imply and give
space to motion. Also note that obvious contrast in luminance and
chrominance catches the eye. Large differences in brightness and color
catch one's attention. The question is: what do they mean? Can you
discern what they may mean? If so, can you frame so as to make that
meaning accessible to someone else, to tell the story of that meaning?
Also note that recognition catches the eye. Something that is not only
familiar but significant will catch one's attention, and to the extent the
familiarity and significance carries some weight, will also hold it as
well. Understand that anything and everything that is of significance to
us humans is so because it is part of some process that had an impact on
us. From our point of view, any such process constitutes a "story". Can
you recognize/discern that story, and if so, can you present it in the
image, somehow?
And now I've gotta stop before I really get started and get carried away!!
Does any of this make sense?
HTH
Bill Tallman
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