A Manifesto

[amolitor]

You may not agree with it -- not all HDR need fall under this aesthetic, although equally clearly some HDR does fall under it.

Ignore this, mock it, ridicule it if you like. If there's something in it you can use, appropriate it and make it your own. It's yours, it's everyone's, to use, misuse, or discard as you see fit.

In this spirit:​

​

Just to review, here, let me provide a snippet from the original post, above. I am explicitly and clearly not telling anyone how to do anything. I am explicitly and clearly not claiming that everything in HDR falls under this rubric. If you think I am attempting to dictate to anyone, or that I am attempting to characterize all of HDR, you simply fail reading comprehension. I'm sorry, that sounds mean, but there's no other explanation, I put the words right in there to be read.

Many, most, almost all photographers are happy with their work. They're doing work that suits and pleases them. GREAT! You guys are awesome, you have my love and respect. You don't need or want a revolution, you don't need or want to start a movement. Manifestos are not for you.

Manifestos are for the artist who's mastered HDR or some other set of techniques and stands back and says "What now? It looks great, but what the **** am I saying here?" Manifestos are for the landscape photographer who wakes up one say and says "Oh God, all my stuff looks like imitation Galen Rowell, and that makes me sad" (many people are overjoyed when all their stuff looks like Galen Rowell -- if this is you, again, you don't need or want a revolution, and you have my love, go forth and enjoy your photography!). If you're one of those people, then maybe my manifesto will speak to you. Or, even better, what would be TRULY awesome, is if my writing inspired you to say "SCREW YOU MOLITOR, YOU FOOL!" and caused you to write you OWN manifesto, to crystallize your own aesthetic around your own preferred technologies, to stomp my ideas into the dirt and crush them with your own, much better ideas. To break past the 'what am I truly DOING here?' barrier and create a new vision.

Statistically, it won't be you guys. Movements like this are a couple dozen people, and given that there are 7 billion of us seething around on the planet, the odds are you won't be in any new Light-Secession, you won't be in the Group HDR/64. That's ok -- pretty much everyone here is happy with their own work as it is, or if they're not happy, they're learning how to make work that pleases them. Be happy, you have my love. I might hate your work, but who cares what some jerk on the internet thinks about your work.

 

[manaheim]

You don't do HDR... Yet you're writing a manifesto for it.

You post it here, but you insult those who criticize it.

I really don't understand your motivations.

 

[amolitor]

You don't do HDR... Yet you're writing a manifesto for it.

Sure. I wouldn't say it's "for HDR" per se, but that's a quibble. What's the problem with that, now?

You post it here, but you insult those who criticize it.

Wait, where did I insult people? I stipulate that it's possible I did, I do that sometimes, but I don't recall where I insulted anyone.

ETA: This thread is extremely weird to me. It feels like many of the responses are very defensive, which would make sense if I was attacking anyone or anything, but I am not, so, Anyways. Mysterious.

 

[panblue]

This made my day ( and it is only 8:59am )

 

[panblue]

Got to be a few Dos Equis Man memes coming out of this thread!

"I don't always shoot HDR, but when I do..."

 

[panblue]

I haven't noticed or sensed any insults from you amolitor AT ALL. Surely the debate can survive a bit of bruhaha

 

[The Barbarian]

The Manifesto makes some sense. At first, there were two camps; the guys using HDR to make better images that looked real, and the guys making images that screamed "HDR!"

Over time, the overcooked look has been refined and a kind of aesthetic sensibility has developed. And Topaz portraits don't always remind one of Max Headroom anymore. Which is great. A new genre of imaging isn't a threat to existing ones. I look forward to seeing how it goes, even if I'm not necessarily going that way.

 

[manaheim]

You don't do HDR... Yet you're writing a manifesto for it.

Sure. I wouldn't say it's "for HDR" per se, but that's a quibble. What's the problem with that, now?

You post it here, but you insult those who criticize it.

Wait, where did I insult people? I stipulate that it's possible I did, I do that sometimes, but I don't recall where I insulted anyone.

ETA: This thread is extremely weird to me. It feels like many of the responses are very defensive, which would make sense if I was attacking anyone or anything, but I am not, so, Anyways. Mysterious.

If you think I am attempting to dictate to anyone, or that I am attempting to characterize all of HDR, you simply fail reading comprehension. I'm sorry, that sounds mean, but there's no other explanation, I put the words right in there to be read.

Right there.

You've always had a bit of an odd (to me) nature to your posts... I guess I'll just lump this in with the rest, shrug my shoulders, wish you well, and move on.

 

[unpopular]

this is all well and good, Marinetti.

just don't let the fascists run amuck like last time.

 

[amolitor]

(on the subject of where I insulted anyone)

If you think I am attempting to dictate to anyone, or that I am attempting to characterize all of HDR, you simply fail reading comprehension. I'm sorry, that sounds mean, but there's no other explanation, I put the words right in there to be read.

Right there.

I think a sound argument could be made that I'm not being insulting here, but that's a quibble and I will simply let your point stand. Fair enough.

 

[The Barbarian]

"A critic is a eunuch writing a sex manual." Don't know why that came to me just now...

 

[runnah]

My overall feeling is that HDR is like chili powder. Too much in a dish and it is all you can taste. Just a dash will add that little something...