Odd views on photography

[Hooligan Dan]

Judging by his photos, I don't think I could care any less about what his thoughts on photography are. In my opinion, the most elitist people are typically the ones who demonstrate the least amount of skill and have the least amount of experience. No reason to point out the hypocrisy of his "philosophy" versus is actual body of work.

If that's what he wants to think, let him be miserable and never grow his abilities.

 

[Projectionist76]

If it's a picture of a mountain, a person, a tree or a flea, it's still a moment in time.

And you really think that all "moments in time" are equally 'interesting'?

Not to everybody obviously. But everyone is different.

Hugs all around!

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Yes, you are absolutely correct - I can't believe I never realized how much I hate photography before. Anybody want a Fuji GF670 and Canon 1N RS? I'm selling all my gear now.

The answer to your question (in bold) is Yes.

Re-read what I wrote - Landscapes bore me. Yes, it's true - I do not enjoy landscape photography. "Most landscapes are very 'forgettable', IMO.." - My opinion, and I stand by it. I have seen very few landscapes that were not forgotten 10 minutes after seeing it.

I also think most (maybe all) wedding photography is boring. Same goes for stock photography - that's kind of the point with stock photography though, isn't it? Bland images that could be used for anything... Sports as well - not really interested...



Is it so hard to imagine that not everybody likes what you like?

You didn't say "Most landscapes bore me":

You said:

Landscapes bore me.

So now that you've clarified your verbiage, I don't see a reason to challenge your opinion. You're perfectly welcome to it.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

And you really think that all "moments in time" are equally 'interesting'?

Not necessarily, but unique, yes.

 

[tirediron]

I like to take pictures of trees...

I like to take pictures of plants...

I like to take pictures of rocks...

I like to take pictures of buildings...

I like to take pictures of people...


I like to take pictures!

 

[Josh66]

Yes, you are absolutely correct - I can't believe I never realized how much I hate photography before. Anybody want a Fuji GF670 and Canon 1N RS? I'm selling all my gear now.

The answer to your question (in bold) is Yes.

Re-read what I wrote - Landscapes bore me. Yes, it's true - I do not enjoy landscape photography. "Most landscapes are very 'forgettable', IMO.." - My opinion, and I stand by it. I have seen very few landscapes that were not forgotten 10 minutes after seeing it.

I also think most (maybe all) wedding photography is boring. Same goes for stock photography - that's kind of the point with stock photography though, isn't it? Bland images that could be used for anything... Sports as well - not really interested...



Is it so hard to imagine that not everybody likes what you like?

You didn't say "Most landscapes bore me":

You said:

Landscapes bore me.

So now that you've clarified your verbiage, I don't see a reason to challenge your opinion. You're perfectly welcome to it.

You're correct - I did not say 'most' landscapes bored me... I did say that 'most' of them were forgettable though. I think any reasonable person could have concluded from what I wrote that there might be the occasional exception to the rule... And, it is after all, just my opinion...

To me, landscapes (most of them anyway) lack emotion. That makes them boring - to me.

 

[chuasam]

"The world is going to pieces and people like [Ansel] Adams and [Edward] Weston are photographing rocks!"
Who said it? Henri-Cartier Bresson.

All I can put in Ansel Adams' favour is that he did manage to get Yosemite Park saved. He never set out to be a photographer. He was a pianist. His arthritis made him give up his music and so he lived as a park ranger. He just happened to photograph where he was.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

You're correct - I did not say 'most' landscapes bored me... I did say that 'most' of them were forgettable though. I think any reasonable person could have concluded from what I wrote that there might be the occasional exception to the rule... And, it is after all, just my opinion...

To me, landscapes (most of them anyway) lack emotion. That makes them boring - to me.

I don't agree my reaction was unreasonable.

After being annoyed by the rant in the OP, I was particularly bothered by this:

Landscapes bore me.

Hence the reaction.

 

[Buckster]

All I can put in Ansel Adams' favour is that he did manage to get Yosemite Park saved.

How?

 

[Josh66]

Landscapes bore me.

Don't see how you could expect the benefit of the doubt given the context.

You mean the context that you chose to ignore in your quote there...?


What are you even trying to argue? Why are you even looking for a reason to "challenge my opinion", as you said? Can't you just accept that people are going to have opinions different than your own?

Yes, landscapes bore the **** out of me. Why does that bother you so much?

 

[The_Traveler]

Is your photograph a moment in time that will never happen again? Yes. Was it a moment worth capturing? Yes.
But, so are landscapes. If it doesn't interest you, fine. But when people say an entire sub-discipline of photography is "boring" to them, it's weak.

You're trying to make some grand statement and your proof that the other person is wrong is that 'it's weak.'

There are lots of things in photography that I think are so boring I wouldn't turn around to shoot them - landscapes, headshots in a studio, most sports shots.
But I don't give a crap if other people like them - or hate them - or anything about them - because it's personal likes and dislikes.

So there is no great statement to be made here - that everyone should love to shoot everything because it's a unique moment in time and space.
Man, if anything sets off my piece-o-bs meter, it's that statement.

You don't like what the guy said.
You think he's a pretentious, pompous piece of empty skin - so what?
He's not making you shoot what he shoots or vice versa.

 

[KmH]

John Muir and others became increasingly concerned about the excessive exploitation of the area of the Sierra Nevada mountains that included Yosmite Valley. Their efforts helped establish Yosemite National Park in 1890.

Ansel Adams was born in 1902. Ansel Adams become a Sierra Club member when he was 17, and was on the Sierra Club Board of Directors from 1934 to 1971.

 

[unpopular]

If it's a picture of a mountain, a person, a tree or a flea, it's still a moment in time.

And you really think that all "moments in time" are equally 'interesting'?

It is not the responsibility of the photographer to entertain the audience, but rather to understand the environment which we find ourselves in. I do not think that an argument about the dullness of an image is valid: the photographer felt it interesting enough to study and document, why must the photographer cater to anything else aside from truth?

---

I don't like Ansel Adams, not because I find his work boring - any such opinion on the matter is is bigoted, as if my own world view and how it shapes my personal ideologies of aesthetic is more valid than his or anyone elses. What I don't like about Adams is the hypocrisy of the new modernist and the cult of objectivity. For me, this idea is shallow and a simplistic view of photography that the "camera doesn't lie" - yet Adams would routinely manipulate exposure in order to emphasize tonal regions of greater "importance" or drastically darken the sky to emphasize more "interesting aspects". How are such methods "objective" what is objectively "most important". Then there is the whole problem of how cameras aren't capable of recording events themselves, but rather the reflected photographic energy in any given FOV. Photography cannot ever be truly objective, and even in a pre-postmodern vantage point Adams and his f64 weenies should have been able to see this hypocrisy for the marketing tactic which it was - especially given the lack of access to color photography. How is it any different to use a red filter any less pictorial than manipulating the image after exposure?

While this is prob a fairly esoteric complain that perhaps best be left in the realms of politics and religion, what I find more obnoxious than Adams and the New Modernist approach is the worshiping of Adam's subject and style.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Is your photograph a moment in time that will never happen again? Yes. Was it a moment worth capturing? Yes.
But, so are landscapes. If it doesn't interest you, fine. But when people say an entire sub-discipline of photography is "boring" to them, it's weak.

You're trying to make some grand statement and your proof that the other person is wrong is that 'it's weak.'

There are lots of things in photography that I think are so boring I wouldn't turn around to shoot them - landscapes, headshots in a studio, most sports shots.
But I don't give a crap if other people like them - or hate them - or anything about them - because it's personal likes and dislikes.

So there is no great statement to be made here - that everyone should love to shoot everything because it's a unique moment in time and space.
Man, if anything sets off my piece-o-bs meter, it's that statement.

You don't like what the guy said.
You think he's a pretentious, pompous piece of empty skin - so what?
He's not making you shoot what he shoots or vice versa.

It's because it is weak. Ruling out an entire sub-discipline of photography because you don't like it is narrow-minded.

I never said I photograph everything and anything, but I never close my mind to a sub-discipline of photography. I'm open to lots of different photography. It doesn't mean that I engage in all these different types of photography.

It means I can appreciate the art, implementation, and expertise that goes into the creation of an image.

 

[Buckster]

John Muir and others became increasingly concerned about the excessive exploitation of the area of the Sierra Nevada mountains that included Yosmite Valley. Their efforts helped establish Yosemite National Park in 1890.

Ansel Adams was born in 1902. Ansel Adams become a Sierra Club member when he was 17, and was on the Sierra Club Board of Directors from 1934 to 1971.

I was really hoping to get an answer from chuasam, but okay.

So, it was his work on the board of the Sierra Club, nothing to do with his photographs, that saved Yosemite?