Reflecting on Beginnings
April Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Reflection”
Putting an end to pretty things.
I have been a self-taught photographer for nearly sixty years. I paid my dues in the darkroom. Hours spent developing and printing photos. Learning to control light.
When I no longer had access to a darkroom, I started using slide film. It was a new beginning for me. In the darkroom, I had total control over the results. Color slides were sent away to be processed in a lab far away. I lost control over the results.
My photography changed. It became literal. I was seduced by pretty things. Gone were the funky experimental images produced in the darkroom using innovative tools and creative techniques. My photos became pretty, yet banal. The trap of pretty.
This photo of the rising sun reflected on a seaside shed window is what I am talking about. Pretty, but banal. The image has no meaning, no impact, no message. It is the equivalent of the stereotypical dumb, pretty bimbo at the cocktail party. Looks good, but has nothing to say.
I soon got bored of photographing pretty things. I cannot claim that this particular photo was responsible for my change in perspective, but it feels like it was. I know for certain that this was the last frame of…
