ISSUE 23
Just in case you didn’t know — photography is a) seeing; and b) looking.
Are you a photographer, collector, connoisseur, student, or new visitor to this site? How do you perceive photography? Do you look at the frozen moment, or do you look at the photograph and wonder how it was taken, where it was taken and what motivated the photographer to take it?
Sometimes I am tempted to just look, and not let my mind run off with all the questions associated with the photographic image. I want to simply enjoy the image, to let it’s presence reveal itself. But then what? Move on to the next image and go through the same: ahh nice, lovely again? Do I need to have a story, or is it ok to make up my own story and go with the images? Do you read the artist statements, or do you just enjoy the images, and make your own connections with the work? Are you one who wants more information, or less?
For me the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. I want the information to be available, but first I want to be seduced by the images and use my imagination to look at them in my own way. I am interested in the moment when the shutter is released, the simplicity of light. I want to “see” the photographers relationship with their subject matter — their investment and the expressive nature of their intuition. What made them release the shutter when they did?
Every photographer has a unique approach and this is what makes photography so exciting. First we view the project from our side, then with a word from the photographer, the project can do a 360 degree turn and we suddenly view it from their side, or confirm what we have been looking at. So how do you look at photography?
Jacqueline Ball
Ron Jude
Michela Heim
Kate Robertson
Takeshi Shikama
