Who Do You Take Photos For?

Who Do You Take Photos For?

This is a question I've been dwelling on quite a lot recently and after a conversation on twitter with @bburzycki and reading a related post on Chase Jarvis' blog I thought I relate my thoughts on the issue.

With all the instant sharing capabilities of the internet, we as photographers have a near infinite selection of methods for instant feedback on our work. This, of course, is fantastic; especially for those just starting out trying to learn the ins and outs of their light tight box.

For example, we have DeviantArt , usefilm , pbase , www.fredmiranda.com , PhotoAnswers . Then, for those brave enough to the terms of service, there's the less obvious choices of Myspace and Facebook and many many more.

Great! We have many wonderful channels to share our work and get advice as we progress!

The Forum Trap

If it seems to good to be true, than it must not be true; right? Does all this instant feedback and critique come at a price to our artistic integrity?

I mean, picture this: You're a self-professed n00b armed with a new camera and a teach yourself photography book. You've scoured the pages thoroughly and have already taken hundreds of photos you are well aware should never see the light of day. All of a sudden something clicks and you just sit staring at your monitor. You did something right and the very first photo that you're really proud of is staring back at you. Hastily, you post it to one of the online forums you've been lurking on, yet have never posted. You come back an hour later to find three comments. The first one says "That's pretty". You're now beaming. Scroll down. The second says "It's nice, but the white balance is off." Okay, you understand that because you've been brushing up; something to note for later. You scroll down to see the third comment is from one of the forum's veterans that you've noticed a lot of activity from. You get excited and start to read. All of a sudden, you're photo is torn apart. Nothing about it is right. Everything is completely screwed up and it should be binned.

In that situation, I've seen people react in two main ways. Either they give up or they turn around and and try again making absolute sure that everything that was nitpicked is fixed. Why? Simply because they want that same person to turn around and approve of what they have done.

Again, for someone starting out, this can be the boost they need to start piecing everything together. However, I've seen very experienced photographers fall into the exact same trap. Essentially, they'll have stopped by to test the waters in a new forum and got sucked into the trap of bending over backwards to meet the standards of another faceless photographer.

What's the Price?

From here, let's exclude the people starting out. For the most part, the information they can get can prove invaluable. Let's stick to the many of you who understand the relation between aperture and shutter speed, who live by inverse square law, who know that the rule of thirds isn't a rule at all.

By far, my favourite photography related adage has to be "How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? One. Then another ninety-nine to say how they would have done it different."

Anybody, armed with the knowledge and the right equipment (yes equipment does absolutely matter depending on the task at hand) can take a good photograph. My issue, is what happens when that photograph is "finished" and posted to a forum, or similar outlet? I have seen far too many photographers who DO know what they're doing and who DID know what their exact intent was turn around and be bullied into either removing the image altogether or going back and completely changing it, losing the original intent altogether. Why? For the sake of positive feedback from other photographers.

My own personal definition of art is something you create to your own standards. My definition of craft is something you make to someone else's standards.

By my reasoning (Oh and I don't claim to actually know a thing so take this with a grain of salt) when someone turns around and changes the content of an image, or removes it entirely, based on the critique of someone else, they are actually bastardising their art and betraying their vision for the sake of feedback. No longer is it a piece of personal expression, but rather it is a craft work designed to appease the masses.

The same applies to those who make images with the sole intention of gathering bajillions of comments on Flickr or those who intentionally set out to make it into explore. They aren't taking photos for themselves. They are making photos for an audience. More power to them if that's exactly what they want to achieve, but have you ever spoke to some of these guys and girls. Some of them get very disillusioned very fast.

It's a Double Sided Coin

Here, I am going to contradict my entire argument.

There's always two sides to every story and this one is no different. In the examples above, I honestly believe the whole personal aspect of photography as an art is being obliterated by people trying to achieve mass appeal.

Is this neccasarily a bad thing. No.

Obviously, when it comes to selling photography as a commercial product, one of the boxes that must be ticked is "mass appeal". So these guys and girls in my Flickr example are potentially placing themselves in a situation that might just be preapring themsleves for a place in a very competitive market.

Then again, they might not be. Referring to my original point, the "masses" of Flickr tend to be other photographers.

The general rule that people need to remember is that photographers don't buy photography. So if you're trying to market yourself and make photographs that appeal to buyers, why on Earth would you seek approval from someone who wouldn't buy it in the first place?

Yes, feedback is nice. Very nice. As is networking and sharing with like-minded individuals. However, that doesn't mean that photographs should be made for that purpose.

Who Do I Make Photographs For?

Since this issue has been on the forefront of my mind for quite a long time, I have given it some very strong thought. My own personal decision has been to forego forums altogether, at least for now, as I was fairly prone to that trap myself.

I have decided that I will make my photographs to the standards of three groups of people:

Myself, My Models and My Clients. Any other feedback is an added and welcome bonus!

So far, I have had the great pleasure, from both my models and clients, to be able to make photographs for them to my own standards for the most part. That in itself, is quite the honour and one I hope to have for some time in the future.


*DISCLAIMER* I at no time actually claim to know what I'm talking about. This post represents my opinion based on my experiences and should under no circumstances be taken as gospel of any sort. Simple food for thought at the very most! Also, this was by no means meant to be critical of anyone. I do not presume that I can or should tell anyone else how to conduct their own personal matters. This is only my own thoughts as of how to conduct myself.

It Looks Like I Have To Start Over

Just yesterday, I was sat down on one of my breaks at work and I was contemplating what kind of content to write for this here weblog thingamajig. {Wait, spellcheck says thingamajig is a word! Awesome!} One of my ideas for a post was to write about how, as an aspiring photographer, I've fairly successfully used Myspace to passively market myself and actively network with like-minded individuals.

Then I got home and checked my e-mail.

A photographer friend of mine, kindly pointed out to me that all of the links I had posted to this here blog, we're automatically being disabled as spam.

Wait, what? I'm not selling anything here. I'm talking and posting photos. I mean, I'm sure noone really wants to read what I have to say, but spam, that's ludicrous and isn't talking and posting photos most of Myspace's purpose in life?

Gutted, I started thinking about it.

Though, over the past few months, I haven't been nearly as active on Myspace as I have in the past, I have still noticed that their "anti-spam" measures have increased dramatically. I hadn't realised that they have actually completely and effectively cut the site off from the rest of the internet.

For example, when I went to reply to that friend and give him the link that Myspace had denied him, I was promptly informed that my account had been phished and it was shut down. I had to reactivate my account twice. Just because I tried to send my friend a link to something personal, this blog. Wait, isn't that the point of Myspace? To network?

Now, it seems, you can network on Myspace, so long as you stay within the confines of Myspace. It's like they've turned themselves into the isolationist internet equivalent of North Korea.

Or rather, as I tweeted last night: Myspace = Stalin.


So, now, I have to think. Will I stop using Myspace altogether. No. I have built up a good network of like-minded individuals and made some good friendships over the past four or so years and I'm not prepared to let that go yet.

It seems, thanks to this Draconian idiocy on Mypspace's part, I will just have to be careful and limit Myspace to Myspace and then find a new, friendlier hub for my social networking activities. Which means I will probably have to start strengthening my Facebook presence, the thought of which sends shivers down my spine.

I abhor Facebook and I will never ever upload my photos there, other than a few self-portraits. This has absolutely nothing to do with the recent idiotic furore over their terms of service. I have my own reasons and they're good reasons I promise, but that's an issue for a different post!

In the meantime:

Dear Myspace FAO: Rupert Murdoch,

Please consider a revision of the official Myspace logo in order for it to more accurately convey the execution of your company's business. I whole-heartedly recommend the implementation of an Iron Cross or the SS insignia. Another possibility would be to layer the current layer overtop some fancy lettering of the words Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, Stalin, and Pol Pot. This will give your consumer base a concise message of where you garner the inspiration for your business models.

Thank you for you transparency.
xoxo

/endrant

Social Networking For the Socially Inept

I hereby proclaim to the whole of the interverse:

I am socially inept.

I cannot cope in social environments. I get anxious and I completely shut down. Put me in a large group of people and I'll pretty much panic. Put me at a table at a restaurant with even a small group and I will only speak when directly spoken to and even then all you will get is one word answers.

It used to be, about 14 years or so ago, that I thrived on the internet. Good old chat rooms and forums and mIRC were somewhere that I could get involved socially without worrying about all the shortcomings of my social incompetence.

The internet has changed. Of course, I'm sure everyone and their dog is aware of this, but it has changed a lot. Everyone is on the internet. The internet is now wholly a mainstream social platform and a legitimate one at that. Find me someone who is regularly online and doesn't have or hasn't had a profile on a site such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc, etc. Being social on the internet is identical to be social in the real life with the exception of the different rules of etiquette.

Well, you ask, what does any of this have to do with photography or social networking?

I'll tell you.

As a person, none of this means anything to me. I could just ignore the social aspects and go on, invisible, behind the scenes a merry little outcast.

As a photographer, whom operates mostly on the internet, this is a very different story. I need social networking. I need to participate in the photographic communities and I need to be able to connect with potential customers. Therefore, I have to have and do have profiles on all the main social media sites as well as my main website and this here blog.

But do I use them effectively? Hardly.

I feel awkward randomly commenting on people's photos, statuses, blog posts, etc, etc. Even though, usually, they want me to. Or maybe that's the issue. They want "people" to, but I then ask myself why would they want "me" to. I know very well, or at least I suspect so, that I'm just being paranoid and that I'm very likely cutting myself out of great networking opportunities and denying other people a comment because my own wiring is a bit loose.

So here's the deal: I know what the problem is. I think I know what I should do to fix it. I need to get over this trepidation of mine and jump whole-heartedly into the social bandwagon. So from now on, I will try and make it a point, everyday, to comment and reply to people on Myspace, Facebook, Flickr, DeviantArt, Twitter and make sure that I comment on the blogs that I read.

I don't really care if I get any response or if I fall on my face at this point. I just need to get over this ridiculous fear I have of interacting with other people, especially those individuals that are like-minded.

So, if you have accounts with any of those sites, get in touch, you may well just be part of the catalyst I need to fix this issue of mine!