The End of Ideas due to a Communication Breakdown. Plus Dash Snow

after a recent portfolio review, where the idea of a series i have been working on did not really come across, i started to question the importance of an idea. i thought the idea that i had presented in my series was effectively communicated and identifiable, and this was based on the responses of critiques i had in school. in these critiques i had presented the concept of my series and everyone seemed to comprehend it, at no point did anyone say that my presented concept wasn't conveyed through my photographs. (the effectiveness of critiques is another thing i'm beginning to question) the fact that i was forced to reveal what my concept was in these critiques may have been the reason that the communication of my concept was never called into question. that is why, when i went to this portfolio review i made sure not to present the central idea behind my series right away, and as i said my concept did not seem to come across.

the concept behind a series or a photograph can change it completely. if a concept is not perceived it can even change the successfulness of a composition. the concept behind my series was animating the inanimate. my goal was to frame these non-living things, with living characteristics, in a certain way so my pictures would appear as freeze frames that would not exist moment after the picture was taken. i wanted to make it look as if they could possibly be living, this was my intention, however the way in which i believe they were perceived was to basically be a documentation of these non-living things. this communication breakdown resulted in my pictures becoming photos that did a poor job of documenting a certain subject. the way in which i placed these non-living things in the composition to create the appearance and possibility of these things being alive became troublesome. this is because they did not really document what was perceived to be the main subject and point of my series.

it was this whole experience which caused me to question the importance of an idea in your work. if everyone involved in my critiques really did fully understand the concept in my series, then hypothetically there is probably a room full of people (including the person who reviewed my portfolio) somewhere who wouldn't understand my concept. so this brings up a couple questions...

is there a really a point in having an idea behind your series? the chances of your idea coming across to everyone is unlikely, due to the fact every person has their own individual experiences they will draw upon when viewing your work. so do you take this into account and accept it? what if there's is only one way you want your work to be perceived and when it is perceived this way it's extremely successful, but when perceived any other way it's unsuccessful? is it still worth doing? what if the only way you can properly convey your important message is through cliche imagery? is this the way to go about it then? i certainly hope not...

the alternative to struggling with all these questions about conveying your idea is simply to create images that look "cool" and/or are exciting. ideally you want your work to look cool, exciting, and have an idea behind it, but depending on your idea, you might not be able to get a really cool stylized image. this is not to say you can end up with an image that is aesthetically pleasing, but aesthetically pleasing image does not necessarily equal a cool image. this is why i am suggesting the possibility that the way to go about photography is to just photograph things that look good and exciting without an idea in your head. this idea brings me to the photographic work of dash snow.

snow's name was recently brought up to me by someone who saw my post about ryan mcginley. this is because snow and mcginley were good friends and mcginley encouraged snow's work. i had run into snow's work a couple years ago and was unable to decide how i exactly felt about it. his work can be funny, strange, exciting, sleazy, dangerous, shocking, and vulgar, which are great qualities to for a body of work to have. (they are also good qualities for a person) the problem i had with snow's photos, was that there were no real ideas or purpose behind them, he was simply just taking pictures of his incredibly exciting, and dangerous life. but maybe this is enough? his pictures look exciting, interesting, and "cool", so who needs an idea, a picture is just a picture, and pictures are just meant to be viewed. so as long it looks good what's the problem? and is it really possible for any photo to not carry an idea? most images will provoke some type of thought when you view them? who cares if its a well thought out intentional idea? so is dash snow's work successful? i have no idea about that or any of the other questions presented above. but i do know that i can appreciate snow's photographs for what they are...photographs.

ACTION SHOTS WITH A MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA!?!

after reading article on atiba jefferson, a sports/portrait/skateboarding photographer i was surprised to learn he uses a medium format camera, but after reading the article and looking at his high quality pictures it made perfect sense. the detail photographs medium format cameras create are not the only smart reason for using these cameras for action shots, but the flash sync and digital backs also make medium format a great idea for action shots.

the flash sync for the medium format cameras atiba uses are 1/500 of a second, versus the 1/250 of a second flash sync some 35 mm cameras have. although this is only one stop, i'm sure it is very helpful in obtaining that decisive moment stop action shot that is very important in action photography. another feature of the medium format cameras that is helpful ensuring you get that perfect stop action shot, is their digital backs. (which are extremely necessary if you want to take action shots with your medium format camera) the digital back atiba uses is a leaf aptus 75, a back which can cost between $15,000 and $30,000, this back can shoot 25 frames in 60 seconds, which would work for sequences and would supply you with plenty of frames t choose from when looking for that perfect moment.

after looking at atiba's photos i'm curious to see how much longer 35 mm cameras will hold up for sports/action photography

(click on photos to enlarge them)

Alex Prager is a FOX!!!

there's something i really enjoy about alex prager's work, and it's not just her beautiful models dressed in retro clothing ( i do really enjoy that though). all of her photos seem to be a still from some movie you've never seen, i always enjoy photos that appear to be yanked right out of a film. there is also something very simple about all of prager's photos, take all these for example...

all of prager's photos seem so obtainable because of their simplicity. when broken down this photograph is simply a figure, a bird, the ocean, and the sky. even the distant horizon line doesn't complicate things because there's nothing really out there, just simplicity.

another simple picture just of a girl laying on patterned rug. i also enjoy how prager only seems to use 3 or maybe 5 colors at most in her photographs.

pragner includes very few elements in her photographs, there are very little objects or props involved.

even with the inclusion of buildings in the background, the photos do not become complicated. this is because the building and background just seem to become simplified into shapes and colors

another simple setting, with few colors, and the colors that are there are used perfectly to bring your eye to the subject

once again, you can see here simplicity, the use of color as emphasis, and the simplification of a background into shapes.

even as prager moves further away from her subjects, nothing becomes complicated

prager often seems to use the sky as a back drop which helps keep things simple, and once again makes her photographs seem obtainable

black empty backgrounds and simple lighting also work similarly to the use if sky, to create a simple background and simple photograph, with emphasis on the subject

oh yea, and on top of all this, ALEX PRAGER IS A FOX!!!

look at her! and look how big her prints are!!

this is kinda rad...

"If Drawings Were Photographs" is a book published by the UK based company, It's Nice That. It is a book comprised of drawings by Tom Edwards coupled with photographs by Rob Matthews. The photographs are meant to be recreations of the drawings that they are paired with and appear opposite each other in the book. This resulting book is very funny and stirs up some interesting thoughts.

Just the idea of the book made me think about the difference between converting an idea to a photograph and converting it to a drawing. I believe that no matter how skillful or unskillful you are at drawing it is much easier to put your imagination down on paper than the produce a photograph that mirrors your imagination. This is simply because you must physically produce these things that only existed in your head, while as with drawing you need to only convey these things and make them identifiable.

Another thing i found interesting about this book was the fact that even though both the photographs and drawings had the same subject matter, there were still some differences produced by the different mediums and artists.

For example, this photograph which started out as a very simple child like drawing with bright colors, becomes very creepy and strange when turned into a photography. The model that Matthews has chosen doesn't seem as happy or as child like as the original drawing.

A similar thing happens with the drawing of the chair, which also seems to start out as child like drawing of a simple chair with legs on the long side. When this drawing is turned into a photograph, the chair doesn't seem as innocent anymore, it turns into a serious, almost spider like sculpture.

All though some of the drawings become last in translation, this is not true for all of them. I believe these last two photographs keep the silliness and strangeness of the original drawings.