this is not art
There is a school of thought that suggests that we can call everything we make “art”, we only need to declare it as such. For those of us who want to make meaningful work with our cameras, we know that it isn’t true. In my discussions with Ray Ketcham, he has shared that art has to have a degree of intent beyond just the practice of craft. Many images we see today are really about craft and in some cases, really good craft. Technically well done images may be wonderful to look at but they are hardly memorable because there is really no content in them. And by the way, adding the content after you make the image because you tell a story later, doesn’t count. The thing is, putting content into our images isn’t easy and we can become paralyzed trying to do so. Ray’s advice has long been to “just make stuff”. Sometimes I’m more successful at this approach than at other times.
For the images in the post today I decided to make a conscious effort not to make art. Instead these images are specifically about practicing craft so don’t look for any meaning in them because you won’t find any. Part of my reason for making these are to improve my craft–a musician doing scales as it were–but I have another motivation. I’d like to put some integrity back in the process of making images and call a spade, a spade. I can only do this for my own images and that’s really my main objective. I hope to post more of these kinds of images throughout the year and I’ll be sure to tag them so you know which images are simply about practicing craft.
Another important post, Sabrina. Raising the bar to a desire to make art is a laudable goal, but it’s funny how it can have unintended consequences. Sometimes it makes it harder to just go out and play. Practice is important for its own sake — and it’s made even more valuable, I think, when you acknowledge that that’s what you’re doing. If we insist that we have to make art every time we pick up the camera, we’ll either fail or start kidding ourselves.
This is why I love you, Dorothy. You get it. Integrity is the most important character trait an artist can have. To me, you cannot be successful as a creative person if you lie to yourself about what you are doing and whatever you create will show it.
I had a good conversation with a friend over lunch recently. He was very candid about what he was doing with his photographs. They are about being a better craftsman. That honesty was refreshing and you know, that integrity shows in his images. While they are about seeking technical excellence, that is a part of who he is and they are more “art” than anyone who kids themselves about creating art.
And a bit of tangent, on my Tumblr blog I posted a link to an article I read yesterday that you might find interesting. Here is that link: http://www.lindsredding.com/2012/03/11/a-overdue-lesson-in-perspective/
Excellent read Sabrina,
As Dorothy said – there’s simple no way we could make a significant things every time we raise the camera, otherwise we kid or lie to ourselves. As to integrity i do believe we need to be aware of the distinction between personal integrity towards art and the process and integrity of our body of work. Ideally they would be aligned with each other but i don’t think that’s always the truth. Sometimes it’s hard to be cohesive even if you’re true to yourself all the time.
Love Ray’s idea of “just making stuff”. I coincidentally decided to follow this simple notion after reading Irving Stone’s book (more on the blog http://www.radek-kozak.com/?p=502 ) but what luck you have to know Ray so he could spill great concepts and wisdoms to you.
I’m not sure what you mean by the “integrity of our body of work”, Radek. Would you mind expanding on that for me?
Thank you for that link to your own blog. I really enjoyed that! I want to encourage others to read it too. You managed to write the entire post without using that trite word “passion”. In the words of The Mentor, we don’t need passion, we need obsession. You alluded to just that when you wrote about the madness that can descend upon us the more we think about this stuff. We do need to understand what is it we are obsessing about, some people call it “art” when it really is craft.
Sorry, still struggling to express myself more clearly in english
I think what i meant is that: our particular work not neccesarily, and certainly not always, emits the notion of integrity. Integrity from artist perspective is surely a higly desirable thing, i would even risk to say that it is vital and if we want to truly express ourselves, it should be the only way to go. But it’s an adjective that one cannot always pick up from someone’s work. I think integrity stays more in a “process of making art” realm. From the “reader” perspective our piece of work can sometimes survive on its own without the hoovering felt of integrity
I believe what i’m saying is that integrity is on the artist side, we have to be honest about our process and when making our own art – if it shows in our work great, if it’s not it doesn’t mean we lost our integrity along the way. And even having said that i can imagine a piece of art that one could make without any sincerity and truth to it, “lying” at every step of of making it. I’m not saying it would interest me but it’s achievable.
Is that make any sense for you or am i just babbling ?
(sometimes i get to analytical on things and i get lost along the way)
P.S
i’m glad you enjoyed the read. i’m surprised too ! that ever-so-loved word “passion” didn’t make it to my post. Maybe that’s because i feel passion is just an overrated trap
No you aren’t babbling. I think I understand what you are saying and if you would permit me to add to it, I will try to clarify the parts to which I was speaking. I wasn’t concerned with the notion of being true to oneself in our art but rather being truthful with ourselves in our art. I agree that not everyone who views a piece of work can discern whether or not there is integrity in the work (have you read any online critiques lately?
)but I do believe that at some level the artist always knows. And sometimes he or she is the only one who does.
I also believe that there is a place for integrity outside of the process or rather after the process i.e. once the work is made and that is when we start to talk about our work. Actually it is here where most often I find I start to feel the lack of sincerity if the words don’t match what I see and feel when I view the work. There is a disconnect for me, for example, when people add a story to an image after it has been made. Perhaps that is a bit unfair because many photographers claim they are not so good with words as they are with the visual medium. Or maybe the image is just simply not successful?
In the end, the main reason why I think about these things is for myself. What do I want my approach to be? How will I make that decision? And what does it look like both in the process and in the end image? I am grateful that others like you, talk about your own process because it helps me understand my own.
I have to agree with you 110% on your take on passion
Hi,
I’m friends with Ellie and went with her to Italy last year. I may have commented on your blog before…maybe not. I just wanted to pop in and say that, while I know what you were going for, the very first image in this post, to me, is less craft and more art. If that person at the end of the dock wasn’t there? Craft. But with that person there, suddenly there’s movement and emotion and a narrative. And that was interesting to me because suddenly, what you thought of as just craft was, to me, art. I guess in the end, you, as the photographer, makes the ultimate decision. But I thought it was interesting none the less.
I do agree 100% about your talk of craft vs art. I am still doing a photo a day…been at it since 2009. Let me tell you…there are a LOT of craft in there. A LOT. But some art sprinkled in there too I think
Welcome Tim, nice to have you here. I think that sometimes–probably most times–the audience will bring something to an image that wasn’t intended by the maker but to me, that is not what makes an image “art”. I personally believe we have lowered the standard by which the world considers something art and that’s unfortunate. I suppose it is to be expected given it is now what drives much of the commerce around photography and workshops these days.
If there is anything more in the first image than the others, I think that it is a much better execution of the craft, a more successful use of lines and light than the other two images.