Every Picture Is a Compromise
Lessons from the Also-rans
Most photography websites show the photographer's very best work. Wonderful. But that's not the full story of a creative life. If we want to learn, we'd better pay attention to the images that aren't "greatest hits" and see what lessons they have to offer. Every picture is a compromise — the sum of its parts, optical, technical, visual, emotional, and even cosmic – well, maybe not cosmic, but sometimes spiritual. Success on all fronts is rare. It's ok to learn from those that are not our best.
This is a series about my also-rans, some of which I've been able to improve at bit (i.e., "best effort"), none of which I would consider my best. With each there are lessons worth sharing, so I will.
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Original digital capture
Pictures Come from Pictures WeekAfter recently posting the 1,000th episode in this series, I took the week to scan back — way back — to my beginnings. I looked at a contact sheet (above) from my film archives and compare it to a more recent image of the same visual idea. It was fun, so I'm doing it again this week. There is nothing new under the sun, or as Carl Chiarenza says, "Pictures come from pictures." The Backstory:In 1995 I photographed at a rodeo (above). This was the second time I had photographed a rodeo. The first time was in 1964 when I was 10 years old and shooting my first roll of film on my parents' Brownie Hawkeye camera. We visited my Grandmother in Tensleep, Wyoming and attended the rodeo there. Fortunately, I've long ago lost those rodeo art photos, but my love of rodeos still lives, admittedly differently now than when I was a budding photographer. The latest time I attended a rodeo led to a small project of photographing all the new, white, straw cowboys hats of the participants and the crowd. (Kokoro, Vol. 5, No. 4, August 2019) I've long ago stopped trying to tell the story of "the rodeo." My photographic turf is in the smaller stories — like the hats. I guess I've never been a sports photographer. I much prefer the small scene rather than the grand views of the event. |
