Why I Photo: Part III
A lost language
I really should learn the language of digital photography, or rather the skill. I stopped taking photos when the days of the dark room were done. I miss those days… and long nights under the black light. The textures, the light that soaks through, bringing the viewer into contact with the viewed. And the shadows to play with in the dark… it’s a language I’m afraid we’ve lost.
It all feels so far away now, what gets captured through the digital lens. As if I’m a scientist inspecting the molecules within; the lens now a microscope- displaying the spectacle of a thing. Can we just take a pause here and remember being absorbed in the essence of a thing?
Digital photography (feels to me) untouchable, like a sensational gloss coloring the world in an unnatural tint. The subject doesn’t really look real and I don’t feel drawn in. I’m an onlooker observing a scene from a futuristic techno-colored world. Much of what I see, I don’t believe. What is stock photography, anyway?
I’m a traveler with my iPhone. It’s not perfect. There are many limitations. It’s not all within reach, visually. It doesn’t have the texture of film but it also lacks the gloss, which I prefer. In photos I want to sense the presence of a person behind the lens. Not an action movie in static, where the natural world gets lost in all the eye candy. I’m still a lover of Eugene Atget. I am a film romantic, longing for the past of this craft.
Do I capture it with the iPhone, no. Though I do like that I can manipulate the predominate lens, soaking in the awe around me, instead of the pedestrian “look at me” bulletin. I am reminded of Sophie Calle whose enactment of the photograph manipulates how the viewer interacts with the lens and the audience, a member of her installation. I seek the exposure of parts we have not yet seen. What is photography now, anyway?
Truth be told I have always lacked the technical skills of photography. Subject matter and composition are my obsession, but the skills I lack. I will likely always be an amateur. Although, crossing mediums is essential for craft. Perhaps, I’m a technician of words and photos, merely a path. Only, it’s the photo I’m chasing and the words… (all the words)… keep pursuing me…
©Breathe & Be Still
Why I Photo is a 5-part photo narrative that explores the art of photography as a vehicle for authenticity and present-moment awareness. For me, photography is an art form that (when practiced mindfully) helps to reduce the ego back down to its diminutive size.
Follow the link below to read more from this series. It’s intended to be read chronologically.
Why I Photo: A counterculture clash with the selfie
