In my experience there is little instruction about it - but then, that's the point; you find your own way, and you struggle, and misunderstand, and get nervous and timid, or get overconfident and therefore boring and meaningless. The only way, as I see it, is to look at the work of the masters, and to learn from that; and to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, looking all the time; and to understand as much about photography as you can - all areas of photography, by all photographers.
I would suggest a thorough look at the work of Tony Ray-Jones, the group of photographers at In Public, and especially the work of David Gibson who runs that site and is a genius. And don't be concerned about trying to emulate any of them, but try to find your own approach: I think it's almost the most difficult of all photographic disciplines - precisely because there is no set-up time, because there is no time to swap lenses, because the shots are so infrequent and fleeting, and because you might go for months before you get a decent shot; and most of all because you cannot go out looking for a specific type of photograph - you must just see the world and people around you, and be ready. It's appallingly hard, and frighteningly exciting when you get something good.
E
Message edited by author 2005-09-05 18:30:33. |
