As this is a learning site, what about...

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/08/2007 07:39:22 AM · #1

I'm trying this again - I really do think it's a good idea, and will beat this pony 'til someone listens (and will continue to mix my metaphors too...).

Recently, American Horse posted some links to photgraphers, current and historical. I was thinking, as this is a learning site, what if we had a specific forum section for links to, and discussion of professional photographers' work. A sort of Photography Art history section? If each photographer linked to had their own thread, that would make it easier to navigate. If there was a specific forum for it, then those who didn't see the thread when it was started could easily find it.

That way, there could be increased awareness of some of the movements, ideas and controversies that have grown with photography over the past 150 or so years.

What say you?

Ben

Canon EOS-30D

01/08/2007 07:48:08 AM · #2

Brilliant idea.
I for one would really love to learn more about Pro's, and their work, old and new.

With the wealth of knwledge here at DPC i think it would be a shame not to allow them to spill!

Message edited by author 2007-01-08 07:48:21.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/08/2007 07:52:22 AM · #3

Could there be subsections within a section? Say one for pre 1900, then one for 1900 - 1918, then 1919 - 1939, 1940 - 1960, 1961 - 1980, 1980 - now. I think that covers some tof the major zeitgeist shifts in western society at least, starting from the inception of photography.

Message edited by author 2007-01-08 07:52:32.

Ben

Canon EOS-30D

01/08/2007 07:55:42 AM · #4

I don't think you'd need to sub section it, not necessarily with respect to era though, perhaps photographic style? Such as
Portraiture
Journalistic
Commercial
Artistic
etc.

Actually you're sub-categories might be the better idea after all, :P

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

01/08/2007 08:10:47 AM · #5

In looking at photographic history, time periods makes more sense.

This would great for me - I start a history course in photography tonight.

zxaar

01/08/2007 08:20:52 AM · #6

there was a tribute challenge, lot of people submited lot of good stuff.
If the participants in that challenge only explained how they did , we could have learned a lot. And that too about photogs of all the time.

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

01/08/2007 08:34:47 AM · #7

i love AmHorse's posts--through him, i've enjoyed a ton of amazing photography.

however, i think a forum section, especially given the structure of dpc forums, wouldn't work. the links would be better suited in a managed page, where visitors could find what they're looking for without having to read through forum entries. it would be great if dpc could incorporate something like this along the same lines as the 'community projects' page, but put it under the 'learn' menu option; the catch is, somebody would have to take responsibility for the maintenance of the page...

Germaine

Canon EOS-7D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/4.0L IS USM Lens

01/08/2007 09:31:14 AM · #8

I've got nothing constructive to contribute as to how the project should be done, but I would welcome some section where we could post links to sites that have examples of interesting/educational work or notify other members of what's going on where we live.

Our local museum has a very active photography section. I live a nice day trip from Los Angeles, and some of the people down there might be interested in coming up to see the exhibits. A couple of times I've posted information, but the thread has disappeared in a few hours. By the same token, if there's something really good going on in Los Angeles, those of us in the boonies might be interested in coming down to see it.

01/08/2007 09:58:39 AM · #9

Originally posted by Germaine:

Perhaps there could be a current photography exhibit forum sortable by location. It would help to have an expiration date on these threads so that when exhibits close the thread drops off.

Photologist

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

01/08/2007 10:15:31 AM · #10

Originally posted by xianart:

what if we had a specific forum section for links to, and discussion of professional photographers' work.

I would not like to see just links to sites with photographs.

What would be better if there were links to sites that contained photographs and how they came to be (technically speaking). In other words, display a photograph, the EXIF information, AND how it was post-processed (steps involved).

Of all the sites with photographs, many do not have EXIF info and even a smaller number of sites detail the post-processing steps used. Without any of this, it is much more difficult to "learn".

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

01/08/2007 10:53:42 AM · #11

this is how i see it working. (i'm not a computer person, so i don't know if this is feasible)

there would be one forum section for Photography History. then, within that section, there would be subsections for each period of said history. then within each subsection, each photographer would have their own thread, where people could pose and answer questions about that artist, their work, theories, etc.

so, you could have,under photography from, say 1960's on. Minor White and the Zone System. Of course there would be links to pictures - you can't talk aobut photography without, but then ther could also be discussion of the specifics of whites work, his teaching, his ideas of the zone system, etc.

i realise this is one more subsection than currently exists in the forums, but i do think it would be useful. then we can take advantage of the many members who have professional training in photography, from around the world.

i used to be a teacher, and i know there are other art teachers on here. there are people who have been involved with photography from before i was born, who have moved from large format film to digital, as i moved from 35mm to digital. there's a wealth of imformation here, which is being shared now. but the probelm is, it gets lost too quickly. there is so much happening that threads like the learning threads, unless they specifically address digital questions, are quickly lost.

and, to address les' comments, this is about much more than post processing. this is about how these artists viewed the world. the history of image making as it has come to be. the varying schools of photography from high gloss portraiture to grubby street shoooting, straight ahead, to alternate processes. all these, while not using digital, nor generating EXIF data, can teach us about how we make our artwork now.

(can you tell i had to defend my art department budget yearly when i was a teacher?;-))

Message edited by author 2007-01-08 11:32:15.

noraneko

Canon EOS R5

01/08/2007 11:07:58 AM · #12

Christian,
I think this is a fantastic idea. There is no better way to learn than by studying the work of others, especially those who are skilled enough to have earned recognition and/or fame in this difficult field. I'm a huge fan of Edward Curtis, for example, who photographed American Indians in traditional masks in the late 1800's / early 1900's. You are probably familiar with his work, but I'll bet many are not. I doubt there's a photographer on this site who couldn't learn from his expertise with lighting and motion capture in sepia.
Anyway, count me in!

fotomann_forever

01/08/2007 11:57:31 AM · #13

Let's not limit only to photography... we can learn a lot from other visual media also.

01/08/2007 12:10:00 PM · #14

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Let's not limit only to photography... we can learn a lot from other visual media also.

this is true, and i would say yes, but... there's a huge world out there! it might get a bit unwieldy?

dleach

Canon EOS-20D

01/08/2007 12:21:55 PM · #15

Sounds like what you really would work the best would be wiki style area on these photographers (or links to Wikipedia.com)...

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

01/08/2007 01:11:36 PM · #16

A place to start would be to add a forum group for Photographic History. I'm sure that there have been threads posted that are of interest to me and I would like to read but these easily get lost in the chaos and quickly fall off the front page.

I would also like to see interactive discussions and questions rather than just a passive link to wikipedia. For example, if I would like to know who the couple that photographed potatoes are - possibly they are German- my guess is someone on dpchallenge probably knows who I am talking about. Good luck finding this in google or wikipedia.

There are forums for Business of Photography and Stock Photography which are more geared toward commercial interests. Why not some forums for artsy talk?

NstiG8tr

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

01/08/2007 02:02:51 PM · #17

Originally posted by lesgainous:

What would be better if there were links to sites that contained photographs and how they came to be (technically speaking). In other words, display a photograph, the EXIF information, AND how it was post-processed (steps involved).

This already exists here. It's the submit page for challenge entries. People just don't fill out the info. Why not just make it mandatory to fill in all the blanks including the details of how it was created or post processed. There is plenty of knowledge here at DPC, I don't think you really need links to off-site stuff. My 2 cents.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

01/08/2007 02:10:38 PM · #18

Originally posted by NstiG8tr:

...This already exists here. It's the submit page for challenge entries. People just don't fill out the info. Why not just make it mandatory to fill in all the blanks including the details of how it was created or post processed. There is plenty of knowledge here at DPC, I don't think you really need links to off-site stuff. My 2 cents.

but that's not what i'm hoping the admin will generate. what 'm hoping for is a specfic thread section on the art history of photography, so the knowledge and information can be in a certral place, so those who need to know can look, and those who can learn, can learn, without getting lost in the millions of threads generated here.

sorry dave, i'm not going off on you at all, i just really want this to stay on topic!

NstiG8tr

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

01/08/2007 02:17:50 PM · #19

Originally posted by xianart:

Originally posted by NstiG8tr:
...This already exists here. It's the submit page for challenge entries. People just don't fill out the info. Why not just make it mandatory to fill in all the blanks including the details of how it was created or post processed. There is plenty of knowledge here at DPC, I don't think you really need links to off-site stuff. My 2 cents.

but that's not what i'm hoping the admin will generate. what 'm hoping for is a specfic thread section on the art history of photography, so the knowledge and information can be in a certral place, so those who need to know can look, and those who can learn, can learn, without getting lost in the millions of threads generated here.

sorry dave, i'm not going off on you at all, i just really want this to stay on topic!

No need to apologize. Maybe I'm just not really clear on what you are wanting. I still think people should be required to fill in all the blanks on the submit page since it is a learning site. I'm lazy and don't do it all the time either.

Germaine

Canon EOS-7D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/4.0L IS USM Lens

01/08/2007 03:49:27 PM · #20

Originally posted by lesgainous:

Originally posted by xianart:
what if we had a specific forum section for links to, and discussion of professional photographers' work.

I would not like to see just links to sites with photographs.

What would be better if there were links to sites that contained photographs and how they came to be (technically speaking). In other words, display a photograph, the EXIF information, AND how it was post-processed (steps involved).

Of all the sites with photographs, many do not have EXIF info and even a smaller number of sites detail the post-processing steps used. Without any of this, it is much more difficult to "learn".

Yes, it is, but as you pointed out, most sites with photographs don't have this information, so I think we would be limiting ourselves severely if we only linked to those sites that do.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

01/08/2007 03:57:40 PM · #21

I've posted this before, but if you are interested in Photo History, you could do a lot worse than listen and view the course from Jeff Curto at this link Come back in a few weeks/months when you've absorbed all the free goodness he has to offer.

01/08/2007 03:59:43 PM · #22

And if someone has a question?

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

01/08/2007 04:07:22 PM · #23

Originally posted by quiet_observation:

And if someone has a question?

I really didn't mean that as a 'go away and don't come back' more just that there is a huge amount to absorb.

I've also found that Jeff was quite open to chatting about his course. Other than that the 'individual photograph discussion' forums or photography discussion areas seem like a fine place to start. What would you have the 'photography discussion' or 'individual photograph discussion' sections be about, if not about this sort of thing ?

I guess if there is a huge influx of historical photography discussion I could see it being worth adding yet another forum, but perhaps that should start first to show there was enough interest ?

Every photograph is historic to one degree or another, they always show something that's happened in the past, unlike many other art forms I suppose.

Message edited by author 2007-01-08 16:12:22.