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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> What makes a photographer
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Showing posts 1 - 11 of 11, (reverse)
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01/16/2016 10:02:04 AM · #1
So what's happened to photography now that everyone has the technology to take as many pictures as they like?

An interesting interview with photographer Ken Van Sickle.

"There are a lot of things that make a good photograph. You have to think about texture and gesture and composition, and all the things that painting has in it. Technology doesn’t change the way photography is. It just — it makes it available to more people, which means there’s going to be much, much more really terrible pictures taken or pictures that are totally dependent on subject, which is all, all right.

If you were there when the Hindenburg caught on fire, and you took a picture of it, that’s a great photograph. But you’re not a great photographer, because you can’t repeat that in everyday things.

What a great photographer does is, they are consistently able to make something in a style that’s personal to themselves. My pictures don’t depend on extreme sharpness. They depend on the composition and on the subject and on the way I see it."

Good stuff for me to think about.

Some of his images on Google.
01/16/2016 10:15:46 AM · #2
The last paragraph really resonates with me...thanks for sharing Mark, really excellent stuff.
01/16/2016 10:25:10 AM · #3
It's still expensive to buy a roll of film if you can find it in stock.... Makes you appreciate the new technology more..
01/16/2016 11:12:18 AM · #4
His gallery online.

Thanks! He represents one side of the coin. The one that says great photographers are great because they are perfectly expressing a unique personal vision. You know who it is because of the way the whole composition looks, because of style, because of the individual, personal use made of photography.

The other side of the coin is photojournalism. It says great photographers keep personality out of it. Do not editorialize, just accurately, perfectly record without getting involved in the story. You know who it is because of the subject, or the location.
01/16/2016 02:03:50 PM · #5
oh boy, could Sickle all day. thanks.
01/16/2016 02:44:58 PM · #6
Thanks for sharing. Very inspiring.
01/16/2016 02:49:03 PM · #7
Originally posted by tolovemoon:

It's still expensive to buy a roll of film if you can find it in stock.... Makes you appreciate the new technology more..

Not necessarily. Being able to take only two pictures, and being able to take only 20,000 pictures -- both propositions can bring on the same sort of paralysis.
01/16/2016 03:09:00 PM · #8
Thanks, enjoyed his thoughts on photography.
01/16/2016 03:11:36 PM · #9
Anybody can do it... Uh oh sounds like poetry. You don't need special equipment for that, either. Ubiquity becomes obscurity.
01/16/2016 04:36:54 PM · #10
it all comes down to effort. just like every other craft, being a photographer requires a certain level of effort. good or bad is irrelevant.
01/16/2016 05:13:44 PM · #11
Originally posted by Mike:

it all comes down to effort. just like every other craft, being a photographer requires a certain level of effort. good or bad is irrelevant.


right. just like making love.
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