Robert Hirsch
Why People Make Photographs, Part IV
By Robert Hirsch

From Photovision Magazine, March/April 2001 V 1/N 4



This is the fourth installment of my responses to prevalent issues raised by people studying photography. They are initial pathways to engage photographers in critical thinking, which can lead to both an internal and external dialogue about these topics.

© Robert Hirsch.
“Untitled” (detail), 1997 (?).
From the series “The Architecture of Landscape.”
20x16-inches, toned gelatin silver print.


19. Why is it important to make your own photographs?

The physical act of making a photograph forces one into the moment and makes you look and think more than once, increasing your capacity for appreciation and understanding. This not only allows you to see things in new ways, but can also be physically and psychologically exhilarating. It reminds us that life is not mediocre, even if our daily conception of it is. Making your own images allows photographers to forge their own connections between the structure of the universe and the organization of their imagination, and the nature of the medium. Consider what artist and teacher Pat Bacon says: make work... make it often...make it with what's available!

20. How much visual information do I need to provide the viewer in order to sustain meaning?

There are two basic stylistic approaches for transmitting photographic information. One is an open approach in which a great deal of visual data is presented. It allows viewers to select and respond to those portions that relate to their experiences. The second method is the closed or expressionistic form. Here the photographer presents selected portions of a subject with the idea of directing a viewer towards a more specific response. Photographers need to decide which technique is most suitable for a particular subject and their specific project goals. Approaches shift depending on the project situation, but generally it is helpful to keep a constant approach throughout one body of work. Consciously selecting a single stylistic method for a series also provides a basic template for organizing your thoughts and producing work that possesses a tighter focus of concentration.

21. How much of a photographer's output is likely to be "good"?

The American poet and writer Randall Jarrell wrote an apt metaphor that can be applied to other forms of artistic inspiration: "A good poet is someone who manages, in a lifetime of standing out in thunderstorms, to be struck by lightning five or six times; a dozen or two dozen times and he is great." When Ansel Adams was photographing on a regular basis he said he was satisfied if he made one "good" image a month. Much of any artistic practice is working through the process. Good artists take risks but also recognize that not everything they do is for public circulation. Situations that provide constructive and challenging criticism can be beneficial in helping to resolve a project. Over time, skillful artists learn to edit and critique their own work, presenting only their most thought-out solutions for public consideration.

22. How do photographers explore complex relationships of time, space, and scale and their role in generating meaning?

The process of making pictures involves keeping an open mind to single and serial image constructions, narrative and non-narrative formats, in-camera juxtapositions, and post-camera manipulations. Consciously ask yourself questions such as: How does image size effect viewer response? How would changing to black-and-white or color effect the image's emotional outcome? Examine how one photograph may modify the meaning of the image next to it. Consider what happens if text is added to an image? How can meaning shift with a title as opposed to leaving a photograph untitled? What is the most effective form of presentation, and what is the appropriate venue?

23. Why study the history of photography?

History is an opportunity to learn the basic skills needed to critically examine photographs: description, interpretation, and evaluation. Encountering new photographs also presents the chance to articulate something in yourself that previously you had been unable to release. Often new visual experiences can trigger semiconscious thoughts that resurrect, from the deadness of routine and lack of concentration, valuable yet overlooked aspects of our experience.

24. What are the limitations in studying the images of others?

The French novelist Marcel Proust stated: "There is no better way of coming to be aware of what one feels than by trying to recreate in oneself what a master has felt." While viewing the work of others can help us understand what we feel, it is our own thoughts we need to develop, even if it is someone else's picture that aids us through this process. Regardless of how much any image opens our eyes, sensitizes us to our surroundings, or enhances our comprehension of social issues, ultimately the work can not make us aware enough of the significance of our predilections because the imagemaker was not us. Looking at work can place you at the threshold of awareness, but it does not constitute cognizance of it. Looking may open deep dwelling places that we would not have known how to enter on our own, but it can be dangerous if it is seen as material that we can passively grab and call our own. We become photographers because we probably have not found pictures that satisfy us. In the end, to be a photographer, you must cast aside even the finest pictures and rely on your internal navigational devices.

25. Can too much knowledge interfere with making photographs?

The answer is both yes and no. Beware of those who do not think independently, but rely upon established aesthetic, theoretic, or technical pedigrees as guides to eminence. You do not have to know all the answers before you begin. Asking questions for which you have no immediate answers can be the gateway for a new dynamic body of work. Do not get overwhelmed by what you do not yet know. Admit there is always more to know and learning should be a life-long process. Use your picturemaking as a discovery process, but do not allow the quest for data to become the central concern or a deterrent not to make pictures. Know-ledge of a subject can offer points of entry for visual explorations. Learn what you need to begin your project and then allow the path of knowledge to steer you to new destinations.





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