Blog #33  Think BIG!

Given the title of this week’s blog post, you might think that I will be commenting on some aspect of gear such as sensor size, or the focal length of a lens.  While sensor size is a perfectly lovely albeit technological topic unto itself, there have been countless articles to address that topic from various perspectives. Size does matter where focal length is concerned.  Shorter (wide) focal lengths have their purpose usually for landscapes while longer telephoto lenses are better for capturing wildlife, sports, and compressing the elements within a frame to give the impression of a shorter depth of field. 

Neither of those topics will be the focus of this blog post (pun intended).  Rather, this blog will address the topic of thinking big.  It’s all fine and good to make individual images that document the places you go or the people you meet or even the food that you eat (sort of).  These days everyone is a photographer and there are essentially no rules. Shoot, eat, post, sleep, repeat summarizes today’s zeitgeist.

Many photographers as hobbyists or professionals, begin in the field happily snapping away at whatever strikes their fancy.  However, for those photographers that seek to make the leap to professional, or even serious hobbyists, over time, a feeling of emptiness or disconnect may seep in to our photography.  We may feel aimless, disconnected, or even worse, uninspired.  All artists and creatives go through this from time to time.  The cure for this photographer’s writer’s block can be to start a project.  

I’m not talking about a collection of photos of door handles here. Door handles are nice. But seriously, who cares? A series of door handle images says nothing about the world except that there are many different (and some beautiful) types of door handles. Collections of photos can be fun and can help the photographer to narrow their scope of subject matter and to get out into the big bad world and start to make images again. So long as their is a fair amount of variation in the images this may be a worthwhile task, or exercise.  

I recently went to a photography book fair that featured a well-known photographer that published a book on a collection of images. All of the images, in their own right were well-produced due to their interesting perspective of the subject matter, and well composed frames. However, the entire book was image after image of not just the same subject matter but all of the same subject matter. For example, who would be interested in an entire book of images of door handles? Someone obsessed with door handles, most likely that is short list. The images were so alike, I couldn’t even finish looking through the book. About a quarter way through the book, I had to put it down.  There was too much repetition for my taste and such as lack of variety that the book simply did not hold my interest long enough to get past the first few pages. The lack of variety and sheer volume of like images led to a dry and stale experience for the viewer.  How many proverbial door handles can one person appreciate in one sitting? Three? Five? Twelve? I think the answer is somewhere between one and the limit of your attention span.

Even National Geographic hosts an “Assignments & Stories” section that usually has simple topics such as Birds, or In the Shadows.  I was even fortunate enough to have one of my images chosen for the Built to Walk competition.  Contests can be beneficial as well as challenging to participate in not to mention helpful to view other photographer’s interpretations of the subject or theme. This was more of a theme project than a collection. Collections are nice to share with friends or family, and social media. Sure, there are photographic collections hanging in world-class museums but there are other ways to think big in photography.

Thinking big, in my view, is about making images that have a theme.  Images that have a theme have more gravitas than snap shots. Themes can include: solitude, love, friendship, loneliness, joy, anger, or childhood, to name a few.  Photographs that evoke the concept of a theme are more memorable because many themes are universal and people can relate to the image since we all share a lot of the same experiences, in a broad sense. 

A photographer who thinks big will make efforts to work within genres that require theme based collections or series.  These include photo journalism, visual storytelling, and social documentary. To work within these areas, the photographer will be required to produce multiple images that are connected by some underlying theme or common denominator.  

There are two ways to achieve this end. The first is to set out to make images that are related to a theme or to tell a story.  Poverty in the city, the education of women in developing countries, the Winter Olympics, or child care by grandparents in urban settings could be interesting topics that one could document.  At some point, words may be put to the images or the photographer could choose to let the photos speak to the viewer without verbal mediation.  

The second way that a story might come emerge from a selection of photos is through a more organic process, per se.  There is a simple technique that photographers might use to try to assess their style.  This technique simply requires one to survey a large set of their images and look for themes. Sorting the photos into piles (using prints or digitally into folders) that have some commonality.  The photographer might find that they like to shoot candid portraits in color, candid portraits in black and white, landscapes, food, people at work, or travel photography.  Finding the common factors in ones work could lead to the development or emergence of a story of some type.  

In both processes briefly described above, the results should be instrumental in aiding the photographer to identify a body of work on a given theme or subject.  This body of work might take months or years to be formulated into a presentable and publishable piece.  There are big bodies of work and smaller project-based bodies of work.  Either is a worth endeavour and a proper challenge for the hobbyist and professional alike.  Thinking big is about having something to say and allowing your photographs to do the speaking for you. 

The three images below are presented as a small set. Can you identify a story emerging from them? Is there a theme? Are they saying anything to you? There are many challenges to the photographer these days. Perhaps the greatest of all challenges is to think big and the only person who can stand in the way of that is you. 

The light is always right.

jhg

Theme Photo 2 of 3 Theme Photo 3 of 3 Theme Photo 1 of 3

Blog # 32 Experimentation in Photography: Report #1 Comparison: Four Conditions using 400TX

The concept of experimentation can easily be applied to the arts as well as to traditional scientific endeavours.  It is likely the case that all artists and photographers experiment throughout their careers. In fact, the field of photography lends itself nicely to the practice of experimentation.  In photography, there are a plethora of options available.  The artist photographer can vary the conditions under which they are producing images in a multitude of ways.  For example, the question of film or digital is pervasive in the field at the present time. If the choice is to use film, there are many sizes, and types of films not to mention the obvious difference between black and white or color.  There are many types of lenses that the photographer may decide to experiment with. Wide angle, standard, prime, zoom, telephoto, fisheye, and portrait are but a few of the options that are available to the photographer. Sure, there are conventions such as making landscapes with a wide angle (i.e. 28mm or wider) or a portrait with a portrait lens (85mm) but the photographer is free to change, replace, and break those conventions or rules as he or she sees fit.  For more discussion on the topic of experimentation in photography, see here. 

There are multiple genres to be explored such as portrait, landscape, social documentary, macro, food, architectural photography, and others. Most photographers will explore most, if not all, of these genres when they are starting out to find out what they like and what they are good at. If you are a newbie and not sure what genres you are most comfortable with, I suggest a project 365 that will help you to narrow your approach. See Blog #2 for my first blog on the subject. 

Aside from decisions about gear, there are filters, lenses, and post-processing options.  Push/pull processing regarding film and developing options in the days of darkrooms needed to be done at the point of developing while the dodging and burning during the printing process used to lighten or darken parts of an image can be very difficult to control with a high degree of precision.  There are many other variables that can be systematically manipulated or tested to aid the artist in what he or she is trying to express in their vision. 

This blog post will report on a simple experiment that aimed to test four different developing types using the same camera, film, and lens. The camera used was a rangefinder type body by Minolta called a CLE that contains a light meter and an Aperture Priority mode for shooting. The same lens was used and that was a Leica 40mm f/2 prime lens. The same film was used and that was Kodak Tri-X 400 (400TX) speed black and white 35mm film.  

The camera, lens, and film combination was exposed (pun intended) to four different conditions.  Two conditions varied the dilution of developer and also the development time. The two conditions were 1+12 dilution and 1+15 dilution of Rollei Supergrain brand developer to water. The difference was a mere 4ml of developer, however, the development times are required to be varied, slightly as a function of the different dilutions used.  In both conditions, a Yellow #8 filter was used on the lens on and off in both conditions.  

So the four conditions were:

1. 1+12 Yellow Filter #8
2. 1+12 No Filter
3. 1+15 Yellow Filter #8
4. 1+15 No Filter

It is true that there were slight lighting variations across the conditions in the photos, however, all images were made in the afternoon hours under very cloudy conditions with no flash used in all photos. You can view the images larger and with their titles (experimental conditions) in the Galleries/Blog Photos Folder here.

The results that were observed were that the photos that were developed using the 1+15 dilution process had increased contrast.  This is mostly apparent in the black areas of the photos.  The blacks were blacker and the tonal range appeared to be slightly enhanced.  Regarding the grain structure, this was difficult to determine with the naked eye but my feeling is that the grain structure was slightly smoother or more fine with the 1+15 development process.  It is possible that the size of the grain was smaller as well.

An analysis of the images viewed a a 1:1 enlarged view might show different results but since photos are not normally viewed at that size, I opted to use the normal view only for this comparison.

The use of the yellow filter also clearly added contrast to the image. This can be observed clearly in the difference between the images of the men playing checkers and the Tai Chi group.  These images were made within minutes of each other and also within a few meters and therefore essentially the same lighting conditions.  The Tai Chi group image that was made using the yellow filter has brighter whites (practically blown out) and blacker blacks (little detail in the woman’s black shirt closest to the camera).  

An even more clear comparison of the effects of a yellow filter can be made using the image of Christine in the entrance to Jamia Mosque with and without the use of the yellow filter. The images were made within one minute of each other will all variables held constance except for the filter.  Both were developed using the 1+15 condition.

It was an interesting to see the results of the differing levels of contrast and possible effects to the grain structure. This was a simple and fun experiment and similar effects can be tested across film types, for example. I will likely continue with this column using various camera, lens, and black and white film , and developing combinations.

So what’s your next experiment going to be? 

The light is always right. 

jhg

1+12BMinolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+12Minolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+12YELLMinolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+15BMinolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+15AMinolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+15YELMinolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+12YELMinolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+15YELLMinolta CLE, Leica 40mm f/2, Kodak TRIX400 Black and White 35mm Film 1+15NOYELL

Blog#31 Photography Quotations

This week's blog post will include a list of quotations that I have collected over the years.  I read, collect, and re-read these from time to time to draw inspiration in my photography, and in my life.  These short and simple quotations from old masters and some great living photographers help me to review the basics, reflect on my work, and generally try to improve my images.  Most photographers would likely agree with most of the quotations and immediately identify the value offered from them.  However, some are controversial. The purpose of this blog will not be to debate or analyze the validity each quotation.  They are all, obviously, the informed opinions of the artists who said them. They are simply food for thought.  You may, of course, agree or disagree but I hope that they may prompt some constructive dialogue, inspire some critique, or otherwise help you to shape your own ideas and approach to drawing with light.

At the end of Susan Sontag’s On Photography she has many pages of truly amazing quotations about photography.  Buy the book and read it. Don't just skip to the end and read the quotes. It's worth the read and the book is as relevant today as it was when she penned those essays in the early 1970s. See my Blog #22 for a review of Sontag's book.

I include a few non-photography quotes (just for fun) and also a link to the oh-so-quotable Albert Einstein. At the end of the quotations there are a few sample images that I have been making using various black and white film processing techniques at home. More on that topic will be described in subsequent blogs. 

Jeremy's selected quotations related to photography

What use is having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling? 

W. Eugene Smith

A camera is easy to use, but a proper use of the eyes requires a long, long apprenticeship offer capped with great pleasure.

Marc Riboud

The pin-sharp world of street photography is like high-definition television; what ultimately matters is the quality of the show. 

David Gibson

The world is going to pieces and people like Adams and Weston are photographing rocks! 

Henri Cartier-Bresson

A Camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera

Dorothea Lange U.S. Photographer/Journalist 1895-1965

A photographer takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. 

D. Lange

Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.

George Eastman, Founder of Eastman Kodak Company, 1854–1932

I have a deep-seated distrust and even contempt for people who are driven by ambition to conquer the world ... those who cannot control themselves and produce vast amounts of crap that no one cares about. I find it unattractive. I like the Zen artists: 

they’d do some work, and then they’d stop for a while.

Saul Leiter 

Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.

Ansel Adams US Photographer, 1902-1984

A camera is a passport to enter a special part of the universe that most people do not see;

a place between reality and the imagination.  

Jeremy Harris Greenberg

If you shoot film, you’re a photographer. If you shoot digital, you’re an editor.

Charlie Kirk 

Photography is not objective. It is deeply subjective, my photography is consistent ideologically and ethically with the person I am. 

Sebastião Salgado 

Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph.

Andre Kertesz

You take 35 degrees out of 360 degrees and call it a photo. No individual photo explains anything. That’s what makes photography such a wonderful and problematic medium.

Joel Sternfeld 

A photograph doesn’t exist until it is printed.

Constantine Manos 

In order for the mystery to work, you need abstraction from reality. Black and white is an additional abstraction, in addition to selective framing, to the freezing of the moment that in reality is a part of an infinite number of other moments (you have one moment and it never moves again; you can keep looking at the picture forever). The black and white is one more step away from reality. Color, for me, is realer, but less interesting.

Richard Kalvar 

As a photographer if your photos are too obvious then you’re missing the point. Photos are about mystery, about not knowing, about dreams, and the more you know about that—then you can recognize them on the street.

Jason Eskenazi 

Ultimately any photo project that you do isn’t really about the subject matter, it is about you - and revealing yourself. If you don’t reveal anything about yourself, you are boring everyone. It is a confession in some ways.

Jason Eskenazi 

In photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.

David Bailey, English Photographer 

An artist is a man who seeks new structures in which to order and simplify his sense of the reality of life. 

John Szarkowski 1966 

Mallard said that everything in the world exists in order to end in a book. Today everything exists to end in a photograph.

Susan Sontag

Time eventually positions most photographs, even the most amateurish, at the level of art.

Susan Sontag

The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera. 

Yousuf Karsh

Non-Photography related quotations

There is no greater violence than to deny the dreams of our children.

Kailash Satyarthi (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2014)

Work is the Curse of the Drinking Class

Oscar Wilde

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Wayne Gretzsky 

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

Thomas Edison

The creative adult is the child who has survived

Ursula K. Le Guin