Evolution of a Photographer

[charzes44]

I tend to be just as harsh on "group think" in engineering and physical sciences as in the arts. It is a problem there as anywhere else. The main reason I mention it is that these fields very much rely on developing mathematical models that can be confirmed through experimental means. Bridges still (rarely) collapse and airplanes still (rarely) crash. The issue with these fields is often related to ensuring that the model is built correctly and the appropriate data and parameters are used. In complex systems like bridges and airplanes the failures can often be attributed to events that were either not foreseen (operation outside of the design parameters), manufacturing or materials defects, etc.

There is a second level of design / analysis that is used in fields or areas where the forward looking models either do not exist or are not reliable enough to use. Here the practitioners are reliant on developing a hypothesis and validating or disproving the hypothesis through the collection of experimental data. Life sciences and social sciences often rely on these types of approaches where step-wise experiments and analysis is used to validate the hypothesis. The problem with this approach is often trying to get "clean" accurate data. As an example, for the longest time it was thought that coffee was bad for a person's health. So far as I recall this work was done in the 1950s and 1960s where researchers found that heavy coffee drinkers did not have good long-term health outcomes. When the data was re-examined at a later time, it was found that heavy coffee drinkers were often heavy smokers and the real culprit of the poor health outcomes was due to the smoking, not drinking coffee.

If the person doing this work is held in high regard, then criticism of the work from others is challenging and people may not say what they think. Group think can be dangerous too. There is currently a common police practice referred to as "carding" where people are who have not committed a crime are stopped and questioned by a police officer. The people who are randomly stopped appear not to be random at all but often appear to be males of visible minorities. Police continue to suggest that this is a valid crime reduction approach, but my understanding is that statistical analysis does not support the hypothesis. If a technique does not work, it should not be used, regardless of our personal feelings.

This is the area that falls into the subjects that both Donald and Dan have mentioned. My view is that the outcomes need to be accurately measured, otherwise the approaches that are used can lead to unintended consequences, whether this be in child welfare or in teaching. I'm a bit sensitive here as I was a "victim" of a "New Math" pilot project in my public school in grades 5 and 6 (mid 1960s). The program appear to have been shut down after those two years as being unsuccessful, but no remedial help was offered to us and I remember struggling when reverting to the "standard curriculum".

Finally, getting to the whole view of creativity and defining how to measure and teach this. Does following the Rule of Thirds or the Golden Mean result in a stronger composition because these techniques really work or is it because we have been told they do and assume that anything using them must be better aesthetically? Were the Nazis and Soviets right in banning "degenerate arts", whether this covered photography, painting, writing, poetry etc. any different than art critics, academics and PhD curators making similar judgements? Should we photographers look down at selfies and elevate the work of well known photographers past and present? What is good art anyhow?

Frankly I have little faith in how creative arts are taught and marked. These subjects are highly dependent on the personal views and tastes of the person leading the class as opposed to anything approaching "universal truths". Fashion, trends and opinion are what seems to drive these areas of endeavor. Thoughts?

I must say Manfred, that I have been a member of CiC for many years and disagreed with much of what you have said during that time. However, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you have said in this thread! You appear to be fairly sane after all!

[johnkrick]

A photographer is a very complex and creative person. As a result of long and hard work, the photographer acquires the necessary skills to become a professional in his field. The photographer's style changes according to his preferences and hobbies, which change throughout his life. It seems to me that experienced photographers should have the skills and knowledge in all areas to make excellent photographs in accordance with the client's needs. At the moment, it is very difficult to find a good photographer who could convey all the feelings and emotions that a person experiences at that moment. I recently used the services of https://www.wanderlustportraits.com and was surprised with the results and am now involved in a lengthy photo shoot to create a new creative Instagram profile. Sometimes it seems to me that high-quality photographs will help me attract more fans who will follow my life.

[Manfred M]

A photographer is a very complex and creative person. As a result of long and hard work, the photographer acquires the necessary skills to become a professional in his field. The photographer's style changes according to his preferences and hobbies, which change throughout his life. It seems to me that experienced photographers should have the skills and knowledge in all areas to make excellent photographs in accordance with the client's needs.

Interesting thoughts here John.

Most of the members here are amateurs, not pros, but much of what you have written still applies even though the "client" is often the photographer.

That being said, most photographers, regardless if they work in the retail or commercial businesses tend to specialize. The same is true for a lot of advanced amateurs; I have friends who are primarily street photographers, landscape photographers, macro photographers, etc.

On the retail side, we have portrait, wedding, pet and baby photographers. On the commercial side, photographers tend to specialize and find a niche where they work, even though they may try other genres from time to time. Fine art photographers tend to work only in one genre and they get well known in that field.

Some photographers are innovative while others work to a script, especially the ones that deal with the general public (i.e. retail).

I'm really not sure about the point you are trying to make.

[escape]

A photographer is a very complex and creative person. As a result of long and hard work, the photographer acquires the necessary skills to become a professional in his field. The photographer's style changes according to his preferences and hobbies, which change throughout his life. It seems to me that experienced photographers should have the skills and knowledge in all areas to make excellent photographs in accordance with the client's needs.

Hello JohnKrick, Welcome to CiC. You picked an interesting topic to start your forum involvement I thought the thread went off topic a bit when it drifted into the art world. I liked when the members kept it personal. Lately, I have been going through my photos. I can't say I have an identifiable style. I take photos of all kinds of things. I think I'm still exploring. My favorite images are the ones that capture an interesting moment. For the most part, it's because I happen to be standing in the right spot at the right time with my camera. I saw a video of a street photographer. He shoots moody shadowy scenes of people. He said he could place his camera at one of the scenes and take hundreds of similar photos. One of his images was of birds flying in a narrow light. He stomped his foot to get them to fly and he got the shot. He valued that shot because it would be next to impossible to duplicate. That's what I look for, images that can't be duplicated. Of course, nothing can actually be duplicated, but they can be extremely similar.

You may want to go to the member introduction thread and tell us a bit about yourself. Hope to see some of your photos. Daniel