For my birthday I took myself to the botanical conservatory on campus to look at plants. Neeeeeeeeerd. I'm never satisfied with the pictures I take in gardens and conservatories; they're always either too boring or too messy to look at (artistically speaking, I could look at pictures of plants all day, no matter how they are framed). This time, however, I tried extra hard, and here's what came of it:
Besides the super close-ups, I took the opportunity to work on my still life and composition. When I took photography in college I always struggled to make order out of chaos. Some photographers (like a favorite, Lee Friedlander) can take a place that is full of crazy lines and angles, and frame it so you can see a way through, your eye is led into it and around in a deliberate manner. I would like to be able to do that, so here are some of my attempts:
When I started taking photos, I thought I could document the world. And it took me a few years to realize that as soon as you place a frame around the world, your photo becomes its own animal and that ideal is unattainable. Lee Friedlander said (of landscapes, but I think it's true of my new understanding of photography), "no matter how well you manage as a photographer, you will only ever give a hint as to how good the real thing is." This is my new mantra.
On a seperate note, I also have a lot of trouble taking photos of cities and I would like to tackle that at some point as well. Jaja, it seems, has no trouble with that. Look and learn, people.
Besides the super close-ups, I took the opportunity to work on my still life and composition. When I took photography in college I always struggled to make order out of chaos. Some photographers (like a favorite, Lee Friedlander) can take a place that is full of crazy lines and angles, and frame it so you can see a way through, your eye is led into it and around in a deliberate manner. I would like to be able to do that, so here are some of my attempts:
When I started taking photos, I thought I could document the world. And it took me a few years to realize that as soon as you place a frame around the world, your photo becomes its own animal and that ideal is unattainable. Lee Friedlander said (of landscapes, but I think it's true of my new understanding of photography), "no matter how well you manage as a photographer, you will only ever give a hint as to how good the real thing is." This is my new mantra.
On a seperate note, I also have a lot of trouble taking photos of cities and I would like to tackle that at some point as well. Jaja, it seems, has no trouble with that. Look and learn, people.
1 comment:
Happy belated birthday!! Arrggh. I was just thinking that you're birthday was coming up, but could not find any documentation as to what specific day it was. I hope you had a great day!
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