Would you approach a group of strangers and ask them for a moment of their time? Would you be willing to tell them that you have something intriguing, something meaningful, something important to show them? Would you assure them that they won’t be disappointed, that what you’re about to show them is worth their time? Do you have the nerve to do that? Because this is what you do when you display your photographs. So many photographers want to believe their work is Art-with-a-capital-A. Yet so many of their photographs are little more than technical exercises. If you strive for artistry, then the content of your photographs must say something meaningful to your viewers, enough so that it’s a thoughtful, if not transformative experience.
Back in 2008, when I had less than a year of experience under my belt, I was searching for a formula to make the “perfect picture,” and I thought it all had to do with composition. After reading article upon article about photographic composition, I began asking strangers online, “How do I take the perfect picture?” Their response: “there is no such thing as a perfect picture.” I hadn’t yet realized that there are no secrets in photography. If you know your camera, if you understand exposure, if you understand light, then what will you gain from reading article after article of on technique? Mastering creative composition, again, can drastically improve your work’s appearances. But you can only go so far by learning about what pleases the eye.
It is rarely a lack of technique or composition that makes a person’s photography downright boring. Rather, it is their lack of content, a sensibility for feeling, or perspective upon a subject, that separates mere craftsmanship from that elusive Art-with-a-capital-A. I like to compare craftsmanship and art with writing. If art is the message the author is bringing forward, then craftsmanship is the language with which he delivers the message. Technique is the grammar, and composition is the vocabulary.
I’ve seen beautiful compositions in sharp, well exposed photographs, which offer very little at all beyond eye-candy. This is why a lot of landscape and portrait photography is monotonous: it’s the same message, written wonderfully, but delivered over, over, and over again, with very little to say.
Many photographers, and daresay many artists, misunderstand subject. The subject is not what or who you’re photographing - the what or who in your photographs are merely conduits for the subject. The subject is the feeling, the idea, the belief that you have within yourself, which you’re expressing through model or the landscape. If you’re just capturing how something looks, because you like the way it looks, there’s nothing wrong with that. But I’m apt to argue that this mode of practice is more akin to decoration or illustration than art.
Art and craftsmanship are not mutually inclusive. Beautiful craftsmanship can produce a beautiful table that is, just that, a beautiful table. And we learned from Duchamp and the toilet that he signed that art doesn’t necessarily need craftsmanship at all; a person can convey their artistic vision by merely adopting another person’s handiwork.
Art and craftmanship do have a very healthy, supportive relationship. You can have a world-shaking message, but if you can’t move the reader through your writing, nor shake the listener through your speaking, if your communication skills leave us confused, then your message will never translate. This is art without craftsmanship. On the flip-side, you can have incredible insights on the English language, an extensive vocabulary, and a masterful reign on grammar and syntax. But without a message or something to say, you won’t have much use for it beyond practical day-to-day communicating. This is craftsmanship without art. In this case, you’re better off as translator, intermediary, or the visual equivalent - an illustrator.
Imagine you were to write a book or an article, what would the subject would be about? What is it about the subject that you want to share with others? Truly significant photography does not come through technique or composition alone, it comes from your inward vision, the things you care most about, the particular message you’ve been sent to deliver to the world.
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Best regards,
John Dykstra
thanks for the nice picture and your inspiring words
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Love what I have seen of your work mate and appreciate your thoughts on the art .
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