all photos ~ (embiggenable)
I RECENTLY CAME ACROSS A BLOG WHEREIN THE author / photographer was discussing the “compromises” he had to make due to his recent adoption of the “one camera, one lens” manner of making pictures. The list was long, or at least long-winded, but 2 items struck me as, to be frank, rather “misguided”––to state it delicately….
Item #1:
“…. with only one perspective [one lens] your photographs can largely all have the same look. To overcome that ‘same look’…. you have to seriously think things through rather than throwing your camera up in front of your face, pointing it and pressing the shutter. One camera with one focal length lens is very restrictive but, if you work at it, you can make one focal length look like many.”
Most photographers who are engaged in the making of so-called fine art (I really dislike that term) photography are, in fact, creating photographs that all have the “same look”––that is, photographs that exhibit their own unique way of seeing, aka: their vision. In the vast majority of cases, they employ a specific lens that creates a visual “look” that best matches how they see the world. By doing so, they do not have to “seriously think things through” when making a photograph. They can, in fact––literally or metaphorically, place a camera in front of your their face, pointing it and pressing the shutter ….
…. which leads directly to item #2:
“I cannot tell you how many events and things to which I’ve been a witness that, because I was concentrating so hard on getting the best shots, in reality, I essentially missed them. I had photos but little memory of the event itself. Now, I think I’d rather see and remember them than miss them just to get an optimum photograph.”
re: “concentrating so hard”, aka: “seriously think things through”––if a photographer has come to recognize and understand how he/she sees the world and has mated that seeing to a single lens picture making M.O., thus refining their vision, photography wise, there is very little, if anything, to “think” about; “pressing the shutter” becomes second nature and presents absolutely no impediment to staying in the moment, re: witnessing / experiencing an event / thing.
In fact, iMo and experience, making a photograph of a moment and experiencing that moment are all of a single piece. They are intrinsically intertwined and I cannot comprehend how one can do one without the other.