all photos ~ (embiggenable)
THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS OTHER THAN THE ORGASMIC picture making orgy of blazing Autumnal color to herald the arrival of Autumn.
WHILE WE ARE ON THE TOPIC OF “GREAT” PICTURES (my definition thereof pending), it is my belief that “great” pictures are the unintended byproduct of the endeavor of creating a body of work.
FYI, in this conversational context I am considering to be “great” those pictures which come to define a body work and almost always/invariably, pop into one’s head when the name of the maker thereof is mentioned …. although, perhaps “Signature” picture is a better phrase. As examples, say “Eggleston” and think tricycle picture, or, say “Shore” and think Beverly Blvd / La Brea Ave picture, or say “Frank” and think Trolley picture.
To be certain those pop-up pictures are not necessarily the picture that comes to mind when hearing / reading those photographers’ names. However, show someone* any of those pictures and the maker’s name will most likely come to mind.
In any event, here’s where I’m going with this topic …. those pictures which have been designated as “signature” or “great”-–by whatever means, opinions, process, et al–probably came as surprise to the makers of those pictures. That is to write, that at the time–neither before nor after–of their making, the photographers in question were most likely not thinking that they had made a “greatest hit” picture. They were just doing their thing and then relegating the results to a specific body of work.
Which is not to suggest that as time went by they did not periodically review the work and, in doing so, come to recognize some the pictures as “better” than some others in expressing their vision. However …. in my fantasy photo world, I would be able to ask, as an example, Eggleston , Shore, Frank what photo of their making they consider to be their “greatest hit” and I would not be surprised if they had difficulty naming even one photo as their best ever photograph.
I write that cuz I believe that most, if not every, hardcore / driven-to-make-pictures photographer considers their bodies of work to be their “greatest” hit, individual “greatest hits” be damned. Furthermore, I believe that to be the case cuz whichever photograph comes to be considered to be “signature” or a “great hit”, more often than not, makes no sense when isolated from the context of the greater body of work from which it emerged.
iMo, in the greater scheme of things, photography wise, a “greatest hit”, without a body of work to validate its raison d'être, is little more than a flash in the pan.
*someone interested in the medium and its apparatus.
