There are number of websites, those which are often labeled as magazines, that I follow on a regular basis. Most showcase the work of an individual picture maker with a sampling of pictures gleaned from a body of their work.
Unfortunately, re: my eye and sensibilities, most sites are predominately slanted toward the academic / PHD ways of making pictures. Pictures which are heavily weighted on expressing personal psychological self-analysis. Or, what Bill Jay once described as artists speaking out of their own assholes.
Most of the practioners of making such pictures are very adept at writing artspeak BS artist statements. However, if a photograph is worth a thousand words, these photographs require at least a thousand written words in order to try to understand what they are about. And, for most part, the pictures themselves are very rarely visually compelling.
However, one site which is focused more on the visual, rather than arcane personal self-analysis, is DON'T TAKE PICTURES. On their ABOUT page their raison d'etre states:
... Over the years, the term “taking pictures” has begun to be replaced with “making photographs.” The change signifies a distinction between the widespread use of cameras in the modern world and the more systematic, thoughtful process of creating photographic art. At Don’t Take Pictures, we strive to celebrate the creativity involved with the making of photographs.
In light of the selections made by Kat Kiernan, the curator/editor of DON'T TAKE PICTURES, in a juried exhibition, Celebrating the Creative Process, it seems rather obvious that the visual content of a picture is rather paramount to Kiernan. In addition to the selections she made, her Jurors' Statement goes on to support that notion....
When jurying this exhibition, I sought works that embraced the idea of photographing with intention and of carefully considering the elements of each image. This exhibition contains imagery in which the photographer meticulously transformed an idea in their mind into a final print. Some of these photographs reflect careful planning. Others rely on choices made in the moment when light, composition, and movement came together for one fraction of a second, just long enough for a photographer with carefully honed instincts to frame and record.
Kiernan's phrase ...works that embraced the idea of photographing with intention and of carefully considering the elements of each image says it all for me. iMo, it is refreshing to read a statement about picture making which emphasizes the visual content rather than the concept (concept as fetishized by the academic/PHD crowd).
It should go without writing but ... I am delighted and pleased that one of pictures from my picture window body of work was selected by Kat Kiernan for the exhibition ....
