Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/01/05

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Subject: [Leica] The story vs. the individual masterpiece Part II
From: kcarney1 at cox.net (Ken Carney)
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2013 19:10:55 -0600
References: <CD0BFADA.242D0%chris@chriscrawfordphoto.com> <CD0C02B7.2430F%chris@chriscrawfordphoto.com>

Fortunately for my family, I don't make my living from photography.  But if
I did, I would have to go with the "masterpiece".   It seems that the
"story" involves a book, which from all I have read is extremely difficult.
Having said that, it seems that you have plenty of excellent examples of
both.  For me (a CPA and photography hobbyist whose only sales have been at
charity auctions with open bars and lots of friends), it would be a business
decision and I doubt that the photo essay would be in the equation.  After
all, Ansel did OK with the masterpiece part, though he did tell a few
stories also :).  

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+kcarney1=cox.net at leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+kcarney1=cox.net at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Chris
Crawford
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 3:02 AM
To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
Subject: [Leica] The story vs. the individual masterpiece Part II

Damn it, I hit Send accidentally before I finished writing, so here is the
conclusion:

In the last four years since I came back home to Indiana, I have developed a
number of stories, some newly discovered and some built on photos I had done
in the past, which I revisited and went deeper with.

I still try to make each photograph interesting, but many of them by
necessity serve as connecting tissue in a larger story, so they cannot stand
aloe and be fully appreciated. Basically I have gone from being a purely
artistic photographer to a visual historian.

I have many individual photos that sell very well, but it seems most are
from that early period, like these:

http://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?product=35

http://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?product=50

http://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?product=38

http://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?product=42

Those are four of my best selling images; I have sold many, many prints of
each over many years. They're gorgeous images, and if I ever become world
famous I would expect that those would be counted among my 'masterpieces'.

Still, looking at my earlier work vs. my later work, I feel my later work
has more depth and more importance. What do you guys think of this? The
masterpiece or the story?


--
Chris Crawford
Fine Art Photography
Fort Wayne, Indiana
260-437-8990

http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio

http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My latest work!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
Become a fan on Facebook






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In reply to: Message from chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford) ([Leica] The story vs. the individual masterpiece)
Message from chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford) ([Leica] The story vs. the individual masterpiece Part II)