Re: [Leica] On Photographic Seeing

[George Huczek <ghuczek@sk.sympatico.ca>]

At 08:32 PM 07/08/98 +0100, Joseph Codispoti wrote:
>
><<<<<As a first challenge (albeit a small one) for Curt Miller, or anyone
>willing to comment, I would like to know what exercises photographers who
>"can't see the forest for the trees" employ .  In other words, how can one
>keep sharp in spotting a potential photograph among the mundane.>>>>>>
>
I think there is more than just "seeing" to photography.  Sure, that's one
way to photograph, but there's more.  

"Seeing" photographs involve going out into strange or familiar territory,
and looking for things to photograph, without any preconceived notion of
what you may find.  Ted described his approach well regarding this.  I
suspect though, that he is not just a "seeing" photographer, from some of
the work he's done, as I'll explain.  Many "seeing" photos are ones that
are taken by going out and looking for things.  Freeman Patterson is one of
many photographers whose pictures seem to suggest that he is a "seeing"
photographer.  There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it does have
its limits.
   There are also "thinking" photographs.  Using this approach, you go
looking for a particular image in mind.  You know what you want to
photograph, or you know the theme or concept that you are trying to
express.  You previsualise the photograph in your mind, even before you
have gone out scouting your subject matter.  One problem that this can lead
to is tunnel vision, where you miss many things that are worthy of
consideration because you have limited yourself to looking for something in
particular.  You can also fall victim to stereotypes.  I think of Ansel
Adams as being the classic example of the thinking photographer.  He had
the final print, with its full compliment of tonal values, imagined even
before he began to set up the camera to take the picture.
   The third type of photograph, is what I would call the "feeling" one.
This is probably the most difficult, especially when people are the subject
matter.  You have to be able to empathize with the subject, and express
something that is truthful and revealing.  "Feeling" pictures have a
universal appeal.  Many of the great photojournalists and documentary
photographers succeed because they are able to relate to their subject on
an emotional plane.  Classic images come to mind which illustrate the
"feeling" photographer at work, like Eugene Smith's photo of a Japanese
mother holding her dying son who has fallen to minimata disease from
mercury poisoning.  It is the "feeling" photo that touches us most deeply.  


- -GH