Not A Bad Photographer

Originally Posted Thursday, February 27, 2014

When I am making photographs and I see something in the viewfinder that reminds me of a painting, I yell out and squeal like a kid.  Usually, I will clap my hands.  Sometimes I know which painter it reminds me of, sometimes not.  I just know that it looks like one.  Often it is Balthus with his weird angles that are not natural.  I love those.  Sometimes it is Hopper with the directional light.  I love it when I see a Matisse unfold, though it is only in shape since I cannot do with the outlines anything that will take the photograph into that realm.  In some cases, again because of lighting and subject matter, is is one of the Dutch Masters.  And when the scene is brightly lit, I think of the old Italians, and sometimes in the dark of those darker paintings of Titian and Caravaggio.  The picture posted here is one that made me jump and squeal.  It is rich.  And as a bonus, I just discovered something that is making my processing richer.  It is important to have days where you do nothing but try and try and try.  Most of the trying is failing, but it all leads to some secret knowledge that will make you happier in the end.  A lot of mediocre photographers like myself buy packages of filters and effects that they can apply to their images.  Fashion/beauty/glamor sites are full of them.  The images look "professional" and make a lot of people (models, clients) happy.  I can't use them, though.  The images look like somebody else's.  I want people to know I made the picture when they see it, and I think they do.  And that is quite a feat for a mediocre photographer.  I am not saying "mediocre" as a way to fish for compliments in protest.  I simply mean someone who has not succeeded in the high end markets.  I was in a band, for instance, that was well-known for hundreds of miles.  Some college radio stations played our songs.  But you couldn't ask "The Boss" what he thought of our work.  We were mediocre.  It is a comfortable moniker, I think, one that makes me want to try harder, and it is better than "bad."  I don't think I am a bad photographer.  But that was not my point, but now it has become the point and I can't get back to saying how much I think of painting when I look through the viewfinder. 

I'm sure that everybody does.