The August 2007 issue of Lenswork includes the usual insightful commentary by Brooks Jensen in his ‘Editor’s Comments.’ For those of you who do not receive Lenswork, Brooks writes about The Pragmatics of Creativity. I always enjoy these commentaries because they always provoke some self-contemplation on my part. In this essay, he talks about situations that every photographer faces when composing and making a photograph. Is the work a reflection of our own abilities to ‘see’ or is it the product of having seen through others’ eyes? By saying ‘having seen through others’ is simply referring to having seen images of a certain place or subject before, and replicating them to some extent with our own camera. Perhaps not the exact composition, but certainly not different enough to be labeled unique. And of course, as artists we are all under some pressure, internal or external, to be original. As Brooks describes…
..the art of seeing is what defines the creative photographer as compared to the merely competent one.
B.Jensen
One of the aspects of this essay that I particularly liked was that Brooks doesn’t really criticize one for seeing through others. This doesn’t have to be a negative association. He recognizes that seeing through others is often necessary if not mandatory step. Often it is the powerful emotional reaction we have to photographs we have seen that motivates us to want to engage in photography for ourselves. How can that be a bad thing?
I liken it to just another rung in our ladder of growth towards being creative. It is a rung that we cannot simply step over, it must be stepped on at some point. In fact, this ladder analogy that I just made up while typing this seems to have various aspects to it in itself. Certain subjects definitely have different heights of ladders associated with them. Brooks mentions Yosemite and Half Dome as being a place that many refer to as “It’s all been done.” Perhaps this is a very tall ladder. But eventually, by climbing it, you will reach a rung that no one has stepped on before.
Other subjects may be very short ladders. We may find it quite easy to find a rung that was never stepped on. I see many nature and landscape subjects that interest me as having each a unique ladder associated with them. For birds, I think that ladder is pretty darn tall. It is quite rare that I come across a truly unique and creative bird image, even when making them myself. That is not to say there are not thousands of beautiful bird photographs out there, but to label one as unique and creative is quite high up. Flowers are another tall ladder to climb, and I often find myself challenged as well as frustrated in climbing it at times.
Brooks describes the path we take in seeing through others, and then eventually learning to let go. That it is “the essential koan at the gate of the creativity.” Perhaps this means at some point, we simply keep climbing, not looking down, and perhaps stepping lighter and lighter on each rung as we ascend.
One aspect of this that is somewhat difficult is knowing which rung has already been stepped upon. I mean if aliens came down to photograph Yosemite, how would they know what was ‘original?’
Is it possible to be completely original without ever having seen a photograph of an iconic place? This I wonder about.
😉
Letting go, so hard but so essential. My awakening came while studying at one of John Seerey-Lester’s atmospheric painting classes where my painting quickly took root and started to rapidly catch up with my graphite draftsmanship skills. I had studied and studied and his class just set a light to burning. For some it would mean diddle squat but to me it was a point in time I will base the rest of my art career on. Thanks again for the thought provoking article!
A very fine article. I once worked shooting portraits for a man from Istanbul, Turkey and he taught me so much about really visualizing a shot or a scene. He was a mind blowing genius and taught me so much. I’m very grateful. He would show me pics of alleys photographed by pros that were all the same and then show me a rare photo by a great pro that really emphasized the perspective almost making you feel the place. It was great working with one so talented and gifted plus developed through very hard work.
a very thiught orvoking post.. that image hass always been a fav. of mine.. like u, ive visted many photo sites and blogs.. and 2 be honest, not many move me/youch me in a way that i find unique or even interesting… it shows when a photographer ‘sees’ with their heart and not theier eyes.. i count u among the few..
and a HUGE congrats on the mag.. i picked yours out without reading the name… mikes too 🙂
hi mark,
you make some really great points here. for the most part, climbing that ‘ladder’ is fun and challenging for me…trying to get something unique from something i or others have shot to death. but alas, that can start to feel like work sometimes, serious, even stressful. so if i’m feeling like that, i allow myself to just take what me and jenn call ‘snappies’–no tripod or depth of field calculations or ‘is the composition good’ critiques, just “wow, that’s cool–snap!” it’s funny how demanding us photographers can be on ourselves, and it sure feels good to let go of that sometimes.