“If all your life means to you is water running over rocks, then photograph it, but I want to create something that would not have existed without me.” ~ Minor White
Shoreline rocks and melting lake ice, Michigan # WI-9995
I recently came across this quote from Minor White that really resonated with me. It puts quite simply how a photograph can be more than just documentation of something in front of this light sensitive box. It can be a product recording of time, or it can be an intersection of a moment and the photographer. I prefer to approach my subjects to the degree of the latter.
While we today see some aspects differently now in the digital era, Weston’s Daybooks are some of the best writings ever written in the world about photography and the creative process. I highly recommend them to you and your readers if you have not yet read them. One of my most popular blog posts was about Weston’s approach. Included in my post is the quote about removing the ego: http://landscapephotographyblogger.com/edward-westons-landscape-philosophy/
Excellent way to put it, Mark. Sometimes when photographers try to hard to be different, they end up being much like others anyway. The idea is to be yourself, to develop yourself creatively, as in, to develop an understanding of who you are and why you create, which then produces the art that if it is not completely different, at least uniquely expresses your inner life, which is yours alone.
Also, in an absolute sense, Dad’s approach has a fallacy within it, in that according to modern physics, even observing an atomic particle causes its behavior to change. That means that on a fundamental level, our interactions with physical “reality” always run two ways: it affects us and we affect it. It follows then that no photographer can observe nature and not change it in some way, especially in his or her photographs, which are only a representation of reality. Therefore, Dad letting nature take over is not even entirely possible. All he could truly do was to get as close as he could to representing nature as it is and even this is a sort of style in and of itself. Edward Weston also talked about removing the ego, or the self, completely from his work, but this lack of imposition of style for all practical purposes resulted in Edward Weston having a distinct style and philosophy that many have and still will continue to try to emulate.
I’d have to read up on that alteration by observation of particles David. That’s something hard to get my head around. The whole tree falling in the forest and no one to hear it bit.
Weston’s concept of “removing self ” seems a bit foreign to me. While I can understand the ego aspect, a photograph seems like it cannot be completely disassociated with it maker. If it is just for a photograph to stand on its own merits regardless of who made it, then I can get that.
Of course water running over rocks can also be done in a way that is unique to the photographer. My father would tend to partly disagree with Minor in this instance in that Dad’s approach was to find the art in nature as it is and to put as little of his own stamp on it as possible. He said he did not want to “pour nature into a mold.” It was my father’s “style,” or non-style to let nature do the talking. However, I personally tend in my own photography to agree more in philosophy with Minor White. I believe today that there is such a vast sea of imagery flowing constantly that for photography to be significant now, it must transcend mere reality as is. I’m not sure at all how Edward Weston would reply to Minor’s statement, but he did say, “To photograph a rock, have it look like a rock, but be more than a rock,” which in some ways both disagrees and agrees with Minor.
There is certainly a gradient of concepts behind it for sure David. Hard to take his comment as purely literal, it has certainly become repeated in other ways through the years in “being different.” I don’t know what that even means anymore with so many billions of photographs. Being true to yourself is about all anyone can ask for.
I am questioning the idea that all of us are placed on this earth to create, offer the perspective of what we see, who we are. Another wonderful image!!
No doubt everyone has it within to do so. It seems like a small percentage actually pursue it though, would you agree?
The intersecting moments captured by photography are often very personal and may not fully reveal their deeper meanings to a general audience. If not, I don’t necessarily judge it as a failure of the photo or the photographer. A thoughtful person would be hesitant to make snap judgements without knowing the full story — even if it is but of “water running over rocks.” 🙂
Beautiful photo, Mark. You aways achieve such depth in your photos.
“A thoughtful person would be hesitant to make snap judgements without knowing the full story — even if it is but of “water running over rocks.” ”
Indeed Earl. I thought White’s quote could be taken as pretentious, but I lack context of where it was taken from or if there was more to it. Any photograph is going to have some bit of the photographer in it. Here perhaps he is pushing people to “stand out from the crowd” – but that certainly isn’t everyone’s ambition. I like water on rocks just as much as the next guy. 🙂
This shot clearly shows that intersection. Beautiful!
It would not surprise me if Minor White meant his words to be a slap in the face of some photographers. Not in an obnoxious or arrogant manner but rather like a wake up call to the metaphysical insights made possible by the use of photography. At least, that’s always how I thought of him and his work: pointers to abstract concepts.
“…an intersection of a moment and the photographer.” Very cool idea, one you never fail to demonstrate Mark.
Thank you for Minor White’s quote, and thank you for yours, too, Mark. I will save “If all your life means to you is water running over rocks, then photograph it, but I want to create something that would not have existed without me.” But I will also save “[a photograph] can be an intersection of a moment and the photographer.” Both of these help as I reevaluate the direction of my own photographs.
Beautiful photograph—it illustrates your (and Minor’s) meaning.
I suppose one could be a little offended by his quote if they love photographing waterfalls, but I am not sure he meant it in that way. I have done my share of them. But certainly the photos that mean most to me are where I did put my own creativity into it versus a photograph that really could’ve been taken by anyone.