The Photograph vs. Snapshot

One of the driving forces behind my photography would be perspective. A way of looking at (or capturing) a subject that was perhaps impossible without the camera.

In a photograph, there is a dissection of the obvious scene that takes place allowing for a focused point of view imposed upon the viewer that discards elements not desired by the artist. The photographer will achieve this through selection of medium, lens and most importantly - point of view. Distance - angle - height. These are all elements of the composition that are completely independent of the equipment used allowing a shooter with a $10 throwaway to create art while the guy with the $5000 dig creates passable vacation shots.

A snapshot is almost the opposite of this attempting to capture as much of a subject as necessary to convey it's meaning. Meaning in a photograph may not be as immediately obvious as that of a snapshot. With the photographer drawing on some of the implicative tools of the painter, one may have to ponder the result to realize its underlying meaning.

.... if there was any in the first place.


-- Post From My iPhone

Almost

I was thinking about this word yesterday, and how powerful... and kind of scary it is. In many ways, it is a really great word. Did you make a million dollars last year... almost!

Did you go to all the places in this world that you had planned to go.... almost!

Did you achieve all your goals at work... almost!

But what about...

Were you able to save her life doctor...almost

Were you able to avoid an affair ... almost.

Are you saved....

My Face

Wow I finally did it. Now I have a social network... or two... to go along with the blog I don't keep up. I should get a gold fish that I can let die and I will be good.

I finally put something up on Facebook and I got 34 friends in the first day. Does this happen every day? Will I have twelve thousand friends after a year? What am I supposed to do with them? At least Face Book sort of makes sense to me. I put up a My Space site and I am afraid to go back and look at what may have happened there in a day. I was hoping o put some original music up there, and actually could have if I had spent the time it took me to put the Face Book thing together on making music.

I do this alot....

The Photograph

I have been fascinated by the power of the photograph for decades mainly due to the fact that this art form has the unique ability to do the impossible.

To stop time.

People may argue that full motion is a more accurate representation of an event...and this may be true, but even video is a slice of time with a duration. A journey. Only a photograph can deliver an instant for consideration and appreciation as the flow of time is forever stopped in it tracks. It may be contrived (as moments of time often are) or it may simply and naturally drape itself before the photographer's lens. Either way, the moment remains intact and ultimately explorable by the viewer.

A photograph can suspend time for as long a one chooses to live in that moment.