Musing-October-2012
The Perfect Image
Last week I took part in a conversation on photography, in particular the trends and needs of photographic education. What did students want to learn and what was important for them to learn? An educator made the statement that the days of seeking the perfect image were over. She said that social media has made the quest for the perfect image obsolete. Students are more interested in how to get their images “published” immediately than in the crafting of the image.
I was stunned. The quest for the perfect image has been the object of my entire career, my Holy Grail so to speak. As a newspaper photographer my job was to find the one image that told the story. I strove to make so complete a photograph that the editor couldn’t/wouldn’t crop any of the image. As an artist I still seek that perfect image. This is why I make numerous variations when working a composition. The difference between an image that works and one that doesn’t can result from something as simple as a small change in movement, a change of the lens, or waiting for a shift in the light. I want the one that is right. When I edit my own negative and prints I am constantly guided by the thought that “good enough isn’t and close enough won’t be” when deciding on the image that works.
The result of immediate publication of images, whether on Facebook, phone or blog, results in predominantly unedited images. Point. Click. Shoot. It doesn’t seem to matter how the image looks, but rather the reflection of a moment in one’s life. The problem isn’t the subject matter or the technology. The problem is that if the only photographs you ever see are this uncut, uncensored form you may believe that this trend is the standard for photography. Some worry that this will diminish all the quality work of contemporary professional and fine art photographers but I don’t think we really have to worry about this. As with those horrible vacation slide shows of the 1960 – 1980’s, this did not prove true. Nor is this a new phenomena.
Shortly after Kodak brought out the first roll film camera and advertised “You push the button and we do the rest” respect for photographers and photography plummeted. In Cyanide and Spirits: An Inside-Out View of Early Photography Bill Jay devoted an entire chapter to what he called “the Camera FIEND.” He wrote that the snapshot photographers were reviled by the professionals because with accessibility to easy-to-use cameras and film processing, everyone could make photographs with little knowledge about what makes a good photograph. It would seem that the new technologies today are resulting in the same trend. Little to no thought is being given to design, composition, light, perspective or any other qualities that make an image interesting. However, Kodak’s cameras did not destroy the field of photography. If anything, the field of photography flourished, photography programs in colleges and universities expanded and we have lasting bodies of work from scores of talented photographers from the second half of the 20th century.
As with the written word or painting or sculpture, there are rules for all art forms that guide the aesthetics of design. We learn to master our chosen craft by working within these rules. Recognizing how composition, light, depth of field and shutter speed change the perspective and feeling of a photograph gives you a foundation to later pushing the envelope and breaking the rules. Now you have a foundation of knowledge to work from and you can strengthen the images you make by bringing this awareness into your work. I think it’s helpful to know history of photography when you look at contemporary work because it leads to a better understanding of all photographs. For the photographer who is curious, there is a lifetime of learning at your fingers, no matter how simple or complex your equipment.
I believe that, as in the past decades, recognition of bad photographs will again encourage people to attend workshops and classes to make better images. Students will want to know how to compose the elements in the frame, to understand light, depth of field, and use of shutter speeds if for no other reason than they are tired of boring themselves and others with their own pictures. People will began to recognize that Ansel Adams’ images of Yosemite are better than theirs. Perhaps they will recognize the differences between their snapshots and his studied and composed images in which he sought for perfection.
I hope it won’t be long before the demands of seeking the perfect image will return. When people tire of seeing bad images on social media maybe they will seek to make their images better, more universal, closer to the ideal. Maybe people will come to recognize that if a picture is worth a thousand words then they had better start using proper grammar, correct spelling, and effective punctuation. Otherwise the world might recognize them as visually illiterate. Poorly seen images, no matter how quickly posted and published are still poorly seen images. Perhaps they will realize that good images, like a well written sentence, are made with the mind not the equipment. That the most essential piece of photographic gear is what goes on between the ears, not what camera you have in your hand.
I will continue to search for the perfect image, knowing I may never make it, but my search will go on. For I believe it is this search that is important. It is my quest for the photographic holy grail.
Tillman Crane