Musing April 2015

Falling In Love

Who hasn’t fallen in love with an image? You know the feeling. You’re looking through your contact sheet, your newly processed negatives, your downloaded files and you see the image. It’s the one that makes your heart beat faster, the one that makes the trip worthwhile, the one you’ve been waiting for.

I fell in love with an image recently. While editing from a recent trip I found two images, a vertical and horizontal view of the same idea. Something about the vertical version pulled me in. “Ah, there she is, the one I’ve been waiting for.” I made a print. It wasn’t quite what I wanted so I made some adjustments and tried again. I did this several times and it just wasn’t right. I came back to it a few days later and tried again and again. By now I was invested in this image. I had to make it right. With each printing it got a little closer but there was always something not working. I couldn’t let it go and yet each print was a disappointment.

Finally, running out of time and patience, I returned to the original images and decided to try the horizontal version. In the first test print this second negative printed much closer to what I wanted from the first negative. The bottom line: though the vertical version spoke to me in some mysterious way, the horizontal version made a better print, which made it feel right.

When isn’t there some disconnect between the ideal and the real? In my mind’s eye I saw the perfection of the vertical image but in reality the physical print never materialized. The horizontal negative simply worked. The print was better. No amount of reworking or manipulation was going to make the vertical version better. I had simply fallen in love with the wrong image.

I recently juried the Maine Photography Show exhibited by the Boothbay Region Art Foundation. My choices were to be guided by these limitations: No more than 100 images would be selected, no photographer could have more than one image in the show, and it was suggested that the numbers in each category be proportional to the total entries in that category. In other words, if half the show was landscape entries then half the show should be landscape photographs. I knew these restrictions going in and looked forward to putting the show together.

The quality of the work was quite high but on more than one occasion I could see that although the entrant had a good idea, the image was almost, but not quite, right. In several instances I wished to see the next image on the contact sheet, the negative cropped differently, or simply to be able to say, “Go back and relook at the “negatives”. You almost have it, but not quite yet.” Unfortunately, with nearly 900 entries, I couldn’t write a critique for each person, but it was clear that some photographers had fallen in love with the wrong image.

It is hard, but necessary, to be your own editor. Whether or not you work for a publication employing a picture editor you have to learn to edit your work. I have been my own picture editor for over 35 years and though I am more practiced at this skill it is still easier to edit the work of others. To apply the same standards to our own “precious” negatives takes practice, a willingness to ask tough questions and to answer with brutal honesty. Here are a few thoughts I find helpful:

1. Separate. You have to separate yourself from the memory of creating the image. How much fun you had on the trip or in the moment of making the image is absolutely unimportant. You may remember the great day or beautiful light but if your image does not convey this then it doesn’t work.

2. Evaluate. You have to learn how to honestly evaluate your own image. What does the image say? Is the message clear? Does it say what you want it to say?

3. Composition. There are always a few images that work because of the subject matter (“falling airplanes and certain Presidential motorcades come to mind” said Ted Orland) but most images rely on a strong compositional sense. In other words, is the image well seen?

4. Quality of Light. Does the quality of the light support the intended message?

5. Vantage point. What is the vantage point of the photographer and hence the viewer? Is it strong or weak? Does it help convey your message or detract from it?

6. Comparison. If you have two or more similar images and you compare them side-by-side, which one works best? Is it the one you noticed first, the one you fell in love with, or the other one? Don’t get blindsided by your love for a particular image.

One of the reasons I love shooting film is the period of separation the process affords me. If I shoot film today it may be months before I process it. One negative shot today becomes one of many processed months from now. This separation of time allows me to be more honest in my evaluation because I am not so attached to the images. Looking at a negative on a light table allows me to see the composition in a more abstract way. Once I have used the first three criteria to edit my negatives then I can begin to look at light and vantage point. Even so, sometimes I have two versions of the same idea and have to print both.

I try to avoid falling down the rabbit hole but every once in awhile I fall in love with the wrong image. Then I spend hours (and days) trying to make something work that really doesn’t. Be careful of the pitfall of falling in love with an image. Become a good editor of your work. Always let the better image win.

Tillman