The Joy of Light
“Light makes photography. Admire it. Love it. But, above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”
I have always felt that photography, in the right hands, is an artform. However, sometimes it is hard to tell when, and how, the craft of photography can become an art and whether a particular image meets that criteria. I have often thought a lot about this in my own photography. And that is the subject of this Blog: how do I find the Art in Photography and how do I know when I have found it?
I hope you find my thoughts on the subject entertaining and, occasionally, informative.
You will notice that I have not included a way for you to directly engage in comments or argument about my comments. I don’t want to be in the position of having to police comments or censor people views or way of expressing themselves. I am too old for that. However, if you wish to engage with me directly go over to the “Contact Me” page and drop me a line. I try to answer all of the comments I receive and If I find feedback that helps me develop my own thinking I will write about it here.
Group Art
When I am doing my share of the chores around the house I like to plug into my smart phone and listen to podcasts and music. As you might expect, I follow several photography podcasts. Some are technology and equipment heavy and some are just pleasant conversation...
New Paint Brushes
Sunday morning and Susan and I decide to begin junking out the garage. This is a job we have both been dreading but it has to be done. For months now I have looked at my workbench in despair of ever being able to use it again. And the rest of the garage is not much...
Silk
The Silk Art Gallery is in an old heritage building in the historic downtown of Port Moody here in B.C.. The only lens I had with me was the new one I had just bought but 50mm was too long to get the whole building in. So I went home to get my 16-35mm zoom. By the...
But is it Art? (Part I)
A while ago I was saying that I wanted to go back and read the early writings about photography in my search for art. I’d become aware that the questions about the relationship between photography and art go all the way back to the very beginnings of our craft....
A Simple Brownie Hawkeye Lens
I have written before about my love of the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera. It is a beautiful thing from a simple design point of view and it was a perfect snapshot camera considering the technology of the times, the 1950's. The lens is a simple one piece meniscus. In...
Seeing Old Pictures Anew
The Spirit of PhotographyAnne W. Brigman (c. 1905)I am always amazed at how much I don’t know. I mean that you would think by now I had a good grasp of what I should know. And yet I am continually surprised when I come across something that is new to me in an area...
An Unfortunate Event
The "Four Maidens with Water Jugs" was my principal subject for the morning. This is a delightful fountain sculpture and I have never felt I had done it justice. I'm still not happy but this is better.It is no secret that I like to take pictures. It is a strange thing...
Books will Do That
I bought a book the other day and, as books will do, it got me to thinking. I shouldn’t buy books. No, no that is not the thought. I got to thinking that I don’t really know what I’m talking about. At my age that is a rather discouraging discovery. But this is what...
75 Years Ago
Photography, like writing, has the ability to be many things. And one of those things is as a keeper of memory. It can record facts like no other medium. And in some cases, like music, it can recall people and places along with powerful associated emotions. But one...
Whose Art is It Anyway?
Every so often I feel like shooting a roll of film. I know it is an affliction that seems mad to many but I enjoy it. It is always fun and it takes me back to my early days in photography. Now, black and white film does not suit every subject and one must chose...
My Second Camera
This is not my Dad's Yashica "A" I talk about here but one I have acquired recently and cleaned up.I am standing between my Aunt Katherine and Uncle Harold at the Honolulu airport in Hawaii in 1958 and in my hands I am holding my Dad's Yashica "A".I was in high school...
Thoughts on a Photograph
I want to talk about a picture. Not any picture but one of those special pictures. Every so often I come across one that catches my eye and gives me pleasure. It is not enough to glace at it. I want to stare at it, think about it, experience the feelings it evokes. I...
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