Other people's projects

I haven't done too much with my alleged project, but it's validating to see that something very similar has been done before.

Picture with camels, Marrakech, Morocco 2006 by Aislinn Leggett

Thanks Tmbldr.

Good photographers writing badly; plus another person's picture

In Marco Bohr's Observatories series I've found something that's a little bit similar to what I'd like to do with the project I mentioned yesterday. It's not exactly the same in concept - he photographs people looking at stuff, not necessarily being looked at - but the results are close to what I'd like to get myself. Also, all the photos are taken in Japan, so I'm definitely a fan.

© Marco Bohr

if i'm not pretentious enough to blog this image, just let me know man

The series is well worth a look, and yeah I wish that I took some of these pictures myself. I'm not really sure how much I can support some of the prose in his artist statement, though:

The undefined scenery and washed out highlights are as much an invitation to imagine the view of a landscape, as it is an invitation to define our self.

This is so nauseating. Where are the anti-humanist photographers? Who are the photographers destroying photography? Is it unrealistic to ask for someone to give at least a nod to the absurdity inherent in the active financial subsidy of this type of image? I'm sure these photographers must exist, can someone enlighten me? Shouldn't Marco Bohr be laughing just a little harder?

I'll put myself on the chopping block now. Here's a picture I took over the summer, also in Japan, which would be part of the Other people's photos project. A professional-looking black border probably isn't going to save this one. Feel free to chastise me in the comments for posting this.

I'm keeping a set on Flickr of photos that might work for the project, but I won't even make any bones about it, I have a long ways to go.

A first project

This weekend I'm walking by Clarion Alley and a couple of girls stop me and ask me to take their picture with their Olympus DSLR. So as I take the camera, they tell me that they want me to shoot as they jump up in the air together. I couldn't believe it. Here's a picture I took in Ireland:

Powerscourt Gardens, Kisekae camera

Why jump in midair while being photographed in front of Clarion Alley? Why jump in front of Powerscourt Gardens, for that matter? Isn't that 'not acting natural'? What does 'acting natural' mean when the setting of the photo is, in some way, the real subject? Would it be possible to act 'natural' anyway? Is the function of this type of picture to commemorate something? (An experience?) Will the value of this type of picture always be strictly ornamental?

As I looked over a bunch of my shots from the past year or so, I realized that many of my favorites are the ones I took of people as they photographed each other. By 'favorites,' I mean two things: contentment with how the pictures came out, of course, but also my own enjoyment as I took them. I'm thinking of making this into a project for myself, let's call it Other people's photos.

The idea of the project is to record a moment that was meant for another camera. In my experience, the opportunity to 'steal' these images occurs most frequently when people take pictures at some landmark or point of interest. These pictures are normally uninteresting (you can find many of them on Facebook), but I think there is a hidden value to them that can be brought out. The project will work if I can show these posed figures so that they appear candid.

Does this picture work? Does it appear candid? Comments welcome. For my own judgment, though, I'll really have to wait and see until the rest of the collection takes shape.

Flickr star: madcappp

In lieu of posting my own material, which will come in time, I'd like to highlight people who inspire me.

I keep a close eye on Flickr, so I know when users I like have made new posts to the site. Madcappp does not put up photos very frequently, but I see a relation between these long intervals and his quiet compositions.

I know that for every image that makes it to Flickr, there must be plenty of imperfect ones. Still, I prefer to imagine that the time between posts corresponds to the conception and realization of a single idea.

Of course that's not the case, but who's to know the difference? The value of keeping an uncluttered photostream.