Personal photography
As a viewer of photography, when I look back at the images that truly stay with me, they almost always contain something strange. A detail that doesn’t belong. A gesture that seems out of place. A moment that cracked the frame open. In short: the unexpected.
For me, photography is a deeply solitary process. It’s not something I do in the company of others, nor in groups, and I don’t really talk about it with anyone directly. In an era of social media and oversharing, where every moment seems to be documented for likes and comments, this may seem counterintuitive. But for me, the act of taking photos is about introspection. It’s a personal experience. One that doesn’t require, and is often hindered by, external input.
Since I started taking photography seriously ca. 2003, the craft has become democratised beyond recognition. Every pocket contains a device capable of producing images that would have required thousands of euros of equipment twenty five years ago. But, I see the same tired shots repeated endlessly: the obligatory sunset, the artfully arranged breakfast, the mirror selfie with calculated spontaneity, the same copycat shots of the masters.
This saturation creates an interesting paradox: we’re drowning in images whilst starving for actual photography. Are we really all photographers?
Your habitual locations tend to feel boring, empty of photographic interest. Ordinary is a curse. But are they, really? Is it really what the problem is?
A while back, Josh suggested that I read a book by Austin Kleon, “Show your work“. I wasn’t convinced at first I’d be interested, but as he thought I would be, I gave it a chance and bought it. It turns out that the title and the blurbs are misleading and the book is in fact very interesting and overlaps significantly with what I write here.
One of the things Austin says is “become a documentarian of what you do”. When I read that chapter, I had the realisation that this is potentially the one thing I miss the most in the world of photography. It seems photography has lost its documentarians somewhere along the way.
A few weeks ago, when we were on holiday in Southern Spain, I took some photos with two film cameras: the Flexaret VI TLR and the Pentacon Six TL. The photos are nothing special, just a record of holidays and gear experiments.
We’ve all heard many photographers talk about storytelling in their photography. How many YT videos can you find on the subject? It’s become such accepted wisdom in the creative world that questioning it feels almost heretical. But when we look at it closely, it doesn’t make sense, and it’s all about how we actually experience photographs.
Having processed the TLR photos I took in Paris, I can show them here.
That guy was taking photos of the woman in the street. She was posing for him. I found it strange that they’d do that lugging around a suitcase.
Our visit to Paris was short but busy. Just before we caught our train, we went to the Doisneau exhibition, musee Maillol.
The last time we were in Paris, we tried to visit the Picasso museum, but it was fully booked long in advance. So this time, I booked early so we could have a look.
