LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

Episode #1527 from our long-running, weekly podcast
On Photography and the Creative Process

My Philosophy of Art in a Nutshell

Each of us (both as art-maker and as art-lover) makes decisions about our relationship with art -- ours and other's. What is the purpose of our art? What art do we choose to surround ourselves with? Conscious of it or not, we all have a "personal philosophy" about art. Here's mine.



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You might also be interested in. . .

Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.

and...

"How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

Here's a Thought… #2779 with Brooks Jensen

Looking for Solutions, Not Gear

The other day I was talking about the use of Polaroids in the field and more recently LCD screens to overcome my limitations in seeing two-dimensionally. A podcast listener, Howard Lester, emailed an alternative. His suggestion was more brilliant than I first understood. He suggested just closing one eye. It never occurred to me to look for a solution for this problem that did not involve gear. Why do we always look to gear to solve a problem?

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Here's a Thought… #2778 with Brooks Jensen

Photographs Themselves Are Symbols

Yesterday I was talking about how we think and feel in symbols. Of course the important topic I left out was the fact that photographs themselves are symbols. When we are waiting in the doctor's office and see that beautiful landscape hanging on the wall in the waiting room, we're not actually looking at the landscape but rather at a symbol that represents the landscape. That symbol has an intended purpose, to make us feel better and less stressful about our doctor appointment. All photographs are symbols. If so, wouldn't it make sense that we should study how symbols are made and used?

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Here's a Thought… #2777 with Brooks Jensen

Everything Is Symbolic

One of the things that separates humans from animals is that we think in terms of symbols, culturally defined associations, and abstracts. There is a school of thought from mid-20th century photography that emphasizes photographing "the thing itself." I understand the intent, but it's never made sense to me because it fights the nature of human thinking and emotion. A better approach, I believe, is understanding the importance of symbolism and its role in image making. Maybe we should all read Joseph Campbell again.

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Here's a Thought… #2776 with Brooks Jensen

Cluster Mode Photography

I interviewed David Hurn (MAGNUM) when we published him in LensWork and was fascinated by his description of Magnum photography. I'll abbreviate his technique: 95% of being out photographing is not photographing. The way he described it was that Magnum photographers spend almost all of their time just looking, observing, being there and being aware. Then, when something of interest happens, out comes the camera for a series of clustered images shot with rapidity before the camera is retired, awaiting the next opportunity. For years I've applied his approach even to landscapes and I believe he had it right

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