Film? Far From Bias I am, right?

This is a post that perhaps some….well for sure, those who shoot digital…will not grasp. For those that shoot film, well…..you are the ‘some’ that I am speaking to for you will grasp this.

What is art? ;….. art as in photography. For me, it is film and nothing more or not less, yet in my mind, digital photography is a bit less. And why might that be? Questions to ponder and for the most part those questions are responded to by imagery represented within film, and the process one takes to derive it.

Let’s go back, whether to Mathew Brady or Ansel Adams or anyone in between or forth that shot film. It doesn’t make a difference if you are medium or large format or 35mm or even if you are shooting video of the same film line. The process that is needed to truly shoot and capture that ‘slice of life’ in a way that represents true art, humanity…the essence of that ‘slice’….has to be done via the process of shooting film.

I was just in a forum the other day where Ricoh came out with a new GR digital which has a new feature to better capture the look of film. But why….why not just shoot film in the first place? It has utterly been decades since digital photography came out and it seems that the nirvana of many camera makers is still to develop a digital process that produces film-like images. Photographers can sense an image that just ‘gets it’…. or many semi-professional/pro’s can tell when an image is film. Why would manufacturers such as Sony, Fuji, Ricoh, Leica, Canon, Nikon, and Olympus/OM System….continue to want to capture film-like images and do so via digital gear? Because many people like that feel; be it black and white or color. Recent firmware updates and in-camera settings that have the mood and character of film….and use various filters embedded in the cameras that attempt….and I use that word judiciously ….’attempt’ to have as an end product, a filmisque quality about it. Even today, with decades between us and when digital first came on board…..many photographers inherently see a need for the film-look. They keep putting forth new products and cameras and software and mega-pixels and ND filters and mist filters and whatever…. Some digital photographers even return to early. digital such as the Leica M8 or M9, the early versions of Contax or Ricoh GR….all because someone says that they come ‘close’ ….(but never achieve) the quality of film.

So… that viewpoint is ‘out there’….it simply exists. Now let’s take a leap into the artistic world. And this is where the split between digital and film take another twist.

They shoot horses (scratch that; I mean film)…don’t they? When shooting film the emphasis is on ‘prior to taking the picture’…as opposed to ‘after the shot has been captured’ which is more akin to digital photography …..I argue there is a certain artistic talent that relies upon that pre-step of the process. For instance, when I shoot film, I know ahead of time what I want my image to become and sometimes I actually achieve it. When in the field….I am forced to truly comprehend the relation of sun/light and shadows. as I read the scene. I am watching and waiting and sometimes that wait corresponds to minutes and half-hours …or more…or I return to the scene later on. I wait….I set my ‘triangle’ of exposure and understand the relationship between all three parts of that triangle. I react to it….. F8 or F2 or F16….and use the exposure comp dial if the lsubject and light might dictate it …. Do I dial in 500 shutter or 250 or maybe a 1000 but no more, since my old camera is limited to no more. ISO (or is that ASA?) is set as I place in the film…… either way, I just go for it. One press of shutter at a time and then, guess what? I do it all over again before I press the shutter for image number 2. I add in other minor things such as if I want to use a ND, depending on my lens…. An ND of 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 or ? …. I see the connection between everything. I overexpose or underexpose….. I am not about “post’ processing, rather…I am concentrating on the ‘pre processing element’…. I stand up, or take a step back using my prime lens…. I move and circle my subject and I embrace the situation.

Phew…. I take a shot…I have captured it. But I have absolutely no immediate feedback to tell me what I did right nor wrong as film cameras have no ‘live view’. I just have my intuition as an artist….as art. I move on. I might have captured 1 to 5 photos of the same scene and in most cases, one shot, or maybe two. It isn’t that I negate any post-processing, but with. the exception of a bit of contrast (which film just plains lacks), I am done with just touching up on the contrast, as opposed to…well; read on.

Now…..I am not going to repeat the process for digital, for it is for many….the vast majority now I dare say….an act of placing the camera in ‘auto’….. or….just snapping and going back to photoshop with my thousands of shots taken, and pressing buttons until visually I see what I want. The so called ‘art’ emulating from this process is not a matter so much of skill (yes, bash me…..), but rather which button and which sequence and to which layer in photoshop do I deal with and ultimately accept as art. Or, a digital camera can present ‘live view’ where the photographer sees exactly what the image is and presses an ISO, or Exposure or shutter or aperture and without any real knowledge of why or how they interrelate, the ‘live view’ tells them the image is fine.

But admittedly, there are also excellent digital photographers who bring to the table a finely honed craft and set of skills. I will never diminish them. I simply state that the manner or process of getting images differ from film and digital. And, the digital never quits looks like film and film never looks like digital. Let’s understand that.

To me art…..is the process of creating via my brain and my intuition and my skill….as opposed to having a software program thick with AI, create for the image as many do. AND, don’t even get me started on phone photography.

There …..it has been written….and as Ramses supposedly might have said years back in the ages of the Pharaohs and ancient Egyptians…..“So let it be written, so let it be done”.

The photo below isn’t an award winner….but it is a creation. You see the light or I should say, where it is? I needed to take that into account. I used the shadows below the ladies eyes to my advantage and exposed for what was visible as opposed to getting her entire face and in perfect exposure, for …in this particular ‘slice of life’….this is how she presented herself to me and her unique raccoon look. Why change that? the deep shadows….the darkness…the slightly overexposed chest or the bright nose of her partner….there were all naturally occurring in the scene. That is what the image ‘wrote’ in reality’…and that is what was captured. This is indeed a slice of life; an art exposed and composed to represent what was in front of me (in black and white of course)….. :-), with only one shot taken…one and only one.

Enough is Never Enough

The other day I was thinking of marketing some of my photo’s using ‘commerce’ here on Squarespace as well as putting together a zine or other products and web sites to get my work ‘out there’ other than just Squarespace. But the following thoughts occurred to me as I was looking over what might be needed in order to succeed.

First…what is the object? If the object is to make money, …..am I ruining the fun of photography by turning this into a ‘chore? I don’t need the money as I am comfortable with my existence now, and considering the effort needed to put a collection together of Instagram, Twitter, You Tube Channel…other social media etc., I have to ask again, is it worth it? No…. I see no reason to become such a ‘digital slave’ that I am selling my soul ‘digitally’ and not spending enough time either in the field taking photographs, or creating something hand-made and more analog.

Second, if the object is just to showcase my work; I have to ask why? Is this showcasing all about my ego? Is it an absolute need to expand my audience or admirers? All of us live in our own ‘personal’ commune or community, of sorts. Our private commune is composed of family, and a few good friends. Years back, that private commune might have even been limited to those living near us or in the same locale. But today we have expanded that to a global private commune. No reason to iive right by the person any more.

But to showcase my work, I would need to expand my commune and invite others (hundreds or thousands) into my world. Now, there is no way that the expanded population will ever equal my own ‘private commune of people’ but to showcase my work implies that I do expand. And it doesn’t just stop there. I expand, and expand and expand and am never happy with the numbers I have. I will constantly be expanding and looking for more. I will never be content with just a community of 1,000 if I am not content with a community of 100. So, my life is spend always looking to stroke my ego and expand my community. Just look at movie stars or musicians as they are always looking to get their name in lights and have people ‘follow’ them on Twitter. Enough is never enough.

Or, look at the rich. Having a million dollars is never something to be content with as they have to earn more. Even if they will never spend the money they have, the contentment of being satisfied with what you have, is simply not enough….Enough is never enough.

The idea I have realized is to accept who I am, my private commune….. I live in my cocoon. I am content within those around me. I see no reason to ‘over-reach’ because you never do really ‘need it’, as perhaps one just talks themselves into that need by giving into their ego.

So live within a small and private community. This is what I regard as true civilization. There is no need to branch out….print books, have photographic galleries… to impress others. There is no reason to have a never-ending sage of “enough is never enough’.

Third….as a footnote more than a true ‘third’,…when can I print or show a work or get some validation for my work and photography? Is it reasonable to assume that ‘that’ is okay from time to time? I tend to think so, yes. Validation of work…satisfaction from what I get when someone else likes it. Can I make a zine? Can I sell a photograph? Sure, why not…..but I want it done within the frameworks of my community, my private commune my form of civilization. A photograph might be shared at an art center gallery wall, or an online site as I have no problem with that. But I am not going to the point where my hobby becomes a chore, nor where I become that digital slave, nor…where I expand my commune, just to expand so I can stroke my ego.

My evolution

Sometimes it is helpful to just step back and see how we have evolved as photographers….. Evolution isn’t always good/bad, but simply a new take, a new direction perhaps spurned on by something you saw, or a challenge that you want to accomplish.

When I first seriously started in my photography, I was a nature photographer and looked to capture that animal or bird and have the glint of their eyes seen in my images. But with the advent of larger lens, and camera’s with AI type elements, the actual act of photography became relatively easy. Yes, the composition or capture of the animal was needed, but some of the challenge disappeared. I was beginning to see others capture the same with little knowledge or skill, simply technology.

So I shifted, as a distant, almost hidden challenge within me was occurring simultaneously…to that of capturing the elusive ‘human’. Hence…..street photography over-powered me and where I remain today.

At first, I was relatively into ‘faces’…oddities…..the decisive moment as Henri Cartier Bresson put forth. Yet I needed more and found the works of Deido Moriyama and Takuma Nakahira. I loved the combination of ‘digital and analog’ as their work showcased. It wasn’t about just capturing the moment, but more capturing the ‘Art’ found in the streets. I turned from less of an emphasis on humans and more on the angles, geometry….. Then came Fan Ho, who I still love….. beautiful….artistic, mysterious….filmish….

I continued to grow as a photographer…… I started looking for recent photographers and while many recent street folks are just into ‘street’….I have tried to gleam what I could from a few of their works and attempt to transfer it to mine. Now, photographers like Sean Tucker or Duane Michaels interest me. Again, not just angles and lines and geometry in the buildings but more so in the shadows, all the while to continue to downplay the humans seen in the photographs. I couldn’t care less who they ‘are’, but I know I need them. They become ‘intangibles’ to my photographs but are needed. If I look at a mailbox, it is just a mailbox, but if it is part of the scene, it belongs. Just the same as humans. No reason to showcase their faces ‘up close and person’, and ti identify or place in perfect focus, but more to showcase the humanity surrounded by the situation they find themselves in….the angles, geometry, shadows….. and light. Oh the light…. This is so valuable and to find the right light, and always on the hunt for.

I look at most street photographers and see ‘me’….but a long time ago. Now I look within and I see growth…again, not good nor bad, but growth as I put forth challenges to conquer. I am no longer happy with just an image of a person with a funny face, or strange clothes or am challenged by snapping their shot without them knowing it ….but want the whole image now to ‘come together’ as ‘one’….I want the photograph to become ‘art’ with a statement it makes, a question it forces….