A very brief introduction to what photography means to me
Making images brings me joy. It is something of a passion with me. A day without making a picture is a disappointment. Most days the pictures I make are fairly ordinary and it is hard to explain to others that this is OK. The number of real "keepers" is modest, and I think that is true for most serious photographers.
I love all aspects of the process. I begin with the most important step of deciding what to include. That is followed by the careful use of technology to turn the initial content into a competent picture. Then, in the computer, I spend a considerable amount of time with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to convert the basics into the picture I hoped to make.
Most photographers can enjoy making images without going to the trouble of formulating a philosophy about it. It should be sufficient that we enjoy the process and the results. For me, that is mostly true.
So where does my photography have its place? The collection of galleries in this portfolio should provide a clue. I love making landscapes, and I like nature shots. Maritime subjects and Architecture appeal to me. And anything else that appeals to my aesthetic sense ends up in the miscellaneous category which may be the most important of all
Did you notice that there were no people in my list? That troubles me a little. Apart from the obvious need to record family events, I have no interest in portrait, street or glamour photography. I prefer to try and catch the essence of whatever I am pointing my camera at. There should be no doubt about the "rose-ness" of the flower pictured below.
A simple rose
Like most creatives, I am open to the influence of others. There are many people whose photography I admire. Some have international presence, others are surprisingly local. I see their stunning images and wish I had made them. That, however, raises the danger of becoming a mere imitator. It is perhaps sufficient that I find myself in the same genre at the people whose work inspires me, and if I am lucky, I can learn from their best work.
It is an added bonus if people dear to me, or people whose photographic skills I admire provide occasional affirmation by liking an image I have made. On the other hand, I have recently begun reading Jay Maisel who suggested that any photographer who is not his/her own harshest critic is his/her own worst enemy.
I have no difficulty in being my own harshest critic and as a photographer, occasionally suffer from what psychologists call “debilitating self-doubt”.
The Hutt River in tranquil mood under the Melling bridge
My recent work has changed, I think.
Maisel urges us to find the extraordinary while we are surrounded by the ordinary. For a very long time I have agonized over my difficulties in seeing in this way. Did you notice the title on my miscellaneous gallery ... "That I might see"?
It is far too early, if ever, to proclaim success, but I would like to think the picture of the bridge pier above is an example of what I regard as seeing. Graffiti on a concrete pier in a normally undistinguished stretch of river suddenly yields a picture that I like quite a lot.
And perhaps that's another aspect of the change ... that I am making images for my own pleasure. If you like them too, then that is good.
