"Non- photography day is an effort on my part to revive the moment by putting down the camera. It is a day to think about how life exists, in essence and not appearance and to understand the inadequacy of the photograph in describing this essence, to bring awareness of the perils of living through the view finder or the display screen"…"This echoed in the streams of images people showed me, the only thing I could grasp from the images was that the person had been present in this location, somehow the stories, the perceived magic of the places never emerged. I concluded that through this use of photography, people’s natural creativity with communication was and is being lost"...
http://www.nonphotographyday.com/info.html
May I offer - Don't force your pictures down anyone's throat -and- not everyone is good at weaving a mental picture in other peoples minds? It's also the difference between the magic of imagination and the science/art of capturing a scene with a camera...
I, for one, love looking at other people's pictures...there is something magical to me about photography...I wouldn't use Flickr otherwise... ;)
Besides, I don't shoot pictures every day...(maybe every other day ;)
Tenebra
1 week ago
6 comments:
Is her concern that people turn up at a place, take a picture and move on before they've even comprehended where they are and why not a valid point? She is advocating taking time, reflecting, stopping and absorbing.
I don’t think she is really saying; don’t take a picture to remind you or to show your friends or for the technical wonderment or for all of the above. Just don’t forget to wonder while you're there how you got there in the first place. For some people – the stereotypical Japanese tourist springs comically to mind – this is important advice.
In her capacity as a ‘professional’ photographer, yours as an ‘amateur’ photographer and mine as a 'commentator' I bet we all think photography is magical.
That is a great idea and it's also our wedding anniversary. I agree entirely, I have always loved photography, and used to develop my own film years ago, how archaic it seems now. There are some pictures that need no explaining but in the main, a photo without a provenance is just a random slice of reality that someone once perhaps treasured. I don't think everyone can be accused of missing the real beauty of the moment, I'm pretty sure we two don't for a start. I approach everything with a sense of wonder and use the camera to record for myself and perhaps other people who may be interested, these moments. I know when I look through my photos that they evoke memory in the same way that certain music can. You can enjoy a great concert and still buy the album in the foyer. Memory does fade, I can vouch for that.
No doubt taking a photograph changes the experience for you and your relationship with the place. You obviously gain something. I try to use the experience to gain more mindfulness - to look around and notice things, to look for alternative views, etc. There is no doubt also that you can often lose something in the experience of taking a photograph. I find that I can become preoccupied with the technicals for example. I think this day is a good idea, and it is a good thing for us to reflect on our experience as photographer and what it means to us individually.
Okay, let's celebrate it then! Thanks for the really thoughtful comments! :)
(This is going to be really tough if something interesting happens near me!)
Fink, you've just GOT to take the shot man.
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