We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
Photography is not, and cannot be an ‘objective’ art. Although the camera can only capture light bouncing off objects that are in front of the lens, the photographer behind the lens will always be making subjective judgements about:
– what exactly to include in and out of the image and composition
– when to take the image to include what they want in terms of eg action and lighting
– how to take the image eg type of lens, depth of field, shutter speed
Although all the above are affected by technological possibilities and constraints of particular cameras that have changed over time, photographs have always been made in relation to the photographer’s subjective purpose for the image:
– feelings about the object (even if photographing cells under a microscope)
– intended communication of those feelings for a particular audience
– subjective reactions of different audiences to the image
The pages in this blog are part of my thinking through of these issues to improve my ability to both see the world in all its variety, and communicate these feelings and perceptions to others. They draw particularly on my work for Photography courses for Open College of the Arts (OCA).