Where Do We Find Vision In Photography?
There are two ways to look at vision in photography. The first, and most obvious, is what you see. But what about the second? It's about how you see things.
Vision is about how you see things in photography
While we all know that photography, just like any other art-form, is subjective, it's easy to lose track of why we photograph things. Why do we carry our cameras with us wherever we go?
When I think about the compelling reasons that I photograph things it comes down to a couple of fundamental things about me. I want to capture how I saw something. How I, as an artist, feel about a scene before me. Can I convey those feelings and thoughts into a single image and evoke emotion in the viewer?
I'm willing to bet that the photographs you find most compelling are about the things which you are most interested in. What are you curious about? What makes you passionate about art and photography?
Can you focus on those things?
When you can focus on those subjects and ideas you can find yourself producing photographs that communicate your feelings. They become more that a "time-stamp" or a record. This is the core of vision in photography.
Shoot with your heart!
Forget about just using your eyes to find light and composition. Sure, they're important, but they're just the building blocks of art. The really compelling images come from your heart. It's your heart that makes those building blocks of technique come together to form something much more than the sum of it's parts.
What makes you laugh? What makes you cry? What makes you think?
Can you create images that others will care about. Something that can engage your viewer?
Look at this! It's important! It moved me and it may move you!
That's what we're all trying to do, right? We're trying to convey the things that move us. We're screaming at the top of our artistic little souls hoping to bring to attention a moment in time that moved us. Something beautiful. Something scary. Something important.
There's a difference between clever and thoughtful.
Do you know what it is? Clever says "Look at this neat thing I did with the light and the composition is perfectly in harmony and I used 2 strobes and a reflector so it's all technically sound!" Which is fine and dandy but did it say anything important other than you know, technically, how to produce a photograph? Thoughtful says "This. This moment in time was important. This moment in time moved me. I cried. I laughed. I smiled. I felt sad. I captured what it would be like to be there."
Clever is about learning how to become a photographer. Thoughtful is about being a photographer.
You can do both because we should always be learning. But you should focus on what moves you. You should shoot the things that compel you.
I think that's how you find your vision. What do you think?
