EX138 Art is a Mirror
“All photographs are self-portraits.”
Minor White
This sums it all up for me.
Photographs can fall at various ends of the spectrum between ‘Windows and Mirrors’ when we look at them superficially. Many photographers try to create images that are purely windows looking out into the world. Photojournalists, street photographers and documentary photographers in particular.
But, you cannot take the agenda of the photographer, and the publisher out of the equation. EVER.
Whilst Marshal said ‘the medium is the message’, a quote often miss used. It does point to the greater power of all images to tell so many stories and communicate so much.
I believe that:
‘ART is a MIRROR’
Not only is a mirror of society, and to the viewer, it is also a mirror of the artist that created it.
You as a photographer, can harness this power to learn from your own photography. Learn about who you are. What interests you. What needs to be said.
In this weeks exercise, I want you to solely concentrate on looking through your past photography and ask yourself what is it showing me about me.
Look through lots of your work, over the years… Scan quickly…
Sit with a note book and make notes about what it is showing you about you.
It may tell you about what you are interested in and what you love.
It may tell you about what moves you.
It may tell you about how you feel about the world.
Choose some photographs that talk deeply about who you are. Ones that are deeply introspective.
Post them and share your lessons from them. Tell us how they hold up a mirror to you.
If you are feeling game, go out and take new photographs that are deeply revealing about your inner self.
When we get together in Len’s Class we will talk about what the posted images can tell others about you.
A deep sadness overwhelms me when I contemplate the deforestation in the world. It seems so senseless. There is so much at risk. To think we might destroy new medicines yet undiscovered. I worry that as we deforest we loose touch with Mother Nature and when we loose that connection we loose part of our souls.
This isn’t an image of something that exists. It is a light painted long exposure that I created. Photography doesn’t have to be real. It can be completely imaginary. For too many years I was trying to document what I saw. It wasn’t until many years later I realised my photography is about me. This reminds me of my paintings as a teenager. A deep ‘Burnt Umber’ watercolour paint splashes in a wet wash across the page. I miss painting, and wonder if I will ever return. Will my camera replace paint when I paint with light? Is my painting a distant memory like this scene that I imagined, like a faded memory?
Before watercolour painting there was drawing with a pencil, pens and inks brushed on. Early paintings of mine would be best described as drawings. Another skill I have let wane. In fact I chose not to continue drawing because I knew how hard it would be to pick up again later. Perhaps if and when I do, it may not be that intimidating at all. I was very good at monochrome drawings, more so than any of my coloured drawings, and in paintings I can now see that even more clearly. Why am I drawn to monochromatic art so deeply today. Is it skill in that area, or is it my preference. Can I make photographs that feel like the drawings I so wished I had painted. If this was a drawing I would be so proud of it. I am of it anyway. But it has a drawn, brushed ink quality that really excites me. I am an artist. My photography is now my art. My roots are in monochrome drawing. One day I do hope I return.
