Reply To: Should I do a corny christmas shoot?

[emf]

Which is PRECISELY my point.  Do you honestly believe that if you haven’t the skills yet to do a so-called ‘cliche’ well that you can create something worthy of being called art by anyone other than yourself?  You can study and read about brain surgery for years, and unless you can handle the carving knife at Thanksgiving without creating turkey hash you will fail in the OR.

As for your comment re: Avedon?  Different genre?  I have news dor you oh student of fine art, Avedon used a camera, artier-Bresson used a camera, Adams used a camera….and every single one of them had mastered its use before producing ‘art’. And I can assure you that if you were truly a student of ‘fine art’ you would find that even they made pictures of cliches.  Only because of their skilld and talents those cliches were truly art.  Now quit rationalizing, self aggrandizing, and get back to practicing with your camera…..or by a paint by numbers set, change all the numbers so it won’t be a cliche, and then offer it to MOMA.

You seem to be of the viewpoint that I must go through such cliches to learn how to use my camera. But why? I’m not trying to be some hotshot, I just like very simple photography, and cliched things like the whole family wearing the same colour or even much or any use of props isn’t the kind of photography that interests me. So if people ask me to do that I will question it, hence the reason I posted. Do I want to go down that route or not.

I’m not rationalising or self aggrandising at all. Far from it. But when you come at me and tell me I don’t even have a right to make a statement I will respond. Notice that this thread was kinda done and dusted until you rocked up. I had had good advice, which I was grateful for and if you had read properly both posters had advised I do the shoot, I absolutely saw their point, and was grateful for their advice.

Then you came in with your conscending ‘he spaketh” crap. And said I can’t even make a statement. I’m simply stating a fact that I am an artist, no horn blowing as you suggest. But I’m saying I can make such a statement.

I don’t agree with you that you first master your camera then concentrate on the art side. I believe the both sides of this medium to be equally important and both need to be nutured and developed from the get go. I taught art and while the skill side was imperative, it was never taught in isolation. Never, learn the skills first, then think of your own ideas. Creativity was always taught in equal measures.

I practise with my camera a lot. There are gaps but improving the skill side of this is hugely important to me. And I will take any opportunity to improve. But why do you think that means I need to turn to a type of photography that doesn’t interest me?