| Photography Forum: Philosophy Of Photography Forum: |
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Q. Report from AIPAD Show - coments
Asked by richard
(K=120) on 2/6/1999
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Report from AIPAD. I believe that this stands for "American Independent Photographic Art Dealers." This may seem off topic for POP but I will ask Allan to give me some latitude here as there is a question; and a link to further threads. I went to the annual AIPAD show today. There are 100 galleries under one roof of the NY Hilton- two floors and probably 20,000 square feet of photo exhibits. The idea is that photo galleries from around the globe come to one place and set up exhibits for a three day weekend. There are booths set up on two floors of the hotel. Each booth is 10x20 or larger as the vendor can afford. This is a meeting place for collectors and sellers of photography. There were galleries from Japan, Austria, France, England and most major cities of the US. For me this was a religious experience. Think of every "famous" image that you can imagine;it was there. Ed Westons "Bell Pepper"- it was there. Wynn Bullocks, dark landscapes they were there. Many A.A. were there. In fact the halls were filled with the "whos who" of photography, Paul Strand, Man Ray, Westons, Atget etc. This may sound like a distasteful commercialization of photographic art, however it was not. I think of a Sotheby's photo auction- where people with money are wanting to make more money. And I think of a museum show, if it were ever possible to have a show in a museum this diverse. Are the viewers in the show lovers of photography, a stray from another exhibit, or possibly looking for the bathroom? The point is that this was a "love fest" of photography. In fact many of the vendors in the show do not make sales to the public. They buy prints from other vendors. Everyone there was a collector, a photographer, or a photo lover/dealer. Some of the dealers were photogs. Why because they love the art. Not like you or I do, but from a perfectly innocent point of view. They just love it. Not because they like the sound of a shutter, or because they like to see a white piece of paper become a "print", or because they like to be outside at sunrise: but because they love the medium. OK, you got the picture kid in a candy store. Question: Do you feel inspired by the work of masters? Or does it discourage you ? Does it change your personal vision? Or is it viewed just to confirm your existing vision? No one lives in a vacuum anymore; we produce work, and at the same time we see other peoples work. We are all influenced by the works of others- be it photog or paintings or even mass media. If we are inspired by an image, and we have that image in our mind as we photograph, what are the consequences of an "inspired" subject matter ? Where is the line between "copy" and inspiration? In the show today, I did not see an image that I wanted to copy. But there were images that " I wish I had taken" How important is "personal vision" Is it enough to follow a personal vision that is already acceptable to the buying public? Many questions here. Answer what you feel passionate about. RW
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james mickelson
(K=7344) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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I will take a stab at it. I search the net, go to galleries, buy books by the ton, and in general, view as much photography as I can. Do I copy? As I stated before I think there is little that has not been done. Repackaged yes but all in all I think most of it has been done. Lady with 4 eyes? Maybe you took a picture of a different lady but the idea has already been done. That doesn't lessen the impact or relevance of your or my photography. Everyones vision is a little different and has value. It's your personal statement or your way of dealing with or owning something you find important or beautiful. I for one use pictures as a means to help me solve technical issues such as how did this or that photographer handle this problem. How much contrast do I use for this portrait? How would this scene look in very high key? Why waste film and paper if someone has already done the idea many different ways? Everyone has someone they admire or look up to. I happen to have many. I like most of it anyway. Lumberjack. PS- Alan.Gibson@technologist.com it would be nice to converse with you. What is your E-dress?
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tom meyer
(K=2752) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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Hi Richard, I enjoy the enthusiasm you bring, thanks...
I was fortunate to attend this same event a few years ago, and it is nice to be reminded. It is, as you say, great to see work such as you mentioned in such intimate conditions, without even glass between you and the prints.
"Masters" doesn't seem to be a very concise catagory for me. Some Master works I find very inspirational, some of it makes me mad, which ends up being inspirational, too, now that you've made me think about it.
Sometimes what I appreciate the most is a sort of tacit approval that comes from seeing work that somehow validates an approach or technique or subject treatment that I am working on.
I must admit that one of my favorite quotes (from a forgotten source) is that "good artists borrow, great artists steal". I have no qualms taking a technique or concept and ripping it off. I have enough faith in my own vision and creativity to believe that by the time I'm ready to exhibit the results of such a theft, it will be perceived as derivative by only the most anal of academics and they can find art history references in the cracks in a sidewalk, so who cares.
Emulation being the most sincere form of flattery never stopped me from salvaging a good concept from the dustbin or complementing a fool. Insight is where you find it...t
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Lot
(K=1558) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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Interesting question, Richard. I'm afraid I made my best pictures (in colour) when I knew very little about the photographic tradition and I didn't care about it either; some 15 years ago. After my first expositions, people (public) began to drop names to me: Man Ray, Cartier-Bresson, etc. I was a little irritated by this; probably because I took it as a suggestion that I should know something, which I was fearfull of because it could disturb the ideas that I yet wanted to realize. Later on, I became more interested in photography, especially in B&W: Man Ray and Cartier-Bresson indeed, Kertesz, Doisneau, etc. led me to the conviction that photography is something to be fascinated about indeed. After this I went through a period which lumberjack describes: using (my own) pictures to solve technical problems and to experiment with pre-visualization. Results were not at all good enough to expose. Now, I wonder where I am, trying to forget the 'Masters' and to let the technical burden become routine.
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Dave Jenkins
(K=94) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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It is certainly possible to be greatly influenced and inspired by "Master" photographers, and yet to produce work that looks nothing like theirs. In fact, the greater the master and the greater the student, the more likely this is to happen. Ralph Gibson worked for Dorothea Lange for some years and was influenced by her, yet their pictures could hardly be more different. Likewise, Chris Ranier worked for St. Ansel, and again, their pictures have little in common. Examples of this could be multiplied.
Early on, the student may seek to imitate the master (I'm not talking about any formal arrangement here, just a matter of studying the pictures of photographers one admires and seeking to learn from them), but ultimately what is learned if the student progresses is not a style of photography, but rather a way of approaching the craft/art and a growing confidence that one's own vision (way of looking at the world) is also valid and worthy of expression. Those we consider masters got to be masters by being themselves. As B.A. King says, "The opportunity of a lifetime is to be yourself."
From the very beginning of my 30-year love affair with photography, I have been deeply influenced by the work of other photographers. Fritz Henle was my first major inspiration, and in the introduction to my book "Rock City Barns: A Passing Era," I credit him, Elliot Erwitt, Robert Doisneau and B.A. King for teaching me to see the beauty in everyday life. If I could imitate any of them, I would want to photograph like King. But the truth is that my pictures don't look at all like any of theirs. And that's as it should be.
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Sean yates
(K=1240) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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Wow, Rich, Biggun! Cut to the bone!
I will respond to this one off and on as it's stirred up a host of ideas which I can't spew out all at once before the modem falls asleep. Please pardon if my periapatetic nature drives you & others nuts.
Do I feel inspired by the work - YES! Does it discourage - not the work, but sometimes the interviews, the stories, etc. do. Other times they inspire. Think of Atget - I may be a blockhead but I don't get from his images what I get from his biography. Sudek's work always got me and his life story does/did as well. To hell with everybody, work for yourself and enjoy your craft. I can't help but feel that I'd like to knock back a few beers with O. Winston Link, he seems like I guy I met at the hardware store. I remember hearing an interview with Aaron Siskind in which he said something about liking to walk down such-and-such a street with his camera, looking for ideas, because he knew that even if he didn't find something, there was a nice sandwich shop at the end of the street.
Other times I read about current living masters and I get depressed. Sometimes I worry that the field is swamped - too many successful Boomers out there, and their off-spring going to colleges and universitys and getting degrees in ART (that strikes me as a wierd idea at times).
I don't so much view the work to confirm my "existing vision", I figure that's something I'll have to work out on my own, style is kind of organic, part of who you are, influences already ingrained at an early age. However, I do read interviews and get my head "re- aligned" at times. The series of interviews with contemporary "masters" in View Camera occassional yields confirmation or remind me of perspectives worth retaining.
I try desperatley to keep other photogs work out of my head while I'm shooting but of course that's impossible. I try to respond or see or whatever, what's there and respond or not to it on my own, by myself. If your personal vision coincides with what's hot currently, BRAVO! but remember that others will chide you for pandering to popular taste and that current acclaim doesn't necessary lead to lasting achievement.
Ultimatley all you've got is yourself and your work. I forget which scholar said it but it went something like this, Famous scholar dies and meets God, God won't ask him, "Why were you not Moses?" rather God will ask him, "Why were you not you?"
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Sean yates
(K=1240) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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Off topic perhaps, but just once I'd like to see an artists statement or book jacket by Famous Potographer X with a simple direct statement, nothing about "making images" or "personal vision" just a direct statement like "I Love Photography".
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John MacPherson
(K=1342) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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Richard - there's a distinct line betwen "inspiration" and "copy" as far as I am concerned. I can be inspired by the work of A.A. or Weston or whomever, and use that inspiration to go out into the landscape around me (four thousand miles from their stomping ground) and make "inspired" images of the places I know well and can interpret in my own way. But in order to "copy" their work I would surely be required to travel to the exact locations and ATTEMPT to duplicate the master's shot. Obviously I would "hope" that some of the "magic" of that location would rub off on me. Obviously the last sentence is absolute twaddle! The magic was in their heads, so what possible use would there be in me going to Hernandez, New Mexico. I know that my corner of the world holds just as much magic, and if I learn enough I will be able to see it! Inspiration matters - it makes you DO, and in so doing you LEARN, and in learning you become SMARTER, and when you become REALLY smart, you'll know that you will NEVER be another A.A. or Edward Weston - you'll just be GOOD and YOURSELF! JOHN
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Jeff Spirer
(K=2523) - Comment Date 2/6/1999
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I find that I am as inspired by literature and music, which somehow create images in my mind that I later am able to see in the visual world, as I am by other photographers. I do find some photographers (none mentioned above, incidentally) inspirational, and I occasionally find unintentional (subconscious) influences. Sometimes, I have found other photographers whose work is similar to mine and then I begin to move away from that style, also somewhat unintentionally. So I guess it works both ways, at least for me.
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Alan Gibson
(K=2734) - Comment Date 2/7/1999
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My experience is not totally different to Lot's. I taught myself photography from books and so forth, and photographed whatever I pleased. Then I went on one workshop a year for three years (this was in the late 1970's). I met a load of professional photographers, full- time students and teachers. This gave me another way of looking at photography: placing my work in the context of other workers, and photography as a historical development. One effect of this is described in 'Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy': I was overwhelmed with my own insignificance. I also felt there must be something wrong with me for not appreciating 'Steerage', for example. I didn't even like H.C-B, so how could I ever be a good photographer? Very depressing.
But I recovered from that. I realised that much as I admired Ralph Gibson, Adams, Ray, Weston, Brandt, whoever, I couldn't imitate them. More importantly, it was wrong for me to try. Some of their work resonated with me, and some didn't. I accepted these feelings. I learnt from the work I didn't like.
And my tastes have changed. They would not have changed in a vacuum. I now photograph people, and I now appreciate H.C-B. My own personal vision continues to change, to develop. I am no longer depressed by work that I admire. Doubtless it informs my vision, but not counsciously. When I am with a camera, I see what I see. I still photograph whatever I please, but that has changed over the decades.
So, I would love to see such an exhibition now. 20 years ago, it would probably have depressed me beyond words.
PS James: Yes, 'Alan.Gibson@technologist.com' is my e-mail address, as is 'Alan.Gibson2@technologist.com'.
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Lot
(K=1558) - Comment Date 2/7/1999
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Alan, is there any relation of what you just wrote above with your initiative for the POP-webpage? I would be interested in your thinking about this.
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