What's it all about

So, what is it all about?
Seriously.
We all have our reasons for photographing, some simple and uncomplicated, others not so.
I'm sure we all walk the same path at the beginning but along the way we choose to stop, continue or deviate.
I'm interested in how others see their own involvement in photography.
In spite of my simple approach as 'an act of doing' I am constantly aware that I seek a different meaning. It's part of the exploration I took on many years back. I have read just about every autobiography, philosophy and explanation there is to read. Sometimes I see something of myself, other times I explore, many times I don't understand.
But I never laugh.
I might find the thoughts of others difficult to understand, even strange.
But I never laugh.
I might question the holder of certain beliefs, but this is to establish a better understanding.
And I never laugh at what they think.
Unless it's a view that sees the insight of others as childish and rediculous, for this is an expression of ignorance.
Would I laugh at Adams or Stieglitz or Leibovitz or Claris?
Would I laugh at my students?

When I stop on my path to finding out I'd like to think I've learnt from many and advanced beyond the simplicity of 'just taking photos".
After all, we don't talk just for the sake of it.

Or perhaps we do.

Indeed, perhaps we just talk for the sake of it. Like Vivian Maier who shot roll after roll during most of her life and never took the time to have the pictures developed. The rolls were found after her death and would simply have been binned if the man who got them had not been more curious than usual.

I suppose that there are many more Vivian Maier around whose negatives are simply thrown away after their death.

Jerome Marot said:

Indeed, perhaps we just talk for the sake of it. Like Vivian Maier who shot roll after roll during most of her life and never took the time to have the pictures developed. The rolls were found after her death and would simply have been binned if the man who got them had not been more curious than usual.

I suppose that there are many more Vivian Maier around whose negatives are simply thrown away after their death.

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Nevertheless, Jerome, it is possible that the likes of Vivian Maier would still have had some inner motivation to do what she did, and she isn't the only one who does this.

My interest is to explore this and the reasons why each of us do what we do.
I know there are the standard reasons:
"I have a passion""
"I've always loved taking pictures"
Ï can earn a living"

Doesn't anyone out there just stop some days and think: 'What the fock am I doing this for?"

Hi, Tom,

Tom dinning said:

Doesn't anyone out there just stop some days and think: 'What the fock am I doing this for?"

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Sure. But like indigestion, the matter just passes on without having done any harm.

Best regards,

Doug

Doug Kerr said:

Hi, Tom,


Sure. But like indigestion, the matter just passes on without having done any harm.

Best regards,

Doug

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I would like that to be the case, Doug, but it is not to be. Like an ulcer, the gnoring discomfort continues.

Possibly I'm looking for someone else with the same belly ache so I know I'm not suffering alone.


Xx

Probably not all photographers have the same motivation.

The vast majority of pictures are snapshots and are shown to the photographer's friends to show them what kind of enjoyable life the photographer has. Look at the beautiful wedding of my kid, look at my expensive vacations, watch the food I ate in that 3-stars restaurant, etc... We are social animals and quite driven by the need to gain a few steps in the hierarchy, like monkeys howling or birds who puff their feather to impress the rest of the flock. It is a way to show your success and imply all the others are failures, just a little more subtle.

Socially, Vivian Maier was a failure: she died alone, she had no children of her own at a time when a woman's success was defined by a reproductive abilities, she does not appear to have left any friends to remember what her life was. Possibly, she was still driven by the same urge to show her life and success to others but she had no outlet for it, nobody who would watch. And she had little of her own life to show, so she pointed her camera at total strangers: street photography.

Tom, I haven't always know why I photograph.
For a time I tried to do it for a living. I succeeded, it was a meagre living but a great lifestyle.
I did that coz I didn't enjoy the profession I trained in ( dental technology) then broke my body doing something I loved (landscaping), I had few options and had a crack at photog. I had a few good clients, tourism bodies and national parks, that sort of thing. The world changed, no-one, no-one like that seems to pay for images anymore.
Now I do it because I'm drawn to it. I actually lose myself in the viewfinder and I love it. Why do I post here? I genuinely like the feedback. I have decided or realised quite recently that it is my artistic medium. Good, bad or indifferent I do it coz I enjoy it. Trying to do it better? Why not?

Andy brown said:

Tom, I haven't always know why I photograph.
For a time I tried to do it for a living. I succeeded, it was a meagre living but a great lifestyle.
I did that coz I didn't enjoy the profession I trained in ( dental technology) then broke my body doing something I loved (landscaping), I had few options and had a crack at photog. I had a few good clients, tourism bodies and national parks, that sort of thing. The world changed, no-one, no-one like that seems to pay for images anymore.
Now I do it because I'm drawn to it. I actually lose myself in the viewfinder and I love it. Why do I post here? I genuinely like the feedback. I have decided or realised quite recently that it is my artistic medium. Good, bad or indifferent I do it coz I enjoy it. Trying to do it better? Why not?

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I understand that, Andy.
Enjoyment comes from the reactions within, hence we don't all enjoy the same things and few of us enjoy just one thing.

Identifying what it is that creates that enjoyment is worth investigating, both as a teacher (which I have always done) and a person who takes photographs.
If there are hormones for enjoyment we certainly like them flowing. That may be the very motivation we need, like drugs, love, chocolate and sex.
The ability to switch our brain into a focussed mode is one way of removing ourselves from the day to day stresses we deal with.
But there are many ways to do this. People play sport, meditate, read a book, pray, take drugs, have a beer or go punch someones face in.
Not everyone takes up photography for that reason and there are those who give it up just as easily.
Is the enjoyment lost? And if so, why and what created the good feelings in the first place.

There's no suggestion here that there is one answer for everyone. There may be some common factors that would be valuable for those who teach photography since it is a better learning environment if those who are involved are enjoying the process. That goes for teachers and students alike.

After 50 years of teaching and photography it still remains an important part of my motivation to continue and that which I present to the students.

I also need to be cautious here. My enjoyment comes from my innermost thoughts and is personal and unique. If these were any suggestion to the students that mine were the only source of motivation I would be doing them an injustice.

Having other photographers relate their experiences to these students encourages them to know that they might need to find their own path.

Unfortunately, few photographers that I know who are still able to speak their piece either don't take the opportunity to voice it or have never bothered to look that deeply.

It might be equated to a painter covering a canvas with even the best of images and not thinking about why and what they hope to achieve either personally or otherwise.

The answer may be partly in reaching the print and seeing it on a wall or being handed cash for it or someone liking it or someone telling them to crop it differently or try a different PoV.

But what of those who don't find pleasure in those aspects? What is self-satisfaction is enough?
What if the act of doing is all that is needed? What if its just a way of recording and reflecting on family history or the visit from a friend or the death of a relative.
What if the pleasure comes from shocking people, or making them cry or laugh or talk or think or buy or get an erection or the female equivalent?
What if the motivation comes from the possibility of spreading ideas and ideals, or influencing others?

A travel photographer doesn't travel to just take photos; nor do they take photos as the only reason to travel.

You say you are"drawn" to photography and "lose" yourself in the viewfinder.
But even your brain doesn't stop working when that happens.

What do you mean by "lose"?
What is "drawn"?

keep one thing in mind: I'm just a nut case looking for something to do. Doing this is like spearfishing and surfing; not everyone gets it and not everyone does it. Not everyone things its fun or useful. Not everyone things the ocean is the womb and we are children of it. Not everyone things they are in heaven when they are 10m down or sliding on the face of a green monster.

So if you have the urge to tell me to fuk off or see a shrink, feel free. Its been done before.

cheers
Tom

Tom, Fuk off and see a shrink.

Andy brown said:

Tom, Fuk off and see a shrink.

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I think I love you, Andy.

Drawn? I dunno, I think it's a bit like how Maris for example is a wizard whose alchemy with light and chemistry is beautiful and mysterious. The pull for me I think is the ability to look through a lens and see the world defined in a microcosm. I grew up looking at birds through binoculars. I don't think it's any coincidence that I can't take a wide angle landscape, for me it's macro or long lens, nothing else matters.

Lose myself? Same thing, focus the brain, let the images in front of me guide me.
I'm definitely not trying to escape anything, my life is not so stressful.

Tom dinning said:

So, what is it all about?
Seriously.

I'm interested in how others see their own involvement in photography.
In spite of my simple approach as 'an act of doing' I am constantly aware that I seek a different meaning.

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Lmao.

This seems like an orderly wind, although I wonder if it hasn't turned foul and gritty, already.

What is this errant? 'meaning' that you seek? Is it one that goes beyond just being 'satisfied'?
Do you ever find yourself getting lost in your own 'wind', Tommo?