Personally Expressive Art
Originally uploaded by John Setzler.
My favorite photography magazine is LensWork. I have been a faithful reader of this magazine for about four years. The magazine is a wonderful journey into the realm of creativity through the examination of brief collections of photos. I am continually inspired by what I see and read within the pages of this bi-monthly publication.
Brooks Jensen, the editor of LensWork Magazine, publishes a great podcast as well. “LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process” is available on iTunes (free) and it’s one of the regular podcasts I listen to each week. Brooks spends a few minutes in each podcast commenting on photography and the creative process behind it.
In a recent podcast entitled “Photography as a Personally Expressive Art,” Mr. Jensen digs into the ideas that seem to form barriers between certain groups of photographers. Some photographers want their results to show the world exactly as they see it while others choose to take creative steps towards making a photograph into what they want it to be rather than the reality they see before them. One particular quote in this podcast sticks with me:
“But if photography is art, it’s not about what’s in front of you. It’s about what’s inside of you.”
Instead of trying to expand on this, I think I’ll just leave it as is…
“But if photography is art, it’s not about what’s in front of you. It’s about what’s inside of you.”
This line of thought kind of goes with, “It’s not the camera that takes the photograph.”
I’ve always believed this and it helps me to ’see’ what I am photographing.
Hope all is well.
Nathan