Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Working In Traditional Ways And Putting The Subject First. My Little Manifesto!

Recently while looking at the newest greatest photo mags with the latest toys, the latest styles of photos a thought occurred to me. I like working in traditional ways, there is a real beauty, a profound honesty when you work using traditional tools and the same methods of all the great photographers. The joys of the darkroom are also a integral part of the process for me, making a print is part of the artistry part of the unique beauty of photography, I could not live without it, I never want to give it up.

I do not need to do innovative visually different work, I just want to show my subject, to tell their story. Who cares about the gimmicky visual arty farty crap that is mostly about the photographers ego, about him/her trying to be noticed as an ARTISTE! My pictures are about my subject, telling their story is the important part, the me, the notice the photographer thingy is not where I want to go. It is one of the reasons this whole Yaum guy was invented. I would rather fade into the shadows, and just let the subject do the talking. The people I photograph are what matters, their voice is the important one, let the subjects lives live on, let the emotions from the viewer be the result of delving into the complicated human condition the subjects present. The photographer who needs the fame, that needs his name on everything is a pretty shallow dude in my opinion, who cares about that shit!

I hope to work in traditional ways, telling the stories of real people for the rest of my life, the rest does not matter. If I can do that, then everything else will find its proper place and I will be happy.

"Ain't Photography Grand!"