One can contrast conceptual work with recording type of photography - where as long as one records the right moment in a technically proficient way, the common idea of beauty takes care of the rest (well, not quite). Why? Because the underlying subject is beautiful (or aesthetically different), and the photographer's job is to capture that beauty optimally.
In my opinion - conceptual work requires a paradigm shift. You don't record inherent beauty, because there is none. There is no beauty at all. The aesthetic qualities of conceptual images come from them conveying the idea effectively. And you do so by looking at what would shock your audience into thinking rather than emoting (which is the natural response to a two dimensional image). Conceptual images have to be either weird or ugly or visually banal (by conventional, recording photography standards) to make the viewer think. How much 'steering' towards a certain idea the photographer should do is a matter of creative decision. Countless abstract images (not necessarily photographs) will give you no steering. Others will be very heavy handed and border on commercial obviousness. Yet others will be devilishly normal at first, with a delayed penchant for the absurd. Yet others will fake technical or aesthetical ineptitude to get you to look beyond the descriptive or ‘transparent’ qualities of the image.
Is it worth it? I don't know. The creative process is just as rewarding as with 'recording' types of photography, if not more. The recognition part - not so much, because you don't borrow from the beauty of what you're photographing.
I understand what you're trying to say, but I don't wholly agree, which is good for us both. I don't think you can quantify the rewards of photography, whether you're just shooting to record, to capture natural beauty or to spark the memory of an event, or you're putting together a photograph from a concept. And isn't that the record of an idea? And why is the record of an idea any more valuable than the record of your child's beauty or the forty inches of snow you had that winter?
ReplyDeleteI had this concept, and I put it all together, and I felt like I'd accomplished something cool, but I also felt like I hadn't really made a photograph as much as I'd created some kind of art.
But this photo of my daughter is as much the record of the idea, as much a conceived idea, as it is the record of her beauty.
Or maybe I don't understand you at all. :-)
Thanks for the philosophy of the day.
BTW, I'm here because of your beautiful photograph of the black figure with the blank face. Incredible.
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