Discovering Yourself Through Photography

Most of the time I take unplanned photos - intuitively taken when there is

a 'calling'.

 

Taking a step back now and looking at my gallery - I gained an insight into

myself - both as a photographer and as an individual. In the process, I

uncovered certain perspectives about myself which I never was quite conscious

abt.

 

Is this normal - learning abt yourself from the photos you take?

Photography is a wonderful cathatic experience in that allows to look at the world in an aesthtic sense. Appreciating the beuty of form,texture emotion etc. Enjoy it micduff

I'm not always good at expressing myself to others. I think I tend to hide myself. Photography

allows me to show more of me and I'm less uptight about it than revealing myself using other

means.

Oh absolutely. Its like painting or writing, photography to me is a way to express yourself, and there is a definite analysis of yourself through the photos. Like a painting or a poem.

Rosmini, I wonder what it says about you that your PN gallery photos are all from digital cameras but your portrait is a Hasselblad.

Clive - good one. Thanks for drawing my attention to this discrepancy.

 

My previous biography said something to the effect that i am moving on to medium format film on my hasselblad. I didnt change the photo when I changed the bio. Think I need more photos of myself! :)

 

Cheers, Rosmini

For me personally, photography has become the easiest way to express myself to others.

I haven't thought about it because I am preoccupied about learning the basics of photography right now. Perhaps, 5 years or so in the future, I could have an opinion about myself based on the photos I had taken.

"For me personally, photography has become the easiest way to express myself to others." Tommy

 

It may be easy, but it is not necessary. It is not my intention to express myself, but to express the subject, which often enough isn't a "main subject" in the frame, but the frame as a whole. It is a somewhat "oriental" attitude, perhaps.

 

I don't really understand the AA quotation. If he means "I'm going to make you look like this." and "I wonder what you look like?", then I'm in the second category. I have questions for the subject, not directions.

Your point is well made, Don, but I would have to wonder if it is always or often the case that

what one "intends" to express is all or most of what winds up getting expressed.

"Your point is well made, Don, but I would have to wonder if it is always or often the case that what one "intends" to express is all or most of what winds up getting expressed."

 

Fred, I don't have to know what I want to express in order to express it. It just requires getting out of my own way for it to happen.

I guess we've actually had this discussion before, and it's a matter of the extent to which we

each believe one can actually get out of one's own way. Healthy, I hope, disagreement.

There can be no disagreement because I am not prescribing anything or claiming anything for anyone else. For that matter, I can't prescribe it for some of my photography, but it is the way I prefer photography to happen, the photography I prefer and enjoy.

 

So, I have no argument to make. I've got to take and live with my photographs. I like the one's that came about as I described. That's all I've got.

To learn even more about yourself and who you really are indulge yourself by taking self-

portraits over an extended period of time. You'll then see yourself as others see you and you.

This method has been used as part of a therapeutic process. When I remeber the artists name

I shall post it on this thread.

Are you worth knowing?

 

If you don't know who you are, you're probably a nobody, caught up in distractions (such as mysticism). Might be more valuable, in some cosmic sense, for you to become somebody.

 

Rather than "knowing yourself," might it not be "better" to do something that people you respect think worthwhile?

 

Time flies.

Maybe sad, maybe just comforting for them. I would certainly feel much better about life if I thought that I knew everything.

 

Interesting, though, how as we get more comfortable we tend to stop creating. This has happened to me many times, and to many people that I know. We get into good relationships, have peace within our families, and suddenly it seems that there is less to talk about, and less art is being produced. The artists I admire most are the happy ones, because I know that creating in the absence of strife is a daunting task.

For me, I'm the type that's not as mature or developed as I'd like to be, so I often live in denial. It's pretty common, actually. Photos can help to work against this. It's hard to ignore reality when you got it on film. Then, I kind of accept the reality however imperfectly and try integrate the feelings and notions into the current state of Doug.