Discover Yourself Through Photography

[h._p.]

"Yes. I admit it. You've stumbled onto the conspiracy. "

 

Well, you wrote it, not me. Personally, I would advise you to seek professional help if you keep seeing conspiracies around you.

 

"there are good number of Nobel Laureates out there wearing tinfoil hats."

 

Possession of a Nobel prize for literature proves that a self selected group likes your writing more than that of someone else. This actually indicates that sometimes fiction can be instructive. In this context I refer you to the story of the Emperor's new clothes.

 

"I would argue that great fiction can lead you sanity, if for no other reason than experiencing great fictional characters is the closest we can get to living within another person's head, and that helps us understand that we are not alone in our feelings and fears. It is an illusion, surely, but the best fiction is grounded in reality, or else it rings false."

 

That's an assertion, not a statement of fact. It's also unmitigated nonsense but if it makes you happy, enjoy it.<div></div>

[steve_patterson]

Harvey, I think we've wandered pretty far from the subject at this point; and I don't think we're likely to find common ground on this one. Plus the comments are beginning to feel a bit personal, and I'm getting a bit uncomfortable with the tone; so I think I'll turn this one over to someone else. You can e-mail me if you still want to debate the subject.

 

S

[h._p.]

The only person making it personal, Steve, was yourself. Never mind, if it makes you feel happier to pretend it was me, that's entirely up to you.....<div></div>

[flaneury]

This is an interesting thread and if we don't discover ourselves in it, at least we are given a glimpse into the lives of others.

 

I think a photograph is more than just 'a photo'. In the same way that a human being is more than the way they appear to others on the street. A photograph contains a world. A series of photos affords us a glimpse into the private world of the photographer.

 

Of course, it might be mere speculation, but if someone posts a picture of themselves tightly boxed in a cage, we might observe that this is a very finely exposed photograph of the subject boxed in a cage or our minds may be drawn to asking questions about the psychological make-up of the person. Similarly, if someone posts a series of photos of terraced houses, we might conclude that these are very fine photos of terraced houses or might postulate that the unvariedness of life is an interest to the photographer.

 

I see that another thread has been started as a result of this one and I'll throw in my two-penny worth in due course.

[jameslomax]

Most of this thread goes off onto stuff not directly related to a discussion of RH.

 

Which is s shame....I read a couple of his books about 25 years ago and they're the only ones that stick in my memory, because they were the only photo books I found in my public library that encompassed psychology.

 

I liked it then, and I like it now.

I didnt know he had any association with Minor White, but that makes sense.

 

It would be nice to see those books again....not only because they'd still be interesting, but also for the sake of personal nostalgia. They 'touched' me, as a teenager, in a part of me that few books/ideas/philosophies ever do.

[yeffe]

The thing that makes me sit up and take notice of Hattersley, is that he's always saying

that 'you' (meaning your shallower notion of yourself, or what Jung would call the complex

of identity) must suffer for growth, yet renounce the self-pity that can go with suffering.

 

Its a message we don't want to hear, like when your wife insists that you were flirting at a

party while you feel you made every effort to present yourself honestly and perhaps with

neutral intent to the opposite sex. Upon examination, as with Hattersley's lessons, you

discover that you have indeed been flirting' and that the silly show of denial is unnecessary

and energy-wasting.

[bob_croxford1]

About Ralph Hattersley; Many years ago when I was a student in Birmingham, England we

swapped one of our useless lecturers for an American under a Fullbright Exchange

scheme. The lecturer we got for one year was Ralph Hattersley.

 

Ralph was one of the most interesting and inspiring teachers it was possible to have. He

claimed not to be a teacher and made a more modest claim to point the way to students to

teach themselves. At Rochester Minor White was one of Ralph's staff in the Illustrative

photography dept. Other ex-students include Pete Turner, Bruce Davidson and Jerry

Uelsmann, all of whom have dedicated major books to Ralph. Pete Turner said of Ralph's

teaching that it started when 1/125th at f8 finished.

 

Although his books show some of his thinking they were unfortunately written as 'pot-

boilers' on the publisher's instructions. Much more revealing were a series of articles Ralph

wrote for Popular Photography in the late 1950's early 1960s. These extended essays were

nearly always printed on buff or brown paper. If anyone ever finds any of them I would

love a photocopy.

 

Bob Croxford

[Allen Herbert]

ne of his output has much, if any, relevance to the world as it really is or, indeed, was.

 

Well, old Willy can't answer for himself as he's busy pushing daisies

 

But he might of said "oh pardon me piece of bleeding earth" or words to that effect.

 

Read his thoughts they are as relevant today as yesteryear.

 

I mean read his thoughts with your mind.

 

PS Harvey, my old Gran thinks your a very nice man.

[jameslomax]

I'd also be interested in essays and articles that RH wrote. As I recall the books lacked a certain literary polish, unlike others I was reading, so if they were assembled quickly or mostly by commercial publishers, that would make sense.

 

But they had a charm I still remember now, and on occasion some very interesting ideas.

 

The 'suffering' thing is a typically Gurdjieff kind of idea.

[frank_gross]

<p>It's now fall 2012 and I just got a copy - I think that it's an awesome book. Sure some stuff is 'dated' but our struggles to become ourselves and be better photographers hasn't changed a bit. What he has to say is wonderful</p>