That strangely powerful quality that few photographers can capture...

[allenspencer]

That quality in the work of great photographers who can make such a "normal"

image powerful. Alec Soth for example:

 

http://bp0.blogger.com/_4reUPxWXN3A/RqI4P0ItqWI/AAAAAAAAAnk/XNJ0d4nfen0/s1600-h/fashion005.jpg

 

http://www.mocp.org/exhibitions/uploads/SothEx.jpg

 

http://i.gagosian.com/files/a84da01d.jpg

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/centreofthecreativeuniverse/images/alecsoth_lauraandstevelive_.jpg

 

And some of Weston's work:

 

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jx9n/photos/photography/Edward%20Weston/102.jpg

 

http://www.huntington.org/LibraryDiv/JuniperSierraNev37.jpg

 

Just the ability to see common things (Which, if most were to take a photo of,

would turn out like more of a "just for laughs" or "Ooh that's neat." MySpace

pic.) And turn it into photographic beauty.

 

A great comparison:

Alec Soth...

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2006/12/08/alecsoth92834.jpg

 

And the not so great:

Randomly searched "Wedding pic bride." of Google...

http://www.laphotopro.com/images-index/photojournalism-wedding-bride-dance-burbank.jpg

 

Though the second is more "Capturing the moment." than the first, the first

still has a far more poetic quality.

[JDMvW]

I'm wondering what exactly you expect in the way of response?

 

I'll predict that some will say, "right on" and there will then be a few who say something like "Weston's work is all crap" or some such.

 

Many others will, like me, say "Huh?"

[ken munn]

As half of the links you give don't work, it's difficult to follow your argument.

 

Of those that worked, two provide two of the least inspired photos I've ever seen.

 

There's a peculiarly useless aphorism "Everybody has got a book inside them". One could

probably deduce that "Every photographer has a few great photographs inside them". I'm still

waiting to take mine!

[photobiscuits]

It's nice to see that you are capable of appreciating photographs that move you. I am not feeling the same connection with the images linked(that I was able to view) as you seem to be.

[johncrosley]

Please post good links. This is interesting (sounding at least) topic, especially since the few images posted (except the Weston pepper, don't immediately show 'greatness', but in the eyes of some beholders may indeed be 'great', but it is necessary to have some genuine comparisons to make before one can get a sense for certain photographers (Tate and Gagosian -- especially Gagosian -- are sometimes pretty 'cutting edge' between the banal and true art, I feel, and sometimes suggest that banality carried to its extreme is another form of 'true art' . . . .

 

So, please post us some proper links so we can continue this examination (it interests me).

 

John (Crosley)

[matt_needham]

I like Weston's pepper, and while I am normally interested in Soth's work, the two links I could get to work strike me as powerfully boring. I'd really like to see the "not so great" wedding photo, but the link wasn't valid.

[ken munn]

Folks and strokes.

 

Don't like any of the OP's choices, and consider them neither great nor powerful.

 

Ah well, always the philistine.

 

For 'strangely powerful' I prefer a shot by one of us:

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/7030547

[lex_jenkins]

Photographing the banal without a hint of irony may be just a little too subtle for most of us. Okay, for me.

 

Or is it the absence of irony that makes it ironic?

 

Does it only qualify as snapshot aesthetic when the viewer applies words like "aesthetic" to it?

 

Is the banal anaesthetic?

 

Questions, questions...

[cooltpmd]

A photo is a photo ... and that strange, powerful quality is your emotional responce to impressions that noone, even the original photographer could have invisioned. When enough viewers have positive responces (even if for very different reasons) you have a "popular" photo and vise versa.

 

I've seen pictures of a house that reminded me of my childhood house, therefor having impact that the photographer could not have anticipated, may even be working against in his intent ... and no other viewer shares. I think that's a big reason for the dynamic quality of an art work.

[allenspencer]

Thanks Mike for fixing the links. And I did an extremely bad job of explaining my point. By powerful I don't mean artistically important, fashionably composed, etc, but an image that really captures something deeply human, I agree with Weston hugely on not allowing the beauty of a photograph to be obstructed by artisitc effect.

 

Just go to Soth's website, and imagine the same photographs taken by some teenager for MySpace or Facebook. Although the image would have the same content, there would be clear difference in it.

[lex_jenkins]

I dunno. The snapshot aesthetic is kinda like The Pixies and The Breeders. To fans, they're brilliant. To everyone else, they sound like just another garage band that needs more rehearsal.

[allenspencer]

That's if you're only in it for the aesthetics. The greatness of the image is the aesthetics, content, and any underlying meaning combined. As well as the ability to respect/understand something even though you don't exactly enjoy it.

 

Just as I've recently come to the conclusion that Schneider is not that great of a photographer, but regardless, I enjoy her work. And though I find much of Weston's and Soth's work boring, I respect it for its greatness and beauty.

[petemillis]

Spencer, looking at all those pictures you have linked to, there's something I see that differentiates them from snapshots, and that's sympathetic manipulation of the photograph to give decent darks and lights and colour. And the one of the girl lying on the bed (one of the Soth ones) seems to have been taken using a tilt lens to throw some of the focus out that is away from the subject. I think that what makes them better than MySpace type snapshots is that the photographer has clearly thought a bit about what they are trying to present. I still wouldn't say any of the pictures you linked to are great or particularly beautiful. Some of Soth's other pictures I prefer.