Voluntary Subject Matter

[john_cook1]

After 35 years of LF advertising photography, I have recently

retired and no longer have clients to tell me what to shoot.

 

So now I am like other amateurs who buy a camera, photograph the

wife, dog, kids, house and car. Unable to think of anything else to

shoot, they then put the camera away in the hall closet.

 

I thought about doing figure studies, so I checked out PhotoSIG for

some inspiration. But it unfortunately seems that every young man

with a digital happy-snap camera has talked his girlfriend into

posing for shaved and tattooed crotch-shots.

 

After 4 years in art school, I have no fear of nudity. But, at 62, I

seem to have lost my schoolboy fascination with girls� private

parts.

 

So I looked for LF b&w gallery web sites. What I found reminds me of

that recent Saab tv commercial, where the family drives by a huge

tourist attraction billboard advertising �the world�s largest

stump�.

 

It appears to me that many fine art LF people are making technically

exquisite renderings of rather unexciting subjects. Somehow, after

35 years of pantyhose ads and sports car brochures, I just can�t

get worked up over spending the entire day in the woods waiting for

the light to be right to make an exposure of a stump.

 

So I just wondered what y�all are photographing to keep yourselves

amused. Any suggestions for my retirement?

[z_z1]

Good to hear from you John. It will be nice to have input from someone of such experience with LF and commercial photography in general. As far as things to take pictures of I have always latched onto a concept and then explored it as far as I could. What else in life gets you excited? Is there anyway to express it photographically? I agree with you there are enough perfectly exposed and printed stumps around to last a life time, but then again some people like stumps. Are there any examples out there of your work we could see??

[walter_a._muller]

Hi John, I like to explore certain subjects, then, after tiring of that, move on to something else. Right now I'm intriqued by night shots! It's amazing how much detail can be recorded at dusk/night by the light of street lamps, bridge lights, and even moonlight. I also love to take tight head shots of my grandchildren and see how much extraordinary detail I can get, especially in the eyes. (I can't do this with their mothers!) I also look for interesting patterns on weathered walls. If there isn't much contrast, then I would develop it for an extraordinary long time to maximize any contrast. I've heard of going for two hours to maximize an otherwize two-stop pic. But I'm not into abstracts, and I don't think I'll ever go there. Just thoughts. I could use help from the forum too for those days when my vizualization is at a low ebb, but my energy level high!

 

Walt

[Troll]

People. All kinds of people. Rich ones and poor ones. Fat ones and thin ones. Young ones and old ones. Sweet little old ladies and mean sonsabitches. Up close and.... You get the picture (sic).

[sorin]

John, I'm thinking you may also want to find another hobby, at least for a while. When and if the desire to take pictures strikes again, you might find it easier to find interesting (to you too) subjects.

[walter_a._muller]

Here is a shot of the bridges across Lake Tempe in Arizona. This was my first attempt at a night shot.<div></div>

[walter_a._muller]

And I know that the picture isn't level!

Walt

[ellis_vener_photography]

Take a look around you, what intersts you. what has caught your eye on the way to work every morning and on the way home.<P>Just because other people have done things badly or well should not deter you from looking at them with your own, fresh eye.

[bruce_wehman]

Sounds to me like you need to take a little time off and re-connect with whatever has kept you in the biz. that long. Try going back over the work of photographers whom you admire��Oliver Gagliani has pulled me out of a slump more than once.

[brian_c._miller]

#1, what really interests you? Just whatever that is, find it. If its something you can photograph, then photograph it.

 

#2, after all that time with product photography, did you ever see something that you thought to yourself, "It would be a lot funnier if product X was shown like ...." Like a VW Beetle or Mini Cooper stealing a ride on the top of a Suburban. Ad copy: "Of course they get great gas mileage! Look where you can park them!"

[jonathan brewer]

Travel.......check out other cultures which is an exposition of new/old/different ways of doing things, their music, their art, their music, their dance, and the people themselves.

 

I cannot travel as much as I'd like because of my family, but I've made time to go to Brazil, a place that inspires me to no end, a place of warmhearted, beautiful, exotic looking people, and some of the most exotic venues you have ever seen.

 

The country is 500 yrs old, twice as old as the USA, and their are an infinite number of buildings and structures at least that old, along with the most exotic faces and landscapes you will ever see.

 

If not Brazil, you'll find a place that will renew and re-energize you, some feelgood place that inspires and lifts your spirit. Do some traveling, I stay away from travel agents and book things myself after checking everything out over the net, you can get discount tickets on any airline nowadays, it's as cheap as its ever been to travel because of past world events.

 

If you can't go that far for some reason, get in the car and go somewhere you've never been, something there will inspire you.

[ed_candland1]

Hi John, I agree with what's been said and no offense but you sound a bit jadded. Maybe some time off might help out. I did that myself. Spent several years in fact doing no photography at all. Now I'm back and it feels new again. As far as subject matter, different subject matter interests different people. I for one rather like stumps. ;-) And to tell you the truth most of what's being done isn't new. Sure art that's in some way new is exciting, but being new isn't an end all to end all. There's a lot to be said for doing something well. You don't hear very many complaints from people when their symphony is doing another Beethoven piece. Anyway, I hope you find some way to make it fun again. Good luck

[scott_fleming1]

I have this river out my back door. It's a wild rock jumbled and sometimes bluff lined clear water stream. It falls pretty fast around here. I used to fish a lot. I'd be wading out there surrounded by the purple majesty, floating through the after glow ... and it was so magical I just had to try and put it on paper.

 

Well, six months later I don't fish any more. I launched into LF and am obsessesed. Two days ago I flopped a tranny on the light table and nearly got a woody. There is was! The mystery. The unspeakable something that had always transported me. But it wasn't perfect. The perspctive was not quite right. There was some flotsam in the foregorund that could have easily been removed. I've shot it again now and am on the way to the lab. Maybe this time. Probably not. I may shoot this one image for a month. It involves some bare trees so if I don't get it soon, I'll have to wait a full year and then resume the hunt for another image that .... 'does it'.

 

It's out there John. First you have to find out what it is. You may have to paint it. Maybe sculpt it. Perhaps it's architectural and you'll have to build it. Just start looking. Turn off the world and look.

[stephen hazelton]

I'm still part of the working class, meaning I'm stuck in ugly ol' north Texas. If I was retired, I would try to travel a bit, take some backroads, tromp around in the Colorado mountains awhile. All kinds of stuff out there! Old houses, cars, barns, trees, on and on. Go to Mt. Rushmore, Washington DC. If you don't like the "uninteresting" subjects, go find the interesting ones. Take up railfanning.

 

And don't think, that because someone else has done it, that you shouldn't. Don't go looking at what other people have shot, there's not enough time in a life to look at 1/10 the photos on the internet. Pick what interests you, and go with it. If nothing interests you photographically, take up something else for a while.

 

Have you thought about teaching photography? My hometown has "continuing education" courses, check if yours does; you might have a great time sharing your skills with senior citizens or with kids. Or in a more formal way at local high schools or junior colleges.

 

Try an area of photography you've never done before. Pinhole. Infrared. Large format. Or, if that's what you've done half your life, try a Minox.

[per_volquartz1]

John, like you I spent more than a quarter of a century photographing everything from popcorn to pantyhose and cars to cornflakes. And like you I decided to stop doing commercial photography and hopefully exposing a few images that offer a certain level of feeling and / or self expression.

 

As a commercial photographer you are always concerned about being able to show the product - or subject matter - in a way that shows it in its most advantageous way. You are showing the audience how the product functions, how it works while you hopefully do it in a way that creates some kind of "product need".

 

Personal photography is different. No longer is there a need to show a subject in a faithful manner. Instead it becomes important - or at least a worthwhile pursuit - to try to transcend the subject matter. In other words a photograph of a tree stump should be more that an image of a tree stump, an image of a rock more than just another image of a rock - just like an image of a pepper can transcend a pepper as we normally see it.

 

The subject matter for personal, expressive photography - in my mind at least - is un-important. What matters is how you see the world around you and how you are able to convey your feelings though photography. You may indeed find that your own backyard has an enormous amount of subject matter, image material that only you can show, as you are the only one who is familiar with this material.

 

Much has been written about technical aspects of photography, and I'll admit it is easy to become absorbed in technique and equipment. However, in order to concentrate on expressive, personal photography - it is - again in my opinion - important to put all technique and equipment behind you and concentrate on what really matters: content.

 

Per Volquartz

 

http://www.volquartz.com/pervolquartz

[brian_ellis3]

I'd suggest that you read the book "Art & Fear" by David Bayles and Ted Orland. It's a short 116 page paperback that costs only a few dollars from Amazon. You can read it in a sitting or two. It's the best, certainly the most entertaining, remedy for a burned out photographer (which it sounds like you are at the moment)that I can think of. Another possibility is to just forget about photography for a while. I've never been a professional photographer but it's always seemed like an incredibly hard way to make a living. After 35 years it's no wonder that you're having trouble finding something that excites you. Maybe just getting completely away from it for a while would let you come back with the juices flowing and lots of good ideas. It would be a shame to drop it completely given all the skills and knowledge you've acquired but a break of six months or a year might help in the long run. Or maybe during that time you'd find something else that you'd rather do. FWIW, I've found that exerting a lot of effort, I mean really fighting hard, to find something to photograph is almost a guarantee that you won't find anything.

[wayne_crider4]

I can only say what I would do, and that would be to plant a

garden of flowers (and vegetables of course) and have fun

photographing when the flowers come it. Grandkids and flowers

are a nice combination. The excercise of working the earth is

good theraphy as well.

[donald_miller1]

John, Who's to say that you should spend your time photographing anything? I like Brians answer a lot. Somehow to have spent that many years doing anything would indicate that maybe it is time to take a break. You may very well continue to photograph, but maybe it is time to assess for yourself whether photography really gets your juices flowing. Maybe you have had a hankering to do something different for awhile and just not listened to yourself. To move away from the "known" can be fearful, but then again very rewarding. This is your life...not a dress rehearsal.

[john_cook1]

Thank you all, for your kind and generous replies. I believe you are right about looking around for interesting subjects. Perhaps I need to visit my local fire station or ballet studio, and see if I can get into trouble.

 

It�s just that I�ve always had to be more concerned with pleasing the client than having fun. It hasn�t been all panty hose, you know. I have also produced a catalogue of burial caskets, brochures for a manufacturer of portable outhouses, and advertising materials for a factory which dries and bags manure for gardeners.

 

But there�s something else. I suspect that much of my problem is looking for inspiration on the web. Like most LF photographers, I�m more of a technician than an artist. Forced to choose, I�d rather make a Karsch-like portrait of my neighbor than a snapshot of a celebrity.

 

I have seen (and occasionally made) prints of common subjects whose technique alone brought tears to my eyes. There is a whole generation of kids who don�t even know these prints exist. A 16x20 archival selenium-toned fibre print from an 8x10 pyro negative looks much like a cheap digital snapshot on my computer monitor.

 

People are no longer able to judge photography by its technical quality. All they see on their monitor is gray digital mush, no matter how technically stunning the source.

 

As a result, pictures are produced to be judged only for content. A nude snapshot of one�s girlfriend becomes superior to an Edward Weston figure study only because the girlfriend has larger breasts. A Ford Focus becomes more interesting that a Bentley because it is red.

 

Time to shut off the computer and head out to the galleries.

 

Again, many thanks...

[nathan_congdon]

Mostly all portraits in platinum and palladium, made from 12X20 in-camera negatives. No crotches though. Check out

 

www.platinumportrait.com

 

if you would like to take a look.

 

Regards,

Nathan Congdon

[nicholas_f._jones]

"I have traveled a good deal in Concord."

 

Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854).

[triblett_lungre_thurd]

um,

 

buy a little 4 megapixel point and shoot and a cheap-ass hp photosmart printer and go about unlearning what you have learned, there methuselah. the fast results will speed yer cure up a bit too. yer problem is simple. you've had yer photo passions sucked outta you by the daily drudgeries of a career in it.... and lugging a view camera and accoutrement all o'er creation(without a pa to scream at) to find the perfect stump ain't the balm you need. that raggedy ol' stump is in yer pants, ya dust farter, and none of the nubile, young tattoo'd chickypoos are interested in it, so give up that pasty, shrivelled, decrepit ghost(or freebase some viagra). i'll give yer enfeebled mind some credit tho', despite yer senilic dotterin' and codgerin', papaw, you've stumbled upon the miracle modern ointment fer yer old-timer's rash. and you won't need yer readin' spectacles neither, them's gots auto-doohickeys all o'ber um, heeyup! you you need fast, furious, shoot-from-the-hip photos, the less production, dry to dry, the better you'll like it. the best thing for you now, is to discover how simple the joys of photography are nowadays, since we all done gradyeeated from tin plates. you must go about it simply though and i can't think of a better poultice. 3-4 hundred dollars at yer local walmart can fix you. you'll find what all those young'ns have learned, gramps. you'll find freedom.

 

i je's pray you don't wet yerself in the checkout line,

 

trib

 

p.s. honestly john... who said 'all day'? you did... and now you know what you don't like about it. go on, skit gramps. go git you one them there new-fangled toys and spend a few minutes with it. then put it down and rub on some o' yer arthritis grease, then pick it up again. most of all, have fun john, you'll find it is still lots of fun.

[triblett_lungre_thurd]

or Tesco's if yer a anglish pooftie...

 

you are a bit of a poofty ain't ya john?

 

i could tell by the ballet, gallery comments...

 

trib (aka Mangun Frankenstein)

[ralph_barker]

<p>You could always go to an un-forest and shoot un-stumps, John. ;-)</p>

<center>

<img border=2 src="http://www.rbarkerphoto.com/misc/Travel/DV2003/DV0203-A3-550bwZabSunrise.jpg">

</center>

<p>I think the trick is to find something that really rings your bell, and then photograph it <i>your way</i>, rather than the client's way. </p>

[john_cook1]

Thank you all again for your help. I just printed this string (ten pages) for careful study.

 

Walter, I appreciate the night picture. It just crossed my mind that it might be interesting to �paint� some structures with one of those million candle-power lights from Cabelas.com.

 

Ralph, I have admired your work for a long time. My favorite is your old north light portrait studio photograph.

 

Triblett, what can I say. I really can�t reply until I can get your post translated. But in the meantime I�d advise you to seek professional help ;-)

 

Just one last thing before spinning back out into cyber space. Back in the 60's and 70's when we were all young and horny and into loose hippy thinking, I photographed nearly a thousand rolls of almost two hundred nude women. It was exciting for a while, but anything eventually gets repetitive and stale.

 

Dr. Albert Rock was correct when he said, �Beautiful women are like magnificent sailboats. If you turn them upside down they all look the same.�

 

I now get much more pleasure from photographing the other end.

 

Regards,

 

John