mikemorrell

Hi and welcome! I hope you learn and have fun here. Mike

Just started the course.

Hi Gary, there are photographers and photography exhibitions/festivals that have future-focused projects/themes. Just one example is the bi-annual 7-week festival which recently ended in my home town. I was a volunteer for the festival but this isn't a plug: the festival has already ended. This year's theme was "To Infinity and Beyond: an investigation of the opportunities and impact of ongoing progress in technology and science. Will it bring nothing but progress? Or are we at risk of opening a Pandora’s box full of unwelcome surprises?" Almost 60 international photographers were selected by the curators for the event which drew some 80.000 visitors. The exhibits ranged from photographic visualizations (with supporting documentary evidence) of innovations that have had unexpected side-effects to projected 'future scenario's'. In general, the exhibiting photographers had spent years researching and developing their photographic essays. For anyone interested in the festival and/or the photographers, check out the website. Scroll to the bottom and click on 'Photographers'. BredaPhoto aims to exhibit - bi-annually - photos based on a central theme that is socially relevant. I'm pretty sure that this is not the only festival/exhibition (of the 300+ festivals/exhibitions globally) that does this. But professional, engaged photographers don't (as far as I know) publish on 'photo sharing websites' such as photo.net. I've just returned to photo.net following an absence of many years. I'm not yet quite sure what it covers and doesn't. There are a couple of lists of international photography exhibitions on the internet. If this hasn't already been covered, short reviews of exhibitions (via internet or by members) might be interesting. On a personal note: I've never really understood the meaning of "the philosophy of photography". IHMO, most people just take the best individual photos that they are capable of taking (depending on knowledge and skills). A few people have a personal 'artistic vision' or 'style' (or whatever other preference). Both probably change over time. People may have a personal philosophy regarding how the world is and/or should be. This may affect the photos they take. But IMHO, there is no one overarching 'philosophy of photography'. I think that there is room (for a minority) to ruminate on questions such as 'why do we take photographs? what is photography for?' but I strongly suspect that the vast majority of members have their own reasons and just want to get on with it (learning more about purpose and style as they go). Mike

Hi all, I joined Photo.net back in 2007 and - on and off - I participated actively up until 2012. Back in 2012, there were a lot of things I liked about Photo.net and also things I liked less. For example the 'clunky' website and some of the protracted discussions on the photo of the day/week/month. Don't get me wrong: one of Photo.net's key strengths (and attractive features) is and has always been it's photo critiques. At a certain point in the ongoing "yes, but is it art?" discussions, I decided that I could better spend my time elsewhere. My visits decreased and I moved on to other platforms. Flip forward to today and I'm truly delighted by how Photo.net has transformed itself in the intervening years! Everything about it (my first impressions) looks fresh, modern and (as always) highly interactive. The selection of 'photo's of the week' looks much more creative and diverse than I remember back in 2012. IHMO the quality has improved enormously. I'm looking forward to rediscovering Photo.net. I'm not as active a photographer as I was back in 2012 but I'm sure Photo.net will provide me with inspiration. Mike