samstevens

Here's a personal answer. Each photographer might answer differently, and in some cases the answer might just be the photos themselves. The photos below are from one of my first "projects," that didn't start out to be a project. I was doing portraits of mostly gay men I met in one way or another here in San Francisco. In trying to be creative with characterizations, doing my own thing with middle-aged guys willing and sometimes quite happy to take their clothes off, a coherent approach just started taking shape over the months. It turned out to be, for me (and many of them), a way to acknowledge and embrace ourselves as we'd long since aged out of youth. I never expected the work to attract "many viewers," but those who have seen it have appreciated (or not appreciated) it for various reasons and responded to it in sometimes illuminating ways.

It was meant as a rebuff, of sorts. Hopefully, a kindly one. 😇 I don’t think a viewer has much responsibility other than to experience the work in a way that suits them. Many sincere viewers stick to the surface. To that they are entitled. A lot of photographs work well enough on the surface, even if they also go deeper. Is it your assumption that nudes are or invite worn-out clichés? Why nudes and not landscapes or streets or bicycles or birds or flowers or diners or portraits? The responsibility of the author is to his own vision. It’s not to the moral or aesthetic judgments of bystanders.

Very few things need to exist as photographs, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't. I'm glad people (myself included) are still doing and interested in nudes. Visual description of our world is one aspect and understanding of photography. Another aspect of photography relates to expressiveness. Nudes are and will continue to be used to express human emotion and, since the nude has roots in ancient and classical art, it will likely be explored by photographers and artists who want to continue a dialogue with tradition while paving new ways to see, understand, and express. There's a personal aspect to nudes that goes well beyond how "original" of a subject matter or genre it is. That being said, taste and opinion matter. There are plenty of nudes all over the internet that are uninteresting, forced, dishonest, and shallow. Someone felt they should exist. That's enough for me. Doesn't mean I have to pay much attention to them. The smaller subset that are exploitive, abusive, or worse would be a matter for another discussion, I suspect.

Yes. Why do you ask?

As would Duchamp.

“Style often follows, and is made possible by, the discovery of new techniques or materials.” Da Vinci would be proud.

^ the brick wall could be a metaphor …

I’ve always converted to sRGB before posting to PN. That seems to allow my images to appear on PN as they do in Photoshop. Try a test in the testing section and see if you get the result you’re looking for.

Sounds liberating. Interestingly, of course, some folks do choose self-imposed restrictions, not necessarily because they think other ways and means of doing things are unworthy, but because it inspires them. Hitchcock intentionally shot Rope as if it was a single take and intentionally never left the lifeboat in the movie with that title. I went through a period of going out to shoot only with my 50mm lens because I wanted to find out what it would be like to see scenes with that kind of lens for a while. Though I restricted myself, materially, it opened me up to many possibilities. I think both the motivation for and results of such restrictions mean a great deal.

As I see it, those rules have faired well over the years and helped create the PN space we're all used to and have been using effectively. Long gone though the creators of those rules may be, we're still encouraged to follow them by current volunteer moderators. If you want to start a mostly-picture-oriented thread with more words than a simple introduction to your photo (which is allowed in No Words), and you'd like a little back-and-forth discussion, start a thread somewhere else besides No Words. Plenty of outlets for that. Does the meaning of the simple phrase "No Words" escape you? It's one of the most popular features on PN and runs quite well and smoothly. Why degrade it?

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amazing. i didn't see it either. nice rework.

It's all or nothing! As if someone's creative, imaginative, and exciting use of a cell phone camera means throwing everything else in the bin. Some people, those with even the tiniest bit of depth and open-mindedness, can walk and chew gum at the same time, can enjoy seriously using a cell phone camera while also recognizing and still using more refined cameras at other times and in a variety of situations.

@inoneeye, I was thinking of you and your photos when writing my last couple of posts. When I mentioned folks using iPhones to document today’s lunch, I had to laugh. Because I see, in your newer work, an exploration of a lot of what might otherwise appear as everyday (even mundane) scenes and situations. You manage to find and then imbue them with an atmospheric voice transcending but still honoring the everyday nature of them. Eggleston did something similar (very differently) in a glossier and more subject-object oriented way, but certainly was also a product (and mover) of his era and culture. You’re doing it, I think, with a darker, less literal side and an edge, and with your own brand of oppositionalism. Often, there’s that feeling of immediacy of moment and recognition that seems so in tune with the iPhone. As if we’re looking really at a snapshot with unexpected reach and depth. There’s a play of casualness against a more thoughtful narrative and style that become even more perceptible and felt when viewing various groupings or series of the work. The poetry of the midday digital sandwich, and a crow.

My layman's understanding is that you can't. It used to be that a moderator could make your account inactive and you, yourself, can delete all your photos (I believe, I haven't tried it). But there hasn't been a way to actually delete an account since I can remember. I don't know that moderators still have the ability to deactivate accounts and I'm not sure which moderators are still regularly active.

I think the origin often does matter to the photographer. The journey matters, including how one relates to their equipment and how that equipment may affect how they see. It can matter to some viewers as well, who want to look beneath the surface and understand more about the photographer behind the picture. Understanding more about the photographer behind the picture may well affect how one looks at the picture. I can appreciate a pic about which I know nothing. I'm often amazed how differently I may see a pic once I've read something about the photographer. The new understanding of the pic doesn't really supplant my original take on it. Often the two together simply form a deeper experience, not competing with each other, but informing and supporting each other. I understand that to those who think a pic must stand on its own, this is heresy. Good for them. 😊

Nah. Don't worry about it. Also know that for some serious photographers, their iPhones are as much a part of their journey, process and relationship to their cameras as the older cameras are to those who are keen on using them. Again, I'm with you that most people use iPhones to document their lunches out. But there are some really good photographers out there using iPhones the very way they used to use their older cameras back in the day and just as in tune with how their iPhones handle and what they can offer. The pictures speak for themselves. The process, in addition to vision, inspiration, and passion, is part of the secret behind the picture.

^ cute as a ...

button wearer

What has any camera got to do with photography except in skilled hands?You’ve got a bug up your butt about iPhones and can’t seem to let it go. One might ask what that’s got to do with photography. You’re the one who felt the need to bring it up instead of bringing up something that actually does have to do with photography. Next time, think before you hit the confirm button.

@mikemorrellNL, This is the OP. It was the premise of the thread. Take it or leave it. That’s what I and others have been responding to, despite subsequent drifts and deflections. I understand you’re using a cell phone in a particular way, for its utility and not delving into its creative aspects. But Allen’s been putting anyone down who claims it can be used in a distinctively artistic or creative way and that’s both a narrow-minded and misguided view.

I don't submit as much to No Words as I used to, but in my heyday, I was having a lot of fun shooting toward a theme. It resulted in widening my perspective and shooting stuff I might not have otherwise naturally been drawn to. It also encouraged at least a degree of spontaneity because I'd run out without too much advance thought and try to get something quickly so I could get it up on the thread. [While assignments and self-imposed or otherwise-imposed restrictions can seem burdensome and even anathema to art, they can also work well in inspiring creativity. Many artists have been through such processes.] This was inspired by the theme "Motel" and is a little motel about a mile from my house at Ocean Beach. ocean park motel