Every Picture Is a Compromise
Lessons from the Also-rans
Most photography websites show the photographer's very best work. Wonderful. But that's not the full story of a creative life. If we want to learn, we'd better pay attention to the images that aren't "greatest hits" and see what lessons they have to offer. Every picture is a compromise — the sum of its parts, optical, technical, visual, emotional, and even cosmic – well, maybe not cosmic, but sometimes spiritual. Success on all fronts is rare. It's ok to learn from those that are not our best.
This is a series about my also-rans, some of which I've been able to improve at bit (i.e., "best effort"), none of which I would consider my best. With each there are lessons worth sharing, so I will.
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Original digital capture
What I saw that I liked:Same walk as the image from yesterday. Again, I was trying to capture the cold and liked the snow on this window frame. What I don't like in the picture:At the time (2004), I didn't do anything with this image because I judged it too simplistic — just some snow on a window. Pass. What I learned:For some reason, I got to looking at this image again a few weeks ago. I realised it had less to do with the snow and the window frame than it is a mystery about the things seen in the window panes. Are those mysterious shapes inside the building, or reflections of what is outside? And if they are reflections, where is the reflection of me and the camera? Or am I inside the building looking out into the snowy yard? Now, after a 17 year incubation, I like this image a lot. Another reason to mine our archives. With the passage of time, the photograph may not change, but we do. |
