In a recent announcement thread, a photographer's "Mumbo Jumbo" was discussed derisively.
Now I don't know why, but every time I read statements by photographers which transcend ordinary instructions, I feel "more inspired" and become hungry for more. Something usually connects within me that makes me appreciate that photographer all the more.
Wynn Bullock's name came up as a particular example. I found a quote "When I feel a rock is as much of a miracle as a man, then I feel in touch with the universe." Now that seems a pretty obvious instruction to me: Go out and feel for yourself. That is easy enough for me to do. When I'm out and I see a rock, I definitely feel something. It can be a huge miracle like "Half Dome" or a small miracle, like a landmark outcropping in a forest. It can be a rock in someone's front-yard garden covered with a patch of lichen. I haven't gotten to where I feel a response to a dusty chunk of loose gravel, but most rocks with personality draw my attention, at least for a moment.
I'd rather hear "Mumbo Jumbo" than technical talk of tonality and micro-contrast anyday.
To someone who thinks it's all nonsense, I have a western response: "You just don't get it, do you?"
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