Paper "whites"

[Michael Wesik]

There's a reason we're photographers, and not writers. Some are blessed to be able to both at a high level. Most are not. So I think any writing that we do about our work and vision should be kept simple and straight forward. Otherwise we risk having our written words interpreted incorrectly. We should excel at what we do best, and don't muddle things by adding other media with which we do not excel.

I agree with your point about keeping things clear and simple but I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.

[RodinalDuchamp]

i am not sure if this is directed towards me or something posted in general but ...
the work i presented to him was of the crumbling new england mill industry,
portraits and some other things. not non-subjective ( by that time clichéd lame, copycat pseudo-abstracts of paint peeling, or asphault patches or graffiti .. )

i wasn't some kid who had just picked up a camera after reading
articles in "pop photography" 1 day before ( sorry there was no internet back then )
or someone who had no formal training ( whatever that is ) and never had work on a wall + critiqued before .. 7+ solid semesters of
critiques by peers + teachers ... i had never been threatened before, and it kind of threw me for a loop.

if you believe what you said, go full-bore .. but i think the BS, is to stroke one's ego.
that said, for a 70-80 years old world recognized, established artist and teacher to to wag his finger and threatening a 20-something year old,
well, in my book, that is about as lame as one can get. ( the person who suggested i see him was astonished when i told him what happened. )
but, i guess in the end, it also meant i was on the right track if he felt threatened enough by what i was doing
to throw the full weight of his massive ego at me and threaten me ..

as i ( and others ) said, most of everything is just opinion anyways, people like different things for different reasons.
do what you want and enjoy yourself, and if someone questions what you are doing make sure
you can answer what you are doing, and why - with + without esoteric, aesthetic and abstract philosophical BS ..


good luck!

I do not mean anything to be directed at anyone in particular unless I quoted someone. I don't mean to offend.

[Greg Miller]

I agree with your point about keeping things clear and simple but I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.

Then my point is proven. I'll stick to photography and let someone else communicate with writing.

[Michael Wesik]

Then my point is proven. I'll stick to photography and let someone else communicate with writing.

I think that you're a better writer than you give yourself credit. I just didn't know where you were headed with your previous post. One way or another, all communication requires refinement. And in the context of this thread, my post was in response to RodinalD's comment about subjectivity and having confidence in your vision. My thought is that how white your whites need to be to communicate your vision is a subjective choice on the part of the photographer and that choice is made under the caveat that there are multiple ways to articulate a vision in terms of the tonality of a print, size, toning, etc. Which articulation of the vision best illustrates the vision itself is then determined by the viewer because what's the point of a vision if it isn't received? That's where I was going. I think feedback is really important and that objectivity doesn't exist in art. That's just my opinion.