Photographs that choose me

[John Kasaian]

I've come to the conclusion that my best photographs are the ones that "choose" me to take them, rather than the ones I "choose" to take.

Maybe its a serendipitous (hey, is that a word?) thing, the way the clouds rest on an unammed peak I spy while driving to a popular location where I(and several hundred others) have sought to "create" art.

Maybe its just a part of a rundown nieghborhood where I grew up thats calling me back to record it's passing from history.

These photographs are nearly always more alive and exciting than the contrived pictures of my imagination where I've worked out every detail: "chosen" the time of day and angle of the sun, "selected" the field of view and contrast of my lens, "determined" in advance what atmospheric conditions I want for "my" vision, etc... which now strikes me as being the harbinger of what will be sterile, lifeless and oh soooo boring.

When a photograph, a really good photograph, presents itself I find that the ol' dorff seems to unfold itself. Whatever lens is on hand works good enough and if I've got 400 Tmax loaded rather than FP4+, when it comes down to the final results it really dosen't matter. Being there and responding to the moment is what matters---and it always shows up in the print.

There is an ancient snag that I've wanted to shoot on a starry night. The gnarled branches would seem to be grabbing at the stars while puffly clouds float by like angels. I've studied this image in my imagination for well over a year. I know what phase of the moon I need and where to set up and which lens /film combination will be fast enough to reduce the effect of star trails. As neat as this idea sounds, a family of mushrooms growing on a rotten log that has an undeniable comical element, or a road cut into a mountainside which provides astonishing glimpse of what looks to be chambers in a subterreanean hell composed of the exposed roots of trees---I mean you get the tree trunks, carpet of pine needles, top soil, subsoil, and then the roots and caverns all for the eyes to see at once---and its all unexpected, unplanned, un-everything---wow!

Anyone else here ever feel that way?

[Mark Sawyer]

"I've come to the conclusion that my best photographs are the ones that "choose" me to take them, rather than the ones I "choose" to take. "

Kinda like a pretty woman in a bar. You may think she chose you, but you had to make eye contact, you had to go along with it, even put some effort into it...

Maybe its just learning to trust your instincts and intuition. Maybe it's learning that they can have more power than your intellect, which can be smart but dry.

But to answer your question, yes, "serendipitous" is a word.

[Kirk Gittings]

John,

Thank you for bringing this up. It is important. Maybe the most important topic I have seen here in awhile. I vaguely remember Caponigro saying something about this also many years ago also.

At the risk of sounding foolish, I feel sometimes that the spirit of a place grabs me and directs my efforts. These images are almost effortless and oftentimes have a mysterious quality to them that transcends the obvious visual facts as if I am in touch with another level of meaning. I find that I cannot make these images happen. All that I can do is be aware and prepared technically and mentally so that I don't blow the opportunity when it arises (and I have blown a few and they still haunt me). I feel them physically more than I understand them consciously. I feel them as a tingling in my spine as they almost seem to arrange themselves on the ground glass. If I receive one of these a year, I consider it a very successful year. In all honesty though I think it has happened less than 10 times in the last 25 years, but it is these handful of images that drive me. V.B. Price in the introduction of the new book "Shelter from the Storm" (about my architectural photography) sensed this same phenomena in some of my images and wrote about it. Indulge my ego for a moment here.

"I’ve always marveled at how Kirk’s photographs of human structures –
be they archaeological ruins, old New Mexico churches, remnants of a
lost industrial landscape, or the most contemporary architecture –
convey with such rational clarity his emotionally enthusiastic and
loving respect for the world. The exacting detail he brings to his
photographs of buildings, combined with his intuitive openness to the
“patina” of meaning hidden in their forms, allow viewers to partake of
this mysterious and intimate exchange between photographer and subject
for themselves. From his perspective, it seems, human structures are a
part of nature, and they, like the humans who create them, share in
the majesty of the world’s fathomless beauty.
The portfolios in his book reveal Kirk’s unifying devotion to seeing
through the illusions of inattentiveness to find the heart and soul in
the truth of experience – that everything has an irreplaceable
presence, a unique essence, however fleeting or without interest it
might seem."

I have to say that though I am honored and affirmed by such writing about my work,
I am also not used to it and a little embarrassed by it. HoweverI think it also speaks to John's topic here and I offer it in that spirit.

[Jon Wilson]

John, as for my photography, I definitely agree with you.

It has always been my experience, from my early years with 35mm through today in LF, that my best photos have always been the result of something "catching my eye"...intuitive creative juices flowing....as opposed to an assignment for given type of photo. It may be just as simple as taking a drive or walking in my backyard, when I visualize what I "see" as being an attractive photo. I have recently found it also to be true of photos of my grown children or others who I am interested in either having their portrait taken or perhaps I am excited about trying out that new lens and am able to find a willing subject.

I personally believe it is a culmination of my desire to present a quality photograph...but have found that it is the "image" which first "catches my eye" that gets my creative juices flowing, which is then followed by the "get down to business" mode of mechanically setting up the photo I have pictured through a previsualization, and finally the "follow through"....actually take that picture.

I also believe my photography is best when not forced. Not being a photographer by profession, I am not constrained to "force" a photograph due to a deadline or an assignment and I believe the result is my personal satisfaction of capturing a moment which can be shared with and hopefully admired by others.

Maybe we just click with those Zen Moments! Good Light!

[Capocheny]

John,

Interesting post... I understand exactly where you're coming from. There are some scenes that tend to "speak to you" and these are the ones that compel you to take the camera out and "take the shot!" I, like you, find these images to be the most exciting...

It's these kinds of occasions that tend to really "excite" because they incite a deep, inner response and that gets the adrenalin flowing. For me... it's also the times where I tend to make the most mistakes (and, therefore, I have to force myself back into control!) But, in general, the hands move as if on their own volition, respiration increases, and not only does the heart beat faster and faster, but it also grows in intensity... it's quite the thrill!

And... yes, "serendipitous" is a valid word. It's the adjective form of serendipity (a noun), which means "the lucky tendency to find interesting or valuable things by chance."

On this point... I agree with Mark. Of course, part of it is by chance but I think most of the process arises through your own instincts and intuition... this is the "sense" of listening to the scene and "hearing/sensing/feeling" what it "says" to you when you happen onto the particular scene!

[Gads... good thing I had a couple of glasses of wine this evening! .... I only hope my reply makes good sense. ]

Cheers

[Eric Leppanen]

I have very little formal training in art or painting, so I guess I have never placed much stock in previsualizing too much (I certainly have not been very good at it). Photography for me is reactive; I see something that intrigues me and I strive to capture it. But I have experienced very distinct workflows between pre-scouted photographs (where a given composition was identified either through prior visits or through tips from friends, locals, other photographers) and serendipitous ones (spontaneous, unexpected and often highly transitory encounters with the sublime).

For my pre-scouted compositions, I already have a rough sketch in my mind of how the finished photograph should look. However, most of the time this "previsiualization" amounts only to a starting point; what usually then transpires is a gradual process of the photograph revealing itself. Over several visits (rarely do I nail a photograph the first time around) I refine my understanding of how the lighting, proportion, and framing should work, and only after this is all empirically worked out do I usually achieve my final photograph. It's hard work but the results are highly gratifying. But my final result is always a considerable evolution over whatever previsualization I may have initially had.

Serendipitous encounters, on the other hand, for me usually involve an unusual, transitory pattern of light or atmospheric conditions, which is so visually compelling that a reasonable interpretation reveals itself quickly. The main challenge is unlimbering the 8x10 quickly enough to capture the shot before conditions change. My response is largely reactive, while hopefully keeping a steady enough head to keep track of my craft. Spontaneously identify the key relationships in the photograph, work out the main proportions, and take the shot. I never thought I would ever take a photograph of Tunnel View at Yosemite (too much a cliché), but late one afternoon this spring I came out of the tunnel and there was this clearing storm, and a shot for the taking. Exposed only one negative, in fact (no time for bracketing or alternative compositions). The result is a framed 24x36" print on my wall. Whoda thunk it?

[Mark Sawyer]

"Perhaps more than in any other creative work, the greatest photographers must be 'intuitives.' How fatal it is in photography to be uncertain, to have to stop and study over an arrangement or lighting..." Edward Weston, 1922, reprinted in Newhall's "Photography: Essays and Images"

It seems almost a dichotomy, working "intuitively" in an art or craft so ploddingly technical and time-consuming as view camera photography, especially in the field. But it does seem intuitive, as we've all gone through the little ritual of making the photograph so many times that it becomes instinctive, and maybe gives us the time and frame of mind to allow intuition to come into play.

It does seem to play a role in my work. I try to let it happen. Don't know whether it's counter-productive to analyze it or not...

[Steve J Murray]

To "allow photographs to choose me" I realize I have to be in a receptive state of mind, not unlike meditation or trance. Its both an intense focus on the visual so that other things don't distract, and at the same time intense openness and receptiveness to the visual landscape, whatever it is at that moment. It is a timeless mode of being. The technical processes of taking a photograph become automatic after years of practice, like the jazz musician who has "learned his chops" well enough so that the music will flow spontaneously.

[e]

I think at a certain point in our development we enevitably search for something tangible to speak to and for our eternal being. When this finally happens in photography- as well as the other arts -and as if by magic (the photographer's-ego better get out of the way fast....) then...suddenly all is at one and correct in the universe and creation. The camera can be so much more than just an image making machine....it may be used as a tool for spiritual growth linking to much higher meditational and creative states not unlike what many mystics have spoken of. Many have described photography as the closet they have ever come to an actual religion.

[chris jordan]

"Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer it has chosen."

--Minor White