Is b/w LF photography a"tradition"?

[Jim Chinn]

I will just add a couple of thoughts the the discussion. First, if you never saw anyone elses work, you would still make images that could pass as copying another's style or specific images. That is because art is simply an effort to explain, explore and gain some understanding of the themes and currents that run throughout humanity. So of course you are going to copy others to some extent as these themes have been explored in a multitude of ways for 150yrs with photography.

The idea of originality is to find some new way to express the above. I think it is easy to be original. The problem is, are we to concerned with what others (friends, critics, peers) will think of us and our work. Many original ideas are scoffed at and ridiculed only to become masterpieces later. Sometimes those who are considered to be the most original had the courage to persevere with their vision.

[e]

Maybe it is more productive(if you are going to use the mind) to ask yourself these questions...in a very deep and heartfelt way...who am I?...and ....what do I truly love?...and ...what do I have to say, in a deep way?...also...which is the best way to say it?...and how should I say it? Maybe not to speak at all ...only when I really feel. Embrace the silence...be an empty cup...then let it be filled. Peace.

[Michael A.Smith]

Picasso: "The artist who tries to be original deceives himself. If he creates anything at all it will just be an imitation of what he likes" Do not worry about having a personal vision or about being original. One has it or one doesn't and it is nothing one can do to try to get. It comes as a function of living and working fully. If you haven't already done so, go to our web site and under "writings" see my articles, "Letter to a Young Photographer" and " On Teaching Photography." In part, they deal with your question.

Do not worry about making photographs that appear to be imitative. When one comes upon a new influence, whether another photographers work or something else, that influence will appear strongly in one's own work. Over time, as one absorbs new influences the original influence will be diluted. If it is an influence truly right for you it will remain in your work forever. If it is not meant for you it will disappear of its own accord. In any case, it is nothing to concern yourself with. As I wrote near the end of "On Teaching Photography," "Everyone is unique. With a broad foundation in the medium and with continued work over a period of time, one?s uniqueness will emerge."

Michael A. Smith www.michaelandpaula.com

[Charles Trottier]

After you've been looking at photographs for a while ? for years ? you notice something about the imagery that breaks down around a simple idea; that a photograph has a natural look and feeling or it doesn't. It's as though in the first case you stop seeing a photograph and just see. The image leaves its paper support and becomes a cerebral suspension, hanging in the air ? you stop breathing. Caponigro's running deer comes to mind. In the second case the image is trapped on the surface of the paper, it's of this world. You realize that you're looking at a photograph of something ? the photographer was bored.