Changing diapers is not Post-modern

[Brian Sims]

I found the thread on post modernism in photography both thought provoking and entertaining. After following the thread for the past day or so, and chiming in on occasion, a good friend asked me if I could watch her 6 month old little girl for a couple of hours. We had a grand time together. Chasing the cat. Studying the brilliant yellow gingko leaves that are ready to fall any day now. Playing on the piano. And finally rocking us both to sleep in a chair with creaky springs that put me to sleep as an infant. After my guest left, I check back to the post modern thread. It all seemed different. The big philosophical questions now seemed so silly. Perhaps children create a biological imperative that keeps our feet on the ground and prevents us from going sooo abstract that nothing gets done as we contemplate the meaning of life right up to the point of extinction. The visit also helped explain a major change in me as a photographer.

I recently put together about 30 images from a span of 30 years. The middle image, from about 15 years ago, is a shot of my eldest son when he was 6 teaching his younger sister (3 years old) how to knead bread. Her little face is smashed into the huge ball of dough. His hands are pressing hers into the dough. There is flour everywhere. I burned in a dark oval around the kids to give it the feel of Minor White’s shot of the two kids holding hands walking into the light. When I put the chronology together, I noticed the shots from the first half of my life as a photographer were distinctly different from the last half. The dividing line was about the time I became a father.

I hadn’t realized how much I had changed. Based on what I was now choosing to photograph, I was more optimistic and beauty was my subject. I am curious—for those of you who have been at this for a while, has your photography changed as you have changed?

[William Barnett-Lewis]

Yes, I think I can understand, as I have a 3 3/4 year old son. Know what my favorite form of LF is these days? My Anny Speed Graphic, scale focus, sport finder and a Grafmatic full of Tri-X. Sometimes it even works ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/16366225@N00/54426270/in/set-1180192/

:)

William

[Eric Biggerstaff]

My photography has certainly changed over the years.

Where I once longed to photograph the vast expanses of the West, I now find great enjoyment and more fullfillment in photographing objects closer at hand in areas I know well. I went from wanting to be Ansel to understanding and appreciating Minor!

For sure becoming a father has had an impact, all life experiences have impacts on our art.

Having two small boys ( one 4 and the other 14 months) has shown me once again how fun it is to explore and discover new things. Where once I would contemplate and only make an image when I thought the light / moment/ spirit was right, now I am happy just reacting to whatever catches my eye and trying to discover new ways of seeing the same things. My photo buddies joke that I take a 35mm approach to using a 4X5, and I must say I do use a lot more film. But my fun factor has gone up and I think the quality of my work has as well.

I think it is easy to get caught up in the process and forget why we do it in the first place - to explore the world we know. I am certainly more grounded, more realistic in terms of understanding who I am and what I want to do with my artistic work now that I am 40 and have two children. It is all good, just different.

Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed it.

www.ericbiggerstaff.com

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

I too can now look back and see the difference in my photography after becoming a father. When my first was born, the main thing I noticed at the time was goodby 8x10 hello yachica mat.

[Steve J Murray]

I first became a father 20 years ago. That was about the time the 4x5 went in the closet, with work, children, home, school, job, etc. pretty much taking up all my free time. I just got the camera out of storage for the first time a couple years ago and started shooting some black and white and color and scanning the negs. Still not much free time to wander around the countryside. I'm finding smaller format cameras are giving me more time to shoot, but I still have film loaded in the holders for when I get the opportunity to get the 4x5 out. After a 20 year hiatus, I was amazed that Tri-X was still popular, along with the old stand by developers such as D-76 and Rodinal. It felt like a time warp when I started developing negs again. Scanning and printing digitally is I think an exciting new development to the field. I never did set up the Beseler again. As much as I loved making fiber prints, I think the new digital technology is very exciting and offers even more creative possibilites for shooters of all formats. My style has not changed though. I always did photograph people and children a lot even when I was young, and my landscapes were quite good. I feel like I have a layer of "crust" on my "creative sense organ" that needs to be broken off to get me back to the more free flowing facility I had when I stopped the serious photography some 20 years ago.

[Mark Sawyer]

"I burned in a dark oval around the kids to give it the feel of Minor White’s shot of the two kids holding hands walking into the light. "

I think that's a W. Gene Smith photo you're thinking of, two toddlers walking out of bushes that give a tunnel effect. Shot just after WWII, it was a metaphor for entering a more hopeful new phase of world history. Some photography just transcends the whole "modern/post-modern" issue.

When I started photography as a teenager in the early 70's, I was just happy wandering around with a camera ignorantly photographing whatever caught my eye. Then I went to college at the height of the conceptual phase... Today, I'm back to just wandering around with the camera taking pictures of whatever catches my eye. I tell myself I'm less ignorant now, about photography and the universe. But I sometimes have my doubts...

[Donald Brewster]

Ah, but taking a picture of that used diaper is.

If we're lucky we change and our photography changes too -- life and experience -- though John Berry's comment rings the truest.

[Brian Sims]

Mark, Thanks for catching my error.

[QT Luong]

Slightly OT, here is an interesting essay about Post-Modernism: How to deconstruct almost anything (http://www2.info.ucl.ac.be/people/PVR/decon.html).