Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rory_5244
LOL, we use photography as cognitive behavioural therapy for people with the disorder at my hospital psych clinic. Susan Sontag wrote about the philosophy behind taking pictures: Brian Shaw is on the right track. :D
Yea, Susan Sontag (I think I remember) stated that photography was the extension of the hunter/gatherer instinct... And something about the male species sublimating the kill of the hunt with (shooting) photos...
I personally don't take much photo crit too seriously... Apples and oranges comparing visual language to written language... And many of the authors just need to get out more, and see/feel/sense the world... (And stop breathing so much library dust...)
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
If indeed photographers tend to be hoarders, I don't think that it's limited to images. :o
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
I steal time, I hoard moments, I collect sunlight.
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
"Is photography a form of hoarding?" Who cares? What difference does it make?
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dsphotog
... Vivian Maier ... was a major hoarder ...
Correlation does not equal causation.
One is not a viable sample.
Etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dsphotog
Is the actual act of "Taking a picture" a form of hoarding?
No.
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
collecting maybe
hoarding usually means not being discernable and photography is highly discernable
photographers are collectors...I think of myself as a collector and documenter way more than anything to do with 'artist'
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
LabRat
Yea, Susan Sontag (I think I remember) stated that photography was the extension of the hunter/gatherer instinct... And something about the male species sublimating the kill of the hunt with (shooting) photos...
Interesting. Seeing a group of photographers has sometimes reminded me of a group of hunters with their guns. In either case, often older, out of shape white males for whom a wild, animalistic hunt isn't socially acceptable, much less physically possible.
Many successful photographers have been unabashedly predatory in their work - collecting subjects or stories, taking something, getting something out of them. Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton both spoke about this phenomenon - Avedon in defense of it, and Newton against it.
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
Photography in itself is amoral. So the question as posed is moot.
A couple years back I got a phone call about some old cameras in a basement. Marginally interesting but in an oak lawyers cabinet were thousands of excellent negatives of our desert communities and their peoples taken from roughly 1938 to 1953. The fellow mostly used a 5X7 with decent anastigmat lens. 4X5's when he was in a hurry. Probably a press camera as they aren't as excellent.
I'm sure his wife thought he was a hoarder. His children also showed no interest. Finally a grand daughter inherited the stuff and was interested in the cash value of the oak cabinet. I asked if the negs would remain in the drawers if I bought it, and she was more than glad to do that. So for $600 bucks I bought an important slice of local history and am in the process of preserving it. There are coffee table books. He had a very sympathetic eye. I'm really glad he hoarded. Maybe someone will dust off my crap in 75 years and have some fun.
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
I don't think collecting images (i.e. photography in itself) is hoarding, but I have some concerns about negatives and work prints. I tend to file even poor or mediocre negatives, and to keep more work prints than I should (not the steps I go through in making a final print, but I tend to make multiple copies of the final print in case I screw up the spotting, toning, or mounting). On one hand, it is often fun to look through the old contact sheets and not-so-great prints, but on the other hand the boxes and loose leaf binders to tend to accumulate.
Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jim Galli
she was more than glad to do that. So for $600 bucks I bought an important slice of local history and am in the process of preserving it.
Amazing and wonderful! Documentary photography is a long-term commitment. You have a treasure. Thanks for being there for the rest of us.
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