Originally Posted by
Peter Lewin
The thread seems to be morphing again, away from "great shots" and towards "who is a real artist?" So are we discussing "real artists" or "great artists?" The field of "true musicians" is a lot larger than the field of "great musicians," and would lead easily to the question, "where is the great music today?" As an "average Joe" as far as classical music goes, I can name only two possibly great flutists (this is for Corran), Sir James Galway, and stretching because at least I know her name, Eugenia Zuckerman; which does not mean that Corran isn't a "true musician," just not a great one. As far as great music goes, I can't think of anyone currently composing great orchestral or chamber work (John Williams? Leonard Bernstein? One old and one passed away.) The comparison between Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven and Weston, Adams, etc. is inescapable. Many in my generation might argue that while classical is "dead," the great music is Bob Dylan, or The Airplane, or the Eagles. I'm not sure what my children would pick, but for sure not the "3 Bs".
I'm probably babbling a little, but I tend to agree with Dodphotography, and want to come back from analogy to photography. My first suggestion, for those who can, would be to attend any of the AIPAD shows (Association of International Photographic Art Dealers) and see what the galleries are selling. With only a few outliers, they are selling either "historical" museum-grade work (lots of Weston and Adams!), or contemporary, which is most often super-large, color "staged" photography. Contemporary "f64" photographs I, and many of us, like to make with our view cameras, are non-existent. Then see if there are any good "amateur" photo exhibitions around. My group in NJ is currently hanging its 25th Anniversary Show in two halves in two locations, Watchung and Trenton. I have images in both halves, but specifically because the curator wanted to show the history and trends in the group's work, and my "f64" school silver gelatin prints represent a form that has essentially become obsolete in this day of digital, PhotoShop, and large-scale digital printers. And when I say "amateur show," that is in a way deceptive, because a surprising number of those exhibiting work in the Anniversary shows have published books, admittedly photo instruction rather than fine-art monographs. Our form of photography, as Dodphotography implies, has had its day and been bypassed. We, and I include the Clyde Butchers, are producing "true shots," but not "great shots."