Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 23

Thread: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

  1. #11

    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    SooooCal/LA USA
    Posts
    2,802

    Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

    Quote Originally Posted by Rory_5244 View Post
    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.
    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...)

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Dec 1999
    Location
    Forest Grove, Ore.
    Posts
    4,675

    Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

    If indeed photographers tend to be hoarders, I don't think that it's limited to images.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Portland, OR USA
    Posts
    747

    Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

    I steal time, I hoard moments, I collect sunlight.

  4. #14
    Robert Bowring
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Wauwatosa Wisconsin
    Posts
    142

    Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

    "Is photography a form of hoarding?" Who cares? What difference does it make?

  5. #15
    David Brown bigdog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    368

    Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

    Quote Originally Posted by dsphotog View Post
    ... Vivian Maier ... was a major hoarder ...
    Correlation does not equal causation.
    One is not a viable sample.
    Etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by dsphotog View Post
    Is the actual act of "Taking a picture" a form of hoarding?
    No.

  6. #16

    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Santa Barbara
    Posts
    1,376

    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'

  7. #17
    fishbulb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Posts
    407

    Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

    Quote Originally Posted by LabRat View Post
    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.
    -Adam

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Dec 2000
    Location
    Tonopah, Nevada, USA
    Posts
    6,334

    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.

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    1,456

    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.

  10. #20
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Winona, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,413

    Re: Is photography a form of "hoarding"?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Galli View Post
    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.
    .

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 4
    Last Post: 15-Nov-2014, 20:51
  2. Is film photography "alternative photography" yet?
    By Jay Decker in forum On Photography
    Replies: 41
    Last Post: 20-Apr-2012, 15:02

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •