Humbling Experiences

[bspeed]

Bruce, I am afraid your post will shut down the LF industry

Similar situation has happed with my Wife and her Nikon P&S

My fiance went with me to Portage LAke here in AK one spring during break up. She brought only an HP point and shot digital camera while I had my 4x5. It was cold and damp, and she doesn't deal with those conditions. I was doing my thing while she sat patiently in the car. Suddenly she hopped out, took a couple of quick snap shots (I think that this is how the name came to be), and then got back in. Later, after my film was developed, I showed her what I had done. But when I saw her photo, I felt like a beginner. Luck, fresh eyes, or just more natural talent...

[Steve M Hostetter]

About 5 years ago, I was travelling through Pennsylvania and photographed the Easton, PA/Phillipsburg, NJ bridge that Walker Evans shot in 1935 from roughly the same vantage point. What is humbling is that I didn't know it at the time. I was vaguely aware of Evans' photo and I remembered it being in NJ somewhere. Evans had titled it Phillipsburg, NJ (where his camera was pointing) and since I was on the Easton, PA side (where our cameras were standing, oddly enough both 8x10 Deardorffs), it didn't click to me at the time that they were the same bridge. I recall having a strange sense of familiarity though when I was photographing it so after I got back and developed my negative, I looked up Evans image in one of his monographs and well, much to my amusement, it is the same bridge. We were probably standing on the same projecting platform next to the bridge (at a different time of the year obviously), and his camera was pointing more to the right of the bridge with the 19" cell of his Protar, I believe, while mine more directly towards the bridge with a 10" lens. The bridge had not changed very much except for the pedestrian railing it seems.

Henry,, and you might well have seen the same shot if the trees hadn't taken over

[JBrunner]

Once in a great while I more or less duplicate a photograph I admire on purpose. I never show these to people or publish them, because they are a personal exercise. It is usually an enlightening experience as I tend to learn things about the photographer that aren't "common" knowledge. More than I might get from studying the photograph alone. I don't know that I have seen farther, but I have tried to climb on the shoulder of giants, or at least tried look over them.

Although Kirk says he is humbled, what remarkable opportunities to be afforded to him.

[Henry Suryo]

My academic and professional background is architecture, and I would be humbled and consider myself very fortunate if I can travel and rephotograph some of the buildings Hedrich Blessing's done in the last 80 years. Even if I can't photograph, just to experience first hand some of the architecture in their oeuvre would be a blessing (pun)...

[Ralph Barker]

I understand what you mean, Kirk. I don't "run" within art circles, however, so I don't have much occasion to bump into people who have photographed the same subjects with greater skill. I know that they are out there, however, so I remain humbled at all times.

Still, I think my photographs of dead Civil War soldiers were actually better than Brady's.

[Brian Ellis]

Here's an opposite - "unhumbling" - experience. About ten years ago I spent half a day photographing in Bodie with my 4x5. I made about 15 exposures, one of which included part of the porch, steps, and window of an old residence on the left and part of the porch, wall and roof of the adjacent residence on the right, at about a 45 degree angle to the two buildings. Nothing any more special about these two buildings than any of the other great old buildings in Bodie, I just liked the juxtaposition of the parts of the two buildings that I included in the photograph. I liked it well enough to make an 8x10 print that I put in an album and didn't think much more about it. A few years later I saw one of George Tice's books that included some Bodie photographs and lo and behold there was my Bodie porch photograph. It wasn't an exact duplicate but it was about 95% the same photograph. A really amazing coincidence because there wasn't anything special about the scene, nothing obvious that would cause a photographer to make that particular photograph out of the millions of others that could be made in Bodie.

Unfortunately I've had many more humbling experiences than that unhumbling one. I don't recall any that involved famous photographers but I've often gone on a photography trip with a friend who's an excellent photographer. We compare photographs later and I've often seen his photographs of the same general subject as mine and thought "damn, why didn't I see that?" But he at least he was using a 4x5 camera, so it wasn't my wife who upstaged me with a point and shoot. : - )

[John Bowen]

As I read this thread it brought back a "De Ja Vu" and then I got to Brian Ellis' post.

I too spent a few hours photographing in Bodie way back in 1988. I distinctly remember photographing the Ranger's residence with the church behind and to the right of the residence. There was a singular line of clouds that I had positioned in an interesting composition between the two buildings roof lines. I probabaly made around 10 negatives, each about 3-4 minutes apart as the clouds passed by. I liked this image well enough to make a fine print and it still hangs in my office. About 4 months ago, my wife dragged me to the library as she picked out some books. I went straight to the photo section and decided to check out a George Tice photography book. Imagine my surprise when I saw George's very, VERY similar Bodie image. I had never seen George Tice's images before, but I felt my image stood up very well against his.

Small world.....

[Vaughn]

I have photographed quite a bit in Yosemite...enough said...

Vaughn

PS...not enough said. I made a photograph near the Park entrance along the Merced River. Wonderful early morning sunlight reflecting onto the scene from the side of the Valley. it was accepted into the Yosemite Renaissance Competition/Show and was used in some PR stuff for the show. Then I looked at Sexon's Tree book -- and there was (almost) the same shot. I like mine much better, but that does not mean mine was the better image.

Vaughn

[Steve M Hostetter]

Ok here is my version of Acadia Maine and Ed Weston's version of the same scene..

I found Ed's version after several years of taking mine.. In fact it's a picture from a book,, page 279 of Edward Weston A Photographer's love of life ,,,, picture title is Acadia 1941 mine was taken around 2000.. taken w/ 8x10 Sinar 210mm 5.6XL on Fujichrome

[Kirk Gittings]

I understand what you mean, Kirk. I don't "run" within art circles, however, so I don't have much occasion to bump into people who have photographed the same subjects with greater skill. I know that they are out there, however, so I remain humbled at all times.

Just to be clear, these weren't art projects but commercial architectural projects for an architect client here in Albuquerque, an elementary school and a bank. Merrick lives not too far from here in Galisteo and does the occasional job in ABQ. The first job, the bank, I knew I was shooting after him and aware of what he had already done. I was to fill in some gaps in the coverage for a design competition. The second one he was shooting after me for a national magazine submission and I only became aware of his images a few days ago from the architects website. Hence the post.