Humbling Experiences

[Richard M. Coda]

On my first trip to Yosemite I hiked up the switchbacks to the true Inspiration Point to get the classic Ansel shot. Although mine was in September and the sky was crystal clear I got an even greater appreciation for what Ansel did.

Since then I have taken photos, not of the exact same location, but maybe the same "idea" or "situation" as some of the masters have taken before me. In the past year or so I have been thinking a lot about my "influences"... looking at my photographs and asking "why" did I make that image. Many times it comes down to a subliminal visual "note"... seeing combinations of shapes, tones or lines that have reminded me that I have seen them somewhere before.

One in particular is attached below. My image is on Rt. 68 in Salinas, CA, just after you make that last weird left turn to head on in to Monterey. Also attached is Walker Evans "Cherokee Parts Store", which I now consider the influence for this image.

I belong to a group here in Phoenix, Imageworks, which is strictly LF. We have meetings once a month consisting of a business meeting, a "program" and then scheduled member print showings. The program could be anything... a [photography] movie, a member "retrospective", a demonstration, etc. We are now trying to come up with more varied programs. One we are doing in April is "Influences" where several of us will bring in prints and the influential images that prompted us to make them.

[Kirk Gittings]

Kirk, decide for yourself what is that humbling experience for you - if it is the fact that you take a picture of a subject already photographed by a famous photographer or just the fact that you're "not always up to the challenge" of your profession.
Then ask your question.

Sorry, I still have no idea where you are going with this or why you needed to belittle the post as "phony".

[GPS]

Sorry, I still have no idea where you are going with this or why you needed to belittle the post as "phony".

Humbling? Humbling?? I couldn't care less if I take pictures of a place that a famous(?) "somebody who" took before me. I take pictures of what I see, he took pictures of what he saw. I find your "humbling experience" genuinely phony.

As you can see (?) I find phony your "humbling experience" , not your post. That makes a difference.

[Kirk Gittings]

Oh I get it. My experience was phony-not my post. That makes a big difference. Whatever.

[Drew Wiley]

I was at Bodie one morning, back when I was using a Sinar. Some "famous" photographer was there doing a workshop. Have no idea who he was. But he simply told his students to follow me around and copy whatever I was doing, while he wandered off to shoot what he wanted!

[Michael Mutmansky]

Kirk,

hum·ble (hmbl)
adj. hum·bler, hum·blest

1. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.
2. ...
3. ...
tr.v. hum·bled, hum·bling, hum·bles
1. ...
2. To cause to be meek or modest in spirit.
3. ...

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Apparently, there are some people who are incapable of understanding that humility in spirit and action are often considered meritiorius.

I have often felt what I would have described as a deferential reverence when shooting in a place that has produced an iconic photograph (White House Ruin anyone?), or in a location where I've seen the work of others whom I respect greatly. If I am conscious of the work that others have done, I find myself careful to ensure that the work I am doing is an attempt to intrepret it in my style.

It's those times that I think I am the most conscious about my photography, and the least natural in my image making. It's the icons that bring that out; a well photographed location doesn't do that as much as a place that will inevitably be compared to the iconic image.

I think that as long as we feel that we don't know it all, or that there is still much to learn from others with respect to photography and seeing, it is hard to not have some humility in these situations.

This is part of why I feel that for me, the most rewarding photographic experiences are often made when working over a photographic subject/location with others whom I truly respect and enjoy being with. As I intrepret a location and see how others whom I respect intrepret the same location, during the same lighting and other conditions, I feel humbled and enriched. When I see their final results (prints), I am often feel very humbled, and ultimately very appreciative that I was nearby when they began the creative process. I feel there is so much to learn from these experiences.


---Michael