Are photographers loners?

[Eric Leppanen]

I think yes and no.

Landscape photography is intrinsically an individual art form, and field landscape photography is frequently most productive when pursued solo. Add the LF aspect to it, and a largely solo activity gets even more so. Lots of photo workshop pro's, photography guides, etc. have told me that mixing LF photographers with other format shooters frequently results in rather spectacular conflicts (LF shooters are too slow, hog the best spots for far too long, etc.). I remember focusing my 4x5 at the Santuario de Chimayo shrine near Taos, and getting yelled at by a bunch of tourist photographers on a tour bus for hogging the best photo spot, being selfish and inconsiderate, etc. A few run-in's like that and you learn that landscape photography is often best pursued when few or no people are around and the potential for conflict is minimal. So certainly landscape photography requires individuals who can tolerate a certain proportion of alone time.

I think if one abstains from LF, then field photography gets much more social. Large workshop groups of DSLR shooters seem to have a grand ol' time, and work so quickly that no one gets in the way for long. But it is difficult to generate portfolio grade work that way. For these folks, photography is primarily a social outlet, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

But I wouldn't go so far as to generally categorize field landscape photographers as loners. Certainly some of them are. But you also meet many interesting people while traveling. And if you want to have that spectacular landscape photo on the wall, you have to work very hard and make sacrifices. And spending some time solo in the field is one of the sacrifices, as is spending boring hours driving, in motel rooms cleaning gear and loading film holders, etc.

After I retired I considered taking on pursuits I had studied in college, namely writing books/short stories, writing music, etc. But these too are largely individual art forms; they require a lot of solo work (albeit mostly at home); and they require a lot of sitting (not a good thing as you get older). The advantage of photography is that it gets you out into the wide world and is a great source of exercise.

For me, the best part of photography is sharing prints with family, friends and other photographers. The feedback and positive reinforcement I receive helps motivate me to generate even better work, and to put up with some of the bumps in the road I encounter as part of the process.

[William McEwen]

[portion]

I think if one abstains from LF, then field photography gets much more social. Large workshop groups of DSLR shooters seem to have a grand ol' time, and work so quickly that no one gets in the way for long. But it is difficult to generate portfolio grade work that way. For these folks, photography is primarily a social outlet, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

There is a super famous photographer who regularly holds a "Portraiture and Nude" workshop over four days in Mexico.

Each workshop participant signs an agreement that he/she will use none of the pictures on his/her web site and will not exhibit or publish them anywhere. Further, he/she will not ask any of the models to sign a model release.

Excuse me, but WTF?

Recruiting photographers to spend big coin to go to an exotic place and spend a week shooting pictures of terrific subjects is all very well. But to tell them they can't use the pictures for anything is, in my opinion, a stretch.

Every reason to believe each participant will shoot some terrific images.

I guess the purpose of the workshop is to learn something and have a good social experience.

[tgtaylor]

"One person is a traveler; two a tour group."

From National Geographic Adventure

[tgtaylor]

I think yes and no.

Landscape photography is intrinsically an individual art form, and field landscape photography is frequently most productive when pursued solo. Add the LF aspect to it, and a largely solo activity gets even more so. Lots of photo workshop pro's, photography guides, etc. have told me that mixing LF photographers with other format shooters frequently results in rather spectacular conflicts (LF shooters are too slow, hog the best spots for far too long, etc.). I remember focusing my 4x5 at the Santuario de Chimayo shrine near Taos, and getting yelled at by a bunch of tourist photographers on a tour bus for hogging the best photo spot, being selfish and inconsiderate, etc. A few run-in's like that and you learn that landscape photography is often best pursued when few or no people are around and the potential for conflict is minimal. So certainly landscape photography requires individuals who can tolerate a certain proportion of alone time.

I think if one abstains from LF, then field photography gets much more social. Large workshop groups of DSLR shooters seem to have a grand ol' time, and work so quickly that no one gets in the way for long. But it is difficult to generate portfolio grade work that way. For these folks, photography is primarily a social outlet, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

But I wouldn't go so far as to generally categorize field landscape photographers as loners. Certainly some of them are. But you also meet many interesting people while traveling. And if you want to have that spectacular landscape photo on the wall, you have to work very hard and make sacrifices. And spending some time solo in the field is one of the sacrifices, as is spending boring hours driving, in motel rooms cleaning gear and loading film holders, etc.

After I retired I considered taking on pursuits I had studied in college, namely writing books/short stories, writing music, etc. But these too are largely individual art forms; they require a lot of solo work (albeit mostly at home); and they require a lot of sitting (not a good thing as you get older). The advantage of photography is that it gets you out into the wide world and is a great source of exercise.

For me, the best part of photography is sharing prints with family, friends and other photographers. The feedback and positive reinforcement I receive helps motivate me to generate even better work, and to put up with some of the bumps in the road I encounter as part of the process.

Well said Eric. I couldn't agree more.

[mrladewig]

Photographers loners? In general no. With portraiture, especially no. But with landscape, probably more likely.

I enjoy shooting and traveling with other people. I normally shoot landscapes and prefer to do that alone for the sake of focusing and not being rushed and shooting at the time I think are appropriate. But I also enjoy heading out with other photographers. Its enjoyable to have a conversation around common interests. Not many people like to get out in the dark hours before dawn. I'm not generally a loner in other parts of my life.

[Pete Roody]

for the past 2-3 years i have shot with other photographers just about every weekend. i find it much more enjoyable than shooting by myself. the only problem is these guys keep stealing my tripod holes!

[Juergen Sattler]

The only person I can tolerate around me when I am photographing is my wife. We have been married for 27 years and know how not to get on each other's nerves. We have tried traveling and photographing with others, but it just doesn't work. So yes, I am a loner when photographing. Before I retired I was a consultant and spent five days a week with clients and had a rather large social network. Since I quit my job I enjoy the more quiet side of life:-)

[David Williams]

For a number of years I managed 1 Hour photolabs in several Wal-Marts around here. I spent my days printing on automatic processors, printing thousands of automatic pictures taken with automatic cameras by automatic people.

For me, LF nature photography in my local nature sanctuary was therapy. After listening to complaints all week about how my printers made their kid's eyes red, or how some of those loose pictures floating around in my chemistry stuck to their film and double exposed it, I welcomed the solitude.

I love the look and feel of a good camera with no batteries, circuit boards or plastic. I love spending as much time as it takes to set up just the right shot. While I'm working I love listening to the wind in the trees, the birds chattering and finally that almost inperceptable but deeply satisfying "click" as the cable release pushes the shutter lever.

Its not that I'm not a people person. I was a minister for years and genuinely love people. I could patiently and sympathetically explain to a customer why they got 27 pictures of their left eye. But even caregivers need to come up for air, or they'll drown themselves.

For me that air was shooting with my view camera. Alone.

Dave

[Dave_B]

yes^2*







* yes squared for all you english majors out there....

[Ben Syverson]

I guess the question should be "are LF photographers loners?" I think LF shooters as a whole are a bit different than say, photojournalists or wedding photographers.