In his fabulous talk at Google (see video below), photographer Chris Orwig asks us to think about this question (at the 5:30 mark). My immediate answer is that good photography makes me feel something and that feeling is conveyed through the visual design of the photograph.
Orwig goes deeper into this topic over the next 40 or so minutes of his talk. He begins by explaining how the camera helps us to see life differently because it makes us look deeper. Here are some of the highlights. I highly recommend that you watch the whole thing.
1. Good photography tells us who we are.
Orwig believes that who we are is mirrored in our best photographs. There is no separation between us and our cameras and our subjects. The way we see is unique and that’s why we can often recognize a photographer’s images before we even know it’s theirs. It’s about more than style. Something deep in them is reflected in their images and this makes the images better.
Not everyone believes this. Some say that the photographer should not have his or her fingerprint on the image at all. Even in contemplative photography circles, this is a common theme as it is about photographing what is without judgment or interpretation. I believe that we can photograph what we see without judgment or interpretation, yet what we see is unique to us (see #3).
2. Good photography depends on how we pause and reframe.
Orwig advises us to go beyond the first image we make. Take the first “postcard shot” and then move on to really work it. Go deeper. What’s there and what do we really want to convey? Here’s where we open up to different possibilities and perspectives.
“Zero in on the subject and then travel around the edge of the frame. The art of learning how to reframe helps us to create images that are more clear, which convey, and somehow draw people in, and change the image from something mediocre to something possibly magnificent.”
3. Good photography conveys the inward significance.
A good photograph is about more than the visual elements – it’s about the inward significance or meaning – the story being told. There is a subtlety that draws you in. It’s about your passion or engagement with the subject. Photograph what matters most to you. Don’t impersonate. Don’t be a spectator. Find the photograph and resist perfection. This is where the feeling comes in for me.
“Photographing is savouring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” ~ Photographer Marc Riboud
I’ve enjoyed Chris Orwig’s writing in the magazine, Photograph, as well as on his website. But, this video gave me a whole new appreciation for his philosophy.
Well that was an incredible video. I knew the name sounded familiar but couldn’t place why. Then I went to my Amazon wish list, and yes, I have his two books on my wish list and now I’m really wanting them. He touched on two things that I’ve written about recently, light which is essential in life and behind the lens, how one paints it on a canvas and the other lives it. I do believe that being a seeker of light through the lens keeps our eye on the light of the world rather than its darkness. And his other point about the photograph reflecting who we are…I couldn’t agree more on that. I do believe it’s possible to receive an image judgment free and the then let the passion for how we feel tell the story in only the way we can tell it. But I do think there are levels at which we all receive images, just as there is depth to our personalities and how we relate to people or things around us.
Kim, I think this is one of my favourite photography videos of all time. And, I love what you said about receiving an image judgment free, yet bringing out own particular passion to how we tell the story. I totally agree.
Thank you Kim for posting this wonderful video, it speaks straight to my heart! x
I have seen this presentation – it is wonderful. Thank you for sharing it and your thoughts about its significance and how we can apply its lessons to our own lives and photographic practice..
For me, a good photograph is one that is able to touch some vital part of who we are, what we think, and where we’ve been. It may affirm or challenge us but it will always touch us deeply. A good photograph cracks open our shell and either lets the light in or out…both are necessary for our survival.
Yes, “seeing is a selective choice”, and once we choose to “reframe” what is revealed through the viewfinder, our fingerprint is then associated with that image. That tiny slice of time (1/125th of a single second) captures the image, the feelings, the emotions that we felt when we released the shutter. It is impossible to “stay out of the image”.