Musings on photography

[ieke85]

Why is a candid photo of a girl sitting on a curb by herself inherently beautiful? Think about all the photographs you've seen. How many of them involve someone, anyone, alone, framed only by their surroundings? She could be doing anything, be anywhere, dirty or clean, high class or low (or middle). She could be young, old, beautiful and not. She

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My Two-Cents

[lamenting_quill]

:) Well, I dabble in photography myself, and I have taken some pictures of exactly what you mentioned. Incidentally, I have a couple of the lonely figures IN black and white - lol!

For me, I think the beauty in the 'lone figure' stems from our own personal experience. Who hasn't felt like that poor girl sitting alone on the curb at one point or another? Loneliness is something to which everyone can relate, because we've all been there.

I think solitude is so beautiful, too, because it is something that is solely ours. It is a place to escape when everything is becoming too much to bear, you know? It represents that which we want, peace and quiet, and also represents that which most of us fear, being alone. It is so complex in its simplicity, and I think that is why people are drawn to those types of images. At least, that's why I'm drawn to them :)

As for Black and White, I think it is comforting. It makes us think back to simpler times, and has that classic feel. Also, it leaves much to the imagination, and our imaginations are powerful things that like to be excercised. If you put a colour picture of a woman in a red dress in front of five people, they all know that the dress is red. But if you put a black and white photo of a woman in a red dress, they don't know that the dress was red, and one may see yellow, while another will see blue. Therefore, black and white photography becomes not so much the creation of the photographer, but more the creation of the viewer.

I don't know if I made any sense at all - lol - but I hope I got my meanings across. This was a very interesting discussion, I absolutely love photography.

Mind if I friend you?

Cheers,

~Lamenting Quill~

Re: My Two-Cents

[ieke85]

I really like your argument about black and white photography being a creation of the viewer. I'm all for audience participation, if you could call it that. A lot of art really is about the relationship between the artist and the viewer - neither one has complete tyranny over what is transmitted through the medium. Everyone has different world views and interprets things differently, so it's a lot more meaningful when you're allowed to use your own abilities and tendencies within a piece of work to create meaning and interest that are all your own. To me, that's what good art is supposed to do. It makes you exercise your imagination.

Or it could just be cool to look at. :-P