Today I headed over to my sponsors house around 10 o' clock. Upon arrival, we shared some un-photography related conversation as well as some sweet kava tea and spelt crackers. My homework from my last session with John was to compile my best edited pictures together so that we could analyze them together on the big screen. During our critique session I began to understand that the editing process, although important, isn't the sole determinant of what makes a picture good, great, or thought provoking. It's the raw picture, without the "bells and whistles" that editing these days allows one to do, that makes up the core value of a picture. In other words, editing helps, but it by no means makes the photo.
On the topic of editing, John and I began to talk about color and whether or not it should be used in my photos. John probed me with some though-provoking questions. "Does color make a photo?"
"Is color distracting from the purpose of a photo" and "Is color even necessary?"
With this in mind, we compared all of my colored pictures with copies in black and white. For me it was difficult to decide if a photo should be changed or not. I get attached to color. Color is fun. Color is around us all the time. Color catches the eye, but when it catches our eye are we missing something else, something more subtle, something more important? I was forced to ask myself these questions as I looked at every one of my photos. I came to find that color can do both, distract from a subject or enhance it. Color comes with finding a balance, "otherwise it's just like piss in a soup," said John in a humorous manner. "Sure there is more soup and it still looks good, but it is diluted and doesn't taste the way it should."
I left John's house around 2 o' clock today with two new books and a heightened understanding of color and composition. It's 6 o' clock and time for dinner. I made soup.
-jax
I like the idea that you said, "color is all around us. color is fun." I feel like black and white portray a certain, old fashioned look, if you will. But with color is shows more meaning and value to the picture. (although I do like black and white as well.) It seems like your days have been going really nicely, it a great senior project! you know your tasks, and you know your deadlines, but you are also having fun with your work. I love photography myself, very experienced...
ReplyDeleteps john seems like a funny guy..."piss in soup" too funny too funny!!!
I think Jackson stated it well, "Color catches the eye, but when it catches our eye are we missing something else, something more subtle, something more important? I came to find that color can do both, distract from a subject or enhance it."
ReplyDeleteColor can, as Mikayla said, "show more meaning and value to the picture" but just as often can make an image less effective. The point of "piss in the soup" is that if color doesn't support the photograph then it becomes an additional, undesirable ingredient rather than an integral supporting part of the image. It's important, especially for a fledgling photographer, to think about what supports their vision, feeling, instinct, or intuition with regard to what they desire to create.
There are thousands of fine art photography books published every year that contain only black and white images. Black and white is chosen because the artist/photographer feels that the monochromatic pallet better serves their particular way of seeing the world and thus better communicates that perspective to their audience.
JT