A long time ago, I viewed myself as one day becoming a great photographer. I learned how to use and owned every type of equipment that existed, from view cameras to 35mm, and did lots of commercial work. So when I saw that Minor White was going to be an exchange professor at the University of Wisconsin, I signed up for every class he gave.
To take the class, you needed a camera that could shoot slide film, but oddly there was no requirement other than that.
In the class, we were to spend equal time learning methods and having our photographs reviewed.
The standard practice was to go a field trip, with a specific theme and on the bus, he would give you one roll of slide film, which you gave back to him and he would use whichever image he wanted from your shoots during the class. They might be good ones, bad ones or ones he just wanted to discuss. He always used at least one from each student, but the norm was around 6.
Minor could be very ruthless in his reviews, he would first review your methods, framing, and lighting, and then go on to discuss why the image was taken and what you were trying to communicate.
We learned very quickly never to say any sentence that started with "I was trying to......", that would lead to terrible public ridicule. Nor was it acceptable to say that you thought it was a pretty image...this was an art class.
One of the classes was to a state park, with all sorts of water, rocks and trees just at the point of turning fall colors. During the review, the guy that was to my right in class, was asked about one of his images.
The guy had brought a Hassiblad, with a haliburton case filled with lens. The most expensive photo setup I had ever seen. Today, such a system would cost in excess of $150,000.
The image, as I remember, was of a small stream, and well, was nothing remarkable.
Minor asked "Why did you take this? And our guy responded with: "Well, I didn't have the right lens with me, so I did the best I could".
There was dead silence in the room...as we all knew he was going to be made a fool of....but all there was, was a long pause, followed by an "Oh" from Minor.
That was the only slide of his he showed, and he went on with the class.
Next field trip was State street in Madison, Wis on a Sat morning. It is the classic college busy small store retail area.
As we made the short trip over, Minor gave out the film, and then reached down and pulled out a brownie camera, and stated that "Today, I think I will join you in taking pictures".
For those that don't know what a brownie camera is:
Beginners Guide To Understanding And Using A Brownie Box Camera by Peter Lutz
I don't remember any of us say a word...as the shock of this great phtographer holding a cheap brownie to take pictures with was totally unexpected.
We did the photo shoot, and the next class, after the normal presentation, and after the review of our images, with only a few minutes left, Minor asked a very casual question " Anyone care to see the pictures I took?"
He took 12 images (120 film)..and showed all 12. What I remembered from them was how absolutely beautiful they were. One in particular, was of a shop owner coming out to yell at the newspaper boy....it looked alive.
Minor never said anything while he showed them. We all just stared. At the end, He just looked over at our Hassiblad guy, and said "Photography should never be about the equipment" and then dismissed the class.
Later, we learned what that actually meant, and I learned that I would never be a great photographer.
Art is not about what camera you use, or what method you employ, it is not about where you focus or if you use the rule of thirds. Equipment and methods are tools you use to produce your image.
Craft work is about just the tools and methods. Craft can have value, just ask the people that make large eyed puppies and Elvis images on black velvet. You need the right tools and skills to make one of those, but they are not art.
What does this have to do with UW photography? A lot actually.
When you decide to take pictures underwater, you should start by deciding what you want to take pictures of, then what sort of conditions you will be diving in, how much you want to spend and finally what sort of tools and skills you need to take pictures that you like.
If you only like images of Manta Rays, then find people that take Manta images you like, and learn from them, but understand that means only a couple of places in the world to take pictures.
If you like taking pictures of people, or super macro, or fish or wide angle wreck images...they are all different skills.
Just be careful to avoid the "you can only really take good pictures if you buy..... (fill in the blank)" You can use the cheapest made under water camera and create magic with it.
We have a frequent poster here, that dives in really interesting places that has a web site where you can see what can be done with a simple setup:
Jim Spears
I used to use his web site in my class, because the images were in fairly good date order, so you could see his growth over the years. Now, it is not so easy.
Want to take great shallow water images in the northern gulf of mexico? There is only one person to check out (Sea Yoda)...are they grand images like whale sharks? No. Are they wonderfully colorful images like in GBR? Nope. But I have seen hundreds if not thousands of people take images there, and he is the best.
But keep this in mind, for every real photographer out there, you can expect to hear from 10 Elvis painters... they tend to be loud, and are convinced that equipment makes the photographer.
Just remember that it is better to be able to use the brownie, than to own the Hassiblad and not be able to make art.
I'll attempt to cover "what actually is art?" in the next post.
To take the class, you needed a camera that could shoot slide film, but oddly there was no requirement other than that.
In the class, we were to spend equal time learning methods and having our photographs reviewed.
The standard practice was to go a field trip, with a specific theme and on the bus, he would give you one roll of slide film, which you gave back to him and he would use whichever image he wanted from your shoots during the class. They might be good ones, bad ones or ones he just wanted to discuss. He always used at least one from each student, but the norm was around 6.
Minor could be very ruthless in his reviews, he would first review your methods, framing, and lighting, and then go on to discuss why the image was taken and what you were trying to communicate.
We learned very quickly never to say any sentence that started with "I was trying to......", that would lead to terrible public ridicule. Nor was it acceptable to say that you thought it was a pretty image...this was an art class.
One of the classes was to a state park, with all sorts of water, rocks and trees just at the point of turning fall colors. During the review, the guy that was to my right in class, was asked about one of his images.
The guy had brought a Hassiblad, with a haliburton case filled with lens. The most expensive photo setup I had ever seen. Today, such a system would cost in excess of $150,000.
The image, as I remember, was of a small stream, and well, was nothing remarkable.
Minor asked "Why did you take this? And our guy responded with: "Well, I didn't have the right lens with me, so I did the best I could".
There was dead silence in the room...as we all knew he was going to be made a fool of....but all there was, was a long pause, followed by an "Oh" from Minor.
That was the only slide of his he showed, and he went on with the class.
Next field trip was State street in Madison, Wis on a Sat morning. It is the classic college busy small store retail area.
As we made the short trip over, Minor gave out the film, and then reached down and pulled out a brownie camera, and stated that "Today, I think I will join you in taking pictures".
For those that don't know what a brownie camera is:
Beginners Guide To Understanding And Using A Brownie Box Camera by Peter Lutz
I don't remember any of us say a word...as the shock of this great phtographer holding a cheap brownie to take pictures with was totally unexpected.
We did the photo shoot, and the next class, after the normal presentation, and after the review of our images, with only a few minutes left, Minor asked a very casual question " Anyone care to see the pictures I took?"
He took 12 images (120 film)..and showed all 12. What I remembered from them was how absolutely beautiful they were. One in particular, was of a shop owner coming out to yell at the newspaper boy....it looked alive.
Minor never said anything while he showed them. We all just stared. At the end, He just looked over at our Hassiblad guy, and said "Photography should never be about the equipment" and then dismissed the class.
Later, we learned what that actually meant, and I learned that I would never be a great photographer.
Art is not about what camera you use, or what method you employ, it is not about where you focus or if you use the rule of thirds. Equipment and methods are tools you use to produce your image.
Craft work is about just the tools and methods. Craft can have value, just ask the people that make large eyed puppies and Elvis images on black velvet. You need the right tools and skills to make one of those, but they are not art.
What does this have to do with UW photography? A lot actually.
When you decide to take pictures underwater, you should start by deciding what you want to take pictures of, then what sort of conditions you will be diving in, how much you want to spend and finally what sort of tools and skills you need to take pictures that you like.
If you only like images of Manta Rays, then find people that take Manta images you like, and learn from them, but understand that means only a couple of places in the world to take pictures.
If you like taking pictures of people, or super macro, or fish or wide angle wreck images...they are all different skills.
Just be careful to avoid the "you can only really take good pictures if you buy..... (fill in the blank)" You can use the cheapest made under water camera and create magic with it.
We have a frequent poster here, that dives in really interesting places that has a web site where you can see what can be done with a simple setup:
Jim Spears
I used to use his web site in my class, because the images were in fairly good date order, so you could see his growth over the years. Now, it is not so easy.
Want to take great shallow water images in the northern gulf of mexico? There is only one person to check out (Sea Yoda)...are they grand images like whale sharks? No. Are they wonderfully colorful images like in GBR? Nope. But I have seen hundreds if not thousands of people take images there, and he is the best.
But keep this in mind, for every real photographer out there, you can expect to hear from 10 Elvis painters... they tend to be loud, and are convinced that equipment makes the photographer.
Just remember that it is better to be able to use the brownie, than to own the Hassiblad and not be able to make art.
I'll attempt to cover "what actually is art?" in the next post.
I do not aspire to art in my photography. If I successfully capture the unusual natural beauty that characterizes a healthy coral reef, then I consider the venture successful, because that is challenging enough (for me). And I will take the equipment that makes that success most likely, within the constraints of my budget. If you try to pass your foggy black-and-white wreck photos off as art because they evoke a particular mood you wanted to convey, I'll accept that...but I won't accept that you are an artist until you can show me some in-focus and color-balanced shots too, just to let me know that you conveyed the mood on purpose. So, in my opinion, art is truly in the eye of the beholder, and is independent of craft, but you can only be an artist if you have mastered your craft. <cue bongos>
