The Blakes. “Un-moment” by Chase Jarvis
When I was a less experienced artist, I thought that less gloss meant less talent. For, after all, it seemed to me to be commonly assumed in our culture that talent resided only in the gloss, the perfection, and the polish. If your art didn’t have polish it was only because you we’re able to apply it.
Now, I tend to feel just the opposite. Gloss, more often than not, acts as a substitute for soul, a clear vision, intent. It’s certainly more challenging to find the perfect vintage car to purchase than it is to select a shiny new sports car. It seems like gloss too often is the easy way out.
Cartier-Bresson
Photographically, for me, this translates away from traditional, more “perfect” images and toward the more real moments. It’s the off moments, or rather the “un-moments” that make stronger, more emotionally charged images. Those images feel more like my life—far more imperfect and far more relevant.
There are a million images around us to prove my point. Think of the work of so many masters. Cartier-Bresson. Think of Warhol’s photos, of Avedon’s. Or more modernly, of Ryan McGinley’s or Chris Buck. Examples from my own work can be found in the Seattle 100: Portrait of a City book
. I shot 100,000 images for that book, and the ones the made the final 300-image book edit were almost always this “un-moment” of which I write. These un-moments–these instants just before and just after those photographic moments that have been so historically revered in our culture–seem so much more revealing, engaging, and meaningful. My growing experience tells me that this sliver of time that captures the spontaneous and the genuine and pierces through the façade of a conventionally “perfect” portraits does so in a way that more accurately reveals the truly human.
Certainly there are exceptions to my hypothesis abound – where polished images succeed – its simply my hope that we suspend our de facto acceptance of the new-and-polished and recognize that it’s more often something gritty that challenges us to find a deeper aesthetic, take a longer vision and seek more soulful connections. Put simply, “gritty” may require more emotional and metaphysical investment from us viewers, but it is far less deceitful than “glossy” and creates a far greater opportunity for culturally-relevant, creative success.
[this post is adapted from a piece on design that I origially wrote for Arcade Magazine]
This is an excellent post. However, this idea of not polished, carefree images have been abused to a great degree these days as well. I think knowing and understanding the rules before breaking them is vital. I am so very sick and tired of all these hipster images everyone these days tries to sell you as art!
If your a hipster and you know it clap your hands
If your a hipster and you know it clap your hands
If you a hipster and you know it then your art will surly show it
If your a hipster and you know it clap your hands
I have no idea what that means, but I’m laughing and clapping.
Yyyyyyup.
I think this is why mobile photography has soared in interest the same way polaroids have too. As Mike Lin (architectural graphic renderer) always says: “BE LOOSE”
This is exactly my view as well, and I often find the best shots are the sort of ‘in between’ moments. Clients don’t always agree though!
haha… yeah. Clients. Sometimes I wanna shake them and be like “forget how the thing looks… how does it make you FEEL?!” It’s a balance.
I always prefer the gritty/off moment. It is more true and resonates. I’d love to see a move away from glossy perfection, back to character and depth.
its not only the gritty stuff or the “un moment” stuff that resonates. its the stuff that you shot ages ago that you thought sucked. the stuff that you were ashamed to let see the light of day. when i was a less experienced photographer i did a shoot with my sister for an online magazine she co produced. i shot approximately 500 – 600 images that day and at the time only 4 actually were good enough to use in the magazine. The rest.. well as far as i was concerned all sucked. Fast forward 2/3 years, im trying to clean up my hard drive and i come across the folder for the shoot. i take a look inside and it was like i had hit the jackpot! image upon image of awesomeness. what changed? My eye, my technique, my knowledge, my skills had all had advanced 100 fold since that day and looking at the images again i saw things that i had never seen before, possibilities that never existed but now did. An example is todays picture on my site.
The point im making is 2 fold. that gritty un moment could be the defining moment for any of us and the “un moment , gritty but crap image” of today could be the “moment” for tomorrow.
Trey