I get more questions via email and social channels than I could answer in a lifetime, but occasionally one jumps out at me as incredibly worthwhile to share. The answer to this question is important, and my response is below. Chime in and let me know what you think:
“What’s more important as a photographer… to remove yourself from the photograph, or to make the photograph about you as a photographer?”
-from photographer Jay McLaughlin
In order to make the most successful, effective (read: insightful, moving, impactful, beautiful, etc) image, the photographer must be “present” in the image. Simply put, this is crucial–perhaps MOST important for any shooter– you should strive to make a photograph that no one else in the world can make. And the primary mode of being able to do this is to infuse your personal vision to the image. Period, whether it’s reportage, fine art, or a fashion shoot. Doing otherwise is creating a commodity – something that anyone, or an “other” can make– that can be bought or sold like a pork belly or a barrel of oil.
Making such a photo that no one else can make can take many forms–technical excellence is a part of that–but at it’s essence is the need to reflect a mood that only you can capture or evoke, based on your access, your knowledge, your interpersonal skills or otherwise. So you absolutely must put your fingerprints on the shot. It’s not “about” you (sic), but you are clearly present…
Thanks Jay for the evocative question. Readers please chime in below if you feel inspired, otherwise go make that photo that no one else can make.
Agree. I’ve always felt that every shot a photographer takes, if from the heart, is in some way a self portrait.
For myself, there is no way to take ME out of the image making process, but for others, the answer doesnt come down to a simple yes or no. I am a photography student and in my history of photography classes and concept classes, I have learned about famous photogs (whose names frustratingly escape me now) who believed that the photographer absolutely must remove themselves from the image making process and still others who believed they had no choice in the matter and were automatically removed from the image making process because the process itself was mechanical and not artistic at all.
I believe its impossible to completely remove the photographer from the image. Even if he/she used a robot to set up the shot and press the shutter, the photographer still controls the robot. The photographer still says what goes where, where to place the camera and what settings to use on the camera to take the picture. But maybe the question here goes deeper than that. Perhaps your reader is asking if they should develop a style and incorporate that into their imagery. If that is the case, the answer is very clearly yes.
Love the question. Thank you for deciding to share it.
If you have to ask that question…you need to reevaluate your stance as an artist.
Historically, tons of artists have believed that the work came “through” them, but it was not theirs – their job was to get out of the way and allow the art to come from the divine. The way we think about art now as a manifestation of our own vision is quite a shift. It’s a fair question to wrestle with, and an interesting one at that.
Incidentally, Elizabeth Gilbert recently gave an interesting talk on creativity – worth a watch to see her weave the contrast between artist-centered and divine-centered art: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA
Not all of us are born as artists – I, for one, am on a journey to try and discover what being an ‘artist’ means to me and what sort of ‘artist’ I have in me. In other words, my ‘stance’ as an artist is still being shaped. So I don’t think it’s fair to assume that just because Jay or anyone else has asked that question that they need to reevuate their stance as an artist. By having the courage to ask the question (many people don’t have that courage) Jay has elicited some valuable advice from a well known photog that hopefully will assist many new artists on their journey.
I think it’s important as an artist that we question the world around us in order to find the answers in our work
Right on, Chase! God put a little of Himself into each of us and that is the ability to create. Why dopy or reproduce if your thing is to capture images? An image begins with imagination. Add a little heart and passion – pour yourself into it – and what you capture will not just be another picture, it will be art.
I appreciate how you push us to imagine and create!
The way I see it…the photographer must (& will inevitably) be present but the camera should be invisible.