Author Topic: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?  (Read 4775 times)

Intrepid

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Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« on: June 17, 2015, 00:40:47 »
Not sure if this fits in here at all.

This is a general topic of interest to me.  I am convinced that photography (not the learning process and a whole myriad of technical aspects but the application and the one that produces results) is purely an individual activity.

Please feel free to consider that as topic for discussion and say what you have to offer.  Hope to learn a few things from it.

TIA

Vivek.
Vivek Iyer

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2015, 04:03:50 »
Individual, BUT: you never see alone, your eyes are trained by what you have seen before: Art history, advertisement, movies, whatever. So we stand on the shoulders of giants --- as always
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

armando_m

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2015, 05:41:56 »
It can be both ...

when shooting in a group , that being multiple photographers, or photog and assistants, or model and photographer... you get the picture , when results are good they tend to be OUTSTANDING

when I shoot alone results can be good , but in my case, I rarely get the same level of satisfaction

I'm sure the experience is particular for every individual

Armando Morales
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elsa hoffmann

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2015, 05:59:35 »
Yes. Mostly it is a very lonely thing. Or alone thing.
Especially if you shoot professionally.
When I do shoot with someone, I really enjoy it. But that is a rare occasion.
"You don’t take a photograph – you make it” – Ansel Adams. Thats why I use photoshop.
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Bjørn Rørslett

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2015, 06:18:56 »
Vivek's assumption is easily proved. Put two or more photographers at the same spot and they all come up with quite different images. The SEEING and CREATION are individual. I have done such experiments. Others have as well.

On the other hand, humans are social creatures and we need each other for ENJOYMENT and SHARING of the experience. Otherwise photography not only becomes a lonely exercise, it becomes introvert and futile.

Erik Lund

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2015, 08:54:14 »
When ever possible for adds and commercial shots I always bring a person from within the marketing department, preferably the graphical designer that will edit the images as to ensure best possible means to capture an image that covers what is needed, it is then a corporation between us to create the image, mood light etc, past ten years I have done this with the same person, now and then others added, interns etc.
But also a lot of other work is done completely alone...

When we go shooting together, the NikonGear crew, it is very creative and often themes evolve... Later the outcome of how to approach a shot can be reused in a similar way. We always lean something new from each other...
Erik Lund

Anthony

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2015, 11:08:58 »
I have shot with a model a couple of times, and on each occasion I was impressed with the way that model and photographer can cooperate to produce the result, and how important the unspoken communication can be between them.

There are specialists in pp and in printing, and they can also contribute a great deal to the final result.

So I think that there are occasions where photography is a collaborative enterprise, even though mostly it is not.
Anthony Macaulay

Intrepid

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2015, 15:35:46 »
Thank you Frank, Armando, Elsa, Bjørn, Erik and Anthony for your thoughts.

I was looking at a very narrow perspective and never considered Erik's  and Anthony's.  Although I might nvere be in those circumstances, it is good to know.

Frank-  oddly, anything and everything I learn just disappears and only what it is going to be captured exists for a fleeting moment.  Rather personal I suppose (not necessarily unique).

Bjørn, Those two are counter intuitive (individual/ group) or not?

Vivek Iyer

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2015, 15:47:32 »
Vivek. I speak about the way our brain works. Every impression changes the perception machine and does so without concious intervention or activity.
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

Gary

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2015, 16:05:41 »
Not answering your question, my response is ... Being very competitive, I see photography as a challenge. It is this challenge which keeps me going, which I savor. I do okay when I shoot alone ... I challenge myself to capture an image which raises my personal bar of expectation. But if I'm in a group or on an assignment with other photogs ... the competition ... I up my game. The greater the competition, the challenge, the deeper I go into myself drawing up whatever I need to meet the challenge. Creativity, reflexes, strength to keep going, a sixth sense predicting where I should be ... it all comes into play when there are other photogs around. Not so much when I'm shooting alone.
"Everywhere you look there are photographs, it is the call of photographers to see and capture them."- Gary Ayala
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Critiquing my snaps are always welcomed and appreciated.

Intrepid

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #10 on: June 18, 2015, 16:19:31 »
Gary,  :)

So, that is entirely individual (while in a group) then!  :) 

(I am not trying twist what you said- I love reading what you said and understand it.)
Vivek Iyer

Michael Erlewine

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2015, 16:24:47 »
For me, photography is an individual thing. In my work, the process of photographing was initially more important than the results. Of course, if I paid close attention to the process, which I did, the results got better. For years I never really finished any photo in post-processing past a certain point, and I have yet to ever print one out, which again points to the “process” of doing it, of looking through the lens and just plain “seeing.” The “seeing” itself through the lens is something I am addicted to, and finer and finer lenses, for me, enhance that experience. I admit that for me this “seeing” is a meditative experience that I enjoy as something in itself. I have tried group shoots, but invariably go off by myself, so that says it all right there.

And I should point out that photography for me is entirely impressionistic, meaning there is no “reality” that is not mixed with my own mind projections. In other words, I am studying, discovering, and “seeing” my own mind when I photograph. There was a time, after I first achieved what I call “clarity of seeing” through photography, that if I wanted to get my mind straight, the only way that was possible was to grab a camera, go out in nature, and peer thought great lenses at miniature words. In fact, after I discovered how to “see,” it took me a year or two to wrestle that “seeing” away from just photography and begin to “see” in other areas of life. But for me, it started with photography and great lenses, that “seeing.”
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Gary

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Re: Photography- individual endeavor or group creation?
« Reply #12 on: June 18, 2015, 16:38:25 »
Gary,  :)

So, that is entirely individual (while in a group) then!  :) 

(I am not trying twist what you said- I love reading what you said and understand it.)

Pretty much.

(When not in a group teaching mode where we are sharing and learning, it is all about the competition. You have to remember that I'm coming from a news background and news is terribly competitive.)
"Everywhere you look there are photographs, it is the call of photographers to see and capture them."- Gary Ayala
My snaps are here: www.garyayala.com
Critiquing my snaps are always welcomed and appreciated.