Creative Connectivity in Photography

[zaren]

by Ragman

In the context of this discourse may I first of all state that I do believe that there is little distinction between creativity and connectivity. Dorothea Lange believed that the good photograph is not the object; the consequences of the photograph are the objects. Everything has a source and a process and a consequence. The source, what you start out with; the process is the connection (between the view you captured and the image you produce). It is your creative contribution and I perceive the key to creativity as;

~ Vision,
Without vision there is no photography

~ Inspiration,
Without inspiration there is no passion

~ Passion,
Without passion there is no dynamic

~ Construction
Without construction there is no structure

~ Attention
Without attention there is no focus

~ Diversion
Without diversion we cannot expand or move forward therefore there is no progress

~ Direction
Without direction we do not have an aim

The consequence is the craft, the photographer’s craft. The idea translated through an image, of interpretation, imagination and implementation into an impact that will influence others

Creativity (or “creativeness”) is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts.

Creativity within photography deals with originality, and an application of imagination, inspiration and ingenuity. It enshrines creativeness, vision and resourcefulness.

It does not mean getting it right every time. Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes, art is knowing which ones to keep. Creativity does not start with the Creative suite of Photoshop. In fact there are many times and circumstances when the creativity is even before the camera stage.

There are certain pre-requisites for creativity. Creative photography requires intelligence, flexibility, time and effort. Given those requisites creativity can be attained.

And it can also be improved but this requires us passing up those things that are obviously good but are ordinary and routine. Instead we seek out a strategy that will find that which is good and unusual. As artists we are concerned with
- Firstly seeing and capturing,
- Secondly the cognitive process of thinking and interpreting,
- And finally communicating a message to the viewer

But there is a fourth dimension to our trade – a process that we can call our own. Creativity thus is the connectivity – creating a connection between the subject or scene, a process that goes beyond the viewpoint and the relationship between the artist and the viewer and is additive or creative. Therein lays the art.

It can be argued that creativity is a product of desire, thought, experience, experimentation and intelligence, of inner conviction (gut feeling). However be warned creativity is not always positive in outcome, in fact it can lead to negativity.

Because it is different our search may not always be seen as correct [due to entrenched patterns of thought or general attitudes and the oft found clichés or oft repeated same stereotyping but high scoring subjects] and thus the creative person will first encounter rejection rather than acceptance. Rejection destroys creative urges and attempts to be creative, and hit with the prospect of failure some will resort to a safer path.

One of the greatest teachers in photography, Minor White, in the Camera Mind and Eye believed that the state of mind of a photographer while creating is a blank…For those who would equate “blank” with a kind of static emptiness, I must explain that this is a special kind of blank. It is a very active state of mind really, a very receptive state of mind, ready at an instant to grasp an image, yet with no image pre-formed in it at any time.

We should note that the lack of a pre-formed pattern or preconceived idea of how anything ought to look is essential to this blank condition. Such a state of mind is not unlike a sheet of film itself – seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second’s exposure conceives a life in it. (Not just life, but “a” life).

Minor White also wrote in Mirrors, Messages, and Manifestations; ~ in putting images together I become active, and excitement is of another order – synthesis overshadows analysis.

So strive not to understand photography, nor to understand how to operate the camera equipment, but rather strive for creativity; we are not just about making a photograph, we are surely about making a connection ~ a creative connection; and in that way our photography will be seen as true connectivity.

As always I complete the chapter by referring you to comments of the masters of the art of photography, and with this thought from Elliott Erwitt:- A photographer needs: creativity, style, elegance, wit and craft. But also requires courage, stamina, cunning and luck.

So good luck, and may the luck stay with you long enough to become truly creative.

 

[crystal1993]

:thumbsup: Thanks for sharing auntie zaren! :heart:
Love you dipdip. :kiss: :bsmilie:

 

[foxtwo]

should sticky in critique corner before it gets lost in the threads

 

[zaren]

An eye for a Picture #1 *Concept*
by Ragman

Concept:

An Eye For a Picture:

For me my photography is based on the four x I’s =
Idea >
Image >
Inspiration >
Impact

The idea is concerned with originality and uniqueness, a unique angle on an event, scene or subject. Take the everyday common scene or subject on, but study it and ask yourself, what have I added or contributed to this capture. Don’t be content with mere content, you progress from being the photographer or taker, to becoming the photographic artist or maker; for the image to cease being seen as a picture, but instead recognised as a craft ~ the photographer’s craft.

The image is a two dimensional concept. In reality it is reflection. A volatile image is one that exists only for a short period of time, as for example a reflection of an object by a mirror. You don’t take anything, all you acquire is a reflection, this is image making. The concept of photography or image making for me is an art, an art that is to do with expression. Expressing what we feel about what we have seen and we do so through the medium of photography.

For me this all begins with seeing, or as the great Irish writer James Joyce put it ~ a simple beholding of the object. Secondly the concept should be sure and contain substance, be structured, and make a statement. Too often there is no concerted effort within the concept, and little for the viewer to grasp. As a recorder and further more as a reporter we have to convincing.

This brings us to inspiration or in or other words motivation, a stimulus, a performance. The legendary American photographer Alfred Stieglitz was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an acceptable art form alongside painting and sculpture. In 1902 he organized an invitation-only group, which he dubbed the Photo-Secession, to force the art world to recognize photography “as a distinctive medium of individual expression”.

To me this is what photography is about; it raises it above the recording dimension, and the reporting dimension into a recognizing dimension, and then later into a reading dimension. Ansel Adams once said; “Photographs should not only be looked at, they should be looked into”. The recognition is therefore two-fold as it is first the photographer in recognizing what they see before them; but is also and equally about the piece of work being recognized and read (interpreted) by the viewer. This is a meeting, a meeting of minds, a collision an impact. If your images do not create an impact, do not enforce feedback, they are as Ansel Adams has put it fuzzy.

The aesthetic experience is a simple beholding of the object ~ James Joyce

“I know some photographs that are extraordinary in their power and conviction, but it is difficult in photography to overcome the superficial power or subject; the concept and statement must be quite convincing in themselves to win over a dramatic and compelling subject situation.”Ansel Adams

“There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept” Ansel Adams

New Light Through New Windows

(source: http://www.redbubble.com/people/ragman/journal/2428171-an-eye-for-a-picture-1-concept)

 

[hkingx]

nice !!:thumbsup::thumbsup::heart:

 

[zaren]

An eye for a Picture #2 *Context*
by Ragman

Context:

The meaning or message behind the image, applying a narrative ~ what are we conveying. Storytelling comes about never by the mere usage of words, but rather by resonance, emphasis and expression.

Context has it’s etymology in the Middle English, the weaving together of words, but it is also worth noting from the Latin contextus, meaning a connection of words, coherence, from contexere to weave together.

Thus as far as images are concerned I derive from that we should be about a sense of weaving together and of a coherent connection. Now that is a challenge in many of the images I view on Redbubble and elsewhere.

Storytelling an ancient art of conveying events in words, images, and sounds often by improvising or embellishment, fits in well I believe with the art of photography.

Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture and in every land as a means of entertainment, education, preservation of culture and in order to instill moral values. Indeed crucial elements of stories and storytelling include a plot and characters, as well as the narrative point of view.

Photographs like stories also have the ability to teach, explain, and/or entertain.

In capturing the scene or subject our creativity begins by adding some study or applying a scenario. When I come across something for this first time, I always say ~ there must be a story to this ~ can I convey it.

Context therefore is as much to do with discovery, but defines the scene or subject it such a manner that it enables the viewer to become part of the communicado and read into it.

Context therefore provides background, applies or suggests circumstance, reveals a little about the situation (and thus expects you the viewer to add to this). Context within the photograph is important as it reveals an environment, creates an atmosphere, provide a perspective and establish a framework.

Finally note the challenge of context. Hopefully you fit the big picture together, because context is everything. The film director has about two hours, and many scenes, plots, sub plots and characters to get the context across ~ you have forty-five seconds and a single frame in which to do it.

“I believe that through the act of living, the discovery of oneself is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us which can mould us, but which can also be affected by us. A balance must be established between these two worlds- the one inside us and the one outside us” Henri Cartier Bresson

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event, as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression” Henri Cartier Bresson

The Onlookers

(source: http://www.redbubble.com/people/ragman/journal/2428619-an-eye-for-a-picture-2-context)

 

[yalmaz]

One doesn't need to be an expert in a genre to give comments. I feel as long as your words are clear and carefully thought out, as what you write are your true opinions you should not worry too much. All adults here, and if anyone takes your words unkindly then just let it go, art is subjective and often are the feelings that go with it.