Only the Image Lives On

Nice common-sense article I thought. Not what I'd call a "rant" :smile:. It is funny but understandable how sometimes people can get hung up on things other than the actual photo. After all - gear is cool :43:

 

Thanks John,
A short thought filled statement but packed with meaning.

 

Agreed, many thanks John. You always seem to find the best reminders as to what's really important.

 

That article made me think of the years I was a commercial photographer (and before that and assistant) in NYC. It was always easy to break the photographer stereotype into two kinds of photographers. The first that were extremely technical, always testing lenses, different films (yes film - I worked in that industry from '86 - '99), lighting setups etc. I worked sometimes for a buddy that when he set up his darkroom did developer testing for *4 WEEKS* before one roll of film was ever processed in there.

Then there was the other side of the coin. The photographer that did no testing at all. That typically hired really smart assistants that set up the entire shoot then they would walk in, look at the polaroids, shoot a few rolls of film then schmooze the client.

I think what I learned from all those years and now playing around with digital is that all these things are just tools. If we get too focused on one of the tools we loose site of why we are using them in the first place.

 

Photography is a fine art. So is life.
I see photography 2 ways.
Making a living from the art.
Making the art of living.

In the end, ones images tell the story about how one thought and felt.
There's no right or wrong way, there's just the images.