Listen to this powerful quote from documentarian photographer, Ralph Steiner (1899-1986)
“I say to young photographers, ‘What in God’s name are you doing, taking a picture of a tree or a mountain? That’s crazy! What you should do is take a person by the hand and show him the tree or the mountain itself. Why show him a stupid picture? It’s flat and it’s tiny compared to the mountain. The mountain is magnificent and has power . . .’ they look at me as if I’m nuts. They don’t know what to say back to me. So I go on to say that the reason you show someone a photograph is because a photograph is part of a human being — you — and as people we’re more interested in human beings than we are in mountains. By showing a picture, you’re showing an x-ray of your heart. The very silent, marvelous American painter, Edward Hopper, put it very simply. He said, ‘The work’s the man. You can’t get something out of nothing’.” – Ralph Steiner
All photographs, animate subjects, or inanimate objects are, more or less, self-portraits.
A self-portrait is a portrait of the artist creating the work and not necessarily a focus on the subject being focused.
I know it may sound somewhat self-centered, even narcissistic, but it’s true, all photographs, at some level, are self-portraits of the photographer taking the photograph.
I’m beginning to think that, more often than not, we look at and value photographs not so much for their photographic-value, per see, but their photographer-value
We seem to be less interested, subtle, in the photograph itself and more interested in the backstory and thoughts of the photographer behind the photograph?
This is because photographs, in their purest form, and even the most simplest among us, are remarkable x-rays of the photographer’s heart, hope, dreams, angsts, conflicts, loves, biases, appreciations, and celebrations.
I can’t help but equate it to love-making and intimacy. The parallels are uncanny.
When we shoot and share photographs, we participate, as photographers, in the deepest part of ourselves.
In the capture process, we leave a bit of ourselves in the photograph. Then, in the sharing stage, the same happens-we leave, still, another tiny part of ourselves, in and with the viewer, looking at our photographs.
Here are the words of the most talented and famed portraitist of our modern times, Richard Avedon, “Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is … the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own.” – Richard Avedon
I’m headed out this weekend, to shoot a whole bunch of portraits. I’m excited. It’s been a while now since I have been face-to-face with others.
I’m craving this contact.
Because in this exploration and experience, this weekend of photographs, I not only will discover something about other people, but you, the viewer and friend, will also discover something about me in the process.
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” Ansel Adams
What visual art, besides photography, can you invite people into the gallery of your emotional well-being and stare at x-rays of your heart?
My heart is tender, vulnerable, warm, soft, and open.
At least this is how I feel today.
And within this context, magic, message, and meaning always transpire.
Click
Jack
