I've been thinking a lot about which direction to take my photography in... and to be honest, I'm still a little lost. I want to be one of those photographers who take beautiful, imaginary scenes that have been made through creativity and photoshop. Something from a dream, perhaps, or a fairytale. I get ideas of such photos, sometimes I even write it down, but I never go ahead and achieve it. It just stays in my notebook, just an idea. I'll marvel at people's art work, because no-one can deny that it is art, beautiful photographic fine art. For example, these beautiful pieces:
Rachel Baran
Sarah Stewart
Gina Vasquez
But then, I don't create that kind of photo. My heart makes me take pictures of things around me, of places and people and little things. I take too many pictures of food and flowers and my duvet. Sometimes I'll take a picture purely because of the colours, or the aesthetic. I fall in love with film photography, even though it is getting more expensive and more difficult to print. I fall in love with bokeh, and clothes, and people's smiles. I like photos which make something seemingly ordinary look beautiful. Photos which show life as beautiful, because really, everything can be beautiful.
However, life isn't really beautiful. I've been a hazard lately, so busy with everything, missing appointments and saying goodbye to friends and filling in government forms and crying late at night about how much a mess everything has been. I look at art every day but I haven't made much in weeks. I'm slowly coming round. I will make something out of nothing.I know this is probably stupid, but I worry that my photography isn't art? I mean, of course, I consider it such, but others might think I'm just taking pictures of things, that anyone could do.
You know those Modern Art museums which most people (including myself sometimes, guiltily) think, "I could do that"? That red circle on a blank canvas? "I could do that". The sculpture of a bin full of rubbish? "That's not special, I could have done that." etc etc. Isn't that what everybody is afraid of? Doing something that someone else could replicate, or worse, have done before? Being cliche or unoriginal? Well, I worry about that a lot. I forget who, but somebody said,
"You could have done that? Yeah, but did you? No."
in response to Modern Art. I think it applies to any art really. It should be remembered.
Even though I love imaginary pictures, I tend to leave my escapism for books and films and the internet! My photographs are more of a exaggerated diary, to show people how I feel and what I see and experience. Exaggerated because I only show what I want to, really. Pictures speak louder than words they say.
____________.. Sin Titulo
Some recent photos of mine, since I haven't been able to put them up on my blog. What do you think? Do you prefer digital manipulation or simple pictures? Let me know in the comments. I love both, but I think I might be veering towards the simple pleasures.
L x.
