Photography (People)

Just like movies, books, music, paintings, sculpture and any other art form you care to name, photography is subjective. And like the other arts, I believe anyone can learn the technical side of the craft but I don't believe talent can be taught. In photography I think talent represents a person's eye. Not only how one frames the picture, but how one sees things. How they interpret the world around them. And how well and often they can catch that special moment in time. Let me tell you, it ain't easy. Sometimes it's like getting the planets to align.

Now that we're in the digital, everyone thinks themselves a photographer. Okay, maybe not every everyone. It's the same as when Photoshop came out. Suddenly, everyone considered themselves a designer. That movement pretty much killed my ability to make a real living (as in making enough to live "well") because the young upstarts with a Mac and Photoshop moved into the independent film world and lowered the financial bar. Unfortunately, the clients didn't realize that just because they had tool didn't mean they could design. Just because you can hold a pencil doesn't mean you can draw.

So, just because you have an awesome expensive camera (the tool), it doesn't mean you can take great or even good pictures. And I think if you have a good/great eye, you can take a good/great photograph with the shittiest of cameras. And I don't think it's possible to teach someone how to have a good/great eye. Someone who doesn't have a good/great eye can occasionally shoot a great picture but for the most part I believe you either have it or you don't.

Here are some photos I took that fall under the people category (tomorrow I'll post some non-people shots) that I think represent use of my good eye. None of them have been cropped or retouched or adjusted in any way. They all come straight from the camera. Oh, and the camera is my iPhone. Let's see if I can give them some spiffy titles and what I like about them.

Innocence and Wonderment
I love the look in the boy's eye and the relationship between him and his father
that's expressed through their hands and the placement of their heads.

Purple Legs
Again, the hands do it for me. And of course the color combo
which I didn't create but I did capture.

Mickey's Back
I like the composition and the photographs behind him. Also how the lighting
gives him a black and white feel. Oh, and the bright light on the left.

Sad Dog
I like the dog being really sharp and the guy on the other side of the window
being soft. And the look of longing in the dog's eye . And the pane lines.

Confused
It's all about the sign coupled with the expression on his face.

Dinner
The dingy lighting, the graininess, the expression and the hand.

Self Shadow
The grates and the texture of the pavement. The anonymity of the shadow.

Feel free to disagree and rip me a new one in the comments section. After all it's subjective. Maybe you see something I don't. Maybe I see something you don't.