The best photographs are the ones that evoke emotions from the viewers. No emotion, no connection. The problem with photography is that it strips all the other senses from the image, leaving it a decidedly one sense experience. No smell of the fragrance of flowers, no feeling of the wind whipping around one’s body, no evidence of the sound of water lapping at one’s feet. As humans, we rely on all our senses to help build a scene, and as we experience the events unfolding before us, we develop emotions related to these events. As photographers, we are in the thick, capturing images, all the while feeling these emotions. The camera strips it all, except for sight. As artists we must become cognizant of not only our feelings, but how to portray them within this confinement. We must build the serenity, the joy, the sorrow, all the feelings that the scene invokes in us, into the image.
Going back to the question posed for the week, “Is that REALLY how you saw it?”. Perhaps, but the better question is, “Is that REALLY how you experienced it?” Our experiences are what needs to be transposed to print, not just a stale, static scene.
At the beginning of the week I promised I would address how I feel the best way to handle the objections from viewers that question the validity of images. Simple, I tell them “That is how I experienced it!” If we can give our viewers even a glimpse into our emotions, our mind, then we have succeeded wholly as artists and that is the only answer that is needed.
Mass Believability? - 1 That must of have been an electrifying unreal experience!
Technical Details:
Canon 20D, 70-200 f/4l @ 91mm, f/5, 3.1 sec.
Omaha, Nebraska
