Point of View

When I was starting as a young photographer, one of my only concerns was style or point of view. Everyone else was concentrating on equipment. I would say the world of consumer photography has been plagued by this dichotomy since its inception. Everyone likes a good gadget. The more these gadgets take pictures and expose pretty well by themselves we can be in awe of their technological prowess, then just point and shoot. This does nothing to develop a point of view. It is easy to point a camera at just about anything and take a picture. Imagine a painter doing the same thing. We might find tha a little odd, don't you think? So, just because we can take a picture of something does not mean we have to. Develop a relationship with your subject matter. Learn how to look at a subject in terms of line, shape, form, color, texture, and take a position. Learn to emphasize an aspect or two, or isolate an aspect or two. Practice doing this over and over again. You will eventually find yourself looking at a subject through your own eyes and not through a lens that someone else constructed. You have to find your own unique vision, stripped away from what you should do based on another point of view. It is OK to mimic and copy in order to practice things. It takes a long time to develop your own eye, but it is essential for all authentic art making. Please step away from your camera and learn to see without it, and you then will be able to use it to express your true self. This happens a little at a time. After several years of commercial art experience I would go with friends to go and photograph. Half the time I would not take my camera and still enjoyed what I saw. You have to learn to enjoy seeing in your own unique way. Learn this and you will have found your unique point of view. One thing that bugs me the most is when I look at a gallery of photography and the first thing that comes to mind is, "what is this person's unique perspective on this subject matter?" I mostly experience that this approach to the subject matter is just about like everyone elses. Like lemmings, everyone is following the last one over the cliff and nobody ever notices. You have to notice. You first have to look at a gazillian images and see what others are doing, in order to convince yourself this is not what you should be doing. Check out artists that you really like and ask yourself why you like them. You may like their point of view and that they are not doing it like everyone else. Do that and your work will improve.