While in Antoine D’Agata’s workshop in Paris I was referred to as a young, contemporary American photographer. This label didn’t make sense to me. With further critiques and the ensuing physical and psychological distance from the world of photography I’m accustomed to in America, I began to see my work in a new light. There came a point when I felt a significant lack of authenticity in my images and those of my American peers. Namely, a large amount of distance between the life we live and the life we portray in our photos. I saw a beautification and perfection I didn’t notice before. A pop and cleanliness that reminded me how Capitalism and advertising has worked its way into the subconscious perception of Americans. I thought, maybe we are so desensitized by imagery we embrace artifice without realizing it? It was a strange feeling to see my images shape-shift in front me, like watching the eyes of a loved one go from blue to black.
Sitting in that classroom in Paris I was taken aback at how occupied all of us have become with staying on top of editor’s lists, photo blogs, social media, gallery shows and the such. It seems a lot of us are either too distracted or too lost to have the energy to sit down and genuinely use photography as a personal tool. What happened to making images that we would choose to make regardless of anybody or anything else? I was reminded of what I’ve always known: I don’t care about the hype or the money and I really don’t care about the business model. Dreams for sale are not dreams.
And I understand we have to walk a fine line. We have to keep taking other people’s pictures in order to pay the bills and earn the time to do personal work. And this is where it becomes so easy to lose touch with who we are and what really matters. We often think that if we work hard enough on personal projects it will eventually lead to and fuse with paid work. But I would ask, what kind of personal work is the kind you make under those conditions? And I would argue that if you work hard taking other people’s pictures long enough, you’re likely to keep taking their photos without even realizing it (isn’t Beauty empty without truth?).
When I’m at the end of my life and thinking about what I’ve given back, the last thing I’m going to care about is the magazines I shot for, the museum I was in, or the recognition I received. The only thing that will matter is how honest I was, how fully I lived my life, and whether I made the kind of photographs that were deeply mandatory.
I can see now that, among other things, I am much too aware of the photo industry and other photographers to make sustained, reflective and authentic work. I am easily distracted and it shows. One of my biggest take-aways from my experience in Paris was the reaffirmation of the fact that in order to touch bottom, you need to disconnect from the noise.
For now, the only thing that matters is that I close the gap between the life I live and the photographs I make.
…
“The only photographs that truly exist are the ”innocent” images. We find them in the family photo albums or in the police archives. Beyond serving as a simple documentation of reality or of a certain aesthetic sense, they attest to the role of the photographer, of his implication, of the authenticity of his position in that moment. The compositions of light, narrative, are no longer, for me, fundamental problems but superfluous lies. What interests me today in an image? The perspective that has justified the act of photography, the interference of the experience, of the ongoing scene, the texture, the material, the meaning of the self-portrait, of the individual, the incoherence of the unfolding sequence, the maniacal reconstruction of the random experience – the photographs, like words, are meaningless when isolated…” -Antoine D’Agata
This entry was written by , posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:42 pm, filed under Americans, Personal, Travels, Writing and tagged Antoine D'Agata, Creative Life, Leica M9, Magnum, Personal Photography. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
Well articulated and very very true. This is something that couldn’t have shown up at a better time for me. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thanks for the refreshing post Peter … very inspiring … quite thought provoking. Words to live by
Peter.
Well put.
“Deeply mandatory.” I like this use of words.
Thankfully,
Jim
[...] Photographs on the Brain #39 No Comments – Leave a comment Written on August 10, 2011 by Bryan Formhals in Photographs on the Brain var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true}; When I’m at the end of my life and thinking about what I’ve given back, the last thing I’m going to care about is the magazines I shot for, the museum I was in, or the recognition I received. The only thing that will matter is how how honest I was, how fully I lived my life, and whether I made the kind of photographs that were deeply mandatory. – Peter Earl McCollough [...]
Great essay. Wish I read this ten years ago… But on the other hand now I can relate so much of it to my own experince: Yes, f*ck others, Photography is mine!
Thanks for posting this, very refreshing. I have found comfort in what Josef Koudelka wrote about his fantasies with regard to the tension between the desire to make art and the need to make money.
“I imagined that someone would come to me and say: “Here is the money, you take the photographs you want but you won’t publish them.” I would have agreed without hesitation. The fact that they existed would have been enough for me.”
[...] asked, here! Touching Bottom, a blog post by Peter Earl [...]
Great post, Peter. I have forwarded it to my classes.
I believe the problem most photographers face is the necessity to make money at the craft they are trying to perfect and express. When I first began, as a free lance photographer, I resented many assignments as not important and not what I wanted to photograph. I did them, because I was paid for my photographs and that was very gratifying. I attended a lecture by Bruce Davidson and some of his thoughts resonated and stayed with me, as I changed my attitude for assignments I did not like or thought to be trivial. He said, whenever I photograph, no matter what I photograph, whether an assignment, etc. I take the best possible photograph I can. It made a great impression and I tried to honor his suggestion. I think my professional assignments were better because Bruce Davidson suggested I make them so.
As to ones personal work and facing the inevitablitly of what we all will, if someone has something to say, then perhaps, with photography, one can express who we are, who we were and hope to be. As in any art form, the person expresses thoughts and feelings. I have found photography to express all I am now, who I have been and my hope I will be better than before.
Bingo. Beautiful. Thanks to Sean Kernan for sharing link.
[...] Peter Earl McCollough [...]