Gary Reese wrote:
[snip]
>It is interesting to note who folks list as favorite photographers. It's
the
>ones, for the most part, who are the most commercially successful.
Artistic
>talent, subject knowledge/empathy and technical expertise don't necessarily
>equate with commercial acumen. I guess its our bias towards viewing things
in
>a capitalistic frame of reference.
I know that commercial success is not a requirement for me to like a
photographer. But it does seem that some of the "better" photographers are
successful in a commercial sense. I do like Ansel Adams work. Another big
favorite is John Shaw. Both of these gentlemen as well as others I admire
seem to have the technical side of picture taking down pat. I'm sure they
have a trash can full of mistakes, but their best work is always right on
with exposure and focus is tack sharp. This I can also accomplish "most" of
the time.
For me, what sets them apart is the great subjects they manage to come up
with and the compositions they create. I personally don't have their
creative eye, yet. It's something I'm definitely working on. I managed to
master the technical side of photography many years ago. That's just
practice and using top notch equipment. But the artistic side I'm still
working on. And who knows, I may never succeed. One line of thought says
that artists are born, not made. But the occasional "keeper" keeps me from
giving up, and sometimes I even have fun while I'm trying.
Regards,
John Austin
Oakland, CA
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