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Re: [OM] Why shoot film

Subject: Re: [OM] Why shoot film
From: WayneS <om3ti@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:04:03 -0500
Ken, I was only referring to Nubar as a reference on how good
photographers can loose their creativity to the super resolution
bandwagon. And letting go of that can sometimes unlock their
creativity. Today many of us are obsessed with the best, rather
than focused on capturing our emotion on film (media). Letting
go that obsession can sometimes remove a distraction. I think
your relation to film as a creative medium compared to the
resolution of the digital medium is more about the ability to capture
your emotion on film than it is about rendering absolute detail.  This
being some confirmation on what you are saying about film.

Their are certain guitar players, you hear one chord, and you know
the sound. I understand that completely. I doubt creating a Norton
will come without struggle. Personal history is very hard to overcome.
Creating the personal without history is even harder to achieve.
I suspect there is already a Norton.

I have done some study into the creative process and the inherent
anxiety that has to be embraced to engage it. Because it is a struggle,
the struggle can sometimes become a barrier. Knowing it is a struggle,.
you can embrace the struggle and use it as fuel.

Warning, spiritual digression.... One thing I was asked once was,
where does my life force come from? Did I create it? If not, what does
it take to allow it to flow through me, knowing I am not the source,
but merely the channel? What level of trust does it take to feel that
vulnerability, dependence on something beyond me? Form anxiety
is the first barrier. What does it mean to allow impersonal creativity
to become personal through us?

I think anyone who strives for their unique creative expression is
going hit upon the boundary between the person and the impersonal
aspects of themselves. And when it is allowed to express, without
history, it naturally becomes unique. The trick is overcoming personal
history to allow something new to be created. In a way, to overcome our
very own self-preoccupation. It is a mystery to me, how an impersonal
creative process can actually work in a personal way. Afterall, something
unique, something new, where does that come from? and still be "personal"?

Suppose a photographer takes a great photo. They are remembered
for life for that photo. In a way, that photo might become a barrier
to their creativity, or maybe not. But if you go to the actual moment
of creation, the image does not yet have any history of its own. What was
the state of the photographer during that moment? Was it really personal?
Or was it simply the level of presence the photographer had in that
moment? So does one strive for their unique signature style, or strive
to see the world in a new way? Go back to the Z picture you took, in
the moment before it became history, who was there taking the picture?
Sort of a Zen Koan. And what lead to the final expression?

These are questions I sometime ponder. Part of the exploration of life.
If I ever become too complacent, then so does my photography.
And that seems to happen for me in an alarming amount.
I bet other people will recognize a Norton, before the Norton does.

WayneS



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