Porch, Eastern Oregon
First platinum print
From The Fifty Project
It bears repeating. The fewer technical decisions you have to make, the more energy you can put into making the photograph. The question has been formed by trying to separate the “artistic” and “technical” parts of making a photograph. There are no pure aspects to making a photograph, but the technical and artistic aspects of creating art are deeply intertwined to the extent that you cannot separate the two aspects of creating a photograph.
To my way of thinking, the technical portion of photography (which reduces to manipulation of camera controls) needs to become a reflexive behavior. This allows the photographer to “surrender to the moment” and react intuitively and instinctively to the subject being photographed. To surrender to the moment is that wonderful experience where the photographer is completely immersed in the photographic experience and the camera operates smoothly and flawlessly as an extension of the photographer.
This experience is common to more than photographers. Musicians are in the groove when their instruments seem to play themselves. Athletes are in the zone when the entire game around them appears to be in slow motion. As a photographer you’ve been there when you finish for the day and look at the images you made and say, “Wow, I that’s great. I don’t remember making that image.”
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