Relevance is a driving factor for many.
Is my work/perspective/process/career choice relevant?
Photography has changed a lot over the years and I have had a tendency to assume that it is leaving me behind each time, but you know what? I think it as relevant today as it ever was and the true practitioner is also just as important as ever.
This is a fresh perspective for me. I will admit to reconciling myself to photography becoming an over saturated and therefore under appreciated art form, but I am willing to admit I am wrong here and happily so.
Many years ago, in one of my favourite magazines (Photo and Darkroom Techniques maybe?), a pro photographer attempted manfully to explaining the different processes involved in using 35mm, medium and large format cameras (at that time running more than one was serious business).
One image called “Redneck Rodeo” showed a young sunburned boy standing up in the bleachers at a rodeo with the action beyond him in the semi-blurred background. It was an image that worked because the photographer saw and balanced several elements in the blink of an eye, not because any element had merit beyond the expected.
“Nothing” photos with meaning only to those intent on interpreting it and only in context. In 2022 it is a snap, but taken with meaning and intent, in 2000 it may have been a fresh perspective on image making capability, in 1980 it may have graced a magazine if relevant to the story told.
That image was captured at a time and place with a 35mm Leica camera, nobly defining each element including the camera and lens. The photographer explained that the image would not have been possible with a larger format camera, so the argument was basically that the camera created the opportunity that he grabbed with both creative hands.
This was true to an extent as long as we assume that the person using the camera also had intent, skill and the right gear.
Today, it would be easy to argue that every person in those bleachers, sitting with or near the photographer could also take an image of similar quality using their phone. The reality is though, most will not.
The equipment has changed, but the driving forces needed to make a relevant and harmonious photograph have not. The gear is irrelevant, the intent and application are key.
What has changed is the process and subject matter in regards to the non-photographer. These are the majority of people taking images who are not and do not confess to be driven to create art, to document their world or capture newsworthy subjects beyond their own very defined universe. This majority have been empowered by entirely different forces over the last hundred or so years, constantly being better serviced and are now at their most powerful. The reality is though, the common image maker is not interested in much outside of what directly effects them (family, pets, places, food, events).
Where does this leave the professional image maker or artist?
Basically in the same place as always.
If you or I choose to go out and craft a series of black and white long exposure landscape images, something that has been done since photography started, then you have as much chance as ever of making an impact. Our work will not be judged for its relevance against the images taken by the masses or even those of the past. You still have a chance to impress. The only thing that matters is the quality of the work, not its attention to following “fashion” or technological limitations.
If you decide to do a series of food selfies, then sure, the competition will crush you by sheer weight of numbers, but if your intent is more artistically “noble” than that, then with some determined effort you stand more than a fair chance.
Never before has it been easier to reach strangers with your work, or cheaper. The restrictions of old, which were for many so constricting*, have effectively been removed. If you are disheartened that thousands do not follow you, be happy that dozens do, because in direct comparison to the work of many gifted, but obscure image makers of the past, you are socially wealthy.
What we have to be aware of is perception of scale. You can potentially reach millions, but be happy with thousands. There is a lot of work out there, so don’t expect to own this space. Just be grateful for your share, it may well be bigger than those that came before you.
The message buried in this verbose post is;
If you feel it, do it to the best of your ability.
Passion and focus are always worth more than the current technologies or fashions dictate, enable, or even attempt to overpower.
*For a long time I had to limit myself to 2 rolls of film per week, one slide, one black and white.