LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

Here's a Thought… #2767 with Brooks Jensen

Performative Photography

I don't think many people would think of photography as a performative art medium. Could it be? What would that look like? The closest thing I can imagine to a performative presentation of photographs would maybe be a slideshow. What about a presentation of images on a large screen TV that could possibly be accompanied by a narration of sorts. A poetry reading while showing images? Come to think of it, what happens when you share a stack of prints with a visitor? Silence? Conversation? A prepared narrative? Could you? Should you?

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Here's a Thought… #2766 with Brooks Jensen

From Whence the Inspiration

There are photographers who prefer not to view the work of other photographers. I understand the concept, but I can't help but wonder what they are missing? Do they also not listen to music, read novels or poetry? Watch films or talk with others? I've always thought of art as a Grand Conversation, a conversation that spans time and space. My art is a response to those from the past as well as those not yet born. One of my most fond photography memories was sitting next to Oliver Gagliani in his living room, listening in silence to Mahler's 4th symphony in its entirety. When the music ended, he pulled out a set of prints that that were inspired by Mahler's music

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Here's a Thought… #2765 with Brooks Jensen

Way to Go, God

When does a scene/subject become worthy of making a photograph? After all, we don't just point our cameras at anything, but we pick and choose those scenes or subjects that we think are worthy of capture and processing. Why are those captures worthy? I've asked this question for years in workshops and conversations. The most common reason photographers give for making a photograph boils down to a variation of "Way to go, God!" I love a pretty picture as much as the next person, but certainly there are more reasons to produce a photograph than a pretty scene.

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Here's a Thought… #2764 with Brooks Jensen

Archive or Burden

We spend our life amassing a pile of prints that form our archive. It can also be said that our archive is a burden that our heirs will be responsible for whether or not they want it. We can't take it with us, unless the software engineers figure out a solution to this pesky problem of mortality. Maybe we should be buried with all our art like ancient Egyptian kings, taking all our important possessions with us to the next world.

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Here's a Thought… #2763 with Brooks Jensen

Visual Syncopation

Structure in a presentation of images can be both good and bad. Structure can provide form and consistency to a presentation. It can also become predictable, repetitious, and boring. This where visual syncopation can come to the rescue.

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