8/27/2006

How to take a good picture

When I was 14 I wrote this: "truth, emotion, technique, beauty. A good photograph has 2 of these. A great photograph 3. A photograph you never forget has all 4."

A bit pompous perhaps, but it still basically works for me.

2 Comments:

Davin said...

I agree wholeheartedly with 14-year-old Raul.

I also stand just a bit ashamed that at 14 I maybe spent more time thinking Molly Ringwald was pretty than examining the nature of art.

Thanks for continuing to do so.

8/29/2006 10:24:27 PM  
pfong said...

Short, sweet and a killer reminder of what's important in photography. It's easy for me to get hung up on technique and not engage enough with the other elements. I'm still debating whether beauty is a critical element. These days, an idea or concept seems to have displaced the importance of beauty as an ideal in modern art.

There seems to be an element of beauty, at least in my eyes, to the photographs I find truly memorable. However, a contrasting example in the non-photographic field springs to mind - Damien Hirst's, Mother & Child Divided:

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,8543,-17404774275,00.html

A cow split in half and suspended in a tank of formaldehyde. No way do I consider this beautiful, yet it is art which is unforgettable.

8/30/2006 11:07:39 PM  

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