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Everybody's Pictures

The last chapter is another deep reading. It, along with the first chapter, is mind-blowing to me. It introduced me to another deeper world of photography. 

Since this book is quite contemporary, it discusses how photos are being used today by the mass and how can art photographers cope with the trend. It makes more sense to me as my experience with photography grows that it is hard to find new and exciting topics and strategies to shoot. And I often want to explore different approaches and angles. In fact, to Rexer’s point of view, it is not necessarily of the importance of the object/frame that are powerful but the idea, the "personal intuitions of the world and one's connection to it", reflected behind. I guess everyone can learn to master camera settings, color theory, and exposure theory as long as they work enough. It is THE idea behind it that distinguishes the masterpieces from the kind of popular internet images. Some examples shown on Rexer’s book might seem banal at first sight, since it is easy if anyone wants to remake them. But, they each introduce something people have neglected and presented them through personal eyes. 

Comments

  1. gogoblasterApril 22, 2020 at 8:13 PM

    I found this chapter to be very interesting as well! I find the unique approaches taken by contemporary photographers in our image-saturated world to be quite fascinating at times. I agree with you that the technical aspects of photography are sometimes (though invaluable for maximum control over your images) the least important aspect of the medium, at least in terms of art. It's the elusive "idea" that will shine through no matter if you shoot manual or auto, film or digital.

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