Art and Photography
Over the years my wife, Patti, has turned me into a lover of art museums and art. But it has only been in the last 10-15 years that I have really gotten into it. Photography can be so much about the buttons. It can be so much about jumping on the latest trend or new piece of equipment. There are many artists from the past whose work I never tire of viewing. There is so much to be learned from looking at their portraits and their landscapes! When it comes to portraits, the French artist, Auguste Renoir, in my opinion, is without equal. Much of what I do is influenced by him. But even though he was a master of classic portraiture he was very innovative in many areas. There is a quote by Renoir that, in my mind, says it all. He was talking about painting but it certainly applies to my craft as well. "PAINTING WAS INTENDED, WAS IT NOT, TO DECORATE WALLS. IT (THE PAINTING) SHOULD BE SOMETHING TO CHERISH, JOYOUS AND PRETTY, YES PRETTY! THERE ARE ENOUGH ANNOYING THINGS IN LIFE WITHOUT OUR ( THE ARTISTS) CREATING NEW ONES! You can substitute the word photography for painting and the photographer for the artist and it is true today!
Portraits need to be things of beauty. They need to stand the test of time. Renoir was born in France in 1841. I haven't seen any of his works that wouldn't look great hanging on any wall today. His work is timeless. Portraits need to be timeless too. I have had the honor of copying many old photographic portraits from the first half of the 20th. century. Almost all of them would still look good on any of our walls today. They have that classic, timeless quality.
In my opinion, photography today has become much like the fashion industry. Photographers are jumping from one new fad to another without taking the time to ponder where that image will be in 50 years. Will it still be gracing the wall of some home or will it be behind a cabinet in a damp basement somewhere or will it be gone altogether? This doesn't mean that photography has to be boring! But it is my job as a master photographer to make timeless images! In the world of "more is better" I still offer the challenge that in many things "less is more"!
These images are examples of what I am talking about. They will all look good in 50 or 100 years! They are timeless, even the basketball image that seems not to fit with the others. Basketball is very important to Zach and this image shows this. There are a variety of things going on in this image. First, we have a traditional treatment of Zach in the foreground and then the image goes to the place where Zach plays the game. In the gym we have created a sequence of action images of Zach doing his thing! Last, to make it more personal we have included his signature and the school mascot. In the years to come this will be a much more meaningful picture than just Zach wearing a basketball uniform holding a basketball. It is timeless in the sense that it tells the story of a very important chapter in his life.
One final thought. I said that I believe that photography today is a lot like the fashion industry. I know anyone reading this can easily remember purchasing something - an article of clothing, shoes, jewelry, or something else - that, when you ran across it a year or more later, you thought...Why did I every waste my money on THAT! My job as a master photographer is to make sure I don't create any LEISURE SUITS, STIRRUP PANTS, BELL BOTTOMS, OR PET ROCKS! I want the images that I create to be timeless! The greatest compliment I could get is that, in 100 years or so, some great-grandchild will take one of my images somewhere and want reproductions made to give to other members of the family. The compliment is that generations of the family liked the image so much that it had been kept and was available to be reproduced.
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