What if?

What if you didn’t know anything about photography and entered an exhibition of photographs and prints to have a look around?

What would you talk about?
What information would you glean from each image?
What could you learn about photography?

when I take my great grand daughter to exhibitions which could include photographs she teaches me more than I ever could teach her.




A conversation about photography.

Me: What do you think of this one, Nevayah?
Her: Well, it’s about my people. You know. The once that we’re here first. 
Me: You mean ‘indigenous’.
Her: Yeah!. Black people like me.
Me: You’re white and blonde.
Her: I’m black on the inside. My Dad told me that. so did Nan. 
Me: So, what’s going on in the picture then.?
Her: Well, Theres crocs here. I’ve seen them. And dugongs and turtles. I’ve eaten dugong? The man might be hunting the croc or it might     be frightening him. He’s hunting anyway. But he’s lost his spear. All he’s got now is a flag. Maybe someone took His spear away and gave him a flag instead. 
Me: Do you thing it means something? Is it like a story? 
Her: (Pondering as in the photo) You need to understand, Poppy. We were here first. Someone came and took our land and to make sure, they planted a flag on a beach. Then they took away all the things we did for a long time before. Now we want it back. Not the land, so much. you can still live here. We just want to hunt crocs again. With spears.
Me: Why can’t you do that now. Can your Dad do that? Or your Nan?
Her: You don’t get it, do you, Poppy?
Me: No, I guess I don’t.
Her:  That’s because your not black like me. 



How is it possible to learn about ‘art’ without knowing about the technicalities?
While walking along the road to the future I asked a wise man how I could become a better photographer. 
“Whatever you do and learn, do not forget to become a better person”, he replied.
I walked the path to the future with him for many miles. He told me little of the technicalities of photography yet we talked incessantly about photographs. Not once did he tell me how, what, when, why. Instead, we spoke the thoughts of present and past, of context and content, of beauty, ethics, philosophy, the ways of the world, science and nature. With each step I photographed what I saw. Not once did he ever ask to see my photos. He only ever asked if I was enjoying what I was doing.
That was 60 years ago. I’ve not yet reached the future. It is no closer than it ever was. The wise man has left me. He reached his destination long ago.

Every photograph I have ever taken has meaning to me. Are they better? It doesn’t matter. I don’t compare them to then. Nor do I compare them to photographs of others. There is no point. 
Each photo is a moment in time. Each photo is different to the next.
i was hungry to learn back then, but about the wrong thing. The old man taught me that I will, on my path to the future, learn about myself and the photos will reflect that learning. 
Now when I look at other people’s photographs I see what they mean. They are moments in time of that person as they move out of the past to the present and into their future. I see what interests them, in what place they stood, who they met along the way, what beauty they saw and what dramas unfolded.
Now I know what the wise man meant by being “a better person”.
When I look at photographs I see live as the photographer saw it.

“You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”

Good question.  Kind of hard to answer because it would require to forget what I do know.  But I suspect it would be more from an artistic and historic standpoint.  Seeing that things that I admire today like composition and lighting wouldn't likely be of interest at the level it is for me today.  

Paris Gal wrote: Good question.  Kind of hard to answer because it would require to forget what I do know.  But I suspect it would be more from an artistic and historic standpoint.  Seeing that things that I admire today like composition and lighting wouldn't likely be of interest at the level it is for me today.  

Not forget, Paris, but to put aside. That’s not an easy thing to do for most humans. We rely on what we know. It’s our ‘second nature’. 
aome photographers are satisfied with what they know and trust in it to achieve what they desire. But there are pitfalls in this.

We can often be oblivious to , even unaccepting of other ways.
we also become reliant on the opinions of others for our satisfaction or reward in our own product.
This is necessary if we are earning a living from our photos. After all we all need to eat.
But there are many of us who just want to to take photographs for our own pleasure. Many here, I’m sure, have no ambition to become slave to the market place.

Whatbim suggesting is that some here might find a more relaxed and personal way to enjoy their pastime without the rigours of critical review by a multitude who’s expertise is untested, questionable, dubious and totally unnecessary to achieve a personal goal.

Finding value in an image without the constraints of rules, guidelines, suggestions, opinions and the likes and dislikes of others might be a path that is more satisfying for some, more rewarding, at times more challenging because, as you say, some in-learning is needed.

Heres a ‘What If?” for you.
Younhave been asked to give a TEDx Talk about photography to an audience who has no interest in the way photos are taken or the technical aspects of cameras, exposure and processing. 
What would your topic be?
What would you talk about?
What sort of images would you show?
What outcomes would you hope for? 

+1 more from artistic approach

"You have been asked to give a TEDx Talk about photography to an audience who has no interest in the way photos are taken or the technical aspects of cameras, exposure and processing. 
What would your topic be?"

I would approach it from a story telling experience about the shot, why it's meaningful to you as the artist.  Address any challenges with getting the shot or interesting fun facts about that particular area where the photo was taken.