“But… what of those who work today with equal commitment and sincerity, using straight photography in the cacophonous present? I will not name names here, but for these serious photographers the fog of time still obfuscates their efforts, and the blindness j’accuse some of the art world of suffering from, narrows their options. It means their work will almost never be considered for Documenta, or placed alongside other artists in a Biennale, or found for sale in major contemporary art galleries and art fairs. This does not just deprive the public of the work, and the work of its place, it denies these artists the self-confidence that enables them to grow, to feel appreciation and affirmation, not to mention some modest financial reward allowing them to continue to work. It is also, most importantly, seeing the world of visual art in narrow terms. It is seeing the apple as unreasonable.” – Paul Graham
Every few weeks an essay or blog post appears that seems to strike a chord with a cross-section photography folks. Those YES! EXACTLY! type pieces of writing that seem to articulate ideas and thoughts we all intuitively feel but often aren’t able to communicate. But when we read the words and see other people Tweeting and quoting the piece, we know that we’re a little less crazy. It’s comforting, but more importantly inspiring. One such article was Paul Graham’s essay ‘The Unreasonable Apple,’ a presentation he made at first MoMA Photography Forum, 16th February 2010.
In essence, he’s making an argument or plea for the importance and appreciation of ‘straight’ photography in the fine art world. He’s able to articulate much better than I, so I won’t try, but what struck me, and what I found inspiring was that he’s making this case even though he’s been widely embraced in art circles (or maybe not, but I think so). He hasn’t strayed too far from the ‘New Documents’ that inspired him to pursue photography in the first place. There certainly are many others working in this tradition that have broken through like Alec Soth for example, but for the most part it seems that if you’re out doing this work, there’s very little chance it’ll be widely seen in the fine art photography world.
But that’s nothing new, right? Very little photography deserves the accolades and attention. But much like Paul, I believe in this type of photography and want to see it reach an audience that appreciates it. I’m sure many of you can see where I’m going with this, and that’s the web. Anyone whose followed ‘street photography’ the last ten years know that it’s having a bit of a renaissance because it’s practitioners and enthusiasts have been able to network through the internet, create communities (like iN-Public, HCSP, and many others) and discover an audience many probably didn’t think existed. While I’m speaking about street photography, you should check out Nick Turpin’s post, Undefining Street Photography, which makes a point that I agree with about the essence of street photography, and really photography itself.
“When a child picks up a camera and pushes the button that simple spontaneous image is a Street Photograph, it is, first of all, a raw reaction to the scene in front of it, a person, a car, a color. That primitive urge to react, to make a picture is at the heart of Street Photography beyond any other area of picture making, it comes before any other agenda.” – Nick Turpin
It would be impossible for me to argue that these are novel ideas, but that’s not really important. What I’m excited about and what drives my passion for photography is that I know there are thousands of photographers devoted to and passionate about this type of work. And regardless whether or not it’s accepted again in fine art circles, it will be appreciated. The photographers I’m most interested in these days all seem to be working without ambition. And when I say without ambition, I mean they aren’t concerned with contests, portfolio reviews, gallery shows or a photography career (I also respect many that have fine art career ambitions. It’s not an either or situation). They’re just out there making work, refining their vision and building their audiences online. For many, that’s good enough, and for some of those photographers who were out there in the ’60s and ’70s when Winnogrand and Friedlander were making their name, gaining a bit of an audience online all these years later probably makes them feel like they’ve arrived.
We’ve been following a few photographers who have been shooting for years, and are now posting their work, new and old online. We have a few features lined up, and are always on the look out for new work. If you haven’t seen it before, check out our feature on Pierre Wayser whose a prime example of this type of photographer.
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