攝影藝術理論 業餘攝影拍什麼——怎樣做一名業餘攝影師？【The Photographic Eye - Alex Kilbee】【攝影藝術理論】

Amateur photography is dead Or at least that's what the title of a recent article I read on the website Emulsif boldly stated The author claimed that amateur photography has ceased to be simply a record of us documenting our lives And the things that capture our enthusiasm Created for the sole purpose of just saying this is me and who I am And that rather over the past decade or so It has metamorphosed into a weird hybrid of professional photography Where for most people they are selling themselves A sort of social currency if you will Why do we photograph professionals? Because it's their livelihood And amateur photographers seem to have forgotten why And that's the real issue Amateur photography isn't dead It just smells funny And it's time to remember why we turned to photography in the first place The pure joy of taking a photo For the sole purpose of just taking a photo We're going to rediscover this joy that you had Through the eyes of the most perfect amateur photographer of all time Jacques Henley-Lautry Howzit howzit Since I started this channel There's been a lot of interest shown in my own photography And the truth is At least for my personal photography I don't really show very much of it online I have a half-baked Instagram account Which is primarily for my studio photography I used to have a few images on Tumblr And outside of those things Not really much else online In previous videos And if you're interested in seeing them And you haven't already I'll link for you at the end of the video I put forth the idea that you should create photography That pleases yourself first and foremost And in this video We're going to explore why We are creating those images to start with What is their purpose? Have they got one at all? Are we required to promote our photography Across as many platforms as possible In the modern world In pursuit of light? Can you be a successful photographer If no one ever sees your photographs? I want to reset your passion And reconnect you To why you first picked up a camera And I thought The best person to help me with this Is Jacques Henley-Lautry A French photographer Who started taking photographs as a young child In the early years of the 20th century If you look up amateur photographers In the dictionary You're going to see a picture of Lautry He is quite simply I think, believe The perfect amateur photographer And his approach to photography I believe is the antidote To the modern obsession With social validation Lautry was given his first camera At the age of seven And naturally as a young boy He photographs the things that interest him You know his images Are full of enthusiasm They're full of whimsy And family just being Well just a family There's no greater purpose To his photographs Than simply pointing the camera Tripping the shutter And in his own words Capturing the most endearing moments Of his life I'm sure a lot of us Can understand and empathize With this vibe of things This magical box in our hands Through some mystical process Has created an image And once that image was taken Without thought of how it may be used Later on to stroke our egos Or to gain us fame We moved on to the next image And the next The process itself Was enough to keep us enthralled This is where we need to be again As amateur photographers In this place of wonder Where we care less In fact we don't care at all About where this photograph may end up And just give ourselves Over to the moment There's too much emphasis In the modern world At least as far as I'm concerned On this idea That somehow we are owed something In return for being creative That that photograph over there That one on the frame next to us Got so many more likes And yet my photograph Is far better And therefore far deserving Of more praise You know a great person Once said that comparison Is the thief of joy And I believe that Has never been more true Than the world of online photo One upmanship And Shriek almost again From the beginning of his career Placed his photographs in albums Not portfolio cases Designed to show off his work But large albums Simply for his own And to a lesser extent His family's enjoyment Despite the fact that I used The word family These weren't he said family albums But rather they were himself In picture form You know the album was him And everything he loved And everything that interested La Trigue He was the album And the album was La Trigue The photographs were taken They were developed Lovely printed And carefully placed in the albums And then well nothing really He just put them in an album And like that was it If La Trigue didn't do anything With his photographs Then why did he take them In the first place I'm a big fan of cooking analogies In photography And rather happily La Trigue has used a cooking analogy To explain why he took photographs He said cooks pick cherries To make jam and to eat the jam He said I'm a cook Who likes to pick cherries Make the jam But I like to eat fresh fruit When pressed about the point Of making jam at all La Trigue said that At first he used to pretend That he'd taken a photograph Of something he enjoyed But the process wasn't quite the same And besides he hated Seeing all of those cherries Go to waste It's just simple concept Nothing grand or attention seeking No worry about how this image Or the next is going to be received Just his own eyes roaming unhindered And seeking the next cherry to photograph We are all more than able Of becoming the photographers We feel we are capable of being The basic skills They'll help us get us started The real key to unlocking that potential Is understanding why we feel this urge To create photographs in the first place If there were no plans Beyond this idea of picking cherries For La Trigue's photography Then how was it That somebody like Richard Avedon That legendary American photographer Saw La Trigue's work on display At the Museum of Modern Art in mid-60s And wrote to Jacques-Henri La Trigue And said that it was one of the most Moving experiences of his life And that the photographs on display Had brought me into La Trigue's world And said after all Isn't that the purpose of art Much like Vivian Meyer in the mid-2010s La Trigue's photography Was only really discovered in his later life When he was aged 69 An agent happened to come across One of his albums I'm not sure exactly the chain of events But La Trigue spent his life as a working painter It's quite possible That he had some sort of connection there And there was a happy coincidence That this agent happened to see Some of his work of personal photographs And it set forth a chain of events That led to this MoMA show And La Trigue's exposure in Life magazine Despite because of this La Trigue having some commercial work And doing commercial jobs for people He remained ever much the amateur And he continued to be humble and modest About his photography Creating work simply for the love of creating it When pressed about Why one of his most famous photographs Was considered to be great He simply said For that you must ask the collectors For this photograph next to it Is equally as good I think it would be missing the point here To say that ultimately your goal Is to become famous and well known And just be humble in the meantime And make a work in secret And pray for luck to turn our head our way Now neither Meyer nor La Trigue Or countless others Whom Fortune didn't fancy I think harbored any desire To be a famous photographer They simply created their photography With a goal just to create photography La Trigue's photography isn't successful Because it was exhibited at MoMA Or moved Richard Avedon to write a letter It's successful because he approached it Like an amateur An amateur in the truest sense of the word He created his photography For the love of the process And it's this legacy That he has left with us Within his photographs It always feels like it's springtime A European springtime But a springtime nevertheless Looking at his images We can put ourselves in his shoes To feel what he felt To experience the world as he did The album is La Trigue And La Trigue is the album Now your photography before anything else Should be created from this state of mind And this place of being No goal beyond doing something for you If no other person other than yourself Ever sees your photography So long as the act of taking a photograph Or recording it makes you happy Then your photography will be a success The amateur photographer isn't dead Rather they, or we Although technically I'm kind of professional But at heart I'm still very much an amateur We've simply lost our way a bit Despite having the platforms available to us To show off our photography Far and wide We don't have to There's nothing wrong with Not showing your photography Off to the whole world If you don't want to La Trigue's photography is wonderful Because it wasn't created for you It wasn't created for me Or anybody else But the photographer He was unquestionably talented He was enthusiastic And extremely prolific But first and foremost though He was an amateur The photography is genuine I want you to be an amateur For as long as you can Learn, improve, evolve But do so for yourself Not as some method of getting likes From people who don't know you And don't really care about you Thanks ever so much for being here today And I look forward again to seeing you soon