Photography is a visual medium. Have you noticed that? And yet, so many photographers (myself included) like to write about photography, whether for a blog or magazine or what have you. Talk, talk, talk, so much talk at times. Much of the writing focuses on the how or the what, tips and tricks on how to do this, and where to photograph that. Mercifully, more and more writing these days focuses on the creative and philosophical side of photography. It occurred to me recently that almost all of this talk is directed at fellow photographers. Very few non-photographers subscribe to photography magazines or read photography blogs. Why would they? Workshops are attended exclusively by photographers. So are photography conferences like Out of Chicago. When I give a presentation to a camera club I talk to other photographers. We talk to each other, we share our work almost exclusively with each other. When I was on Instagram it was mostly other photographers who followed me. Facebook was a bit more balanced, but that was the exception. Our audience is almost exclusively our peers, and it got me wondering. Is that healthy? Is it like that for painting or music?
I’ve been practicing photography for over 25 years, but I didn’t begin writing about it until several years ago, inspired by the likes of Guy Tal and Brooks Jensen (editor of Lenswork magazine), among others. If you’re reading this you are no doubt aware that my writing focuses on the creative side of photography and all that living an artist’s life entails. I have found it connects with other photographers, often more than my photography, which I find ironic. But, what about the rest of the world, those who aren’t photographers? When do they see my work or read my writing? The sad fact is, seldom. Exhibitions are one way, but those opportunities are few and far between, not to mention often prohibitively expensive. The aforementioned Facebook is another way, although it is hard to imagine a shittier platform for sharing our work. And so, my images accompany my writing, both of which are seen only by other photographers.
It doesn’t seem like this is the case for other artistic mediums. As a performance art music is always played in front of or listened to by non-musicians. Listening to music has always been a favorite pastime of mine, and yet I can’t play a note. My knowledge of music is rudimentary at best, yet it profoundly moves me. I don’t need to understand music to appreciate it, even more complex music. Painting is comparable to photography in that painters write blogs and share their work on social media or in exhibits. Still, it feels like painters reach a more diverse audience of artists and non-artists than photographers. It doesn’t seem as incestuous as photography.
And so we exist within our little bubble, talking to each other, sharing our work, often photographing together. The problem, however, is that we are not educating the public as much as we are educating ourselves. My writing and teaching are naturally directed toward other photographers. One of my goals is to make other photographers aware of the creative and expressive potential of photography, just as I was made aware of years ago. Okay, so they become aware, and armed with this newfound knowledge and inspiration a few of them begin to make more creative photographs. But, what about the public? Are they aware of photography’s potential beyond a recording device? Rare is the opportunity for the public to view our work and when it is viewed it is largely by an uneducated public. In my experience photography is still saddled with the public’s expectation of reality. Painting has always been allowed to be whatever it wants to be, photography not as much so. I have written about my experiences exhibiting my work at a local arts center where I live. Give them an abstract photograph or even a black-and-white photo and many of them don’t give it the time of day. Creative works are often not as immediate as those with easily digestible aesthetics and require a greater investment of time and effort on behalf of the viewer. Granted, not all audiences are the same. If we wish to make more creative and personally expressive photographs that go beyond objective representation then we need an audience that will take the time to appreciate what the artist wishes to express. I’m just not sure how we get there if all we do is talk to each other.
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