How do you see yourself?

Lately there has been quite a bit of discussion on the internet about what is acceptable in photography and what is not. There has just been an excellent post on Art Wolfe’s blog (which you can read here) where he stated a great point in his interview with Jim Goldstein. He said, that it depends on how photographers see themselves.

Photography means something different to all of us. That’s what is so wonderful about it. It is an expression of ourselves on how we see a subject. Some of us like to do so with as little post processing as possible, others create incredible pieces of art with the help of photoshop. Just the choice of lenses, filters, angle of view give us so many different ways to look at a subject. What matters in the end is that  you are happy with you own work. As long as you do not enter it into a competition and have to adhere to certain rules, it is up to you to decide what works for you. We all need to find our own style. I am certainly still trying to  define mine. Yes, seek inspiration from great photographers, have your images critiqued (which is very helpful), know the rules but don’t be afraid to try something different.

I took this picture last year in a workshop with Art Wolfe. It is an image I am sure I would not have gotten before.  I would not have even thought about it. I was walking along the edge of a pond when I noticed the reflection of a dead tree in the water. I liked the color combination, but the rest was quite boring. The water was almost calm and just the straight reflection did not make a good image. I remembered Art’s words in one of the lectures: “Sometimes just try throwing a rock at it”. So I did. Several actually until I achieved the result I was happy with. Afterward the image was flipped upside down to make the composition even stronger. So did I alter reality? Do you like it?  I do, but you might hate it.  It is up to you. Everyone will have a different opinion on your images. In the end it matters what works for you. We all learn through trial and error. Jay Goodrich just wrote a wonderful post about this recently. You can read it here.  So don’t be afraid to experiment and try something new. Go out and take some pictures, make some images, and most important,  have fun doing so!