According to legendary photographer Aaron Siskind -
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
When I first started to take photography seriously I was in my late teens. At the time I looked at photography mostly as a means of getting me a job.
I’d been accepted to Photoschool in Pretoria. This was the mid-1990s, the end of Apartheid was happening all around us. Almost daily there would be marches up and down the street outside the Technikon. Not 40 miles away Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek along the rest of the ‘Bang Bang Club’ were documenting this historic change. When you're done reading this - here is a great interview with two other main photographers from that era
All that though was a million miles away from my thoughts as I sat in the third-story classroom listening to a lecturer drone on for the millionth time about how the farmer's wife “op de plaas” (on the farm) could shoot better photos that us on her “mik en druk kamera” (point and shoot)
I remember taking out my exercise pad with its yellow Bic pen, and whilst sitting in the same type of Government issued plastic school chair we’d all been subjected to since primary school, in the same sort of building (the only difference between this building and my high school was that we didn’t have to wear uniforms and I could have longer hair! No more short back and sides) doodling out some goals for me as a photographer.
I wanted to be famous. That basically summed it up.
In that dreary beige walled classroom sitting in the back row I decided that I was going to be a world-famous photographer by the age of 35.
That was why I’d started at photography school - to get a diploma, secure an assistant's job, and then carve out a path to stardom!
But I was searching for the wrong things. I’d totally missed the point the lecturer was making about Mrs Farmer and her point-and-shoot.
We’d all sniggered at the suggestion that an untrained yokel local could take better pictures than us with our fancy cameras and art school background.
At the time in my 19-year-old head, I figured that to be a great photographer all I needed was some better-than-average kit (That Canon EOS 1 with its fancy autofocus lenses that I lusted after was all that was holding me back!), and spend three years getting a passing mark on exams about the structure of film.
Of course, now 30 years later, I know I was wrong
What I should have been doing was acting less like a know it all and thinking about why there were people out there in the streets not so far from me risking their lives (and also dying) to take photos of historic events. Why was that lady with her point-and-shoot taking better pictures?
That quote by Aaron Siskind is a useful reminder about what I was lacking in my photos at the time.
I was looking at photography as a means to an end (getting famous)
What I was really lacking though was a deep understanding of why I took photos. Of being authentic to myself - something I only really learned in the last decade or so. Luckily I’ve been able to also help other photographers discover their unique voices too. Turns out my true passion in photography is actually helping others develop their passion :D
None of my images had feeling, compassion, or loving. I was just playing around with making ‘shock’ images. Nothing of substance.
The farmer's wife took photos that were better because she did it for the love of it. The pleasure of simply seeing the world as it looks photographed (A quote shamelessly stolen from Gary Winogrand)
The guys out there in the townships were moved by the need to share these stories with the world.
Think about why you’re taking photos. When you get a clearer picture of why there is this need inside you to hold a camera to your eye, your images will become clearer and sharper.
To pinch another quote, by Ansel Adams this time:
‘There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept'
This weekend, be true to yourself when taking a photo. Even if it’s just a picture of the family cat. This is Haggis, and he passed away in his sleep last night. It was his 15th birthday
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
Thanks for reading.
Alex
P.S
I said helping other photographers develop their passion is my passion.
To help you on this journey, I want to offer you, with zero strings attracted, free access to my course: Learning To See.
This course will give you the tools to speak the language of photography through your photos, so you can photograph your ideas more clearly.
Click here for access
P.P.S
There is an excellent documentary on Kevin Carter available (I hope) on Mubi.
Certainly worth checking out.
