June 2010
The subject of artistic photography is the photographer himself,
and its content is his enthusiasm for everything that is part of his frame.
The main mistake made by photographers who engage in the art of photography (and not in its professional applications) is that they photograph events, people, or objects they believe are of some interest. They must be convinced that whatever is interesting in capturing life is already known to us, or its significance counts much more in life than in the photograph. In the first case, the photographer is knocking on open doors. In the second, his work pales in comparison to life itself. The result is that most photographs cause anything from indifference to annoyance.
The photographer, on the other hand, must realize and be convinced that the essential subject of photography is himself. That is, everything his lens sees is an extension and projection of his eye and interests him to the extent that he invests photographically, emotionally, and existentially in them. The photographer chooses and organizes elements of life, yielding a new and, in the best case, unique result. The selection and organization of material are based on the photographer's exclusively personal stance towards life and photography.
If the above is accepted by the photographer, the next step is to understand that not just something, but anything in front of his lens and included in his frame is part of his selection and material. Since his gaze is unified and indivisible, and it causes the birth of a new personal event, all the details encompassed by his gaze are equally constitutive of this birth.
However, there is another extension of the above thoughts. The personal element that shapes the meaning of the artistic work is almost always the result of positive thoughts and feelings. That is, creation can only be the product of indefinable optimism and general joy. When the photographer lifts the camera and presses the button, he engages in a celebratory act of affirmation, highlighting his enthusiasm for everything (significant and insignificant) in front of his lens. Perhaps, then, there is no photography, or even, further, no work of art, when there is no enthusiastic selection and equally enthusiastic organization of its elements. Mere denunciation of wrongs through photography is just a form of applied propagandistic photography, that is, in the end, advertising, regardless of the good or malicious intentions behind it. Artistic photography, on the other hand, constitutes a positive positioning, even when it starts from negative images. The artwork always represents a way out in front of an initial deadlock.
Therefore, there is a chain in the production of artistic photography as follows: The photographer's enthusiasm for something he sees. Selection not only of the main subject but also of all the detailed elements of the frame through the privileged sense that only he is able to convey something that without him would not exist and would never come to light. Joy for the affirmation of the photographic capture. Creative anxiety and doubt about the possibility of creating a new photographic event. New joy in front of the realization of the definitive affirmation that constitutes the artistic photographic result.
If the photographer who wants to do creative photography is not excited by what he sees, there is no reason to press the button. If he does not have a positive attitude, even in the face of ugliness or misery, there is no reason to capture it. Perhaps he should fight against it or denounce it. Not to photograph it, nor to be excited about it. And ultimately, if he does not feel ownership over what he chooses to photograph, why should he turn it into an object of communication and shared emotion?
Plato Rivellis