PhotoTalk #3 - Stefan Sture
Let's talk about photos in the third PhotoTalk
Already the third PhotoTalk where we gonna discus a photo from one of the readers of Darkrooms.
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This photo is provided by Stefan Andreas Sture, find him here on Instagram
How to proceed?
Answer the poll with 5 questions and leave your comments afterwards.
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Now, let us know what you think of this photo by leaving a comment. If you have any criticisms, make sure you justify them - so that not just the photographer, but everyone can make up their own minds and maybe learn from it.
That’s it for this week.
Till next time,
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Unexpectedly, this humble photo has opened me up to several avenues of thought this morning about the nature of photography itself.
I find it to be a well executed photo, and a creative composition of a fairly mundane and forgettable subject. The light and tones add an extra visual element that are unique to this exact moment in time that might change an instant later.
This kind of photo is important to create and to share. It is honest and represents the thinking of the photographer, who chose this specific thing to capture from whatever other things were going on around them.
Perhaps a few years ago, that didn't say much, but these days, in the emerging push and pull between human photographers and generative "photography", it says a lot.
Can someone type in, "Black and white photo of rusty dock cranes with half shadow and half light" and get an image like this? Would they ever want to? Probably not! And thus the uniqueness of this moment and the photographer's inclination to make a photo of it becomes more poignant.
Even before generative AI, the fast and free appeal of social media has trained a generation of expediency, dosing out visual stimulation in tiny drips before moving on to the next thing. The idea of pausing a moment to ponder the meaning of something is nearly lost.
From the hundreds of photos we create in a week, we might not give much thought to any deeper meaning. In the absence of conscious intent, some meaning might still be there, just under the surface at a subconscious level. A thought form from the photographers state of mind that is embedded in the image.
Take this photo for example. Is it a study on the beauty of decay? Or perhaps a nostalgia for another time when whatever industry was supported by those rusty cranes had thrived.
Once created and set free in the world, a photo can take on a meaning to the viewer that is wholly independent from the photographers intent. This meaning can change and mold over time, in every moment where it is seen anew.
To me, that is the power of photography.
Coming back around, I find that this photo is interesting for a moment's glance. Its not the most exciting photo I will see today, or the most boring, but it does create an opportunity to ponder the nature of photography, and for that I'd say it was thought provoking.
Thanks Marcel and Stefan for inspiring my coffee thoughts.
photo is well executed, i like the lines and the way they lead the eyes from one crane to the other but the photo fails to do something for me: it lacks the wow factor, it doesn't make me "i want to go back to it"