Slow Photography #61: Good Photography is Like Making Love

"Good photography is like making love, 

it's best not to go too fast, 

and to have a good attitude."

Jim Austin, Jimages

(Saint Mary's Church, Newport Rhode Island)

Photography has always been about speed. Today, speed itself seems to be confused with style. The mantra of today's commercial photography is: faster gear makes better images. 

I reject this view. I believe photography and digital art should be slow and thoughtful, liberated from time pressure.

Attention and intention, not speed, should define photography. 

"Every photograph is a battle of form versus content." To expand on this Garry Winogrand quote, when we engage the form-content battle, we need time to prepare, get our mental gears ready, and then engage our spirit. This means paying attention to each part of the flow...

Every
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/author/28233-Garry_Winogrand

A photograph is the illusion of a literal description of how the camera 'saw' a piece of time and space.
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/60094

A photograph is the illusion of a literal description of how the camera 'saw' a piece of time and space.
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/600943

Aird and Sandra MacIsaac, Guysborough Nova Scotia Coming Home Parade

Attention

"I believe that deliberate, slow attention 

to the subject itself is the force 

behind better photography."
 

As photographers, we create better images when attend to our internal themes. This takes daily practice, over months. To acquire and maintain a skill, so the mind is free to improvise, means that little mental effort goes to the mechanics, and our full attention is on the emotion of the image, and on those details that make it unique. 

To practice attention, each morning I take a camera outdoors and rehearse compositions and framing. It does not matter if most of the images are deleted. What counts is the practice, slowing down the process of seeing until it becomes timeless.

 
Intention

A photographer needs intention. It is an attitude. I try to fill my practice with an intentional purpose. This lets me focus on what I want to accomplish with no doubt that my skills are improving. This takes time. 

"No matter how slow the film, 

Spirit always stands still long enough 

for the photographer It has chosen."   

Minor White

 

 

Letting Go of Gear Grinding


When we spend more time composing and contemplating, and less time thinking about numbers and gear, our pictures are more successful. Obsessing over settings, lenses and strobes, we lose freedom. True liberation comes from breaking the chains gear obsessed thinking. 

I believe I can get more out of the equipment I have. Why? Because I've already gone through its learning curve. Long ago, I decided that each gear purchase must already fit the bag that I carry on my waist. When I've ignored this rule in the past, extra gear sits there on the shelf, unused.

The only thing that gets in the way of a

 really good photograph is the camera. 

Norman Parkinson

I used to believe that photography was about sharpness.  Now, this belief, like a thought balloon, has drifted away on hot air. Attention has taken over. I believe that deliberate, slow attention to the subject itself is the main force behind better photography. As lovers, when we make love, we pay attention to the object of our passion. Why not the same as photographers?

Glass from a lighthouse, Little Stirrup Cay Lighthouse building basement, Bahamas

So, Slow Photography is not about time exposures, gear choices, or moving slowly. It is about the meaning of our images, and how we might train our minds to pay mindful attention.

Stone in a creek, Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

A Slow Photo ATTITUDE

Slow Photography beckons us to the warm, sunny regions between two poles. To the north, the Arctic is a habitual land of over-thinking and under-shooting our photos.

   To the south, around the southern extreme, the endless winds of over-shooting and under-thinking can strip meaning from our pictures. Thus, many have died near this pole in those shrieking, frozen gusts. Yet, there is always hope to change our minds, and thus our attitude.

   Under-shooting, it is tempting to rush a scene. At the time I press the shutter, I tend to think “that was a good frame.” Later on, with careful editing, I see that a slightly different angle would have worked better: "If I'd only moved to the right two inches." Over-shooting, I wonder: “Why didn't I slow down and take more time to explore the scene.”

 

 

"Truth is not spoken in anger; great photographs are not made because you feel a strong emotion when you click." 

I believe that frame of mind is the most valuable tool in the gear bag. Our attitudes become patterns. These patterns become actions. Our actions, with repetition, shift into habits. Positive mental habits are our most effective gear. 

Pumice in a tidepool, Bahamas Ragged Islands

Slowing down, I can see more, look for longer, and take more time to care about the ethics of making my photographs. Before a shoot, I actively rehearse how to ensure the safety of my subjects. 

American Egret on top of mast, South Carolina, USA.

A Slow Craft

   Photographs can be crafted slowly over time. It is OK to make failed compositions; these will precede the good ones. Like bottling a gallon of maple syrup from 40 gallons of tree sap, a photograph combines experience, patience and practice. Changes in temperature, pressure and in the tree itself influence the quality of the maple syrup.

Our soul invites us when to press the shutter; it know what lights our mind on fire. It is our passionate love for the subject that keeps us out there, making meaningful photographs.

 
Thanks for your visit. 
Jim

(text and photographs Copyright 2015 Jim Austin Jimages)