Inspiration to work harder

The days run by me like sprinters doing the 100 meters over and over and ... "Stop!" I want to yell, because I really don't like to run that fast and it kind of makes me feel stressed out to not hang in there, to see time speed by so ... industrious. Shoot, I want to be as industrious and make a lot happen in the time, not to feel like I'm on a free joyride or a sad bystander... all along. But, the only true antidote would be to start being productive and cough up some good stuff. - Sigh!

To think about this rushing time made me want to photograph it. And that is really not easy to just "do". So I spent several days thinking about it in the back of the head, then went over to the road by the petrol station (yes, there runs a road there, for some reason) and shot a few shots with plenty of f in it, put them in my melting pot and stirred a bit, and even threw a few software spells in there too.


Doooobee-doobe-doo ...

Some of the "unproductive" time during my well earned holiday I spend reading Susan Sontag's On Photography. It is a very enlightening and rewarding read, the kind that make you hungry for more, and more, and more ... and the kind that make you feel like a tiny chihuahua underdog with a pit bull (named Susan) hovering above you growling out truths you would never have dreamed up if you got a thousand years of beauty sleep. (Even so I could like a thousand years beauty sleep! - Evil tongues would probably say I could need it too.)

Sontag's book is a collection of essays, seven of them, tangling with the photography and photographers as a phenomena that has changed how we humans see the world. I sense true concern from Sontag, as if she believes the change in perception is a danger and a dark, scary, evil thing. She never says as much straight out, but I sense this concern within her and want to comfort her and say to her,


"Hey, it can also be that computers and smart phones and tablets and ... and vacuum cleaners! have the same effect on us - and it is all part of the flow of time, the thing we learned from our parents to consider as progress and to consider as a beneficial thingy. Relax, flow with it and like the good things about it too, silly!"

But ... instead of talking down to a dead woman much smarter than me, maybe I should watch my own attitudes and thoughts and ideas and ... this concerned critique helps to understand photography better, exactly because it is critical and scrutinizes the image makers, light painters, photo artists as a group - and even make fun of the artsy snobs among them.


I've read the first four essays now, underlining most of the text in all four of them. But rather than siting her truths out for you all, I'd encourage you to read Sontag yourself. If you don't want to buy the book, go to the local library and borrow a copy to read.

- Hush, go now!

I used to collect quotes when I was younger, tons and tons of quotes - because they gave me something I needed back then. The strong urge to collect is over, also because quotes can be found all over the internet. But my previous hobby makes me understand the ones that collect photos - and for instance on Facebook or G+ there are tons of people collecting photos others have taken, because they find something in the images they think worth sharing and worth forwarding to others.

Because I have found so much joy in photography as a hobby I prefer to share my own images rather than other people's work. Not because I believe my snapshots to be better than theirs, but because the snapshots are mine, my expression, even if not unique or extraordinary, they are what I see. - And what I see, my view of the world, is what I wish to share with others, - good or bad! I still feel that I'm at preschool when it comes to many things about photography, that the process towards finding a genuine and true platform from where too make my expression is a far way off. Thank heaven I'm in no real big hurry to get there. (I'm enjoying the way there too much to get impatient.) So what's the joy in learning?

One inspiration to go on learning more, to get better, is the genuine feel of actually making improvement. "Hay! I took one good shot out of twenty instead of out of hundredandsixtyeight. Hey I managed to remember to do this and that and to think about DOF and lightning and composition all at once, hey I managed..."

Another inspiration to go on learning more, is all the different toys you can play with - time laps gear, remote controls, filters, blitzes, lights, software on your computer, new firmware on your camera and ... praised be the luminous photogs, maybe even a new lens or camera! (Sigh)

Yet another inspiration to go on learning more, is the fact that there is always more to learn around the next corner. And even though you may never hope to be in the same league as your photographic icons - whoever they might be - you might have a hope of at least creating something viewable to others.

- If you can see the rush of time in the photos above, then I caught a big one today! 

Now: Can you guess which one is my favorite?

Photgraphriends

How is it with you? Do you have friends that photograph as enthusiastically as yourself? Friends you can spend hours with discussing almost nothing else but f-stops, auto focus, lense choices, camera rumors and motives with? Friends you can photograph as they are photographing, so that you get a photo of your hobby without having to make self portraits or sneak around at photo happenings and shoot people sub rosa?

Of course, the most important part with a friend is to have the interaction in conversation, not to have them as motives. To discuss photography with others is a refreshment of the motivation to photograph too - if the person you talk to give you the same glow that you play up, mash together and throw at her.

To some extent you can find such friends online as well - or acquaintances if you want to use a more appropriate term for it. Sometimes they throw out a subject that really interest you in public and reap so many good answers you'd want to share the result with as many as possible. Here's one excample:

G+er Catherine Hall threw out the question What is your favorite photography online educational resource and why? and was answered by quite a few with good tips on learning resources on the Internet. It feels like it would be almost wrong of me not to share this.

But despite the possibility of sharing lots on the Internet, nothing compares with meeting a friend over a good cup of phototalk!

Yes I do have one of those look-like-a-lens coffe mugs!

Friday 22. June I had a day trip to Oslo to help someone who had to go consult a doctor there, and couldn't go alone. Luckily we came to the Hospital two hours before our first appointment, so we walked down to the Vigeland Park to see the angry boy and other sculptures.

"Sinnataggen" is one of the most famous of Gustav Vigeland's sculptures. If you look at his left hand it is worn as a result of tourists touching it.

As a contrast, just next to the angry boy, stands a quiet girl - and hardly anyone looks twice at her.

Anger fascinates us more than friendliness, obviously. What I found fascinating walking around in the park, was all the tourists wanting to see the sculptures. The weather was really good and the time of day kind of perfect for tourism - but even so it was quite crowded for a day just before the summer holidays start here in Norway. Quite a few of the tourists were Asian, by the looks of it. And quite a lot of the tourist took tons of photos. Well, then I didn't stick out much, did I.