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Why Are You a Photographer?

When my three-year-old son Michael asked me the question, “Daddy, why are you a photographer and not a carpenter?” I could not answer the question fully. What are my motives? Are they pure or selfish?

Am I in it for the money which is obviously a selfish motive? Or am I in it to promote true photography for everyone? The answer did not come in a flood of inspiration. It took a great deal of soul searching, studying my motives, goals and ambitions. Perhaps this search itself is a continual evolutionary process as we grow and mature in photography.

One thing that was immediately outstanding in my mind was the privilege we have to be free. Freedom to study photography, not hemmed in to a set productivity and able to explore the facets with our individual talent, energy and goals. If we set our goals high, and a driven photographer would, perhaps never reaching maturity, we reach only our secondary objectives ripening to fruition. The discipline becomes a way of life and not merely a job to make a living.

Education

Photographic education is definitely wanting at the professional level. A person may claim to be a professional photographer without even so much as having had a correspondence course, which in itself would not produce a qualified practitioner. Some make this claim feeling justified because they own the equipment, but this is obviously unlearned thinking.

The title photographer has never been justifiably proclaimed, although more and more self-proclaimed photographers are appearing on the scene like lemmings running to self-destruction. The title ‘photographer’ must be earned like that of doctor, lawyer or professor. Unfortunately our social understanding of this title has lowered its worth because of the self-acclaimed photographers leaving doubt in the public mind. I might add understandably so.

The salvation of this once prestigious craft or art must come first by educating the photographer, which in turn through osmosis will upgrade the value of photographers to everyone.

Objective Versus Subjective Learning

A concrete foundation or stone must be laid cementing photographers together upon a common ground. This can only come about through objective learning. In our past, we have been seduced into believing that subjective learning is the norm or only way, just because it has worked for others so it must work for you. At this point, I would like to clarify the meaning of objective and subjective learning.

Let’s start with the latter. Subjective learning is common knowledge to most so-called photographers. Demonstrations suggest even more dramatically that it demands their expert usage of certain principles. For example, place the equipment like I do, and then you will be rewarded with this result. Another demonstration will suggest the usage of lights in another way. In this case, it may be illustrated to use only three lights like I do, use only one and reflect it in the same way as I do, or use eight lights and place them exactly this way.

Never enlightening the photographer with what the light is or does because of the way the light is used, the individual is not much the wiser. I am not degrading the value of learning via subjective teaching, but rather its premature usage. A child cannot learn to run before they have learned to walk. Before the beginner can comprehend what the demonstrator is teaching, they must first have a common ground of understanding.

Objective learning lays the foundation. The instructor that has the capability to teach what light does, for example, can then advance to multiple lights and what they accomplish. Additionally, they may then advise about the different types of lights used such as parabolic, umbrella, natural, etc., and their end results. Similarly, various lenses may be shown and guidance provided as to their end results, as well as their effect upon a scene may be discussed. Learning the effect of certain materials or equipment and their respective usage leaves the photographer better informed and educated. Then they are able to put together what they envision the end result should be from understanding the effect of the material and equipment used.

In objective learning processes, the photographer is allowed to use their own imagination through an understandable usage of materials. Consequently, each photographer may use different equipment and light that they have envisioned, producing an end result in a unique and individualized manner rather than copying a demonstrator.

Learning the various effects of light will not restrict us in its usage. Whereas copying a demonstrator restricts us in using the light exactly the same way as we were taught, thus limiting our imagination. The various possibilities that we might have been able to use to portray our subject were restricted.

I would like to interject at this point and mention why I feel we have been bombarded with only subjective learning. Firstly, our instructors are definitely unqualified to teach objectively. Secondly, the labs tend to dictate to most photographers that their job would be easier if we all expose our negatives the same way. To play the game then, we must follow the rules that appear to be in authority. Relinquishing our freedom to understand photography and its materials, we are then enslaved to the standards imposed by a lab.