\_the KODAK Workshop Series ' The Art of SeeingINTRODUCTION ‘Theproblem with seeing isthat it isso fey and natural that we never give it second thought. We look. We se. What could be simpler? But behind that simple act les 2 profound pro- fs that affects how we act, think Jean, and how we photograph. ‘We eared soing early in fe And the seeing we Iearned was one that would help us survive. One that ould spot mother's face, charging Ser, and uinicked bowls of frost ing. One that would help us avoid speeding cars and guide us down stirs Not one that would help us pistogmph Afr we pad attention 10 every- thing we saw because everything was sew and interesting. Cupboard abn bbls, leaves were all given ther duc. But eventually they became dat in boring. So we learned (0 ‘ignore. After the ist few years of ie, wwe ignored more than we saw, and four seeing became casul and une eventful, Our ways of seeing were st ‘Sometime later in life we put car cera to eye and began photographing. ‘What did we photograph? We photo sraphed what appealed to our habits fof casual seeing. We photographed things we thought were supposed to bephotographod because we had seen similar photographs in magazines fnd books, And our results were not ‘works of art but snapshots caught by fameye not yet trained aesthetically, an eye not yet in tune with the camera ‘When dissatisfied with our results, wwe often sought solutions in new lenses and filters oF in special tech niques like panning. We avoided the real solution ourselves. Seldom doesa photograph sueceed because of unusual techaigue or exotic equip ‘ment. I suoeeds for one reason. Be- ‘cause the photograph was well seen, This book wil holp you see to pho- tograph, It will put you in harmony with your camera. You and the cam- ra will function as one wil help you overcome habits of ‘ordinary sesing. It wll belp you un- derstand the ways of your seeing and how those ways cam be altered. It will rekindle your awareness ofthe many things to be photographed. It will show you the visual aspects 10 look for in a seene and how ih abitrates appearance. I will make you reexar- IF preconceptions and prejudices about what and how to photoaraph ‘But most of ll it will help you see the things only you ean seePreconceptions Admit it oF not, you have preconceptions. We all have them. The Aare unavoidable. In the depths of the mind they glide, unseen in the darkness, unheard in the silence, waiting. At the sight of a flower, 4 face, or any other photographic bait, preconceptions whee! in tunison lke a school of mackerel and carry you along unawares Elusive and intangible, preconceptions always agree, always flatier ‘never complain, never criticize. They make photography a breeze They free you from the sweat of thought, liberate you from the ‘mental calisthenics that leave the brain weary, the mind sore, they peri sear Meee pose he sa ne, Buoed by preconceptions, ou hav only to ‘eras ean es ‘hn Bose the subject (“Smile”). snap the shutter (“Hold stil”), and par ‘x Set. fr sel ihe yourself an the back ("Way to go, fella”). Why evict such ae eae agreeable creatures? Because they inhibit your phovoeraphs sor cane cePHOTOGRAPHIC PRECONCEPTIONS [A photographic preconception is preformed opinion you have about photography. You may be aware of the preconception; more often you Preconceptions take many forms. ‘You might have preconceptions about where to photograph. Have youever taken a picture in your bath- ‘wom? At the supermarket? At work? You might have preconceptions about when to photograph. Have you ver photographed at night? Tn the ruin? At wwilight? You might have preconceptions shout what and how to photograph ave you ever photographed a shoe? A beer bottle? The stem of a ower but not the flower? Do you photo- graph only preity things like flowers and waterfall? Coming to grips with your precon- ceptions isthe frst step towards bet- tersecing. In Looking a Photographs, John Searkowski writes: Phosegrapy, practiced wih high Seraress, 0 contest Been @ poigraphr an the presanpiins of (porimate and hata song. Tt Cotes com be held ampere Sy sidewalk oF in scnttic laboratory. or cmang the markers of ‘mein dead od PHOTOGRAPHIC PRECONCEPTIONS FORMATION OF PRECONCEPTIONS Before grappling with preconcep- tions, you should know more about them. How do they form? Why do they form? Photographic preconceptions start forming early in life. In the first hour after my daughter's birth, I thrust be fore her unfocusing eyes a picture of herself in her mother's arms. Within a week, I would show her a storybook full of pictures. Within a month, wheeled through the super: market, she would glimpse 30,000 produets, many with pictures on the labels. Within a year, she would chor- te at the boy on the cereal box and. wave at the baby on the diaper box ‘And in te years ahead she would leat’ through magazines and see ads show: ing toilet cleaners, deodorants, and cars sparkling and appealing With cach passing image register- ing on her eyes, neural pathways be: came established, automatically sor ing and shutting faces on this route, flowerson that and before she would ever take a picture, thousands, even, millions of images would further wear the visual pathways ‘And she saw the things pointed out by her parents. One parent might show her the breezy dance of tulips, the other a carburetor. Her future Sprinklers are ne of those things not ‘fen photographed. Bud IMs spre, photographed with the hokligh of reing sunamer san cers fo symbole ‘he qc busines of suburbia. The rch des of KoDacinowe 64 Fam ad 0 the mood. ‘ways of secing would, in part, depend ‘om what she was taught to appreciate. ‘And, in part, her ways of seeing would depend on the culture, the soc ty in which she grew. A Chinese child would sce a different world and be taught to see differently within that ‘world then would an American child. Differences would exist within the same culture. A child growing up be- neath crowded skyscrapers and with- in the blare of horns and stench of exhaust furnes would sce differently than one growing up isolated on 2 plain where the eye is unbounded and the sounds are of silence and the smells of earth ‘So has your seing been shaped by parents and culture. When you took your First picture, the photographic knowledge buried in your mind seeped tothe surface and guided your seeing, Now you are consciously seek: ing knowledge of photography by reading a book. And itis loaded with the preconceptions of the people who put it together. Only now you are forewarned. What did you learn from other photography books? Enough 10 know how to compose a picture? Enough to know the pitfalls of a slow shutter speed? Enough to be chan- reled into procedures and beliefs that may inhibit your photography? Until now you have learned from others. Now you must learn from yoursef and see for yourself. °WHAT IS A SUBIECR. WHAT IS A SUBIECT? Most simply put, a subject is what you photograph. In other words, a subject can be anything and anything can be a subject. But few photogra phers belive that. They impose re- strictions as to subjects proper for photography. From photographs they have seen in books and maga- Zines, they form definite notions as 10 what sort of things are proper sub- izes for photographs (curiously, the books or magazines sekiom sugeest only certain subjects are proper) Why impose restrictions where there are none? Instead of photo: ‘graphing things you think you're sup- 10 posed to photograph, photograph what interests you. You are your most powerful resource; so don’t ‘waste time photographing what intr ests others unless it also interests you. Your way of life, your opinions, your surroundings belong only to you. Trash cans upended in am alley, Your spouse sprinkling the lawn, suds seuling in the sink, a grocery cart ripping with rain—What you choose to photograph reveals your psyche, ‘your outlook, a unique way of see ing—your way. Photographer Bob Lewellyn puts it best, “Every photo- graph you make is a slportrat D. H. Lawrence wrote, “. .. So much depends on one's atitade, One ‘can shut many, many doors of rep- tivity in oneself; or one can open ‘many doors that are shut Have you been receptive to the ‘orld around you? Review your pho- tography to see what you consider to be subjects. Are you unnecessarily limiting yourself” Do you photograph ‘only comentional subjects like silk boats, lowers, and people? Have you ever photographed a washcloth, 3 tub, a tree root, an abstract of leaves? Why not? Edward Weston found “beauty” in a bedpan. Irving Penn found it in cigarette butts. Pete Turmer found it im a trash canWHAT IS A SUBIECT:HOW PHOTOS LooK HOW SHOULD A SUBJECT APPEAR IN A PHOTOGRAPH? From the photographs we have seen ‘and taken, we evolve definite ideas of how a subject should appear in a pho- ‘ograph. In focus, unobscured, prop- erly exposed, easly identifiable, ideal: ized (flower a its peak as opposed to wilted); these are some ofthe qualities we expoct to see. But these qualities can be precon- ‘ceptions. Why unvaryingly heed such ccdicts? Although most photographs should be in focus and correctly ex- posed, all ned not be if you can ere= atc an interesting unfocused or over. exposed image. "Nor need you always clearly show the subject or show it soit is easily identifiable. The photographs on this spread show the benefits of overcom- ing preconceptions about the uppear- ance of a subject in « photograph. To preserse the sparkling brighness af a mmioed sed ots dew meadow. the (Photographer overexposed shde fim by tne stop. The nto focus was made large by using large fistep. 25. ‘By paming ot the sow ster speed of 123 second, the photographer mae a ‘host and deteate mage of« sean. To btn sow slater speeds shoot under din light se a sow. speed fim such as KKooscnxowe 25 Fim, or reduce light ‘reaching the film with a polarize oF seutral density fer 2HOW PHOTOS LOOK Most photographers show subjects early. Hut Lewellyn purposely ches o sewpomt placing tangle of Branches in front of the Capitol bulling—perhaps 1 Suggest the tangie of politics. In these to picmwes flare wet sed reatively. For the wob- repped bug, flare pattern of hexagons caused by the ‘Baphragm in the her picture, i amply forms aSHOULD A SUBJECT BE THE SUBIECT? SHOULD A SUBJECT BE THE SUBJECT? Toadegrec hard to measure and hard to understand, language influences how we reason and, therefore, how wwe photograph. For instance, in pho- tography we repeatedly come across the term subject. In the English lan- ‘guage and the language of photogra: hy. we usually think of a subject as some object, some thing—a bam, a boat, a person. ‘The focus on things is reinforced by our culture. We are surrounded by things. Calculators, woks, roller states, stereos, flea collars, and thou- sands of other things abound. So giv- ce the tlt by language and society, it may be excusable to subconsciously think of photographie subjects as things. But photographs need not be of distinct things. They can be of washes ‘of color, sprays of light, arrangements of shapes, progressions of tones, They can even be of conglomerations of things without making one thing cen tral, without placing one particular subject so itis identified as the thing photographed. Instead, the picture can draw power from all rather than fone, as in the street scene by Lee iedlander. Making “subjectless™ pictures can be hard. Viewers used to having the subject waved under their noses may balk when no single subject greets them. Should the viewer indulge then you must come through and find scene in which disparate clements lite to say one thing Although most of us photograph scones we find, some photographers must fabricate. They must invent their own realities. They do so by making collages of drawings and blueprints and hairbrushes, or by building exotic papier maché figures and then photographing them. They construct whatever suits their pur poses. and then photograph their constructions. These photographers are express: ing ideas and concepts not easily stat cd by photographing found things. Their photographs may seem uncon \entional, especially when first seen They may even seem absurd to those accustomed to seeing pictures of the world around them. But many of their pictures are interesting, because like a riddle oF a crossword puzzle they challenge the viewer to solve the logic behind them. Others are simply visually entertaining, and some sim- ply don't work But all show that photography peed not be limited by traditions and preconceptions as to what isa subjectSHOULD A SUBIECT BE THE SUBJECT? By exrcorin the thin ofHOW THINGS LOOK HOW THINGS LOOK We know how things look. Or think we do, Imagine a tree, a flower. a car. The mental images we conjure are probaly quite similar, harking back to early childhood when mother held us in her lap and pointed to the page and said, “That's a tree.” and traced her finger from trunk to branches From the very beginning the mind, faced with a welter of shapes, forms and colors, sought to simplify. It did so by classifying differences and simi larities. For each of the hundreds of common objects, it sketched the dif ference or similarities into a few men: tal images that stood for tree, lower, car, house, chair. By being reductive, bby making one stand for many, the ‘mind found it easier 10 remember and comprehend. The danger is that we may photo- raph according to those stereotypes. A tree, a flower, a car—don’t simply sec the images trapped by the mind. See things not how they have looked but how they might look. En- vision possibilities Imagine. Work atHOW THINGS LOOK A re, « flower, a car, a lighthouse, « prin, a horse we Rnow how there resupposed to look But here the fe soreotyperOVERCOMING PRECONCEPTIONS ‘OVERCOMING PRECONCEPTIONS Facing preconceptions ean be pain- ful. Why? Because you are question. ing your values, your logie—no easy thing—but you must do it Review your photographs, looking for patterns of subjecis. viewpoints, camera technique. What is good ‘about your photography? What needs work? Ifyou have trouble being objective about your work (and most of us do), ask a friend (even if your friend knows Title about photogra- phy) to look at and talk about your photographs. A friend won't hi your prejudices and may calighten you. Be a stem self-