Dec 11 2009
My Inspiration? My Admiration?
Richard Avedon’s photography in the MoMA is something that I couldn’t walk away from. A photographer myself, I have a distinct and very narrow-minded opinion on what “good” photography should look like. In fact, most pictures I see I don’t like – I always find a way to criticize them and find a flaw.
Richard Avedon, however, is one of the very few photographers by whom I have ever been impressed. I stood at each photograph for a very long time, analyzing everything – from lighting, to composition, to angle, to focus, etc. I was utterly fascinated and tried to absorb everything. In fact, I started taking photographs of Avedon’s pictures, for purposes of enjoyment in the future. Then a thought struck me – maybe I should just enjoy what is in front of me and for once, not worry about documenting every aspect of what is in front of me. So that is exactly what I did – I put my camera away and admired how another photographer used his.
What I loved the most about his photography was his use of macro. I am a huge fan of macro photography so that appealed to me tremendously. What I admired the most was his ability to photograph people in a very genuine, almost “candid camera” way. The pictures showed the inner beauty of each subject, something that only a genius can achieve.
Although I will not try to imitate his photography, as that would take away from the authenticity of my photography, I will keep Richard Avedon’s pictures and techniques in mind.
Is there such a thing as “good” photography, Alina? I mean the same can be said about any art. Like is there really such a thing as “good” music? I think aesthetic things like the arts really are relative to the person. It’s too subjective to be clear-cut “good” and “bad.”