 Ken Pang |
Why do I like this photo?
I found this when I was clearing out my laptop to return to my former employer. It's a photo taken about 3 years ago when I first started photography :) Man, it seems like half a lifetime ago. It was shot with a Kodak DC-290, without a tripod and a long exposure. IT's just after sunset and the sky is in reality a lot darker than the photo shows. I forced the DC290 to overexpose. Despite the obvious camera shake and other technical faults (IE unlevel horizon, horizon divides image, hot spots distract... etc) this photo has a certain appeal to me. Does it to anyone else? I read an article by the Australian Photographic Society that they were encouraging people to get out of the "traditional" mindset of rule of thirds for landscapes, the traditional "S curve" for female full length portrait. They said some obvious "errors" could still produce not only competent photographs, but pleasing ones too. Perhaps I've stumbled on one of them, or perhaps I've just got too much emotional attachment to this photo. Give me your opinion :)
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
I think everybody's got shots like that. They will never win any awards and no one will ever buy them because they really aren't that good. I think some of mine were taken when the conditions were very good but I screwed it up somehow. But still I look at it as it might have been. It's like those fish stories about the big one that got away. Even though we didn't really land that fish it feels like we did.
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John A. Lind |
Ken, You could obviously fix the horizon (digital image). With that fixed, it's a documentary night shot of the landmark. Like Jeff, I have photographs similar to this which would likely never win an award but have an appeal to me because they "connect" uniquely with me and my life experiences. An "award-winning" photograph is not only visually appealing, but it "connects" with a wide range of viewers and the experiential basis they have when viewing it. Without some experiential reference in which to absorb an image and place it into a context for meaning, it is meaningless to the viewer, or even creates a "cognitive dissonance." A photograph conveys a message or tells a story by triggering sensual and emotional responses in the viewer (the "connecting" with the viewer part) and that is a very large part of its appeal. If you enjoy it, then enjoy it, and don't worry about whether others do or not, or find as much meaning in it as you do. :-) Continue thinking "outside the box(es)" we artificially constrain ourselves with. It allows unique and unstifled creativity, and can be used to develop a unique, personal style; one in which the veiwer, in the context of your other works, immediately identifies it as a "Ken Pang" photograph. In the world of "art" there are no absolutes, only opinions, and "everyone is a critic." The most important one for your own work is you! -- John
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Ken Pang |
Thanks for your comments John and Jeff. This one might not be hung on the wall, but it's definitely a keeper. If for no reason other than it was probably my first baby steps into photography :) Ken.
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