Wow! Many terrific thoughts here. Appreciate the participation.
Back to vanity.
I don't know if you meant it this way, Russ, but I am aware of the double entendre in, "All is vanity." As I think about the discussion here, which incidentally warms my heart, I have to be honest in that when I opened my 500px account, my primary motivation
was to see how I compared to other photographers. Wasn't hubris the great Greek sin? And that kind of vanity would lead to all sorts of score keeping and perhaps compromises in approach that I mentioned in my previous posts. In retrospect, what a silly notion! "Atta boys" are great, but not really the point; I don't want to be V.V. or H.C.B. or A.A. or even Slobodan
But we've all enjoyed mentorship to mature, some of it technical, some of it aesthetic, some of it spiritual and I guess that therein is where the communal aspects of artistry become important. Likely this is an oversimplification.
But Rob C is right (again)! I have often suspected or felt the need to "wander in the wilderness" with my camera. This brings me to the other usage of "vanity." It cannot be pointless to pursue our art, even if it means that we won't necessarily break new trails. I believe that is not what Russ meant when he quoted Ecclesiastes. There must be value in "re-re-discovery" or else what's the point of anything? If there is none, I don't need to visit Majorica because many have already discovered it. If I know about A.A. and see a beautiful moon rising over a peaceful cemetery, should I snap away or should I just gaze in reverence? But if I do make the capture, what then? If the PP makes
ME happy, should I share that image? Of course I would, especially if I hadn't heard about A.A. Imagine the realization that I had "seen" if not "pre-visualized" something one of the great photographers of our time had iconized. So, it's not pointless to continue stretching forward; it is not vanity. But that still leaves the question of sharing: whether to or not. I will leave that for now.
imagine starting on a sailing boat only to realise, after you've blown your pennies, that you were really a motorboat person at heart!
I spent most of my life as a scientist, anal-yzing everything I did (can you tell?
) and while I blew some pennies doing that, regardless of what the folks at 500px may think of my posts, I know that photography feeds my soul. That alone is why it is not a vain endeavor to pursue it. I will take my camera and wander alone.
No polemic here, just working through some of my own thoughts and discoveries. Slobodan, I thought it was Trump!
Russ, I have been looking at those books and going to those museums and my appreciation continues to grow. Eric, I'd love to visit the group in Boston! Slobodan, you know I have been banned from FB!