Rob, you make it sound as if an artist doesn't need skill, or that someone who masters his/her trade cannot be creative as well. I do not see the schism, the either/ or. The creativity and skill-set can go hand in hand, in fact enforce each other.
In fact, technical skill can even go unnoticed if done well and the subject matter/composition is strong, but it will enhance the experience. But lousy technique will pull down an otherwise nice creation. Selective focus and Bokeh fall in that category.
It's usually more obvious if one were to be offered a choice. One version with lousy technique, and the same image/composition with good technique, you can pick one for free, which would you choose ...
And then there are those who master both to the extreme, quite a different genre almost as a gimmick but perfectly executed, like Spanish photographer Chema Madoz. He often uses objects he finds in the streets, and makes a studio composition that confuses people into seeing something different than what is shown. I've also attached an older example of his work.
That's an example of one of many types/styles of photography that wouldn't work as well if technique/skill and vision had been absent.
Cheers,
Bart
Hi Bart,
1. I don't think I said that was exclusively the case, that it was an entirely exclusive yes or no. What I am indicating is that those, such as here, who obsess over minor details of lenses, cameras etc. are too one-sided in their approach. If anything, they leave me with the distinct impression that their interest is in the technical and not at all in the making/catching of great images. The latter is all about instinct and eye. You can't legislate for it, run it through a meter, hang it on a brick wall and copy it or anything else: it's there or it ain't, in which case there's nothing to be done but to carry on playing at cameras and lenses.
Some of the 'greats' such as HC-B were, IMO, poorly gifted with technique - possibly because ego led them to believe their eye was more accurate than any meter. Worse, some seldom processed and printed their own work, and if you don't do that, you never learn when you are exposing badly. Film allowed no shortcuts, other than speed drying, and you all know what that did to Capa's 'Landings' films... (Some say that's crazy, that film allowed you to push, pull etc. and yes, you could, but that was always at the cost of basic quality. Nothing came for free. What you had to do was discover which set of times and temps suited the way you worked.) BUT, HC-B had an ace up his sleeve: he had a God-given instinct for event and timing.
Combination of both abilities? Avedon, Lategan etc. etc.
2. That's simply not applicable to real life. A photographer who knows what he's doing chooses technique and tools to do what he has to do. Apart from the obligatory contrarian, he won't take an 8"x10" onto the street to do 'street' (yes, I know it's been done) for life isn't like that. So, within the genre of the images between which you want me to make a choice, there's really only one that's appropriate in both style and execution.
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But, here's the thing: somebody good can make a picture sing with any tool that he has to hand. Right here on LuLa: look at Seamus Flynn's pictures and you never dream of wondering which brand camera, lens or neckstrap he uses. It's all in the images. That's photography. It was the same in the old days of fashion: you took your model and pissed off somewhere; no assistants doing anything but carrying stuff and maybe loading film, no hairdressers, makeup artists, stylists. You, the girl and the product. And how many times did the page credits read: scarf, watch or shoes - model's own? Much work from those days is now legendary. Today, as far as reading here goes, it's all about being tethered to a laptop and 'consulting' with a client and making change after change according to the monitor. That's building with bricks, not creating anything. No wonder all those identical shampoo ads look like they are made using window dummies and nylon hair! But that's not the photographer's fault, it's the team system, and all the hangers-on attempting to show themselves worthy of their pay packets and essential to the job at hand.
Damn! My coffee's gone cold.
Rob
