I've often wondered what motivates people to take photographs, what their aims or ambitions are? I know there are professional/money earning, pleasure and enjoyment reasons but what motivates you and what ambitions do you have?

I'm motivated purely for my own pleasure to capture beautiful scenery in the areas I spend my time walking and running in. My ambitions are to produce images that I'd be proud to hang on my wall at home and to do well in some nationally respected landscape competitions, I guess mostly to gain a bit of recognition.

Of course, getting a few published on 1X is to be included as well..:)

It would be interesting to hear what your stories are especially from categories I have little experience in.

JP

I'll have a photo book published this year, and will call it a day. I did capture a few good moments in my photographic years but overall, with zero recognition, I think I'm at the end of my wits. Having a family to support from my salary, it's also a strain on the budget, and I better think of ow to save career in the real world. Recently I have developed a new and fail-proof photographic style: I enjoy taking shots and then immediately delete them, LOL.

Great topic JP and quite funny that you mention it at this time, because my thoughts on this very subject are in a little turmoil.

My dad was a keen amateur photog and this is where my love of the art came from. I first picked up his SLR at age 12 and have had a love hate relationship with it ever since. Like you my current primary motivation comes from nailing a shot that I have been after for a while or at least produce a pic that pleases me, I've never entered a comp or sold even a single pic. But my thoughts are changing. Business is not so good for my company and I am seriously considering an attempt at supplementing my income a little through some photographic outlet in some way but I'm not sure how that will pan out. I must confess that the thought of selling my work is a little intimidating, I had never thought that at some stage in my life that I might have to rely on my art and that somehow feels strange and uninviting.

But if business picks up and I can continue as a hobby photog, branching out into new styles is certainly the way that I would like to proceed, 1x has been a revelation to me in the appreciation of avenues that I had not previously thought of but I do feel inspired to give a few previously unturned leaves a bit of a blast and see what happens. Having pics published on 1x has never really been a driving force for me, I take pics and if one pops up that I think good enough, I will give it a go but I think it important to stay true to your beliefs and take photo's for fun.

Nature macro's may be my new avenue that I would like to explore! Never thought that I would say that! lol

mal

Balazs, at least you will have your humour in tact even if you call it a day photographically. You're a witty guy and have mastered the art of sarcasm which, I thought was the domain of us Brits.
Are you a bit jaded because you didn't receive any recognition? Can we just take pictues purely for pleasure without the heaped on added pressure of our perceived expectations of how good they are? Hmmm.

Mal, interesting thoughts on the hobby versus earnings potential of photography. I have to admit that I'm fortunate to have a job that can allow me to purely be self indulgent in my hobby and I have not considered selling any of my images. If anything should happen in my financial situation then I'd probably have to look at turning my hobby into earnings potential, again as you say a daunting proposition.

I don't even know if there would be a market in my style of images as they are pretty specific and I think more generic types sell better, one think I do know though is that you would have to be good at marketing yourself and being hard nosed, not my style I fear.

My driving force isn't 1X but I've got a wee self challenge to get a macro nature shot published, I bought a macro lens and close up filter a few months ago and am determined to get good at this category as it fascinates me but so far have been totally useless. I kind of feel safe with the 10-20mm nailed to my camera..:-)

JP

Me too ! Also i´m very happy if give some pleasure to others with my works, but i agree i have a old-way classic "style" and most part of people prefer some kind of modern photography. For me, the most important is not "photography", but enjoy the good moments when i take photos.

Balazs, my friend ! Have you consider to use film during this upset moment of your life as photographer ??? :-)

I'm motivated by the personal joy that photography brings me. My aim is to keep photographing for my own enjoyment and not change my style to suit others. If it means I make sales along the way I'm ecstatic as it's money I can push back into my photography in terms of buying gear or using it to travel to locations I may not otherwise be able to afford. But the financial side has never interested me and I personally find people interested in trying to purely make money out of photography disappointing as it's a hobby which can bring great joy.

I am in the begining of my way here. i love photography for the places it takes me and the relationships it develops. my goals is to make a living using the two things i love to do : meditation and photography. so it is important for me to sell my stuff:).

Just for fun, ... while having a blast, getting better. Realizing images I have in my head, caching moments nobody else sees. Something like that ... That's all, and still so much. ;)

I like it! Are you familiar with Andy Goldsworthy's work? His miraculous organic/natural sculptures swiftly melt, rot, blow or float away, so his memory of his work and his beautiful photos are all that remains.

Good advice...I should take it. :>)

You are a very good photographer. Have you had no formal or semi-formal training?

Using Balaz's technique with film is even easier than with digital...fewer steps. Just pop open the back of the (35mm) camera.

That is a very good advice,King!!

I have a Voigtlander Bessa L which I don't even need to open for exposing the film...

No, none King. I do remember a verbal volley from my dad when I dropped his prime 30mm lens in a river once, I was 12 at the time! That was a lesson that I will never forget. lol

My Dad was the only teacher that gave me any tuition when I was young, he was very much in the John Parminter mold and would spend endless hours waiting at a single location waiting for the light to be just right. He thought that I was annoying because I got bored so quickly but it is funny how some of those boring bits of advice he gave me seem so important to me now.

mal

A very enjoyable topic, John. Thanks for starting it.

Photography is my first love but, like Mal, I've never entered a competition. My early goal was to be a professional advertising photographer and be paid to take photos...not to sell prints. Been there, done that. I had an excellent education in photography and I enjoy mastering skills, even now in my 65th year. I'm still working hard at mastering Photoshop, learning Illustrator and continuing to work on website design and construction.

Having been a professional ballet dancer, it was natural to become pretty good at dance photography--and I made a lot of money at it. I was getting $2,000 a day plus expenses back in the late 70's and early 80's...no kidding. But I've never published a book.

My goals and plans:
--to stay healthy and happy because living well is the best revenge
--to retire from my day job and start a business with my wonderful wife in an art-related field, making enough money to keep us above the poverty line
--to return full time to the life of an artist (see "poverty line" above)
--to somehow find or earn enough cash to buy a pretty good digital SLR and an excellent lens or two (I have an excellent view camera & lenses)
--to build a large, outdoor, natural light (dance) photography studio in my back yard, supplemented with electronic flash
--to create my second exhibit of dance photos--very large prints of new work plus work from my archives; and, at last
--to publish a book of dance photos based on the exhibit

Please,do it,King!You are the best!!

From the moment I started 6 years ago all I wanted to do was take good pics. Didn't care who liked them or didn't. I just did it for me. That's it. No goals, no intentions. Just take pics. Lock myself in a studio and try all this crazy sh*t and hope something works out. Through a ton of lucky breaks I accomplished things before I even had the time to set a goal. Now, luckily, I think I've done it all. If it weren't for a few key people who believed in what I did I'd still be in my studio clicking away to no one. Now that that's all out of the way the goal is simple...

I just want to take good pics. Don't care who likes them or not. Just do it for myself. Funny how life comes full circle ain't it?

Grrrrrr !!!!

:-)

That's funny Mal 'cos my kids think I'm boring and annoying when I go out with my camera. I quickly learnt not to mix family affairs with photography, the two just don't mix, well not landscape anyway.

Some very interesting stories developing!

JP

Oh, please stop, Lucian. People will think I'm paying you...not that I'm against paying for compliments.

Thanks.

My goal: to print/post right out of the scanner...

Kodak has a new home office scanner with a "Submit to 1X.Com" button right next to the "Print" button.

Well now, that the easy part taken care of, now for the hard part...

My goals, until recently, [several years ago] were none other than an obsession with becoming a published photographer and author.
I spent so much time and energy; formal training, in which I failed, that there was no room in my life to notice that one of my children was in serious trouble.
One day she came home and blew her brains out in front of me with a 9mm berreta.
That was a life changing event for me. I held her lifeless body in my arms and I realized the importance of; and the insignificances of life.
I am Bi Polar, and I take medication, but my greatest joy, my obsessive aim, is to make my cameras and lens work for me in the creation of art that pleases ME, instead of for everyone else, for momentary or prolonged recognition.
THIS site is THE most influencial site that I have been a part of, that is so instrumental in providing me with this now important and gratifying self inspiration.
I dont always manage it as well as I would like to... I am human. But in my heart, I was born an artist.

Ian

My goal is to survive every night shoot I do and come home alive without having to give my cam away to some bad guy/woman. Strange peole out there at night... =)

Seriously, As I only started to photograph two years ago I still have a lot to discover. So my goal is to learn with pleasure and trying to get better...Step by step.
And another goal I have is making much more snap shots of my daughter. Time flies...;)

Ian, sorry to hear your experiences, must have been horrendous. You do touch on a subject that has affected me as well, although not to the same extreme. I was an obsessed runner and would try and run everyday, I would often got out for 3 or 4 hours at a time and this had a detrimental effect on my family life, I was though able to curb and control it succesfully then along came photography!
I bought my first camera about 2.5 years ago and quickly fell into the trap of trying to photograph every sunrise and sunset not realising that I was becoming obsessive again, so now I ran and had photography as a pastime. I took me a while to realise that it was not a healthy family situation but the signs from my kids and stern words from my wife made me realise that change was needed.
I'm happy to say that I now manage my work, family and hobby time successfully, well the family have stopped complaining at least.....

So I guess another of my aims is not to be so obsessive and realise that there will be other more appropriate times when I can chase that light.

Tim, I also should try and photograph my kids more, they are very willing to be photographed and very photogenic especially my daughter who would pose all day long.

:)

JP

Very sorry to hear this Ian, but thank you for sharing this with us.
Best wishes.

Ian,

My heart goes out to you. I, too, have experienced tragedy with one of my children, although my son survived. Art can help one heal.

King

What a great discussion. I have been photographing since my son was born 28 years ago. Initially it was his pictures and later travel pictures.

I have never craved for any kind of recognition as it was such a self absorbed pleasure. I have even made my online albums private as I found the feedback from strangers a bit annoying. Being my own worst critic I find it strange that every newcomer gets so much subjective praise. I find the whole process very uplifting as photography slows me down to observe every detail either in a flower or a landscape. So the senses get sharpened and the ESP of my surroundings gets strong. It is a creative outlet for me and marketing myself may kill this joy. I am happy to be in pursuit of my own excellence.

No photographic ambitions to become famous here !

jacaranda

Great discussion. Very interesting to understand the motivation of others I've seen here at 1x.

For me, photography is meaningful as an additional creative outlet. I enjoy music (I'm an accomplished drummer), writing, and woodworking, but photography let's me tap into my artistic visual sense (or what there is of it to date!). I've never found a way to make money from my creative outlets, but they are very necessary just to keep me sane. I get antsy and irritable if I go too long without indulging in a creative process of some sort. I feel like I have a bit of a split personality because my general outlook on life is businesslike, logical, critical, perfectionist and biased toward speed and movement. Yet, I feel a deep need for artistic expression. It's fun to be recognized for it, but I do it for myself. I have poetry I've written which has never been seen by anyone but me. So far I find photography to be easier to share with others and I have been asked about selling some images. However, I don't feel like my pictures are good enough to sell just yet.

I don't know where it will lead, but it is great pressure release valve for me now.

My aim is not to fail! hehe well - some grain of truth in that I suppose...

I am motivated because of the adventures and experiences I have/had in the wilderness - I will keep my subject as wilderness because I can't always say my focus is on mountains or wildlife - sometimes a desert or island can be just as enticing.

For example, a ridge between two mountain peaks at sunrise, I am much more interested in the necessities of waking up in the middle of the night, hiking through forests in teh dark andclimbing the peaks than I would be if a helicopter hauled a load full of photographer+gear to the top, even if the image could potentially be greater. I approach wildlife in the same fashion. Photographers (no offense meant) have the option of using monstrous lenses and capturing priceless closeups of wolves, or wolverines, etc. For me the joy is to learn about the subjects thoroughly (and their behavior!), in such a manner that allows me to approach close enough to get a quality shot without threatening or disturbing them. Sometimes that means you are limited in shots you can get with specific creatures, but that is okay for me.

The inspiration for me is the process that goes into the shot and not limited to the final product.

For me it is pleasure and experience making. Meeting with strangers and all other people. The camera and some other things opens so many doors for me! Look, since I photograph I never sleep long when I have free. I almost do not watch TV anymore! I see thing which I never have seen before and this only because a camera! It?s a passion! I think when I need live from photography I will be going down very hungry! :-)

It is not to make good picture or be the best one or have the best picture! It?s the thing it self and the peace and happiness and the satisfaction!

Robert

My motivation for this year is to produce a calendar or photobook to give to family for Christmas (and hopefully for people to buy and give as gifts themselves). I'm off to a slow start.

I bought some ND Grads over the holidays, with the intention of getting back into landscape/seascape photography for the project. Project or no, I haven't done nearly enough landscape stuff over the last year or two. The filters have sat in my bag unused since they arrived.

At a base level though, I just want to be inspired again. Apart from the semi-regular concert photography that I do, I can count on one hand the number of times I've picked up the camera in the last few months.

I need more time. I need less distractions. I need better locations nearby. I need better equipment.

I need to stop making excuses.

For me photography is to do something apart from daily business, something where my spirit can find relaxation, my creativity can find it's expression. Over the years photography widened my view, my horizon - discussions and meetings with other photographers (also from 1X :-) are important here, too - and let me also go deeper into postprocessing with the computer. Photography is another part of my life :-)

For me, Photography has to do with TIME, with seconds, with arrangements, with things passing over and not coming back anymore! Photography is the source of a very strange melancholy for me. Because of it, I can see how a couple kissed 50 years ago, how Einstein "ridiculously" pulled his tongue out, how a man jumped over a puddle and so on?, looking at all these, my heart feels how TIME is changing here on Earth, not physically, but sentimentally! How we all are the same and so different?.! Of course, none of my photos express this, but I am trying...

I am about to retire from the mad world of commerce, in 5 weeks in fact.

My original retirement plan was to get myself what I considered a decent camera, D300 and an assortment of lenses, and then use the camera as the excuse to get my wife (Jacqui) and I out of the house. So lets go to Scotland, the moors wherever.

In my original plan I was of the view that I didn't care if the pictures were any good or not as long as the camera did its job and gets us out of the house, then I made a big mistake..... I discovered 1x.

I have always dabbled in photography, mainly family shots with a Pentax ME Super, but now I find that it is becoming an obsession. I am nearly at the stage where the camera is with me all the time....but not quite yet. It will come.

So now I have modified my plan a little....I would like to invest in a D700 and a couple of lenses and then, after this initial outlay get to the stage where it becomes a self funding hobby. Like Mal has said earlier I have no idea, yet, how I will do this but I will have the time, assuming I get all the jobs round the house that Jacqui has lined up for me!!

I find 1x an inspiration that like all good drugs has got me hooked so I hope in the future that you will see more of me and my pictures.

Cheers Chris

Good thread John.

I always struggle to write about me & photography often looking over what I write & find I dismiss it as sentimental rubbish I though have had a love affair with photography that has been on & off for over 30 years as an observer & as a rather inept practitioner. I had no formal training though had a year in art school & latterly had a week course in digital. Sex drugs rock & roll & then family conspired to distract me though I almost always had a camera of some sort. My technical weakness was always my frailty & often times my creativity was regularly crushed by the hopelessly poor results & endless images were trashed through over/under exposure. The turning point for me came when I took a new job at Ford working for a guy who wrote books on B&W developing & processing. Chris was to all intent & purpose a geek he often said he would swap his knowledge for my eyes! But gradually I picked his brains & slowly but surely my grasp of the technical evolved & though hardly overnight I found my results reignited my desire to crack this wonderful medium. I then retired & the photographic world became my oyster. Digital was a god send. 5 years on & I can say that photography is my life but not the be all & end all. Only the other day did I get my first opportunity of a sale though this has never been my modus operendi. For me it has provided the creative outlet that painting never quite did. My aspirations to be a "proper" painter faltered on my impatience (painting abstracts only partially satisfied me in this regard) & a desire for instant gratification. Photography achieves this.

Where I am now is I am embarking on a path towards becoming a professional sports shooter! Yes ambitious & yes I am crazy at 56 & not 25 but it was always one of my loves a past hero was Eamonn McCabe whose sport images in the UK press were unrivaled in my informative years in the 70's & 80's . Its a huge challenge & investment; I am sitting right now waiting delivery of a 400mm lens. The idea has though been percolating in me since we learned London would get the Olympics & I live on the doorstep of the stadium & while 2 years is certainly not far off it is my goal to be able to shoot there in my own right. Do I have the ability & the staying power? Thats unknown but I am sure as hell up for the challenge. Am I scared yes but what I can say is my time here at 1X amongst so many great shooters has certainly reinforced the idea that I have some ability. Will that be enough only time will tell!

My current ambition is to sell my EF 24-105/4L.

Hey Chris good luck with your retirement its great once you get used to it!

@Balazs...sorry Cannon stuff won't like being on my Nikon :-)

Why...? I love it :-)

It's cheap. Don't buy just look-look. Come to me litel shop, give you good price, you first customer today.

@Balazs, my mum told me to stay away from strange men selling things the were too good to be true :-)

I'm reshuffling my gear: stick with the 17-40 and go for a 85/1,2. Maybe you need a second 24-105 if you like it so much? Buy the first and get the second for free (unfortunately, I have only one at the moment but come back later...)

Guys, dont ruin this wonderfull subject, where everybody put a piece of his own soul with such a .... subject!

thank you!

You're right, Mihnea, my apologies.
OK: I'd like to visit Jamaica for a roots-of-reggae sociography, but I'm afraid Kingston is nowadays as far from rasta feeling as Roma ghettos are from authentic Gipsy music.

Thank you Mihnea Balazs is a comedian they are often very melancholy!

Since starting this thread 6 or 7 months ago and the revitalisation of it recently, I've been reassessing my ambitions or refining them perhaps.

My motivations are the same, to photograph the landscape I spend my recreational time in but one of my ambitions would be to get pretty specific and capture mountains from viewpoints and angles that are rarely scene by the public. This would involve spending days and overnights in remote locations in all weathers and seasons, I want to capture rare events and scenes that most folk don't normally see. I have the confidence that I could achieve the images I have in mind but the limiting factor at the moment is time.
Working away from home, full time job and family are just a few of the obstacles that need to be overcome or eliminated before I could embark on my pursuit. As I have no immediate desire to eliminate my family or surrender a well paid job, it looks like I will have to wait a bit longer to fulfill my ambitions........

Doesn't "photographic ambition" start with the choice of lens ?

No, for the big majority it ends with that...

Good point.

one of my goals is to make documentary/ fine art images that i feel will still be important in a few decades..... the other is of course to meet people and make friends...

My grandfather was a photographer and captured scenes from world war two in Burma. Although I never met him, I felt I knew him slightly when I looked at his photos, they were flawless. That had me intruiged, then I went on a school trip to the Alps, and that confirmed my interest.

I attempt to capture moods, emotions, abstractions, and use my brain, heart, eyes and soul to add an artistic and original slant to everything, doesn't often work. I capture photos essentially for myself, for pleasure and to reflect my moods and ideas, to be critiqued by a small group of abstract photographers on deviantart. The things I want to learn now are to use a darkroom and publish a photo-book.

I am currently negotiating with the estate managers of the late Dr. Tibor Szentpetery, one of the Hungarian photojournalists who covered WW2, to get access to his archive and set up a proper website for presenting his work. After the war, most reporters destroyed their negatives but Szentpetery was daring enough to hide them through the decades. He worked on the Eastern front until he got wounded by a sniper (he survived only because the bullet was caught by his Leica). The few WW2 photographs I've seen were equal to Capa - going as close to the action as possible.
He also documented the anti-Communist revolution in 1956. Currently, only his photos from 1956 are published on the net, unfortunately in very bad quality and on a rather amateurish website. I hope I can change that.

http://www.szentpeterytibor.fw.hu/

I found a photo of him, holding the Leica that saved his life:

That Leica probably focuses properly now, like an SLR......;-)

Sounds as though you have got yourself a noble cause to pursue Balazs, good luck with it.

JP

LOL. Thanks, I'll keep you posted...

I think that you are going to enjoy this project, and also right up your alley. I looked at the link that you gave - quite a vast collection of documentary work there. Have you considered combining this into a book instead.

Would only make sense if he were still alive, if we think about a book about him as a documentary photographer sharing his stories, experience and skills. A photo book? Maybe, but my time and energy for such non-profit undertakings is limited (not to mention my budget). Internationally it could be feasible but alas, he didn't photograph D-Day and I'm afraid not many people would have any interest in an army that miserably froze to death north of Stalingrad.

Sounds like a great project Balazs, best of luck with it. Don McCullin's Nikon had a similar experience to Mr S's Leica.
Someone should do a book about the impact of Hungarian photographers on the history of the medium, especially the early to mid twentieth century. They do seem to be well represented. Something in the water?
Jon

Nothing I would be aware of had been publshed in foreign languages. Richard Whelan's Capa-biography offers some interesting points on this, though.

A technical footnote: the first eye-level SLR viewfinder was patented in Hungary on August 23, 1943 by Jeno Dulovits, who then designed the first 35 mm camera which used a system of mirrors to provide a laterally correct, upright image in the eye-level viewfinder. The Duflex, which went into serial production in 1948, was also the world's first SLR with an instant-return mirror.

Best of luck with your project Balazs,


In Germany there could be interest for it - though it is highly controversial/taboo topic.


There has been debate on a "jewish eye" regarding street/documentary in the US (Winogrand, Friedlander, Klein, Arbus...) so I guess the point about hungarian eye can be discussed as well.

To Balazs:

"It's not enough to have talent, you also have to be Hungarian."
Robert Capa

There is high interest in the German war machine in general, probably because it has been a taboo topic for a long time, and it's more suitable to be "hyped" because of their notorious arsenal. Popular culture also has its share in this, as German-themed war movies are generally excellent (Das Boot, anyone?)
But private photographs taken by German soldiers are available in such huge numbers that a material like this wouldn't be too extraordinary. It's not about the Germans anyway.



There were many great Hungarian photographers (Kertész, Brassai, Martin Munkacsi, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy) but I wouldn't say that there's a special "Hungarian eye", because they aren't so much centered around the same genre like Winogrand & Co. There was a very distinctive and successful "Hungarian style" - soft pictures of bucolic scenes in harsh frontal light - but none of the renown emigrant photographers pursued this.
Capa's first meeting with photography was socio-documentation, pursued by Leftish activists who photographed the misery of poor people as a protest against "Hungarian style", which they considered escapism and idealisation. it obviously left a mark on him...



Originally, it said "it's not enough to be Hungarian, you also must have talent" and was displayed in the MGM studios in Hollywood when many, many Hungarians made big carreers there (like Alexander Korda and Bela Lugosi). Witty quote though :)))

I guess this is an old topic and in the mean time its course kinda jump to the sidewalk but still I want to answer the original question.
I don't seek recognition what i wish is the "that picture" you know... "that picture" that can chage a person's life, that special one that makes you think "i will never repeat this and i surely won't be able to make any better than this... time to rest" lol
But that is for the future... in the present... well... it could start by finally getting a foto published in the site so I can start call my self "half way to photographer amateur guy" hehehehe For now... achieveing that is already a hard step as far as i can see, since i's kinda hard enough to get even comments in critics... so... i guess i am just a lousy "uncommentable" citizen of the world with a camera in my hand lol

I guess I just want to get to the point where I know I'm 'good'. I want to use the influences I am absorbing and produce something which acknowledges them, but is totally and recognizably me. . . Otherwise i don't see the point. . . It would be nice if a few people got to like and appreciate my work, and understand where I am coming from, somewhere down the line, but that is not totally essential.
Don't want much do I? ;-)
Obviously I am not very far down that route. However I am enjoying the journey.
Jon

Same here...

My photographic ambitions and aims have not too much to do with the photography itself like learning new techniques or exploring new fields of photography like street, studio, etc....
I'm keen to publish the Aachen photobook until the end of summer which is on a good way thanks to the help and input of many 1X photographers.
Another challenge for me will start in autumn when I will give my first course as a teacher for architectural photography at the well known museum "Ludwig Forum for International Art" here in Aachen.

Congratulations,Thomas!!

Hi Thomas,
Much success for this challenge.
End last year I gave a photo-workshop at the FH Gelsenkirchen. Interesting experience.

Frank

I love photography for so many reasons. My aim is to first please myself. I find when photographing anything, the world slows down and becomes quiet for me. It's just me and my subject - very therapeutic and calming. I'm a poor writer, so I use my camera to record my feelings, thoughts and mood at the time, much like a person entering into their diary each day. I have no favourite subject but there are things that compel me to stop and shoot more than others. I'm a member of a cooperative Gallery in a small town and I've had small successes financially with my photography and each purchase a stranger makes, surprises me as well as delights me. I always end up wondering what they saw in my photograph they liked so much to spend their hard earned money on. I'm always humbled by the experience. I would have to say that my aim is to keep getting better and better at making my vision come to light when clicking that shutter button. I've started this journey rather late in life so the happiness it brings and anything else for that matter is all a bonus.

This is my first day here and I'd like to add that the talent here is inspiring and awesome!

-Wendy

Welcome on board Wendy. Just checked out your website, you have really great work. I especially like the serie b+w on the beach, very graceful.

Welcome Wendy. I like your website. I'm sure you'll get on the 1X.com front page before long.

I may be pleased with a photo or three I took... for me photography is usually a consequence of 'happiness in my life' and I fear of periods when there is 'nothing to shoot'... I have participated in a photo competition or two... I am a 'pure photo amateur' with no formal photo education or 'pretensions' to enter into commercial photography... I like portraits... for me 'my taste' is the only measure of 'photo quality' which most likely is not a 'general category' after all... I find getting new photo equipment inspiring though not essential... maybe 'all is in' a photo subject... more and more I like to 'play a role' of 'photo critic'... 'beauty' is rare... art has no definition I think... I find some photos at 1X 'truly amazing'...

I think that I agree with a lot that you have expressed, other than adding that both the up's and down's in life inspire me. Maybe the down moments have caused me to do more creative work. True - art has no definition, and therefore I think that many forum discussions here is
simply a waste of time to read or to participate in. What images you produce with your camera is an expression of your identity and ease with the way you wish to project your work, and Basta! to opinions about what is allowed or not allowed. Simple. As long as that sentiment is also evident in the critique of the work of others.

Hello Andre,


There is a saying which goes something like...

"All true great art is born from suffering." - ?

...maybe it was Fyodor Dostoyevsky who thought along those lines, but I'm not sure. I personally may have created some 'art' from 'suffering' but would prefer to make it from 'happiness', whatever this means.

What follows here is a couple of Dostoyevsky's quotes which may be 'relevant' to photography and photographers...

"If God does not exist, then everything is permitted" - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"There is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"Realists do not fear the results of their study." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Kind regards,

Robert

I've only one goal when shooting a photograph:
- To be better than me

Awesome topic! Really!
I've never had any interest in photography until about 2 years ago,when i took a portrait picture with my cellphone, of a friend of mine, and slightly edited it. For some reason that hit me in a way,that i've started to buy a photography magazine every month,and started to learn all by myself. It was like a lightning struck to me! I've always love to draw pictures, i was very incline that way! But photography offered me a way to show my vision of the world in a more ''(i)realistic'' way! i can really describe the way it feels to hold a picture you took and that you really like!
I'm trying to go to university and go for a photography course to get my knowledge and experience even deeper.
One of my goal dreams would be for sure to be parte of National Geographic photographers team, because my favorite photo style is documentary,and beeing a military miself, war photographer reporter somewhat calls to me. Not that i like war,but because i'd love to show the world the crude reality of the war!
Studio and portrait photography also casted its spell on me,nonetheless my interest in photgraphy came from a portrait i took!
I'd love to make my life out of photography,to fully dedicate to this artU!unfortunaly bills don't get payed by themselfs,and we must sell our work to get the machine runing. I don't know if its just me, but the ideia of seeling my work,seems somewhat wrong,like a mercenary who sells his services to others,because our vision is a great moto for our photos for ourselfs,but that ideia may not work to sell,meaning that to make some earnings from photography we must sometimes subdue ourselfs to others vision.

This was a seriously good read and great insight in the talent within 1x.

I relate and concur to just about everything posted prior (ie. father - painter, photog, graphic design, mother - piano teacher, right brained cranial expressions, artistic worldview).

In a few choice words --- Photography is my therapy.

I am very much into commercial photography as part of the work we do and although it is at times exciting and glamorous. It is quite lucrative..

However, this is in detriment to my own photography which is in part what any person with a camera would be shooting to document a trip, a happy moment or a place...etc

What does interest me, is the expression of emotions in a picture or a particular study on a subject of interest. This can take the form of extensive shooting to try a particular angle, composition or light form.

Unfortunately as a side effect of the work we do, we are very heavy on post and Sfx and can give any banal subject an artistic and holistic look.

Is it Art? is it Photography? The jury is still open on this one.

I am now at a stage of trying to shoot with exotic glass that can give the rendition of the required photographic mood without the use of flash or artificial lighting and minimal post.

Whether my photographic renditions get published here or not would be flattering but is not my sole objective.

Let's see whether I can shake off the high level commercial side and delve in the artistic side of photography.

Is it the journey or the destination?

Al0n