I spend a lot more time consuming photographs than I do creating them, and in this state of overconsumption I have honed a sharp eye for crappy imagery. In my various social media feeds I see hundreds of photos every day and and most whip by like those advertisements they slap on the sides of city busses. Every now and then a photo will compel me to stop and spend some time. It takes a lot to flip this switch in me; sometimes it's the image's composition, color, tone, texture, or style that prompts the pause, but more often than not it's the subject matter that catches my eye and warrants my attention.
My friend and Austin-based photographer Gino Barasa often creates images that make me stop and ponder, but truth be told his words are just as good. Lately on Facebook he's been musing on what it is to be a photographer and his wisdom is golden. Today he posted a few images and a pearl of wisdom so profound and useful that I am compelled to not only mention it, but I've copied the post here:
I spend a lot of my time in The Arcanum working with my apprentices on the finer points of photography, and we get caught up in the "rules" way too much. I think it's wise to stop and remember that images need to be interesting, not perfect. In a workshop once I mentioned that a poorly exposed and improperly composed shot of Elvis riding a Sasquatch is a much better photograph than anything perfectly composed, focused and processed because it's a flippin' shot of Elvis on a flipping' Sasquatch!
Get out and shoot something that doesn't suck. Don't be boring!