Goodness Jon Hillenbrand, March 13, 2007October 17, 2019 How many photographic magazines does it take to make you a better photographer? None. That was a trick question. Sorry about that. But what’s the reasoning? Because either you are a good photographer or you aren’t? NO! How do you define a good photographer? You can’t! Good is a description of something that is ultimately an opinion. Now, I’m not talking about Good. Perhaps there’s one Universal Good. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about good. The word we use to describe Chicken Quesedillas and driving ability. Are you a good photographer? Maybe. Who are you asking? Yourself? Others? The reason I ask is because tonight I bought about 50 lbs of magazines at Barnes and Noble. I’ll leaf through them all over the next few days. And maybe I’ll learn something that I didn’t know before. Maybe I’ll be inspired. But are these the actions of an impulsive eater or gambler? Am I just purchasing these items in order to feel better about my life? Who knows. All I know is, there’s art, and then there’s life. And they have a strange relationship. You can make art to the point where YOU like it. Maybe other people will like it to and they will describe you as a “good” artist. Maybe they will give you money and a show. Or maybe they will dedicate a wing of a hospital to you. Or maybe they will start a religion in your name and love and hate and save and kill for that description of good. So are good and Good that different afterall? Is there a Universal Truth and Universal Good? How does any of this relate to photography? Photography Thoughts photography
Photography Sexahol July 17, 2011October 17, 2019 High school was a strange time of pre-internet sexlessness and adults warning me endlessly in varying filmstrips and interrupted lesson plans of the dangers of “Peer Pressure”. Peer Pressure (PP), I capitalize both letters intentionally, was something as strange and mysterious as any drug but with the added danger of… Read More
Photography A Day in the Life November 22, 2011December 30, 2015 Recently, the town I live in held a small photo contest on facebook. They asked local photographers to shoot “A Day in the Life of Evanston”. I thought this could be a good idea if people participated. So I put the date into my calendar and set myself up to… Read More
Photography I may be a transdimensional being September 20, 2008October 17, 2019 OK, so if the Catholics I grew up with are correct, I will one day be a transdimensional being. I will at some point unlock the cage and leave the plane of existence that I know of as “the universe” and be transported or, by will of my own, transport… Read More
hm, good question. I’ve always wished I understood Art better so as to apreciate it more. Maybe I should take an art class. What does good photography mean anyway? If you have an affinity for a particular photographer, would you be more likely to think her photos “good”? On another note, Crystal notices that you have obviously still not picked up Plato’s Republic yet (not that she ever would if she hadn’t been forced to in the course of her education, but that is not something Crystal, of all people, would ever admit). Good is the Form to which all the little goods (quesedillas, beautiful flowers and photographs thereof) aspire. They are different, but they have a relationship. The little goods reflect, in whatever small or distantly removed way, the Good. So, in that sense, anything could be good because one can always find something about it that reflects the Good, eh? So now we’re back at relativism again, dang! N.B. Plato was B.C. and therefore Pre-Christian – a very sensible man who saught knowledge from the natural world without dependence on Revelation.