I have not thought about the emotional aspect in photography the way you relate it in this video. I think now, for 2024 I am going to work on my emotional connection to what I am shooting, I mean being cognizant of it.
One of my aims is to look through the images currently stored in my hard drives - I have taken so many photos the last many years and some of them I have hardly looked at because I was busy out in nature shooting more photos. As I am looking through my archives every once in a while I come across a photo and say, "Well look at THAT!". Another aim I have is to put myself out of my comfort zone so I booked a photography retreat for September in the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. I live in Minnesota, USA and have never traveled abroad so how is that for putting myself out of my comfort zone!! Ha! And for the fun of it I am taking a course in Scottish Gaelic in the hopes of using a few words while I am there.
But lighting can evoke feeling. Some still photos and some motion pictures have such great lighting and it can't help but lead to evoking certain feelings.
To finally begin to make my photos look like a comprehensive whole rather than a massive set of random images. Photographs in sets, working around a subject. I have, in short, decided to stop faffing around.
Thanks Alex. I only took up photography properly in September 2023, so I want to learn much more this year, but not put too much pressure on myself to produce lots of pics. I know enough for now about the technical stuff, but what I’m more interested in is composition and how I can pull out the mood or emotion in a composition. And I really feel the pull of minimalism, so I will definitely learn and explore that further. You have opened my eyes to the possibilities, so I’ll be listening to your weekly conversations with interest.
Spot on--that 20% takes a lifetime (no matter who you are). You have to operate on the assumption that, if you find something moving (and competently convey it), others will be similarly moved. If not, who cares--do what feels right to you and move onto the next inspiration, letting the chips fall where they may. Altering your artistic process in an effort anticipate the demands of the marketplace (from likes to sales) is in itself an anti-artistic act.
We need genuine interest, feelings and above all hard work, to make images! It's not how many, how fast! We as photographers are way too reliant on newest gear! Nonsense! LF which I oppose, proves old is gold! my gear old! My newest Leica M, is 24 years old! The 50mm Summicron from 1954/55..My digitals all about 2004! Bravo!
The point, that the photographer has to be emotionally close enough… Definitely! This is by far the most important factor… my very best photos are of people I know, that I trust, and that trust me… they also trust me to take relevant and decent photos of them… that is the key takeaway of “ knowing your subject”, and “being close enough”
Thanks Alex - one of your best videos. You have said what so many people seem to miss. I have been taking photographs for many decades, purely for my own satisfaction. The end result for me is to make a print that I am proud of. That takes quite a bit of effort and so I try to only take pictures when an image makes me feel something. That might mean I don't take many images but I am OK with that. So rather than looking for a subject that makes me feel something - because I want to take photographs, I keep visually receptive and respond to a feeling about something I see by wanting to photograph it. It is not a very organised approach but I am happy with the pictures it produces when it works.
Gear, gear, gear. When I was studying photography in art school back in 1987 -1989, gear practically NEVER came up. None of us had developed an equipment fetish. No one ever thought to say, "Great shot! What camera did you use? Lens? how many megapixels? We all used manual-only cameras like the Minolta SRT-101 and manual became second nature. A famous photographer (maybe Steichen) said a very profound thing: "No matter how good the photographer, he will never realize the full potential of even the most rudimentary camera." It's all about the subject. Just by making sure your pics have a subject in them puts you ahead of the crowd.😊
I have been a professional for over 30 years. Most of the time I don't take much from a lot of yt photo videos , videos like this are great reminders and inspirational
A short note... Ansel Adam shut the Yosemite pictures by using 8x10 plate camera attached a 300 mm Schineder with f=64 . Your work is an excellent one. Thanks a lot..
Alex, I like very much watching your videos and get lot of inspiration for which I am grateful. I have to say that this one is outstanding as it addresses the core of what photography is all about (at least first me). Thank you so much!
Thought provoking as ever. Personally I take photos of things that I find interesting and want to document, I don't really consider what feelings that might generate in the viewer
Thank you Alex for another fine discussion about the art and science of photography. I really appreciate how inspire us to keep passion and fire for photography, and continue to aspire to making great prints. Part photography, part philosophy, and I am all in. I recently began shooting again after about a 3 year hiatus, life just got in the way. It is great to be shooting, experimenting with films, etc. In one of your previous discussions, you mention have a project or theme to focus our photography. So I have set out documenting buildings in and around my hometown as many of the businesses which made my town unique have been changed to something else, or the building has been demolished or "renovated". My goal is to document every place in town worthy of historical, sentimental, or aesthetic value. I would probably be a boring quest for most anyone but me. That is OK, I photograph for me. Most of my photos are never seldom seen by anyone but my wife and I, and when I am dead who is gonna care that I have photos of this that. Maybe someone will care that there is a photo of the building where Janie's Bail Bonds (right near the Sheriff's office and across from the courthouse) has been for the past 50+ years. The reason I am even doing it all, is because I have skin in the game. My town in my youth help mold me in many ways, and I am grateful for much of what I learned here, but mostly for what I did not learn here. Hopefully the feeling shows in my photos. If not, rinse and repeat until they do.
A great video Alex, possibly one of the best for those of us floundering around in the dark. This should be mandatory viewing for anyone who dares to call themselves a judge. Keep up the good work and I'll keep spreading the word.
That is by far the most important topic in photography. I was wondering for some time why I sometimes take light tone photos and sometimes very dark ones. Found out that's the reflection of my feelings at the moment of taking the photos. It's really rewarding to make this intentional and before you hit the shutter you just pause for a few seconds, take five deep breaths, allow yourself to feel what you feel and only then decide how you want to expose the photo. Thank you for bringing this thought to attention.
Photography is for me a spiritual experience - the feeling comes by itself. Thank you so much for your video. The pictures of Corinne Day, Laura Pannack and Tereza Cervenova don’t touch my feelings and photographer’s mind at all. On the other side the photograph of Eve Arnold @14:51 is not sharp at all but this a great picture. But this are just thoughts about photographer and viewer. Looking forward to your next videos.
When I started photographing sports I was always trying to catch that decisive moment, the kick, the goal, a player about to strike the ball etc... But what I found after a while was that the images I enjoyed seeing most and those with the best feedback were those with the human factor... fans celebrating a goal, a young fan with eyes wide, a manager screaming at his players. I love football... I used to play and now enjoy photographing and I found in me an emotional connection to everything happening around the game. Yes I still shoot the action stuff but I now concentrate more on the emotion of the game and the shots I'm getting are some of my best.
"I had to create an equivalent for what I felt I was looking at, not copy it" Georgia O'Keeffe. Minor White wrote a great paper on Equivalence which can be found on line.
I've been watching your videos for a while and wanted to thank you for taking the time and making the effort to put these together. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
This is great, and sums up my photography goals for 2024. I realised that I enjoy photographing street cats, as well as wildlife. I’ve spent way too much time trying to learn to photograph street scenes, landscapes, use wide lenses etc. Whereas when I bought a used canon 300mm f/4 and went out to test it, I got two of the best street cat portraits I’ve taken to-date. This year I want that same lens and camera to become my most used, and go after street cats, and stop fluffing around trying stuff that isn’t me.
What a gem I`ve found here the last year or so! No cameras, lenses or other gear, "Just" ideas and thoughts about photography. It`s pure pleasure to be able to hear your thoughts about this, from which I learn a lot from every single time I look at your videos. I find many of your videos describe the essence of what I think photography should be about. And this one is definitely an eye-opener for me. Thank you so much. Best regards.
This definitely gave me some food for thought. I would just take photos because the subject was there, and I liked it. But, why did I like about the subject? What caught my attention? That's what I want to convey.
Wonderful video, and very apropos to my current life stage. As I’m seeking more serenity in my life, I have chosen to rid myself of social media. Now my photography will be 100% for myself, not for likes or comments. I can focus on taking photographs that move ‘me’. If the few people who happen to see my photos like them, fine, but it does not matter. What matters is that I am happy with my art.
Photos, at least at hobby level (rather than say for a specific purpose like news/advertising) should be for oneself. The danger I feel from then not showing the work is that it's a bit along the lines of cutting off a nose to spite your face. It's too easy, for me at least, to become almost indifferent about my images if I don't commit to showing them in some way.
You are so right it comes with practice. Once you start to acknowledge the feeling of the frame you're taking and vice versa shoot acccording to your inner state, that invisible connection between feelings and lenses starts to get thicker
Emotion .. it's what separates the merely good from the fantastic. Doesn't matter what we're doing. Could be photography, might be counting grains of sand. The more emotion ..i.e. ourselves .. we put into it, the better that end result will be. Even in the technically austere world. The most elegant solution in that realm must have the highest technical proficiency - but it'll also have a fair bit of the engineer behind it in that solution as well.
I just love your way of giving us food for thoughts and photography. This is absolutely the best side of social media - that someone wants share his wisdom with others. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Alex, something I've been experimenting with lately is learning how to see by feeling. Usually, when I'm walking in the forest, I tend to look everywhere trying to find a composition, but then it hit me.... The moments in my life when I am captivated by the beauty of nature occur not when I am LOOKING for them but I was RECEPTIVE to them. I am now experimenting with moving through the world with a mind that is receptive to beauty and inspiration.
I've often taken a photo that has a feeling about it. I can't tell exactly what it is. There is something in the photo that attracts. Sometimes when I get home, i upload to the computer and still don't see what the attraction is. Maybe a week later, or a day later, or a month later. I see the photo again as I scan my photos and I see what my intuition told me was there. Intuition has given the best photos.
Excellent narration! When u add words to a photograph, it becomes a story! This video took me back to an old photograph I took, which won a prize in a competition on Fragility and Conflict. I will revisit some of the photos of yesteryears and search for the ones where feelings and emotions can be felt.
Thank you Alex for this thought provoking talk. It's great to be reminded of the often over-looked or forgotten ingredients to my artwork and I really appreciate your passionate and genuine delivery. I'm off to take some photographs with this in the forefront of my mind.
Feeling and intent...The heart and soul of photography...Great video. Finally subscribed after watching several videos of your photography musings. Most excellent.
This spoke to me on another level... My single biggest challenge is feeling or rather understanding why or how I feel, eg. I cannot remember feeling excited at the birth of my children yet I sacrificed so much for them as they grew up without a second thought. I believe you have helped me focus on, well, feeling. This is why I am attracted to photography, and now... through my camera, I will endeavour to feel!
You touched on something there - the birth of children. I felt the same way. I believe that media has a role to play in this - we're told 'feelings' should be maximum all the time. THE BEST EVER. THE WROST EVER. There's no place for subtle vibes.
This is the most difficult aspect of putting feelings into a photograph. You can take a picture having that feeling but looks flat and dull when viewing it. Takes practice and you have to find the right aperture and focal length , composition and whether you want it sharp or soft to create the feeling you wanted. I find it frustrating when someone likes the photos you’ve taken and you hate them. And vice Versa. So many talented photographers I’ve found on RU-vid that I wouldn’t have known existed. Great video
I like the way you put over your ideas.... I can't help feeling you do Indite your viewers much in the same way as a court martial proceeds..... but I love what you do. Alex...
Inspirational in many ways Alex. You're right in what you say, as ever. It was a lift at the right time. I must say I have been feeling despondent of late. Over 30 years, I've done a lot - landscapes, people, pets, weddings etc. But very few people these days seem to "want" my kind of photography, let alone pay for it in any commercial sense. I can't even give it away half the time - I get replies like "I think your expertise is more than we need - we just need XYZ". The only passion side I still have is my kids football team. Happily I turn up most Sundays and create great B&W action images with Ilford films, and at the end of each year I create a printed Almanac for the kids. But, like most things I do, it all costs me a lot throughout the year! But, critically, its a body of work. Not just casual snaps of things that catch my eye that nobody cares about.
That's incredibly profound, Alex! Such a great way of looking at what goes into taking a great image. Love the 80/20 - 20/80 concept. How very true! A point of view to truly ponder, not to mention keep in mind as you go out to take photos.
Thanks Alex, this one really spoke to me. My 2 goals this year is to shoot my mood and so get out even when I am kind of flat then also to wander a bit further from home.
@7:39 Ansel took this picture (moon halfdome) with his Hasselblad MF and Zeiss Sonnar 250mm, as the subject is very distant it doesn't need a small aperture
All very true, and your examples richly demonstrate the interesting angles you explore in this talk…but how many times do I look at a picture I took and feel exasperation: it was so (pick your feeling) when I was there but the picture here is anything but that? It’s so mysterious. Sometimes I strike gold, but there is much fruitless prospecting along the way.
That's the trick isn't it? There's a Winogrand quote about don't let your feelings for a photo cloud your judgement about how good it is :D (or something along those lines)
Ich bin wirklich froh, diesen Kanal gefunden zu haben. Herzlichen Dank für die tolle Arbeit die in den Beiträgen steckt. Man spürt, dass es um die Liebe zur Fotografie geht. Wirklich gut!
The issue with feelings is that they are scary and that’s why people are much more comfortable with the technical stuff. You’re on the right track. But remember, images don’t have feelings! To me a successful image is one in which I can communicate feelings to at least one person even if that one person is only me. Please keep this conversation going.
Superb video Alex. I may not be a great photographer but I have felt for some time that the mark of a great photo is its ability to convey the emotion felt by the photographer (or story they wish to tell) at the time of capture. I love the way you have framed this so eloquently, especially well done with this one.
One of my favourite photographers is Bettina Rheims. I love her pictures of unknown people more, but she manages to take pictures of prominent people that not always, but a lot of the times, make you forget, who they are.
I’ve had the same reaction as yours when looking at portraits of celebrities by ‘famous’ photographers. It reminds me of a quote by Paul Strand : « It is easy to make a picture of someone and call it a portrait. The difficulty lies in making a picture that makes the viewer care about a stranger.” - Paul Strand. With the exception of Cartier-Bresson’s portraits of other famous people. I’m not familiar yet to Eve Arnolds portraits but from what I see in her Marilyn Monroe photos, she cares about the subject. When I take photographs of strangers, there’s usually a ‘trigger’ that compels me to do so.
Thankx for this your thoughts on this aspect of photography Alex, you are hitting a nail here. Gear and technics is all great and good to know but at the end of the day what counts is exactly what you describe here in this video. And it's true for any type of art. We often forget about this most important part because gear and technics takes too much space. That is why I love your channel ! ;-).......
thank you, Alex. Not every day, but almost every day since some years now I think about how I could take better photographs. The answer is of course, if the viewer feels something. It is not about fullframe, iso, or eye-AF. Not about 2.8 zooms or 1.4 primes. It is about one question: If you look at this, does it (however little) change you? What do you feel?
I think that it was Steiglitz who said that, when I come across a scene that evokes an emotion in me I photograph it with my camera and the print is the equivalent of that emotion.
Hi Alex, the subject of feelings in photography aren't really talked about much, and I thank you for bringing it into a discussion. I think the Old School photographers put more feeling into their photos than the new photographers. Thanks for sharing this video 😊
Thanks as always for your comment. I'm not sure new photographers put less feeling into it, just that they are possibly less eloquent. Of course there's also the fact that over time only the 'great' photographers have remained - all the average have dissapated into history
This one made a lot of sense to me. I’m keen on photographing wildlife with a particular subject being endangered Monk Seals that can be found around our coastline. I’ve been wanting to find a way to elevate my photos and figured that I was missing the physical closeness to do this like in the first quote you mentioned. Even talks on competitions will often say that more winning shots come from the intimate closeness a wide lens will create. However, monk seals are federally protected and the fines of getting under 50ft away can be very steep with other charges being added. I like the fact that it doesn’t just mean physical but can mean how emotionally close you are to the subject matter. I’m glad you pointed this out so others don’t push an envelope where it shouldn’t happen
Yes, I'm pleased you connected with that point. Isn't it interesting when one stops taking quotes/ideas literally and then explores their ideas instead?
Just feeling is not enough. Take Newman's photo of Krupp. It's when you know the story, who Newman and Krupp were, and why Newman hated Krupp, that you understand the meaning of the photo. Context is important.
Thank you Alex for this video and topic. There are lots of genres of photography that I enjoy as a viewer of images - birds in flight, great portraits, street, landscape, abstract - and the list goes on. And yet, when it comes to taking photographs in these genres, some genres I find I have no passion for. Portrait photography is one. I love viewing great portraits, but I don’t enjoy taking portrait photographs. I feel this video is making me rethink the types of images I have passion for taking and to explore these more with my feelings…. Feeling of an almost human nature … sorry, every time I hear the word feelings, I hear “The Trial” from the Wall!
My first Pink Floyd album :D Though not my favourite - that would be Live at Pompeii Often I've also felt this - I like looking at one genre, but trying to photograph it leaves me cold. 'proper' landscape falls into this territory for me
Thanks Alex, yes feeling is the secret it is the point of making a picture. You'll find that setting somewhere between aperture and shutter speed I think or is it focus? Just don't drop your camera on your toes.
I think when considering this in the context of landscape photography, having a connection with subject matter can be difficult, particularly in logistical terms. The old "familiarity breeds contempt" factor comes into play all too often.
Alex in a rather philosophical mood. "Feelings". Actually there are quite a number of feelings involved. There are the feelings of the photographer, the feelings of the viewer looking at the photo, and last not least, the feelings of the subject, if a person or people happen to be part of the motive. The photographer worries whether the photo will bring in any money and whether anybody will notice that he was on P-mode. The viewer thinks this type of photo makes me feel sick and black & white is rubbish anyway. The subject has severe gastritis and is wondering why the idiot with the camera is trying to take a photo with me blocking the view. Of course, this is an absolute worst case. 🙂 The are also good cases. However, conveying a specific feeling through a photo print - i.e. not by accident, but genially put into scene and fully on purpose - is not that easy. But Alex is right. It is definitely a worthy goal we should try to achieve.
The problem with this talking point is that, I, as a photographer, can't feel what another photographer was feeling when they took their photo. I can only see the potential emotion of the subject in the photo. Most of my photo's give me a certain feeling when I take the picture, but I can't project that feeling into the photo. They are two different subjects.
While I agree with you, I think that is what makes photography a universal language. How many times have you listened to a song and thought you knew exactly what it was about and identified with the lyrics? How many of those times did you come to find the the song was not at all about what you believed it was? Like poetry and lyrics, images can be and are open to interpretation. That’s why it’s beautiful. When taking a picture, I don’t often think about what I am feeling whenever I am hitting the shutter button. I just photograph what looks appealing, and a lot of that is naturally a result of my emotional state at that moment. it is not of my concern, whether or not the person viewing my image can tell what I was feeling whenever I captured the photograph. However, I would hope that they could somehow identify with some sort of emotion inside of them whenever they see my image.
Complete accuracy of emotional translation from photographer to viewer isn’t the point. Even less so when that viewer is another photographer. Photographs shouldn’t consciously be made strictly (or even significantly) for other photographers to view anyway. Photographs should be easy to appreciate, or, at least, form an opinion about. In any case what is important is the sense of emotional engagement PER SE that the work exudes and can be felt by even the most inexperienced viewer. The philosopher Barthes in his “Camera Lucida” famously identified two aspects of a photograph that give it meaning, the “studium” and the “punctum”. The studium is the the broader cultural, political, or social context of a photograph. It’s the aspect of the photo that speaks to the viewer’s cultural, social, and historical understanding of it. The punctum on the other hand is somewhat more like the personal feelings of the photographer this video is all about. The punctum is the term Barthes used for the element in a photograph that suddenly strikes the viewer on a personal level. It’s a detail that elicits an emotional response, something that ‘pricks’ or ‘wounds’ the viewer in a more subjective and personal way. It might be understood the same way by the viewer as by the creator, or differently. But it’s not necessary that it be the same for the photo to be effective. Check out Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes. It’s a great theoretical discussion of how photography works to convey meaning.
This is valdi for each art form. You can only suspect what a composer, an artis, a sculptor was feeling based on your own life experience. But at least it makes you feel something, not each photography does 🤷🏻♀️
It doesn't take much time to understand focusing, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Maybe a 7 years old child could do that in an afternoon. That being said, why would it take a life time to learn photography ? Why all of us aren't great photographers ? Telling something is quite easy with words. Expressing oneself with images is another story and I think it's normal to get lost. So you're certainly right. Feelings are universal. They're the key. If the photo you take moves you, there's a chance that other people feel the same. Not everyone, but there's a chance. And if the greatests say so, maybe we should listen.
Interesting discussion thanks, with good examples. What a shame that some algorithms can' t understand context. (The man in the chair / the man in the factory). I'm old enough to know the story behind these photos but many younger viewers may not and you should be able to tell them as part of a talk on photography without having some automated tyrant looking over your shoulder.
