Making art is one of the most rewarding activities that you can pursue because it’s something you create yourself with your own personal touch. How personal you want to get is up to you. Some traditional photography artists have work displayed in modern art museums, brushing the edge in controversy. For example, Robert Mapplethorpe, in the 1980s, made headlines when he used the medium to reflect on the pain of his personal life. The list of photographers who have taken a personal look at their lives is long, and there probably isn’t one who didn’t evaluate his or her life to come up with the subject matter for his photographs. To name but a few, look at the work of William Eggleston, Annie Leibovitz, David Hockney — and even moon-walker Neil Armstrong.
So if you’re going to be an art photographer, should you hang out at cafés and smoke hand-rolled cigarettes? Well, not if you don’t want to. (But if you see someone who’s smoking a hand-rolled cigarette in a café and who looks amiable to having his picture taken, by all means ask him. That
could be an art photo opportunity.)
Perhaps you have no interest in people or their interactions. This certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t be an art photographer. Take pictures of what appeals to you visually to help define yourself as a photographer.
For example, perhaps you’re drawn to
color (think carnivals, marketplaces filled with rainbows of fruit, or fields exploding with poppies).
Or maybe you’re attracted to the shapes and forms of nature, such as winding streams, gnarled trees, and majestic peaks. You get the picture.
To figure out what type of pictures you take the most, look at your pictures you’ve taken and sort them by categories. If you find that you take a lot of pictures of the same things — say, street scenes — you’re on your way to finding a subject that you like (and learning about yourself as a photographer).
Many well-known photographers choose the streets of famous cities as the subjects of their work. If you find that you have a tendency to shoot a particular subject then by all means, concentrate on that subject. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at capturing and finding different ways to showcase your fave subjects. When you really know your subject, you can better find niche markets for your photos, too.
If you find yourself gravitating toward classical poses and subject matter, study what well-known artists through the ages chose for their subject matter.
Notice how the subject matter evolves from cave men drawings to religious figures and still lifes to nature. The summary of the subject matter of the history of art ends with social commentary about the Great Depression.
Art has progressed to modernity through many evolutions. What comes next is up to you. For more detailed information about the subject matter that classical artists have used throughout the ages, you can look at Art For Dummies, by Thomas Hoving (Wiley).
After you study the classical masters, take a look at some photographic masters at www.mastersof-photography.com.
Works from all the biggies of photography are featured there. Check out Helen Levitt for some cool 1940s grafitti, Ansel Adams for the world’s greatest landscapes, Diane Arbus for weird but wonderful people, and E. J. Bellocq for early 20th-century characters. Throughout this book, I reference more artists to help you interpret the masters’ photos and refresh their ideas a bit so you refine your own photographic style.
So if you’re going to be an art photographer, should you hang out at cafés and smoke hand-rolled cigarettes? Well, not if you don’t want to. (But if you see someone who’s smoking a hand-rolled cigarette in a café and who looks amiable to having his picture taken, by all means ask him. That
could be an art photo opportunity.)
Perhaps you have no interest in people or their interactions. This certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t be an art photographer. Take pictures of what appeals to you visually to help define yourself as a photographer.
For example, perhaps you’re drawn to
color (think carnivals, marketplaces filled with rainbows of fruit, or fields exploding with poppies).
Or maybe you’re attracted to the shapes and forms of nature, such as winding streams, gnarled trees, and majestic peaks. You get the picture.
Shoot what you like
To figure out what type of pictures you take the most, look at your pictures you’ve taken and sort them by categories. If you find that you take a lot of pictures of the same things — say, street scenes — you’re on your way to finding a subject that you like (and learning about yourself as a photographer).
Many well-known photographers choose the streets of famous cities as the subjects of their work. If you find that you have a tendency to shoot a particular subject then by all means, concentrate on that subject. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at capturing and finding different ways to showcase your fave subjects. When you really know your subject, you can better find niche markets for your photos, too.
Study the masters
If you find yourself gravitating toward classical poses and subject matter, study what well-known artists through the ages chose for their subject matter.
Notice how the subject matter evolves from cave men drawings to religious figures and still lifes to nature. The summary of the subject matter of the history of art ends with social commentary about the Great Depression.
Art has progressed to modernity through many evolutions. What comes next is up to you. For more detailed information about the subject matter that classical artists have used throughout the ages, you can look at Art For Dummies, by Thomas Hoving (Wiley).
After you study the classical masters, take a look at some photographic masters at www.mastersof-photography.com.
Works from all the biggies of photography are featured there. Check out Helen Levitt for some cool 1940s grafitti, Ansel Adams for the world’s greatest landscapes, Diane Arbus for weird but wonderful people, and E. J. Bellocq for early 20th-century characters. Throughout this book, I reference more artists to help you interpret the masters’ photos and refresh their ideas a bit so you refine your own photographic style.
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