Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Bill M · 28th August 2010, 03:08 PM

Its a quiet Saturday morning and I have time to muse.

One of the topics in this fascinating thread has to do with Beauty. I worked my way through college as an Architectural photographer. I have always felt a bond with buildings and the men (and women) who designed them.

An architect takes an idea, translates it into form, function and substance, creating places where we live, work, are entertained, and worship. What a great occupation!

A photographer is always updating his portfolio. I was very good at my work, but I realized that I wanted to have spectacular, beautiful photos of, well, spectacular buildings. In short I wanted a perfect beautiful photo of a building whether the architect was paying me to photograph that building or not.

So I began a search for the perfect photographs for my portfolio. The most beautiful buildings photographed perfectly. I drove streets, studied buildings, waited for the sun to strike the building perfectly while I chose the right film, the right lens, the right angle.

I worked very hard, but the "right" picture, the "beautiful picture" eluded me. Something was always off! I took no pictures, none. My search for perfection created a log jam in my head that went so far as to effectively stop me from taking ANY pictures -- even the work for which I had been commissioned.

Stymied, angry, frustrated, I remember sitting on my camera case staring at a huge parking garage an architect wanted photographed. I thought, "A damn parking garage! Frank Lloyd Wright would never do anything like that!"

A moment, an epiphany struck me. I had it backwards. I had set up an impossible no-win situation -- find and take the perfect, beautiful picture? No, doesn't work that way! Find the beauty inherent in whatever you are seeing.

The parking garage seemed to change, huge, dramatic sweeping lines, massive white concrete punctuated by brilliantly colored automobiles, and much, much more. I felt a bond between me, my camera and the magnificent building.

The architects were thrilled! From that moment, from that perspective I did some of my best work. My portfolio glowed with beautiful photographs.

The point is that when we first seek beauty, that connection, the world gives it. From the right frame of reference, there is beauty everywhere.

28th August 2010, 03:08 PM	#96
Bill M Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA Georgia Posts: 1,599	Log Jam Its a quiet Saturday morning and I have time to muse. One of the topics in this fascinating thread has to do with Beauty. I worked my way through college as an Architectural photographer. I have always felt a bond with buildings and the men (and women) who designed them. An architect takes an idea, translates it into form, function and substance, creating places where we live, work, are entertained, and worship. What a great occupation! A photographer is always updating his portfolio. I was very good at my work, but I realized that I wanted to have spectacular, beautiful photos of, well, spectacular buildings. In short I wanted a perfect beautiful photo of a building whether the architect was paying me to photograph that building or not. So I began a search for the perfect photographs for my portfolio. The most beautiful buildings photographed perfectly. I drove streets, studied buildings, waited for the sun to strike the building perfectly while I chose the right film, the right lens, the right angle. I worked very hard, but the "right" picture, the "beautiful picture" eluded me. Something was always off! I took no pictures, none. My search for perfection created a log jam in my head that went so far as to effectively stop me from taking ANY pictures -- even the work for which I had been commissioned. Stymied, angry, frustrated, I remember sitting on my camera case staring at a huge parking garage an architect wanted photographed. I thought, "A damn parking garage! Frank Lloyd Wright would never do anything like that!" A moment, an epiphany struck me. I had it backwards. I had set up an impossible no-win situation -- find and take the perfect, beautiful picture? No, doesn't work that way! Find the beauty inherent in whatever you are seeing. The parking garage seemed to change, huge, dramatic sweeping lines, massive white concrete punctuated by brilliantly colored automobiles, and much, much more. I felt a bond between me, my camera and the magnificent building. The architects were thrilled! From that moment, from that perspective I did some of my best work. My portfolio glowed with beautiful photographs. The point is that when we first seek beauty, that connection, the world gives it. From the right frame of reference, there is beauty everywhere.