“There are too many images, too many cameras now. We’re all being watched. It gets sillier and sillier. As if all action is meaningful. Nothing is really all that special. It’s just life. If all moments are recorded, then nothing is beautiful and maybe photography isn’t an art anymore. Maybe it never was”
― Robert Frank
― Robert Frank
I've been thinking a lot about photography lately, and find myself often repeating the phrase 'The End Starts Here'. That was the title of a website run by Rodney Smith...an interesting and terrifically successful commercial and fine art photographer who passed a few years ago.
I had his website bookmarked and visited often for inspiration. One day I realized he hadn't posted in weeks...then months. Finally a cheery little note appeared in which he apologized and promised a big new effort to come. There was maybe one more half-hearted entry and then nothing. Months later I read his obituary. I was the first to comment on the site after his passing. A few more of us did, then many, then the site was simply taken down.
Robert Frank made his comment above years before digital. Imagine what he'd say now.
I won't promise 'a big new effort', nor will I just take the site down. I'll let it simmer.
But it's possible I've captured all the images that were within me.
I had his website bookmarked and visited often for inspiration. One day I realized he hadn't posted in weeks...then months. Finally a cheery little note appeared in which he apologized and promised a big new effort to come. There was maybe one more half-hearted entry and then nothing. Months later I read his obituary. I was the first to comment on the site after his passing. A few more of us did, then many, then the site was simply taken down.
Robert Frank made his comment above years before digital. Imagine what he'd say now.
I won't promise 'a big new effort', nor will I just take the site down. I'll let it simmer.
But it's possible I've captured all the images that were within me.
RSS Feed