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Originally Posted by jovo  I wonder if that signature Jorge used to use...if you own a camera you're a photographer; if you own a piano you own a piano...has implications here. It's so superficially easy to make photographs that some people don't appreciate how much work goes into making good ones, which perhaps brings out the rude and defensive behavior you describe in a few who've spent years mastering skills the novice doesn't even realize exist. Not that that's an excuse for such behavior, but it might be a factor in understanding it. So far, I've been lucky enough to not have had such an unpleasant experience. |
Understandable logic. I think it narrows down though to "it's not what you say but how you say it". If a novice looks to a pro for advice, why would the pro ridicule him instead of helping him understand the work involved in obtaining a good image? It is too easy to dismiss the work of others with a rude commment that might ultimately stiffle the creativity of a potential young artist.
Photography, like any other art form, is subjective. When I was younger I used to think that Picaso's art was infantile and lacked any creativity. It was, after all, nothing like the work of the old masters who created intricate scenes and were masters at capturing mood through light. As I did more research I looked at Picasso's early work and realized how he was in fact a true artistic genius. A study of his early work (especially his blue period) helped me understand his later representation through cubism. I could have dismissed Picasso's later cubist style as infantile, but I would have been missing the point entirely. His style may not be pleasing to many, but others see it in a different way.
Once I had a photographer tell me that I was wasting my time with photography because I had no talent. Had I listened to him I would not have enjoyed so many years of capturing images that have such important meaning to me.
Another time I had an "advanced ameteaur" who professed knowing everything about photography tell me after eagerly showing him my brand new Pentax K1000 that this camera was obsolete and that I would not be able to create anything good with that camera. After all, automated cameras were all the rage back then. Had I listened to this bozo I would have never developed any significant photographic skills relying heavily on automation. I would have never developed my interest in having total control in the image making process.