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Originally Posted by keithwms  As a teacher, I like the idea that anybody can be taught anything. It just takes time, though, and possibly hard work. Barring fundamental disability, I do like the idea that anybody can do anything, that it's just a matter of dedication. This is every teacher's faith. We must repeat it to ourselves quite frequently until we believe it 
.... It is amusing to watch them progress more rapidly than their colleagues and wonder how they do it. More often than not I conclude that it is all a matter of enjoying the learning process.
But on the topic of "gifted" photography: it seems to me that we only know who the gifted photographers were/are because they were/are able to sell prints! ... |
Perhaps anybody could do anything (within some realistic limits, whatever those might be). I've more often than not found that most people resist learning very strenuously unless their interest overcomes that resistance!
Those who love learning and really get interested will stop at nothing. I can't even go home. Getting them to stop working is almost impossible.
Gifted...a sad story about a friend. Possibly the most amazing and wonderful photographer I ever knew died a chronic acute alcoholic. He never showed his work. Never. At his memorial, a letter concerning him from Peter Bunnell, scholar and currently the photo curator at the Museum of Modern Art, was read. The point here is that not all gifts become visible to the public at large, even if they are genuine. As far as public recognition is concerned, it rarely happens for those who can't get out and promote themselves for any reason.