Photography Reflection

In the Photography article by Steve Edwards, he talks about how photography came to be and what it was like in it's earliest stages. One thing that proved to be interesting to me was photography's objective. It was presented as enabling the "traveler, the archaeologist, the naturalist to 'note what they see, without having to recourse to the hand of another.'" Some believed that photography would "do away with the dependence on artistic skill." Photography was originally seen as an unartistic form, without interference of the artist. It was simply point and shoot, no science or art to it. However, times have changed and photography has made a drastic leap into the art world. In the Photo Ops excerpt written by James Krause, he makes a list of all the artistic qualities of photography and how the shooter has to be prepared at all times with their camera in order to capture this art that they are trained to see. Symmetry/asymmetry, repetition, framing, close-up, continuous mode, exploration, movement, and serendipity is the list of categories that photography falls under. Many of the categories explain that if one shoots through this specific method, they will achieve this specific goal. The categories have characteristics- another lesson for the artistic photographer. This reading taught me to look for specific angles, symmetry, and use the camera in different ways. It helped our group when deciding where to place our letters on campus and how to photograph them. We focused our pictures around symmetry since it was pleasing to the eye and our letter boxes design was very symmetrical. I agree that photography is an art and the best photography comes from those who have learned through teachers and experience how, what, and when to shoot. It is not simple no interference, that's for sure.

-Rachel