A question I am often asked at shows is “Where did you take that?” I usually reply with a switch of terms such as “I made that at …..” and people are taking notice. My use of a different term than take is to try to convey what I think is really going on in the process of photography. When I approach any subject, I am analysing it visually at many levels. Primarily, I need to decide first what the subject of the image will be. That is, the image may be about something tangible (e.g., bird, landscape, flower), or something less tangible (e.g., color, form, peace, solitude, joy), usually it is about both. The elements that I control in the making of an image include composition, perspective, lighting (by the way I expose an image or through the use of flash or reflectors), color relationships, lens choice, focus, depth of field, etc. To me these creative choices constitute the making of a photograph in the field. The printing process introduces some additional choices as well. At no point do I feel like I have taken something. The effort and choices involved in the creation of a photographic image are my own and therefore not for the taking.
So if you are in my booth and overhear me making a switch of terms while speaking with an interested viewer of my work (maybe it will be you), don’t take offense, I’m just trying to convey my feelings about the process I go through to make a photograph. And thanks for understanding.
This is me making images in Vermont.
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