Well I have been playing with Flickr for some time and it has its good qualities but as a site to gain any introspection into your work it is a failure. Most of the people on Flickr (no offense) are what I call digital hacks. Now that anyone can buy a DSLR and some photo editing software they are instant masters of the art.
Photography is an art and like any other fine art it take years to master, if you ever do. It is as much about exploration of self as it is exploration of subjects. journalism photographers have a different task. They have a different mission just as professional photographers who make a living shooting advertising and or weddings. All of these elude me.
I’m only interested in the use of photography as an art form. Growing up in the late 1960s I learned that you thought before you pressed the shutter button. You only had 24 or 36 shots and maybe if you had the equipment you could develop 5 rolls of film at a time.
Learning to “see” in light and shadow was the key. Pushing ISO, using grain as part of the art, spending hours doing a posterization you can now do with Photoshop in a few moments.
It’s always the way. What does it mean? What are you trying to say or what emotion are you trying to evoke. I studied photography in the Fine Art school at TCU. Mostly B&W but we built a color darkroom and I did get the chance to suffer through that process.
In all, I learned to “see.” I can determine EVs with out a light meter (even though I still like to use one). I love to explore. On Flickr you get kicked around the block for exploring. It is starting to make me feel that it is really useless. Great place to store photos and share with friends but to the world? I don’t think so. I do short runs of prints. Ten t0 25 tops all printed on a digital printer with Harmon paper usually size Super B (13×19). They sell for about $250 per and I’m not seeing the use of Flickr as a means of establishing credibility. Really the opposite. A great learning place just to see if anyone looks and comments w/o joining 100s of groups.
I’m still thinking but time is short so my Flickr days may be coming to an end. I don’t see Brooks Jenson there.
Time will tell.