Some Photographic Myths

I liked reading this handout because it was very useful. A lot of the things I have thought about and knew but some I found hoard to believe. First off, myth number one was something we've disscussed in class about the photographer being his or her worst edititor. The story about W. Eugene Smith really was shocking to me and I guess was really proof that you can be great but just choose the wrong photos. Myth number 3 was something I never really head about and was kind of shocked. "Photographers are good printers". I guess I always thought that if your a photographer than you should know how to print, naturally. But reading into it, they said that people make it their professional career in printing and they do it all day everyday. And that photographers like Henri Cartier-Breson even got his negatives sent away for someone else to do it. I think overall it made me feel better that maybe I can't print so excellent but that's okay because I'll just send them out when I'm rich and famous. Haha

Some Photographic Myths

I thought this reading was really interesting. It was a very easy read, I didn't struggle through it like I have with others. A lot of the myths are things we have talked about in class or things I have thought about on my own, but it's always good to get the pov of another photographer on different subjects. I'm not sure I completely agree with Myth no 5: Photography is about talent and instinct. I think that, yes, you aren't born a great photographer but I think some people are born photographers. I feel like some people, no matter how much they study, will not be able to produce work like one that was born a photographer. Of course, even those born a photographer must study to be a great photographer.
Overall I really enjoyed the reading and it's probably something I will come back to again, to remind myself about these myths.

Some Photographic myth

Overall, I really enjoyed this reading. I felt it was a fun light hearted read. I found the first myth greatly useful, in relation to trying to pick photos for finals. I never really thought of how the photographer could be a bad editor because "the photographers are the only ones who have the insight and ability to select the best images of their own work". Now, that I look back at my photography from the past few years, a few of the choices were based on my emotions towards the subject matter. The second myth is especially true, I always find some difficulty when trying to talk about my own work. When talking about others work i don't usually have a problem, yet with mine I cant find the words to show what I was truly thinking as I was shooting. Another myth I liked was the 5th myth, saying that photography is about talent. I think that talent is key to keeping the motivation, but no one is instantly a great photographer, like anything it takes practice (why else would be in college for photography).

-Amanda Murley

Some Photographic Myths Response

This text was somewhat humorous, which I enjoyed. The authors seemed to want to give the reader, and other photographers, a reality check, which I also found was refreshing. A lot of the myths I have heard before and we have talked about in class. So those ones basically restated a lot of the things that were discussed in class. However, I never heard the myth that you should never photograph in a foreign culture. The only thing that bothered me about this text, which is weird, was there were only 9 myths, and I thought that maybe there should have been 10, just to make it even. But that's just me. Otherwise, I'm pretty neutral towards this text; it wasn't awful and it wasn't terribly enlightening.

Hannah Johnson

Response to: "Some Photographic Myths"

Juliet Bull

Overall, I enjoyed this reading. I thought it brought up some good points, in a creative way. The reading was interesting and kept me interesting. Although a few points they made I have heard a thousand times, some of them were new and put a new perspective for me. For example, when the author talks about how a good photographer, is not necessarily a good printer. "The fact remains that printing is a highly skilled profession that demands a great deal of time (and enthusiasm) to master. Some photographers have the interest in fine printing, and have invested the effort to become extremely proficient in it. Most have not." I think a lot of photographers, especially at our age, get confused and frustrated because printing can be so difficult. A photographer should know how to print, but should not base whether or not they are a good photographer based on their printing skills. Another good point that I think the article brought up, is photographers are their own worst editors. We have talked about this many times in class, and it is something every photographer should be aware of. We get invested in our own work. It becomes hard to look at it from an outside view and critic our own work. I also thought Myth number six, had some really good points. When the author says, "One of the most pernicious and destructive remarks which can be made to a photographer is that "it has been done before," When a person creates art, it is from what they have seen or been inspired by before and putting their own twist on it. When people say, "I've seen it before" They just mean they have seen something like it before. Every person adds a different twist or a different part of themselves into it. For art to be created it must be viewed and done over again. I really enjoyed reading this piece, it was an easy read and made some good points.

Some Photographic Myths

This reading was interesting because of the concentration of it to disprove myths about photography and people's misconceptions. A lot of these misconceptions were things i have heard or experienced and overall i agreed with the opinions of the authors. I really liked the part where the author spoke of the mysticism of art that is mostly just bullshit. I could not agree more with that, as a person on the way to developing a career in the arts it is both frustrating and difficult to sift through the bullshit and the integrity of art. I liked that this article was very real, it had a down-to-earth approach. I really enjoyed the quote: "the immature artist imitates; the mature artist steals. " I also really liked the section titled "The it-has-been-done-before-syndrome" because it was all about the misconception that everything has been photographed before, therefore it's not worth photographing again. this was reassuring because it is something I often think about.

Response to "Some Photographic Myths"

I really liked this reading, especially as a final reading for the class (or maybe it would fit better as a first reading?) I though it was interesting, and liked that like some of the other readings it had a lot of examples. It was nice that it echoed and sort of reinforced what was being said in class about photographers being their worst editors. I think that the commerce vs art being corrupt was one of the more interesting sections that had a lot of good points as well as the section after it about photography not being based on the talent and instinct one is born with.