Substrate
Carla-Jean Stokes’ thread in response to “when is photography art?”
“I don’t think ‘art’ is what all photographers strive for, or even need to strive for.
Most war photographers are/were not seeking to make art, for example.
Their work is still significant, because art is not the pinnacle of visual culture.
Visual culture needn't be viewed as a pyramid.”
#18 — Dream Car
“But I understand the appeal. The car as freedom. The car as potential. The car as the American Dream. A box of limitless possibility parked right in the driveway. For many, a car is a self-portrait in motion, a symbol of who they are—or who they want to be.”
“A good photograph of a classic car shouldn’t focus on the car alone. It should illuminate the world around it, the time and place it inhabits. A dream car by itself is inert. It must be in dialogue with its surroundings, in a conspiracy with its space.”
yesterday happened tomorrow
It shifts the time spent going through and evaluating images away from the moments when they are being taken to the next day, which presumably is meant to help preserve the integrity of the experience being documented rather than burdening it with the self-awareness of how well it is coming across on the screen. The photos aren’t made “social” by posting them to a feed or snapping them directly to a person or group; instead their sociality is in how they behave as one part in a larger gallery of themed shots.
On the Usefulness of Photography
Taking at least one photo a day is a common concept among new photographers, but it’s really worthwhile for everyone. There’s an aesthetic component to this: Searching for a good photo in the every-day of life teaches us to notice our surroundings more. “A camera is a device for learning how to see without a camera.” —Dorothea Lange but I think often it’s the opposite. Practicing photography compels you to ponder what is meaningful and beautiful in your surroundings.
