Why Do People Take Photography So Seriously? - ISSUE 61

Why So Serious??

Shot by Lux Lumen - My Personal Photographer (lol)

Housekeeping

Welcome to November. The month before the Christmas madness, the homestretch for a lot of people in work, and a time where we start to reflect on our year and where we are at with everything.

This week has been a tough one here for us, with a loss in the family and many days spent supporting one another through it all. This has got me thinking about the things in life I cherish and the things that give me purpose. At times like this I really turn to creativity and staying busy to ease my mind and keep me grounded in what’s still here.

Looking back at the post partum months, my creativity was at a complete stand still and I saw how much that hurt my mental health. That’s why I started the YouTube channel and that ultimately is how we got here today. Anyway, I’m not going to pour my heart out on Substack, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I just aim to always put out positive energy to you all because that in turn keeps me positive.

So let’s talk about photography and why you should never let others opinions or beliefs take away the joy you experience from it!

Our Nikon FM2n sitting pretty at the QT hotel.

12 Non Rules For Photography

Rules. Ew. I’m not a fan.

Although I did read 12 Rules For Life and at it’s core the advice is some of the best and most practical out there, despite how you feel about JP. Let’s not go there today though.

Rules were made to be broken and this statement could not be more true than when applied to art or anything dwelling in the realms of creativity. All the good things have come from people who didn’t know how to play their instruments, had no former training and let their instinct guide them, felt pissed off by their lack of ability so decided to do it a different way resulting in something new, exciting and unique.

Obviously this is open to interpretation and all art is seen and then rated subjectively. If you love classical music and things done “the right way” then maybe you don’t agree with me and you love rules. Whichever way you slice it we are all different and we all bring something unique to the table when making and enjoying art.

For some reason though it seems photography really breeds this notion that one must follow rules. Whether that’s technical aspects with the camera or traits that define a genre or style. It seems the latter is rampant in street photography with sweeping statements like “it must include people” “it must be in an urban area” “it must have some human element other wise it doesn’t count”

This whole “doesn’t count” thing is total BS and makes it sound like I’m filling out a form to immigrate, receive benefits from the government or pass some kind of test at school. Like I need to acquire my street photography points based on some persons idea of what the genre entails. No. Thanks.

I don’t wanna give this rubbish anymore air time or anything but I just want to let people know that these sentiments are made by people who wish to gatekeep a genre or practice and it is designed to keep you from enjoying it.

Sometimes we need a reminder that those voices are just a few individuals and they are often louder than the positive ones. So this is my attempt to speak over these rule makers and say hey don’t let them ruin your fun, or even get in your head and have you thinking that you can’t do this or you can’t do that.

Just remember this - if everyone follows the rules of whatever it is that you are doing then we will create a homogenized version of that thing, and to me that is the antithesis of art and is also extremely boring.

When it comes to photography, the only rule you should follow is your own rule. Should and shouldn’ts are for toddlers and we are adults with cameras, visions, voices and valuable contributions to be made to the photographic world.

A genre is just a vague descriptor of a style. You can stick to it, or you can be fluid as fuck and splice in some other things to mix it up. Interesting things happen when people question the status quo and when worlds collide in terms of styles, mediums, processes and new approaches. So embrace the thing that you maybe don’t do because it’s not the done thing and see what happens!

Here is a short list of things I do all the time that have contributed heavily to my style but aren’t things that people usually promote or can often turn their nose up at in certain photog circles or groups.

• 90% of the time shooting on full auto because it’s so much easier and life is hard enough as it is

• Using the flash to compensate for pretty much everything because it always makes things look cooler + gives me a higher hit rate of things in focus etc.

• Totally disregarding settings on my Pen ft or maybe following some vague version of sunny sixteen but not really, and then getting underexposed images that are actually a total vibe

• Cropping in post to make the comp better - cropping is a fucking lifesaver

• Committing to shooting vertical all the time even when it actively doesn’t suit the scene because FTW and that’s how I see things

• Shooting in harsh midday light despite all the fuss about how you need “good light”

• Basically always opting for my Canon Rebel G or any other consumer camera even for jobs because it always slaps and it’s so easy for me

• Just shooting 35mm and not really wanting to “step up” to 120 or anything else because it’s too complicated, too little shots and I just don’t like shooting it. I do like being in the medium format photos though!

• Whatever you do with your photos is your biz so edit, crop, photoshop whatever makes you happy it really doesn’t matter

• You don’t need to be an expert to be a professional and I actually think it’s better if you know a little bit less as you will have an unconscious ignorance that will allow you to be more playful, make mistakes that turn out to be magical and break rules when you didn’t even know they were rules in the first place

• Just because you shoot film doesn’t mean you have to let it slow you down or get romantic about it and it doesn’t mean you have to develop, scan print or be interested in that, if you don’t want to.

Okay, my photography catharsis is now complete and I appreciate you hearing me out and I hope that you feel like embracing something that you were maybe feeling not so good about, or you have had a revelation in that you don’t have to do anything in any particular way you can just have fun and enjoy it, your way.

Love Lucy xx