Re: Technique vs. Creativity

Beakman (beakman@netcom.com)
Thu, 17 Oct 1996 05:53:18 -0700 (PDT)

Judy sez:
>
> On Wed, 16 Oct 1996 HankinsBM@student.montevallo.edu wrote:
> > The idea of the work and the message that it conveys is
> > more important than a technically perfect print. I'd much rather
> > look at a photograph that has a strong idea or concept behind it
> > rather than a print that is technically good but has no meaning or
> > impact. This still doesn't mean that artists should totally
> > disregard technical aspects, but they should not let it get in the
> > way of their work...
>
> Brian, I'd take that a step further, remembering the story I heard
> Beaumont Newhall tell about his days at MoMA, when somebody, Ansel Adams I
> suppose, volunteered to make a really *good* print of a quite crude
> photograph they had from (I think it was) Moholy Nagy, so he did (they had
> the original negative in the archive), and it was a "good print" and
> everyone agreed it was not a good photograph. None of the snap and drama
> of the vintage "bad" print. Which is to say, the worship and litany of
> "correct technique" is a crutch and rut -- a convention, not holy writ.
>
> Judy

I agree that it is not a holy writ. It shouldn't even be thought of as a
convention (this is where people get stuck). It is a technique. One of
many, and a good one at that. It is not a crutch or a rut if you have
intelligence and clarity of vision to see past it.

As for Nagy's photo, who's to say that Nagy himself was not a master of
perfect technique, and that in printing the photo he purposefully chose to
print it in just that way because it gave the snap he was looking for? In
which case, printing it any other way would result in a less good result.
Do you think that Nagy just stumbled upon that print accidentally through
careless and casual photographic technique? In the case of the
well-meaning photographer who made the new print, I suppose one could say
that he/she was still stuck in your proverbial rut, though that should
not be an indictment of the process.

David