> I do agree that the photograph is a subjective form of art as all art is. It
> is only through our eyes that we visualize what we see. This is different for
> every person. All we can hope is that another can understand our views and
> that there will be some form of comunication between us as the artist and the
> viewer.
> The question is,"If this communication does not occur, is it still valid?" I'd
> like your views on the subject.
Oh my goodness... I think this communication hardly ever occurs. Now I
realize I risk getting both Jeff and Carl on my case, but the odds of
missing the message may be less with.... *straight* photography. Even
so, what critic, viewer, audience, even your mother, EVER really gets what
you have in mind until you TELL them. And point out the little
kutchkadredl in the corner you especially liked.
Meanwhile, they'll tell you which part they liked, that you didn't
particularly notice or even intend. I recently saw some of Tom Hawkins's
beautiful platinum prints of a grain elevator. In one, the shape of a
power line (or something) with its shadow looked to me like a giant
silhouette of a bikini bottom across the middle ground. The association
gave an extra edge to the photo -- to me. Other people had seen other
things. I suspect he cared very little what *we* saw, as long as we "got"
the picture as a picture, and maybe was loose even on that.
I've come to expect such "left field" response to my own work-- people
picking out things, or seeing a "meaning" I never noticed. But I'm happy
to explain what I had in mind... The more meanings the richer the work,
no? The exception perhaps to the above is photographs on the order of
Nathan Lyons's. His are not as well known as they should be, but, for
instance, the book I uncovered on the shelf yesterday (looking for
something else), "Dinosaur Sat Down," has words, or graffiti in almost
every photo. The "meaning" is thus "spoken"... The meaning of a more
"abstract" photo, a scene without words, is probably more difficult to pin
down.
The stereotype in the "art world," by the way, is the critic's
interpretation that leaves the artist speechless. (The artist does not,
however, contradict the critic who's saying nice things about him/her,
except, maybe when the artist is Jasper Johns.)
cheers,
Judy