From: Jeff Buck (jeffbuck@swcp.com)
Date: 08/20/02-07:59:59 AM Z
Shannon: That "you can't do this you can't do that" stuff is the academy
at its worst. Geez, don't get me started. -jb
At 08:14 AM 8/20/2002 -0700, Shannon Stoney wrote:
>Mark wrote:
>
> > I totally agree... and maybe it sounds like I am contradicting my earlier
> > post about not trying to emulate the masters (it might be a good
> exercise to
> > see how your work compares though) .... however I don't buy the "it's
> already
> > been done" argument. To a certain extent, I think many people go
> through and
> > evolution and need to try to do their own version of peppers, pears in a
> > wooden bowl, etc.... and who's to say they won't come up with their own
> > version or image that is even better..... even hairy legs might be
> > interesting as long as you are politically correct and super glue their
> knees
> > together.
>
>hahaha!
>
>At the university I was at last year, the criticism "that's been done
>already" was thrown around with such abandon that eventually the students
>stopped making anything altogether. People were profoundly demoralized to be
>told, over and over again, that every subject they picked was ground that
>had already been plowed over by somebody else, usually somebody they'd never
>heard of! We DID do the "emulate a famous photographer" exercise, and that
>was useful, but that was the only time you were ever allowed to do anything
>that wasn't completely and totally original. The truth is, photography has
>been around now for 150 years, and it's hard to find something that has
>never been photographed before. But that's ok. I maintain that no two
>photographs are alike, and it is impossible to be "derivative," really,
>because everybody sees the world differently. My erotic pepper is different
>from your erotic pepper, and so on. I say we forget the word "cliche" and
>never use it again.
>
>
> >
> > A good friend of mine who is lurking on this list told me once "never tell
> > someone that they picked the wrong subject to photograph."...right Sam?
> > hehehehehe I think he mentioned someone once said that to him... but I
> still
> > remember him saying that to me. Once you censor people and make a
> topic off
> > limits, then you have destroyed their ability to explore and learn and
> grow.
> > What knowledge is that dangerous?
>
>Again, that was the other thing that was so demoralizing to students at my
>school. Once I heard a teacher tell a student to never photograph a rock
>band! Another teacher told people that flowers and children were strictly
>off limits!
>
>--shannon
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