Why do we take Photographs?
Since the middle of last week hundreds of people have been answering that question, and the results proved to be both diverse and very interesting. But why was I asking?
Ever since I was a little kid getting under my families feet I have asked questions – Why? – What? – Where? – How? – When?
These 5 questions get you a long way if you ask them often enough. But how many of us question ourselves? How often? and do we alter our behaviour if the answer comes as a surprise or shock to us?
I am a big believer in self-critique, being able to objectively look at my own work (both professionally and personally) and evaluate its worth. I am also the first to admit that some things are easy to measure quantitatively, while others, like “art” can be somewhat more subjective in nature. However, with photography, when the “purpose” of the image is known to the photographer, how well it expresses the photographers intention CAN be quantified.
So, on to the results – we gave 6 suggested reasons and had a wild card 7th called “other” which I hoped would mop up some more responses. I will cover the most popular answers in reverse order of their popularity.
7 – Illustrate Articles (5.53%) – I intended this option to cover people who wrote articles and shot to illustrate them, or who submitted images to magazines for editorial reasons. Such images can range in utility from literal representations of a place or thing, through to expressive images intended to enhance the written word.
6 – Utility (Stock, Marketing, Advertising etc) (6.45%) – This one surprised me a little, and I think the low score just may be a reflection of the viewers of my website, rather than a universal sample of the marketplace. I could of course have added many sub-categories under Utility, meaning that just about any image taken with MONEY as an end result, regardless of its final use.
5 – Don’t know, just do!! (7.37%) – This one surprised me too.
4 – Other (7.37%) – People could write anything they wanted here – the most popular were – Money, It’s Fun and finally It makes me think. I can certainly relate to all of those.
3 - Documentary (11.98%) – This of course makes perfect sense. Photography deals with light and real life.
2 – Preserve Memories (25.35%) – I think this is a hugely important reason and stimulus for people. It is the classic “A picture paints a thousand words”
1 – Artistic Expression (35.94%) – A clear winner, it seems we humans have a need to be expressive.
Personally, I have gleaned a lot from these responses, and maybe one of the more important things I got out of it was the simple revelation of Ask Questions. If you ask one to yourself, or someone else, you tend to get a response. But isn’t asking ourselves a question a dumb thing to do?
Not necessarily. Just because we ask the question, doesn’t mean that we know the answer. Sometimes we have to think, re-evaluate, study, research, ponder and ask others. But, it is this exploration of an answer that leads us onto the first step of our journey.
Why am I taking this image? – and that leads you on a whole new journey. The HOW?
- Hope -
El Airin Beach – Asturias – Spain 2011
at 2:21 pm
You have left out a rather large and important group… Professionals!
Although you have suggested selecting several options, I’m not sure how useful the answers will be or, indeed, what is the end use.
at 2:35 pm
Thanks Peter for the feedback… I did include Utility (equally valid would have been Money!, which was intended to envelope Professionals – The “other” option was also included to mop up the breadth of opinion…
The results will be useful to me for sure..
Thanks again…
at 3:20 pm
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” –Ansel Adams
Very interesting distribution that says a lot about the audience of your blog, Alister.
Guy
at 4:12 pm
Haha, I was waiting for that Ansel quote to bite me on the ass
and I was waiting for you to deliver it…
Yes, the results are very interesting, and already give a clear picture of what Photography means to the people who have taken the time to respond.
at 3:34 am
I think we all take photos for different reasons depending on the circumstances. 90% of the time it is for artistic expression however.
at 7:25 am
Absolutely, and why I allowed multiple answers… Thanks for your input…
at 2:15 pm
What I love about photography is the way that it gives me a chance to be creative even though I struggle to draw a straight line with a ruler. I was hopeless at Art at school, was thrown out of the Woodwork class for incompetence (and studied German instead but that is another story) and the only area I was modestly competent in was writing. That faded too. But a camera can be whatever I want it to be at any given time. Perhaps the other option could have been “all of the above”.
I love documenting life in Sai Kung – partly out of fear of it disappearing as we know it today, but I love looking for new ways of seeing my everyday environment and both mean preserving memories. Its an interesting poll but one thing is for sure, I’ll never see it as a means to making money. As the old school reports used to say, ‘could try harder’.
at 4:54 pm
Part of that is certainly true for me too, I cannot paint and my other artistic pursuits are limited too. But with photography, the “Interpretation of reality” factor appeals to me.
at 4:36 pm
I responded to several choices and broadly thought of the “illustrate articles” choice to include a frequent use I make of illustrating slide shows in adult education classes I do to connect people to the material in different ways and get them thinking in different ways.
For example, a bird image might connect a teacher to a discussion about how tenure frees them from some restrictions. Bringing the outside world into a sterile meeting room is welcome just on its own!
at 4:52 pm
Thanks Paul, and I totally agree – Photography can be used in so many ways, and the reasons we do it are varied and only limited by our imaginations. Thanks for taking part…
at 5:17 pm
Beautiful pictures on your blog!
/Victoria (Sweden)
at 3:47 am
Sometimes its a creative outlet, and other times its a way to document the world around me. As I’ve talked about with you and others recently though, photography is becoming more heartfelt and less mechanistic to me, so yes, its definitely a form of artistic expression, as well as a form of urgency (to connect with wilderness), so I suppose the “other” option applies as well.
Cheers,
Greg
at 10:16 am
u R grate.