October 18th, 2017 … Observing … Social Commentary Ain’t No Crime

…..ya got yer politicians doing nothing but shamming the people, ya gotz yer nfl players that don’t show respect to the flag and that means to all Americans, then ya ya got no good health care and no money to get it anyway……

I think there is a lot more that gets shoved in our faces and feces but I ain’t one to say to much.  See, we are all non-immune from the social injustices in life. The way it effects most but not all photographers, is like a spice or flavor added to our work.

Ok look, I ain’t supposed to know about this stuff and certainly not to express it here or anywhere else either.  I know you will find this hard to believe but, shhhh….looks around….hmmmm ok then…. it is said from photographers from centuries passed that walking around and making photos, well things could effect you. Crazy huh.?

We are not isolated from others and more importantly, we are not isolated from ourselves. If we walk down the street and see a homeless person on the side, laying there….even if we don’t make a photo… that sight effects us in ways we may not want to pay attention to. Maybe we are walking around and see store window that’s designed to attract middle class working people, that effects us also. We can not escape the elements of life and all that comes with it. We are attacked, assaulted by life all the time and then we are blessed with simply breathing in the sweet stench of the street that once inside us, has the ability to consume us and overtake the heart.

There needs to be a release because there is no escape from life. Death, that’s not a solution to life. Life is the cause and the solution for living. Photographers are blessed with the ability to digest and find a meaning for oneself.

We as photographers are the lucky ones. Of course all beings are invaded by life’s good and bad. Photographers process all that confronts us and we make photos of whatever we decide to make them of. Just because we choose not to let the virus of life infect our personal world, doesn’t mean it’s not in our DNA.

The blessing for we photographers is not in the making of the photos, but in the gift of having others see what we feel and think. We don’t need to have many comments or accolades. We just need a few from people that try to understand us, other photographers.

Therein lay the real Social Commentary.

 

8 thoughts on “October 18th, 2017 … Observing … Social Commentary Ain’t No Crime”

  1. Hi Don,
    Terrific discussion and overview.
    I’ll refer to an Australian author, TIM Winton, and I quote “… life is…life is ragged and, um…and dynamic and full of contingencies, and there is no safe, fixed position …” and I think there’s no wrong in gluing this line of thought to what you eloquently refer to, context specific to your, and others, approach to photography and how it can be a vector for critical and astute social commentary.
    Regards
    Sean

    1. Thanks Sean. As always you understand me clearer then I do myself. Your words and friendship shed light on the dark caverns of my mind.
      Thanks

  2. “The virus of life”. That is my new favorite expression. It’s true. Sometime there is so much ugliness and misery in the world that we find our own way to deal with it, whether that’s avoidance, making photos, etc.

  3. As usual I read your post and the I have to sit for a few minutes and process it. And my mind and hopefully my approach to photography is enriched. Take care out there.

    1. Thnaks Dave, us old guys have to keep each other going….just kidding Dave, nah I’m not kidding…..
      have a good weekend

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