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Archive 2015 · what makes a great photographer?

  
 
Tim Ashton
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · what makes a great photographer?


Definitely not Nikon specific but through a very wet week down here in Sydney I went through the online exhibitions of a forty something year old "Magnum" photographer.

As many of you know Magnum is ostensibly the ultimate agency and you only get membership under a peer review system but soo help me... this particular photographer initially had to be the ultimate of spray and pray.
Judging by his exhibitions he photographed everything that passed in front of him and out of the many many 1000s of frames put together an exhibition. Sad to say, if I had kept everything I had photographed in passing, I too could have produced something similar. Later on in his career he has launched into serious photo manipulation. That is not to say amongst the "rubbish" there were not some great shots

Reading his bio he is an obviously very engaging personality but does being able to self promote make a great photographer?? To me there are many, within this Nikon forum whose talent, whether it be sport, photojournalism, portraiture, nature and wildlife or whatever far exceed what was shown on this guys portfolio, so what makes a great photographer?

Tim



Apr 26, 2015 at 05:13 PM
Two23
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · what makes a great photographer?


I think it's mandatory you have to have a D810. There's no way you can be a truly great photographer unless you have one.


Kent in SD



Apr 26, 2015 at 05:40 PM
henry albert
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · what makes a great photographer?


I assume you're talking about Trent Parke. His deal seems to be to look for a scene with people in late afternoon light, then shoot from a distance with very short lenses,often with large, distracting elements in front of the frame. Doesn't do a lot for me, but maybe if you're looking at very large prints the drama is more apparent. And signs. He likes signs.

I dunno. He's won a ton of World Press awards, so there must be a portfolio somewhere I haven't seen.



Apr 26, 2015 at 06:16 PM
Andre Labonte
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · what makes a great photographer?


Define great!

If by great, you mean someone who makes great works, then please do realize that many great photographers go unknown.

If by great, you mean well know and acclaimed, at the very least it takes a lot of skill at self promotion from what I have seen. Some are actually great at photography AND self promotion, others are just decent at photography and great at self promotion.

And like Kent said, you must have a D810 ... or a D300




Apr 26, 2015 at 06:17 PM
rw11
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · what makes a great photographer?


Susan Sontag explained it all


Apr 26, 2015 at 06:27 PM
Lauchlan Toal
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · what makes a great photographer?


You must produce work that someone else deems great. Unfortunately everyone has different tastes, so it's very hard to be universally seen as great.


Apr 26, 2015 at 06:37 PM
EB-1
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · what makes a great photographer?


I think it is medium format.

EBH



Apr 26, 2015 at 07:33 PM
carlitos
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · what makes a great photographer?


Over the years there have been a number of photographers deemed as great. I guess you see their work in galleries in NY, maybe LA. I think middle America couldn't care less. Think of the care and craftsmanship, Ansel Adams gave to his work. But he said if he got 6 good images per year he was happy. Can't live on 6 images per year in America.

Not to be too cynical, but just about anyone can push the button on an auto-everything digital camera. Composition doesn't seem to be a distinguishing factor. And in today's mass/social media technology we are so overwhelmed by images, that an organization like Magnum seems about irrelevant. 50-60 years ago, yeah, they had resources your average American didn't have. Today, any teenager with a cell phone can be a photojournalist, on any given Sunday.

You gotta enjoy image making first and foremost. When it becomes a job?, well I think there are a number of FM members who can answer that question.



Apr 26, 2015 at 07:52 PM
mikethevilla
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · what makes a great photographer?


if I had kept everything I had photographed in passing, I too could have produced something similar.

This. This is exactly what makes a good photographer.



Apr 26, 2015 at 08:12 PM
morris
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · what makes a great photographer?


The support team. Wife, assistant, marketing, publication, and most important passion.

Morris



Apr 26, 2015 at 08:16 PM
Two23
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · what makes a great photographer?


A serious answer: persistence and a mastery of the use of light.


Kent in SD



Apr 26, 2015 at 08:59 PM
goosemang
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · what makes a great photographer?


You could go around on this all day, I'm sure. For me, it's a combination of images and the individual. When you have some understanding of the photographer and can see that person in the work, it's very compelling. I mean pick an obvious "classic" photographer like Cartier Bresson. If you get to know his images, and then read about him and listen to him speak in numerous interviews, you can see that his images really reflect his vision. He's not saying one thing and doing another.

I find that making this connection between the individual and the work is very important. I know photographers whose work I don't particularly love, but because I know the person I'm able to see how the work reflects the individual, and I can therefore appreciate work that I'd otherwise not be terribly inclined to look at.

There are a billion photographers in the world now. Put a name, face and personality with the images and you may discover that great photographers don't necessarily make it into Magnum, etc. Heck, you might even be one.



Apr 26, 2015 at 09:02 PM
goosemang
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · what makes a great photographer?


It's like.... a good photographer keeps shooting long enough and stays true to himself, and eventually the image making gets out of the way and they start to develop a way of looking at the world. A way of putting things in the frame. They develop a style. And if you spend enough time looking at their work, and get to understand where they're coming from and what they're all about, you may find that you really appreciate that individual as both a person and a photographer. That's a success in my eyes.


Apr 26, 2015 at 09:09 PM
rw11
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · what makes a great photographer?


“The great geniuses are those who have kept their childlike spirit and have added to it breadth of vision and experience.”

2 brownie points if you guess the source of the quote without a search...



Apr 26, 2015 at 09:10 PM
goosemang
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · what makes a great photographer?


hcb?

I'm not sure if that's him, but I remember him speaking of the way a child views the world, and of how you can spend the rest of your life trying to get that vision back, although it never fully arrives.



Apr 26, 2015 at 09:12 PM
Todd Warnke
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · what makes a great photographer?


What makes a great photographer? First, some degree of technical mastery (auto this and that can take you a long ways, but in the end you still need to drive the camera for the great shots).

Second, a solid understanding of light.

Third, a dogged desire to get out and shoot, whatever the time, place or season.

But most important of all, a unique vision.

It's said that you can put two photographers side by side with a great photo op in front of them and they will both take different shots. I say this is true only if at least one of them is a seriously good shooter. Why? Because it takes a serious personal vision to do the work of arranging the objects in the frame in a unique style while using the lens and/or format that best accentuates that vision. And after all that the shot has to say something beyond "I was here and saw this" or "I took this and then manipulated it until it was 'beautiful'".

Peace,

Todd



Apr 26, 2015 at 09:16 PM
nikt
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · what makes a great photographer?


I like Trent Parke, and a lot of his stuff, but I am also quite eclectic about photography.
One minute I'll like a simple beautiful sunset and the next something dark and insightful, and simple street photography of wall graffiti and signs.

But all these I would consider more "arty".

Wedding and portraits can be quite nice, but they can also fall into a formula style of shooting.

Whatever it is, I think it should be engaging.... to someone, whoever that person is.



Apr 26, 2015 at 09:58 PM
tntcorp
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · what makes a great photographer?


are you equating great with sucess and famous? if so, then imo, being an talented artist with a unique vision & style along with having a great agent are parts of an equation. timing and luck complete the rest of the equation.


Apr 26, 2015 at 10:13 PM
rw11
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · what makes a great photographer?


rw11 wrote:
“The great geniuses are those who have kept their childlike spirit and have added to it breadth of vision and experience.”

2 brownie points if you guess the source of the quote without a search...


not hcb - here's a hint - he was the guy whose work established photography as an art form

used to get it on with a painter

ok, that's 2 hints...



Apr 26, 2015 at 10:45 PM
James R
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · what makes a great photographer?


I believe there are two answers: 1. A photographer who is acknowledged as great by his peers and top critics. 2. A photographer who's work stands the test of time. This case doesn't not require the photographer to be recognized by peers or current crop of critics.

Therefore, those who are thought to be great during their lifetime, might be forgotten over the course of time. In my mind only those who stand the test of time are truly great.



Apr 27, 2015 at 12:18 AM
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