Thanks for those valuable insights! It’s so refreshing to pin point how our photography is an ever constant continuum and conversation between our own personal impulses to produce an image and an ever evolving canon. Very grateful for the references as well.
I enjoyed your thought process. I used to worry about “copying,” but then I came to believe that sincerity trumps originality. When I notice I’ve brought the beauty of someone else’s work into my own, I know that I am learning new ways to see the world. It’s a joyful experience.
Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed it. And yes, influence itself isn’t something we need to be afraid of. It can be part of learning how to see. Looking forward to seeing you around!
Thank you for this. I have been thinking about this as well in terms of Harold Bloom's anxiety of influence and the desire to approximate but also differ from those who came before you (the draft in my substack is not yet finished). I like the idea of other photographs as kind of provocations that you need to find your own solution to. That's a nice way of thinking abou it
Yeah, I mean there is no need to reinvent the wheel while also you don’t really want to be influenced to the point where your work feels like a copy. That being said, there are “styles” of photographers (like, for example, Martin Parr or Saul Leiter) who basically took a style and made it their own. When you are familiar with their work, it is hard to unsee it in everyone else, even if they might not be influenced by them. Not sure if you ever encountered this, but I often find myself thinking - oh, this is kind of Martin Parr-ish photo.
That said, I don't see any resemblance between your photograph and Erwitt's Paris shot. If anything, the repeated gesture makes me think of the HCB photograph from the train station.
If you go by the gesture, then sure, the Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare might have something in common as well. What I see when I look at the Prague and Paris photos is the figure-to-ground relationships and how the elements in the photo “interact” (the dancer with the Eiffel Tower/the skateboarder and the pendulum).
Thanks for those valuable insights! It’s so refreshing to pin point how our photography is an ever constant continuum and conversation between our own personal impulses to produce an image and an ever evolving canon. Very grateful for the references as well.
Thank you, I am happy you liked it. Yes all the reference are my articles or interviews which you can read here - www.aboutphotography.blog
Looking forward to seeing you around! Martin
I enjoyed your thought process. I used to worry about “copying,” but then I came to believe that sincerity trumps originality. When I notice I’ve brought the beauty of someone else’s work into my own, I know that I am learning new ways to see the world. It’s a joyful experience.
Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed it. And yes, influence itself isn’t something we need to be afraid of. It can be part of learning how to see. Looking forward to seeing you around!
Thank you for this. I have been thinking about this as well in terms of Harold Bloom's anxiety of influence and the desire to approximate but also differ from those who came before you (the draft in my substack is not yet finished). I like the idea of other photographs as kind of provocations that you need to find your own solution to. That's a nice way of thinking abou it
Yeah, I mean there is no need to reinvent the wheel while also you don’t really want to be influenced to the point where your work feels like a copy. That being said, there are “styles” of photographers (like, for example, Martin Parr or Saul Leiter) who basically took a style and made it their own. When you are familiar with their work, it is hard to unsee it in everyone else, even if they might not be influenced by them. Not sure if you ever encountered this, but I often find myself thinking - oh, this is kind of Martin Parr-ish photo.
That said, I don't see any resemblance between your photograph and Erwitt's Paris shot. If anything, the repeated gesture makes me think of the HCB photograph from the train station.
If you go by the gesture, then sure, the Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare might have something in common as well. What I see when I look at the Prague and Paris photos is the figure-to-ground relationships and how the elements in the photo “interact” (the dancer with the Eiffel Tower/the skateboarder and the pendulum).