Just passing through.

I done a little interview last month, nothing fancy, just a short Q and A on Instagram, so with my tiny following, a very small deal. I did enjoy answering the questions though. It started with, when did you make your first photograph, what was your first camera, what inspires you etc. But what was really interesting was reading an interview with the same people, but from a younger artist. The first camera was digital, influences were from pintrest and images online (no books, old photographers, exhibitions etc), and photographers were all younger and splattered all over Instagram. To me this speaks volumes because in my opinion the only way to know what good photography is, is to look at what has gone before. Pioneers of photography that worked with old techniques and what they had, pushing the boundaries and showing us how good they really were. These days, anyone can manipulate a photograph to produce what they want, be it a stormy sky that wasn’t there, warm light, or removing various distractions. But back in the day you would never have said, ‘I’ll take that out, or add that later in post.’

I get the sense that young photographers today are not living in their work, they are just passing through, and that’s without ever leaving the house.