yes, i realize i only update twice a month. quality over quantity or some such thing, yeah? today was a good day. we got up lazily, went to visit our friend at the gelato/coffee shop she works at for some coffee. then we took Artan to the dog park. he digs that. we’ve decided he’s graduated from the small dog area because while he still is rather small he does not act it. last time we were there some lady had the balls to suggest he did not belong in the small dog pen even though there were other dogs as “large” as he in there. pro-tip: don’t tell other people how to deal with their children. after we tired him out we went home and sat around a bit until we went to a talk given by a couple photo-journalists that were in Iraq pre-war.
it was an interesting talk. i must say not much new information was gathered from the presentation but the images were moving. they did bring up a good point though; and that is that for people who don’t have the interest Iraq is/was Saddam Hussein. they forget that Iraq is a long and rich culture but more importantly Iraq is a people. a people who are proud of their culture and heritage and while are glad they don’t have to live under such an oppressive dictator anymore they aren’t very happy that another army is occupying their country. to people who seek out news of other countries this isn’t a new revelation, but it speaks to a frustration that many journalists have with American media that a lot of people aren’t going to see these images and hear these stories because they don’t have the will or interest to find out. they’re concerned with Harry Potter and Spiderman, if the cover of Time is any indication.
it got me thinking about why i take pictures. these people risk life and limb to bring us a story that we need to hear to understand what and why we do things. and i realized i just don’t know. i don’t really have a reason, i don’t know what i want to show people; and that’s probably why my images are so scattered and while maybe technically OK, they just aren’t much to speak of. but that’s OK. it’s a learning process, and more importantly it’s relaxing. which is something i need to do more, apparently.
Jared:
Not everyone can express earth-shatteringly meaningful thoughts ALL the time… It is enough that you are expressing yourself and practicing. You will find that your expressivity and your search for good content will expand as you grow. This applies to both the artistic side and the human interest side. You are affected by the photojournalism because you have a heart. Their mission is to reach it. You are contributing by being reached too!
I see good work and significant growth in your photography. It’s not just the camera or technique. It’s the ability to capture emotion and convey it. Don’t worry… You have something to say too. I’m proud of you.
Always!
Joe