March 12, 2010
Keith Carter
i saw Keith give a lecture a couple days ago and i was completely inspired by his philosophy of photography and his appreciation for everything that life had to offer. he is someone who really loves photography for the reason that it forces him to stop concentrating on whats going on in his head and more on whats going on around him. excellent excellent inspiration and influence for photographers as well as people who dont like photography at all because his words of wisdom are easily applicable to everyone lives.
for other photographers out there he gave a few different mantras that he tries to live by with his art along with his life
i jotted them down as he was going, you can take from them what you want
1. we all need the work of others, make friends with uncertainty.
- just cause its been done before doesnt mean it cant be done again he said that its up to you to be innovative he also said that the world does not need another sally mann or anyone else they need you and your work take influence from others but dont try to emulate them for your whole life, make everything unique to you.
2. Its all about making choices
- dont second guess if something feels right, do it no matter how uncertain you are as he said in the previous mantra, make friends with uncertainty.
3.belong to a place belong to something
- whether its something physical like a place or family or its something intangible lke an idea or philosophy or culture etc, its important to have roots, make sure to never lose them or you could forget exactly who you are which is of course maybe the most important thing ever to remember.
4. the full weight and mystery of your art lies with you, dont let people discourage you.
- there will always be critics of everything you do. do not let other people discourage you. it seems to me that every great artist has always had the greatest of critics. Ansel Adams once called Egleston to tell him (in regards to an exhibit he was showing at) how much he hated his work and of course now Egleston has been called the father of color photography, Vangoah sold one painting in his entire life and is now one of the most revered dutch painters of all time and the list goes on. dont let people discourage you with anything.
in short it was a great great lecture
here is a link to his website for more on keith carter and his work: http://www.keithcarterphotographs.com/
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Very cool post!!
ReplyDeletePaul
Hi Kevin:
ReplyDeleteGreat synopsis of what Keith said. He and Sally Mann are major influences for me; which is kind of odd, since for example I only shoot color; and so on from there. Susan Burnstine (www.susanburnstine.com) and I did a small workshop with Keith a few years ago. I’ve blogged about it (http://ericlhansen.net/); and of course Keith said all the things you have summarized so well. It was really inspiring for me.
Most recently I came across a feature-length documentary film about Sally Mann called “What Remains”. I was so blown away I wanted everyone in the world I know to see it. So I set it up as a free workshop (http://www.ericlhansen.com/the-film-sally-mannwhat-remains-p_22.html). What struck me about both Keith Carter and Sally Mann is how grounded they are in their sense of place. I just want to let that sink in for a minute. Sally Mann grew up on a horse farm in Virgina, married, and now lives on a horse farm in Virginia, where she has photographed around the farm, raised children whom she has photographed on the farm; and so on. She uses an 8x10 view camera and collodion wet plates, so I wouldn’t expect her to be flying around like a photojournalist. But her medium is so matched to her sense of place. I think we could all benefit from (re)considering how our chosen medium links up with our sense of place.