A few thoughts..

So, I'm finally getting into action and motivating myself to do things with this blog.

I wasn't sure where I was heading with it, but I think I've figured it all out now. My photography course  has inspired me to do so much, and be so much better, I want to use this as a place I can develop my skills, see myself improve and document what I have learnt.

I've just finished a project on 'Objectivity and Subjectivity' and I have to say it has probably been one of the most difficult, philosophical projects to get my head around, I've been stuck in a rut with it for days! But I have done it, with a little help from google, and it's made me think about photography in a different way.

You see, and you may disagree with me here I'm sure, but I don't believe a photograph can really be 'objective', what even does that mean? How can you have an image that doesn't mean something to someone. Surely to take a photograph itself is not objective? You have chosen to photograph that object, something has drawn you to it, maybe sub-consciously at first but, you have selected that thing because of a psychological connection to it, your opinion towards it or your ideas.

The work of William Fox Talbot is said to be objective, take a look at this for example, it is meant to be a purely objective photograph documenting his possessions  as should a thief ever steal them he would have proof they are his. Fair enough, it is a record, but why did Talbot feel the need to prove his ownership of these objects? Because they meant something to him, he has photographed things that surely have connections to him, as if he were to have these things stolen, surely he would be very upset

.Maybe I am getting the wrong end of the stick, but that is what I see. I think 'objective' can only apply to such things as police records and passport ID's and is that photography just because it involves a camera? Woah, that's a completely different debate!

On the other hand, subjectivity, now that is something I can talk about. Subjectivity is evident in every image, because if things can't be objective they must have psychological connections, it must mean to something to the photographer and I'm certain it's almost always a projection of their thoughts and view of the world. If we didn't work subjectively, what would make our work unique? I'm all about expressing yourself through images, maybe that's just me but I think that's the whole point of art and photography, we are dealing with such a powerful tool we may aswell get our thoughts heard using it.

And this leads me to my own little personal project. I have created works so far in response to this 'subjectivity' brief after coming across this explanation of the term “Subjective photography focuses on the importance of self-expression, as opposed to a factual account of the subject being photographed. Otto Steinert, its founder, suggested that it is "humanized and individualised photography" whose purpose is "to capture from the individual object a picture compounding to its nature." Subjective photography is meant to be self-reflective, relying more on the viewer's interpretation and experience than the actual object being photographed." (you can read the rest of this here if you like).

So, from now on I plan to express my thoughts and ideas every day through photography. They will all be self-portraits and hopefully it will help me on my photography journey. Fingers crossed!

Ciao Bella x