How long do you spend looking at photographs

[sean_mcr]

We're living in the MTV generation where attention spans are often shorter. Many new films and music videos contain fast cuts to feed the drive for visual stimulation. There is a publishing house in the uk that has just released a series of classic novels which have been heavily edited and condensed to make it easier for the reader, Moby Dick being one of them. One of the best novels ever written and admittidly a complex book, but not with out reason

Minor white believed that you could not begin to fully understand a photograph until you'd spent a least 30 minutes in silent contemplation while viewing the image. Photographs can of course mean different things to different people. My mood on a given day can make me feel differently about a photograph as did the day before. But i always sit down and study a photograph in order to get the true feeling of the photograph. Not how it feels to the photographer, but how it feels to me and i can't do that in 10 or 30 seconds i may not even be able to do it at my first viewing

The reason that i bring this topic up is because of a comment that a guest has left in one of my galleries

http://www.pbase.com/sean_mcr/youre_beautiful


"Tom 08-Jun-2007 14:52
How long have you hated men?
How would you view this if a man wrote
it and trashed women? "

Tom seems to think that the poem is about hating men, he also appears to think that the gallery was made by a woman about herself or women in general being superior to men

This to me a classic case of there being none so blind as those who will not see.


Thanks for reading

sean

[alain_lestrade]

Thanks for reading

...and for replying.

I'll try that, but words to be written are not really familiar for me, that's why I do photography. After having read your post and having had a look on your gallery, I suddenly thought you were a wife, it was as an evidence! (Of course, Sean, is a male name). It means that we could understand Tom's reaction.

True, Tom reacted too strongly, for me, that peom is wonderful, whatever the sex of the character.

I really enjoy your photography feeling, Sean, with a lot of meanings, with plenty of comments as that poem.

Regards,

Alain. ("Regards" means "Stares" in french)

[sean_mcr]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply Alain and your English is far better then my french, i'd not be surprised if your English was also better then mine lol

A little more time viewing my photographs would have revealed the reason for the gallery . Our friend seems to have come cold to the gallery, spent little time there and came to the wrong conclusion.

I think the main mistake came from not realizing that Simon Armitage wrote the poem who is male, i've credited him at the top of the poem.

A little more time and thought would have saved him coming to the wrong conclusion. But as you said regardless of the sex of the author of the poem, not to see its beauty and meaning is baffling to me

Thanks again for your kind words

Keep shooting

Sean

[soenda]

In answer to your question about how long I look at a photo, the answer is of course, it depends. Photo forums are like museums where one can quickly become overwhelmed by the sheer number of works. As a result we develop filtering mechanisms---ways to determine how much time to give any particular shot. When I come across a piece I like, I can easily spend upwards of 30 minutes with it.

I also discovered that commenting on photos became a tremendous means of seeing them better. For me, words and images are intertwined. (Ironically, genghis had a hand in making me aware of that. I mention that only because of all the invective flying his way at the moment.) Scott has a knack for pairing an image with a title that conjures all sorts of oblique connections to mind.

As for the derogatory comment you received---the fact that the poster opted not to disclose his Pbase affiliation, if indeed he (or perhaps she) has one. A number of Pbasers have ghost memberships and use those for remarks they don't want traced back to them. (Check out Pierre DuBois sometime.) The shallowness of the retort suggests that the commenter not only failed to look closely at the photos, but did nothing more than glance at the poem. If it were me, I'd simply delete it. It offers nothing except a "have you stopped beating your wife?" kind of statement---one to which any answer reflects negatively on the answerer. It's troll-spew, and that's how I would treat it.

[sean_mcr]

Hello Soenda

The time and effort you have put in to your comments has not gone unnoticed and i very much appreciated your thoughtful views. It's not really until you study a photograph that you can truly comment on it as photograph reveals it secrets over time

In Robert Adams Book for Aperture. 'Beauty in photography', there is a chapter called civilising critique in which he recalls three simple questions posed by the artist Henry James

What is the artist trying to do?

Does he do it?

What is worth doing?

Adams goes on to mention the mistake many critiques make when they answer the last question first.

I will leave the comment as an example of not taking the time to understand what we are seeing. Maybe the member is a member of pbase, maybe not. Either way i hope they realise that they've not seen the wood for the trees

Take care, keep shooting

Sean

PS:

Beauty in photography is a truly great book and an unbelievable bargain


http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0893813680 ... J8V3MF7PR2

[dang]

Soenda wrote:

it's troll-spew, and that's how I would treat it.

Absolutely, a good summation to end your thoughtful insight.

Sean, I just glanced through since time is short at the moment, and intend on going back when I can properly take it in. As far as amount of time spent viewing, time is often a restraining factor for the viewer. As a general rule, for me, there has to be some quick connection which grabs my attention to begin with, or I find myself moving on. As previously commented, title can often achieve gaining attention, resulting in longer viewing. What this might possible say could be another topic in it's self, but I often wonder if we're caught in a "fast food" syndrome of no return. Viewing, like photography it's self, is often descriptive of the individuals circumstance... environmental, mental or otherwise.

So also, is the reaction one has to this form of comment. But as often is the case, one's reaction can also be limited by the same conditions. I'm not sure I would have deleted the comment either. I feel your choice of using it for discussion, is probably the best way to go. In one thread, you've managed to make others aware of a group of works, which you've obviously imposed much thought. For those being anal as "guests", they often forget, many use counters which generate their IP.

Thanks,
"The Other Tom'

[downsouthstories]

Hi Sean!

Ah aint heard of Simon Armitage but read the poem more than once an read it to ma wife an daughters as well.

It invokes all sorts of emotions - happiness, sadness, humor, irony - but most importantly the sense of beauty in so many things.

How someone can take hatred out a this - beats me!

btw - Will look at the photos in the gallery when ah've got a lil more time to appreciate them.

Mike

[genghis45]

One could fill entire pages of a single thread devoted to how peoples' biases lead them to make snap value judgements about others' intentions---augmented by disinformation and negative characterizations with who knows what motivation lies behind those mischaracterizations. Part of it is stupidity, which plagues a large portion of humanity. Part of it is a malicious streak, with perhaps jealousy or personal feelings of inadequacy stimulating these mean streaks. Sometimes these feelings of indequacy lead these people to subjugate others so that their inadequate emotions don't overwhelm them, therefore avoiding a poor self image.

It is entirely possible that your guest entered into the viewing of your page with preconceived notions based on his own character flaws, as manifested by the motivations I mentioned before. Perhaps he's a chronic complainer?

[sean_mcr]

Thanks once again to all those that took the time to reply.

I'd like to to add that my point is not that people should like or connect with these photos, it's that they will have little chance in doing so if they fail to see the intent of the photographer. Our friend whoever it is totally missed that important point and it can only be because they gave little time to that thought

I'd have actually preferred it if they'd said it was self indulgent as at least that might have been a view that might have made me think and i am always open to a grounded debate. Having said that they did not mention the photographs

Cheers

Sean

[soenda]

Sean, I keep thinking about this discussion on how long you look at a photo.

Here is an example of a photo where the more attention you give it, the more it offers. There are subtle but delightful elements of juxtaposition and contrast in this photo called "The Yellow Room."

It is a photo by Tuna Önder, a photographer from Florida or Alabama to the best of my recollection.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/544503/0#4725429

[sean_mcr]

Thanks for posting that Sue, i'm familiar with tuna


I always have favored environmental portraits. It takes skill and craft to use symbolism and metaphor to reveal truths in life that we can connect with

Italian Detectives in training are are shown paintings from the renaissance and beyond and asked to find the hidden meaning (sometimes overt sometimes not) they were asked to look upon them as a crime scene as reading the scene before them would help them read situations they would find out in the world in their work.

One of the things i first notice in that image is that the paintings are for sale, it is possible that the artist is in the shot, but it maybe a cafe that displays work of local artists and the female is a customer using the tranquil space, as was Tuna himself

The color yellow has different meanings to different cultures. In Hindu culture they believe yellow has the power to influence intelect

There is a book titled "The yellow room" which is a detective story, which is fitting when we're talking about reading scenes.