Are You Looking For Great Photos?
© Joan Fontcuberta | courtesy of Zabriske Gallery, Abu Ghraib, 2005 (left) and detail (right), from the series Googlegrams
Fontcuberta uses the popular internet search engine Google to create large, colorful photo-mosaics that construct an elegant metaphor for the internet-era’s liaisons between mass media and our collective consciousness. Never resting at the boundaries of his medium, Fontcuberta takes a step further back from the process of photography, using the Google image search engine to blindly cull images from the internet by controlling only the search engine criteria with the input of specific key words. These Google-selected images are then assembled into a larger image of Fontcuberta’s choosing, displaying challenging relationships between words and pictures. Fontcuberta’s concept focuses on the deft juxtaposition of search-engine criteria against the larger image those criteria comprise. Penny-sized portraits of the richest men and women in the world are pieced together into a mosaic depicting a homeless man; the iconic image of detainee tortured at Abu Ghraib is cobbled together out of images of public officials involved in the scandal.
As the artist notes, the internet itself is “the supreme expression of a culture which takes it for granted that recording, classifying, interpreting, archiving and narrating in images is something inherent in a whole range of human actions, from the most private and personal to the most overt and public.”
- from Zabriske Gallery exhibition press release
Lens-based imagery, whether it be from Google, YouTube, websites, and blogs, is the universal and dominant global language and form of communication and cultural exchange. Cell phone cameras, MySpace pages, and Flickr have turned the visual information superhighway into an ever-growing traffic jam of visual imagery that makes any Los Angeles highway easy to navigate. World affairs, such as global warming, war and genocide are simultaneously mediated with the private and the personal, going from images of starvation in Darfur to a birthday celebration with the click of the mouse.
In the last minute as I’m writing this, 7,306 images were uploaded onto Flickr. Based on that number of images per minute, consider this:
438,360 images per hour
10,520,640 images per day
3,840,033,600 images per year
Nearly 4 billion images per year.
Who’s looking at these photos and why? What purpose does such a website serve and how does one navigate it to find something of personal interest? With so many images, is it realistically possible to find great photographs, or least ones of interest?
And these are images from only one website! Consider how many more are being uploaded onto other image-hosting and information-sharing websites, such as search engines, MySpace, Facebook and blogs. And this is just lens-based imagery on the internet. Think about the amount of lens-based imagery experienced on a daily basis, including television, movies, print media, and advertising in addition to our own private and personal imagery.
Consider and respond to the following:
As you’re interested in photography and lens-based imagery, whether it be as a student of the medium and an emerging photographer or a working professional, what role and function does photography serve for you as a means of communication? Basically, why are you making photographs and who are you sharing them with or want to share them with?
Are you utilizing the internet as a platform to share your work and where, whether it be Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, a blog or some other image-sharing website? What types of images are you sharing and why? And if you’re not utilizing the internet, why and where are you sharing your photographs?
Where do you go (i.e. internet, print media, and/or galleries and museums) to look for great photographs or at the very least, lens-based imagery you’re interested in? And what is the criteria you use to find these photographs of interest?
Photography for a means of communication for me would basically be my way to communicate my feelings, my passions, it’s my way of life. Photography has been a part of my life for more than 10 years. Photography and lens based imagery is my way of seeing the world, to express my feelings and passion. I have placed an big investment both in time, energy, feelings, big sum of money, and most of all half of my known life to this photography. For me photography is life, its a subject I’m always ready to talk about. It’s something I feel I have to do to be happy, to live each day.
I share my photography with the world by means of my website. Stock agencies and online sites. I also have some of my work in a museum collection. I think if you want to share your photography then any means in which you share it is good. If you give someone a photograph then people will see it, their friends, family and anyone who is in their home, so with one photograph you give someone you have the potential for maybe even thousands to see it. I also share my photos with friends and family, by my website, or prints.
Internet as a platform to share one’s photographic work is just about the best way we can do it today. With the size and access to the internet today it is a way for the world to see you, your work, and your ideas. People can find you when they don’t even know who you are, with myspace, flickr, facebook, and dozens of other places to put your work like stock agencies, online galleries and other sharing sites. There are thousands of places for an artist to display their work. Yes there is a lot to look at, thats where making sure your stuff is titled, key worded, tagged correctly for the search engines is the key to access to your work. Today I feel its harder than ever in many ways, the amount of prep work is more today than ever for an artist to correctly get their work out in the world, but in the same aspect the reward can reach a greater audience and has a higher potential than we have ever seen, and things will only get better.
To view photograph I like all means, print, books, online, galleries and museums. To truly see the impact of a photograph there is nothing like a huge wall size print in a museum, but there is also something nice about the comfort of my big HD monitor in my home. You need to look at imagery no matter what medium it comes in, because to stop looking is to really stop feeling. I also feel most all imagery can be interesting, someone spent the time to create a piece of art work, to label it, to upload it to the net, or print it on photographic paper. It is a given that some will be of interest more than others, some I will pass by with a split second of attention then pass it off as seen and time to move on but everything has it’s place.
We all look at photos to to help actualize and define our own realities. Websites are a tool to build on our current perceptions and serve the purpose of presenting one creators visual and written perspective of a particular event and place.
The problem with navigating through the internet to find great photographs is the over abundance of photographs. In order to navigate through a search engine the web surfer types in “tag words” that link to corresponding images and articles. The problem with this is that all web creators aim at tagging their websites with as many words as they can to lure web surfers into their page. What images come up from a search depends on the corresponding tag words which can become problematic when one tag word brings up 500,000 images. It is, however, possible to find great photographs, but you have to link through agencies, other photographers, galleries, book publishers and magazine sites.
As a student studying photography the medium provides a way for me to express the subtleties of life that I am unable to express through words. I make photographs as a reminder to explore the human experience at an objective view. The camera for myself is a safe portal that connects me to new perspectives. When the work becomes conceptual I’ve put the pieces together as best I can to present a feeling or situation that can be expressed better through image then language.
I am part of an internet sharing site, however I keep it very private. I initially started it to share photographs with my boyfriend who lives in Sweden. Now it’s become a way for me to share my life with other family members and friends that I don’t see on a regular basis.
To look for great photographs I go everywhere: museums, galleries, magazines, internet, books and photo albums. I am interested in all kinds of photography: documentary photography, journalism and conceptual pieces. I generally find inspiring work from internet links and magazines.
1) For me, photography is a way to show and express how one individual sees the world around him. We are all unique human beings, each one of us has a special and unique way to think, act and view things, that are influenced by the culture they were born in, how they were raised, kind of people that were involved in their life and many more. Photograph can be the sum of all that into one single moment that was captured by the person’s eye. That’s why I love photography, it allows me to express myself in many ways and show to people how I see the world around me.
2) Yes, for me the internet is an essencial tool to share and show people my work, since I’m really into Flickr and Myspace. I use flickr as a digital portfolio, so I try to post all different kind of photos there, from school work to bands photoshoot.
3) I really like to search for phots on flickr, because most of people there are not professional photographers. That way i can relate to those photographers because they are just like me, they don’t have professional gear o a professional studio, so I can talk to them and see how they are getting around with their own equipment. When I want to look for professional photographer, I think the best way is getting a book. It seems that alot of the professional photographs are copyrighted, therefore they cant be posted on the internet…for exemple, Its really hard to find high resolution photos of Sebastiao Salgado on the internet.
I am personally making pictures for myself and my audience; I love the reaction people give me when I show photographs I have taken. Also, I want to document the world around me, how I view the world, and what ever else is fascinating. I am not pursuing a professional career in photography, but I want to do it as a side job and mostly as a hobbie. This is something I love and I want to learn as much as I can about it. Most of the time, I am just sharing my pictures with my friends and family. Someday, I would like to open a professional website with all the pictures I have taken.
I currently use Myspace and Facebook to post all my photographs because on Myspace I have friends and family on there and they can view my pictures and leave me feedback on the pictures. With Facebook its a little more open I keep the images small so that way no one can copy them but anyone can view my pictures. I share a lot of my candid shots with friends and family but then I have photo albums that include my personal photography and pictures from my high school photo class and college classes. Almost, like keeping a reccord of what I’ve done so people can see my progression as I am learning more,
To look for photographs, I am using google a lot to find personal and professional websites and then explore from there. For small thumbnail images, I use photobucket and Tiny pic. I usually look for someone who has done beach landscapes, wedding photographs, photographs of people, and black and white images.
The internet is a big system that shares all of our information. best possible way for some one to get to know you (good or bad) is by internet. Just type in a key word and the possibilities are endless.
I myself use different sources as a up and coming photographer to get my name out there and have my images noticed. from many multiple internet sites, word of mouth (models and photographers i have worked with), to magazines, and hopefully soon to a gallery.
I share my photographs to get myself know, that i have just a good imagination, and i work just as hard as the “Joe Shmow” I’m competing against to, basicly make money in this world.
Best thing to do is do something your really good at.
lots of people look at photos off google, flicker, you tube, ect. sometimes people look at images to learn something or to match something they saw and didn’t know what exactly it was. an example is a bug that maybe bit them and they want to know what it was that bit them they could look it up. you tube is know to find hummer in something or even be amazed at something. flicker can be to see photos from all over that can bring new ideas to mind that may have not crossed your mind before, or maybe your looking at someone you might want to hire to do something for you photography wise and can check out what they have done. with so many photos at least one will catch your attention. on a bunch of other sites people put photos up so you can get a since of who they are and the more photos you put up the more likely you will have a chance to be able to relate to one another and with that bond of shared intrest.
i do share photos on my myspace and for the most part its what i have been up to or friends and family having a good time or photos i took that i thought others might like looking at. i put those photos up because i like to share with friends what i’m up to and same with them it makes checking in on how people are doing very easy. sometimes it makes long distance relationships between friends last a bit longer because you can still be in-tuned with there life threw images they have posted.
It depends on what I’m doing in order to say who I’m sharing my photos with, is it just making photographs to document a time and place or am I shooting photos with intent to sell them to someone or even just portfolio building? I particularly like to shoot portraiture but It isn’t necessary for me to have to sell the photo to enjoy it, ultimately it comes down to making money as well. I’m also just able to enjoy shooting photos at events such as birthday parties and concerts as well. Most of the time not getting paid helps because of less pressure to please someone. I think there are different reason to share photos and its all depending on the subject of the series.
I use myspace as as budget way of getting some photos out there that I’ve taken in my “garage studio” with a wrinkled white sheet or tarp of some sort as a back drop then I have friends, bands, animals or even still objects lit up to shoot photos of. After the shoot is over I have captured anywhere from 300-8– photos and I edit through everything then edit in photoshop then post a decent sized image on myspace so all the people who modeled can easily copy the photos. I find that since the object of those photo shoots hasn’t been to make money Myspace is an excellent tool for sharing photos, just watermark everything! I won’t lie I’ve heard of images being stolen on FLICKR and that FLICKR doesn’t protect your images so I never use my account.
More than 75% of the time I search for images on yahoo or google, honestly there are some many out there its really hard NOT to find what you are looking for. IF not I’ll search on stock photo websites as well. Depending on if I’m using the image for and online post or a painting I try to look for one I can blow up to a decent size.
I make photographs to show others my perspective of a specific place, or people. I make photographs to grow and learn for myself. Whether it be creating an understanding of what i shoot, and also a reason of why it was shot, I feel it is quite vital to progress as a photographer. I share my photographs mainly with those who are close to me. Friends and family. I have some of my photographs on facebook.
I have some of my work from last semester on facebook, and also some work I did outside of class. I would rather have more recent images up, so if someone were to see it, they would know what I’ve recently been up to.
I go to galleries and museums when I can and if there is an exhibit I’d like to see. I went to the Met and MOMA this summer while staying in New York. I also like the Getty in LA, and MOPA in Balboa Park. I also search online for people’s work I’ve heard of, then hopefully there will be a link to someones’ work that is similar. Whenever I see a book that I am interested in, or even a video in a store, I will either purchase it, or do some research on the artist. I watch shows on http://www.vbs.tv. There is a section on the site that has a show called Art Talk! which is pretty interesting. It has interviews with many different artists, and shows there work as well.
Where do you go (i.e. internet, print media, and/or galleries and museums) to look for great photographs or at the very least, lens-based imagery you’re interested in? And what is the criteria you use to find these photographs of interest?
1) Photography can talk about the fact for a long time. And I want to tell descendants that what happening right now after I die. If an alien comes to the earth after human being extinct, they find the photography i shot and hung it up on the wall in UFO, that gonna be awesome for me.
2) Yes, I am utilizing the internet as a tool to show my photos to my friends. I mainly show them something like landscape photos, not like portfolio because some people photographed as a subject doesn’t want to be posted in the internet. Of course some people doesn’t care about that, but i don’t wanna get trouble.
3) I go to bookstore to look for nice photos.
Photography serves me in more then a few ways. I shoot for my own enjoyment as well as use photography to pay bills and/or gain experience for future career positions. Although only a few of my photographs are posted over the internet, I’ve done enough work as a photographer that I can guarantee there are at least a few hundred people with work that I have done in their homes. Granted it is not the “artistic” side of photography and consists of work done living in Idaho as a Whitewater Rafting Photographer; but my work is still out there for people to enjoy and is that not the point of most photography? To have your work out there in some shape or form for people? Granted I often take pictures for myself but in the grand scheme of things as photographers we all want people to see work of ours to some degree.
When I do share images online on platforms such as Facebook, you will see more of the photo-journalistic style of shooting or things in particular that I have captured in which have caught my eye. I use many forms of media for inspiration, so I could not narrow one down; however I do tend to use magazines and newspapers over internet media for ideas or searching for new photographers. Don’t get me wrong I think the internet is a needed platform to display work and get your idea’s out there in today’s world. But I just don’t always have the time to sit at home and spend hours looking through pictures of other peoples work on Flickr to hopefully find inspiration to say the least. And when I do try to find photographers I look for the content and style in which images are shot based on my own shooting style or styles that catch my eye.
Photography is an amazing medium to express yourself through. There are so many different things that you can do with photography, so many emotions you can convey to your viewer. The reason that I take/make pictures is because I can express my feelings and experiences through it. I really don’t find images that are not artistic, or that don’t leave you walking away with something that you didn’t have before interesting. I want to share my work with anyone that has an appreciation for art, and even the ones that don’t.
What I strive to accomplish with my photography is exactly this. I want my viewer to look at my image and be captivated, I want my pictures to hit a certain note with them, I want them to be touched by my work because that is what I believe photography is all about. For me, there is no point in making a picture that is mediocre, or that has nothing behind it. Photography is an art, and the point of art is to make people feel something, at least in my opinion. The best type of art is art that is not necessarily asthetically pleasing, but that has a message behind it, it’s not just a picture of an object or a person. To me, that is pointless and useless. I want my photography to tell a story, and that is why I believe I am so interested by cinemascapes.
I do have some of my work on myspace as well as deviantART, They are pictures of a friend of mine that used to model, as well as some other people that didn’t mind having their pictures taken. The reason that I have taken those types of pictures is because that is what interests me, people. Usually when I look for great photographs, it is in an art an culture magazine that I subscribe to as well as the internet, for an even wider range of work. When I search for new artists or photographers, I usually look for work that is different and unique. I believe that that is why I enjoy the cinemascapes, because they are unique and interesting. There is something behind these pictures, it isn’t just an object that means nothing, only that it is asthetically pleasing to the viewer. In fact, pictures that are “ugly” or “vulgar” I tend to like most, oddly enough.
I type because I can not write
I make pictures because I can not draw
Making lots of pictures is nice. The fact that sooooooo much instantaneous history is being recorded at any given moment is mind boggling. How do we share,look-up,find and show, our own work ,or favorite work to look and yet find time to make more pictures?