Obsessing Over the Details

Facade, Charleston, South Carolina

Stuff that excites the very specialized only excites the specialized. Many people are not aware they should be impressed when they see something. I think this applies to all sorts of things where aficionados obsess over minutiae and describe their view in the most arcane terms. Read a wine review. There are all sorts of descriptions for how a wine tastes, smells and looks. Beer is rapidly approaching this level of specialization. “Black and White photographers” rhapsodize about the intricacies of tonal separation (especially in Zones II through IV) and I think there is an entire sub-culture obsessing over bokeh.

The average person (and there are quite a few of those) thinks wine is red or white, beer needs to be pale and cold and wonders why a black and white photograph wasn’t made in color.

Being a “photographer’s photographer” is nice, because your talents are appreciated by those that know what it takes to be good, but that’s a really small number of people. If you can appeal to your fellow photographers as well as the person on the street, then you have something going for you.

 

Comments

[Muggs Ferguson]

Joe,

Very well said! I've often said that "good enough is good enough!". Now that's not to say that we should settle for mediocrity. I try to strive for excellence but not "obsess" about what other photographers think of my work.
I think that the discussion of photographers while looking at photographs often turns toward the knit-picky stuff, and are so enamored with the technical is because they really don't know how to "see".