The Photographer’s Dilemma

"Looking Between the Lines"
Scanned black and white negative

I had bad case of artist block in formulating a solid idea for my final photography project. The more I thought about my intentions and how represent those ideas visually, the more my creative thought seemed to be pushed further out of reach. This got me thinking about the process of making art. For most artists, the meaning is dissected after the art is created. For others, there is a higher level of intentionality established before approaching the work. I feel that I weave between these two methods depending on the assignment, but more commonly, I decide where I am going conceptually before making the visual map to get there. Although I believe this can make the art more meaningful, other times I think I drown my creativity with too much logic. It is a fine line between giving art enough thought to find the method most conducive to the idea, and submerging art’s ability to access the illogical by trying to articulate it’s existence with reasoning.

There is also the flip side of this as a viewer rather than creator. Why do people look at art? And what are we supposed to take from art? Sometimes I think art should be brought into the logical realm, by dissecting its meaning and significance. Other times, I think it begs to be left alone, left as something unexplainable.

As I was contemplating my struggle, I thought about this particular challenge in terms of photography. Unlike painters, sculptures or other artists who have a much more hands on approach, photographers must always operate through another medium: their camera. In doing this, one has to juggle the logical side of how to operate this machine, and the creative side of what this machine can see or do. Therefore the artist must also master the maneuvers of this tightrope walk between using reasoning to operate the machine and innovation to make artistic photographs.

"Peek"
Scanned Digital Negative

This discussion has its place physiologically in terms of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and is the part used for linear, symbolic processing, speaking, and reasoning. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and is used for holistic, random, intuitive thinking or fantasizing. Most people become dominate in one of these hemispheres, and for most artists it is the right.

Photography however, prevents either hemisphere from becoming dominate. To look through your camera at the picture being created you must close your left eye and look with your right. By doing this, you are activating the left hemisphere, which is used for rational thought. As a fine art photographer, the right brain needs to be used to see the image as a something other than a representation. This then is the photographer’s dilemma; to create art as the right brain would, despite using your left brain to make it.

"Hidden Identity"
Acrylic on canvas

My solution to this conundrum was to put my camera down and start making finger paintings. This overly crude method of making art allows a certain catharsis limited in photography. By plopping the paints directly on the canvas and allowing my fingers to mix the colors and create the shapes, I am able to bi-pass the road block of intentionality. I can expel my creative energies directly on a canvas, messy as they may be.

It turns out messy is sometimes the only antidote for a photographer facing a blank canvas.