Honestly, at this point, I could never make another “good” photo again in my life and be completely satisfied with the photos I’ve made in my short photography journey so far. It has me wondering, what’s next? What can we do about the future of photography and creating a more exciting approach to the medium?
Go beyond
When you look at the etymology of the word, transcend, it means to go beyond the limits of something, to rise above or surpass. Perhaps this is the ultimate goal with the medium of photography and art in general.
“Transcend” means to go beyond the limits of something, to rise above or surpass. It often refers to achieving a level of performance, understanding, or existence that is superior to or beyond normal limits. For example, an artist might be said to transcend the norms of their genre, creating something entirely new and unique.
We must go beyond the basic notions of what makes a “good” photograph, and what the masters of the past have laid out for us. One of my major frustrations within the world of street photography is that there’s this romanticism of the past. I say, crush the masters and move forward with a new approach.
Embrace the new
I’m actually confused how film photography has made such a comeback. Everybody seems to shoot film for an aesthetic reason, wearing a beanie, facial hair, flannels, and some old camera around their neck. Why does most photographers these days look like this? Also, why is the work itself never interesting? I say it has to do with the degenerate oldschool notions of being an artist with a capital A and taking things so seriously.
Just fuck shit up
Going forward, let’s just fuck shit up. Work with lightning speeds that surpass all other modes of photographing. Uplift the human experience in the most raw and candid way and let the chips fall as they may. No more boring artists, boring photos, and slow processes.
Think carte blanche
To transcend, we must consider everything from scratch and recognize that the past doing things are actually hurting us photographers. Honestly, when I think about the gallery, and the way that we even view work these days, it seems antiquated. Even just browsing through the various galleries in New York City of the different photography shows, they seem to have been hijacked by a lot of woke nonsense. Lots of anarchy vibes, and really strange topics of social justice that are very boring and and uninteresting.
So, what can we do?
Just disconnect from it all and carve your own path forward. photograph for yourself and yourself only and stop thinking about projects, books, zines, galleries, etc. Think less boring? How can we not be so boring as photographers? This is the question that we must solve…