Is Curiosity a Vital Element for Photography?

I think it is.

The incredibly important book “The Americans” was created out of Robert Frank’s curiosity about America and what the Americans were up to at that point in time.

What many of us took for granted, Frank revealed in ways that were at once confrontational, comfortable, and yet challenging. He was fascinated by the way people in America engaged (or not) with each other. His juxtapositions of people and landscape replete with advertising slogans and clutter showed us something we may not have been thinking about at the time.

He was curious. He used his camera to delve into something he was deeply captivated by and created work that has absolutely withstood the test of time. If you are not familiar with his book, “The Americans” you can check it out at Amazon. (Not Affiliate)

When I started making pictures, I was always curious about not only the technical aspects of the process but what the 3-dimensional world would look like in 2 dimensions. The juxtaposition of light and shadow that were demarkations of depth could be made to look like they were on similar planes. Using long lenses could compress what I saw to a more tightly constrained distance. Wide angles could isolate a small subject, while encompassing the vast in a single shot.

I studied the work of Josef Koudelka, Edward Weston, Patrick Demarchelier, Albert Watson, and Ralph Gibson looking for remnants of what drove them to make the photograph. What did they see in their heads before they took the image? What was the image supposed to make me feel? Was there some trace of what they wanted that I could grasp looking at the image far after the moment it was taken?

I wanted to be able to see the outcome before I made the attempt. I wanted to visualize what would happen if… if, if, if, if?

I realized that my curiosity about the motivations of other photographers were starting to guide me in ways that I had not expected. I began seeing more, I don’t know… maybe ‘clearly’ as to why I was taking that image.

I wanted to control my pallet, the frame, the subject, the light… everything I had to deal with was within my control – or at least I wanted it to be.

I would study the framing of every shot. We would make a polaroid and I would sit quietly with it for a few minutes just to get a handle on what I was seeing in front of me. My curiosity would then lead me to question why I wanted this, or that, or that other thing in my frame? And I had to have an answer if it were to stay.

More and more the curiosity turned to an aesthetic in my work. I began making photographs that were mine. Not Patrick’s or Albert’s… mine. I had the control. I wanted to wield it like a craftsman’s sword and cut out anything that was not “me”.

A few decades in commercial photography lead me away from that personal expression but gave me great insight into asking the same questions about my client’s work. Why do it this way? How can we do it better? What is the story?

And that led me to be more involved in the conceptualizing and preparing of the visual work that had to be done. An ad agency was born in my spare bedroom.

The curiosity that had been a mainstay of my work was one of the grids of my agency. We worked with clients who wanted (needed) results and so we dug down into the whys and hows and engagement opportunities for our client’s work.

Always client forward. Always asking questions. Always analyzing results.

Today as I move more toward a different sensibility, I remain curious about so many other things that it naturally falls into my photography interests.

I want to try everything. I want to experience different kinds of photographs and be able to tell stories with more interesting images and words and… well, there are so many things I want to know.

I hope my curiosity helps you in yours as well. I find things to be amazed by every day. And I love to share them on different media platforms.

This morning I read that social media has been shown to be a depressant to those already depressed. I was not surprised. But I also think this same technology can be used to advantage by those who are curious enough to dig through the muck to find the shiny clues that can lead to more insight.

About most anything.

In a recent article a client said this about photographer David Eustace:

“I wanted a photographer who had the heart of an art student – one who finds everything interesting and would see what I saw when I walked around the plants.”

The AD wanted a curious photographer. One who was still excited about the process of making an image from something in front of his/her camera. One who made images for the joy of creating.

This is something that I am reminding myself every day. I even have a sign on my bulletin board just above my computer screen.

“What are you curious about today?”

I want to write about how important it is to ask questions with our cameras, but this post is already to the limit. Perhaps next time.