Further to my earlier blog about the need to sort and select images from a large number ('large' in this case refers to my experience which is minute compared with what follows) I was, on the same day, reading "On being a photographer" [Hurn, D and Jay, B. (2008) 3rd ed. Anacortes WA: LensWork Publishing] In the section "The Picture Essay" I came across the following - "As a general guide I would guess that for a seven picture essay I would shoot 20 to 30 cassettes of 36-exposure 35mm film." (p 100). Spoken by David Hurn this suggests that he anticipates taking between 720 and 1080 individual photographs to have sufficient to produce the essay. A 'hit rate' of between approximately 1/100 and 1/150. Whilst I find this extraordinary he continues - "A single exhibition-quality image probably occurs every, say, 100 films". Doing the maths that is a hit rate of 1/3600. For a 45 image exhibition he would, based on these figures, anticipate taking 162,000 images which is a staggering amount. We are offered some sort of clue as to the output of Hurn over a year by an anecdote told by Jay (p.99) where he tells the story of Hurn going into a local photography dealer's shop and ordering 1000 films. Jay goes onto confirm that all 1000 films (36,000 frames) had been exposed within a year. In simple terms that means that to have sufficient images for an exhibition Hurn would take four and a half years to have sufficient material. Given this was before the advantages of the digital age where the photographer is able to shoot almost non stop at a very rapid rate without having to wind the film on or change the film after 36 shots it is an astonishing achievement.
These responses by Hurn were in answer to a comment made by Jay that "photography is a medium of quantity as well as quality" (p99). Jay offers the explanation that photography is about taking photographs and that it is learnt by taking photographs. He goes on "Like every other skill , photography is learned by continuous and dedicated practice (p.99). Hurn responds - "Thats true......You learn by concentrating on a subject, planning the actual shooting and critically evaluating the results. At face value these comments are statements of the obvious. Yet I am left wondering what 'critically evaluating' means in practice given the very large number of images produced by Hurn.
It has to be remembered that films had to be developed to produce the negatives and then these had to be developed to produce the positive image capable of being assessed. Even producing contact sheets took time if the thumbnails were to be of sufficient standard to make examination of each individual print worthwhile. The book provides us with a whole section on creating contact prints that, it is perhaps fair to say, is irrelevant in the digital age. However I am sure that some photographers will argue for a continuation of this method arguing that it provides benefit in the whole process of creating the perfect print. In the context of this blog I introduce the topic because the process described by Hurn makes the number of images he claims to use is a task that, I believe, is beyond the capability of one person. Further he argues that he would not simply discard those images he felt did not meet the criteria of the specific project but examine them to learn from his mistakes. To this end he argues that those images that are seen to be over or under exposed should be 'dodged' or 'burned' to achieve the exposure levels that allow an informed judgement of its worth.
Whilst it is possible that Hurn had an assistant(s) to do the technical work I assume that he would do the final selection himself and, because they would be his 'mistakes', study the rejects to see how he could improve his photography in the future. Frankly put he would never have time to produce the final images! Even the most practiced eye would require a finite amount of time to select the best shots and learn from the worst.
I would argue that quantity should never be the aim in the hope that somewhere in the day's shooting there is at least one image worthy of taking its place in the photographic essay or the exhibition. The student and amateur photographer is frequently exhorted to "get it right in the camera" even now when most have access to powerful software that can 'rescue' the most unpromising shot. The advice is good (although needs to be tempered with the overriding need to get the photograph) because it underlines the need to engage the mind at the same time as engaging the "inner eye". The benefits of taking an appropriate period of time in getting the image with its final place being part of the thinking far outweigh the machine gun approach to photography. Experience and practice will reduce the time to 'realise' the desired shot. It follows that we then increase the chances of an improved hit rate which if it moves from 1/100 to 1/50 doubles the time we have to improve our chances further.
In fairness to Hurn he argues that "...it is not a learning process to wander around banging off frames of film for the sheer fun of shooting pictures."(p99) Yet his bald statements about his success rate strongly implies that 'banging off frames' is what he does.
Being fairly free from other commitments, I am retired, I can and do spend a lot of time examining the output of a day's shooting. Rarely nowadays do I shoot for the fun of it concentrating instead on the requirements of a particular element of the Course I am studying. Shooting wholly in digital and using the RAW setting I am able to quickly download the images to my computer. I can then examine each individual shot (usually in Lightroom and at full size) and make a decision about what images I wish to work further on. Those that are obviously wrong e.g. a picture of the ground because I pressed the shutter release when walking or completely without detail because I took it with the lens cap still on. Others that are under or over exposed by a significant amount and are unlikely to benefit from further work in Photoshop are also discarded. I then look at groups or sets of photographs that are essentially the same shot but taken from a slightly different angle or other reason for the similarity and using Lightroom's 'Survey" facility select the best shot of that group. I work my way through the whole day's shoot in this way ending up with a selection that are worth keeping and are relevant to the project work I am doing. I will then carry out any necessary work to produce a 'final image' and save them in a separate folder keeping a safe copy elsewhere.
I will view the saved images a few days later and make a final choice. It is at this stage that I look at those which did not make the cut and try to decide why they failed to meet the criteria when compared with those that did. What I concentrate on is the framing, composition and lighting of the image as opposed to the actual subject matter. I noticed in a recent batch of images that I have a tendency to cut off people's feet because I am concentrating on the face. The lesson here is to take a fraction of time to look round the frame of the viewfinder to spot anything obvious such as cutting people off at the knees.
Over a period of time I will have accumulated a number of images greater than that required by the Assignment so that further selection is necessary. At this point I will often print the images as I personally find that having the physical photograph in my hand helps me in my decision making. This is the point I have reached in preparation for Assignment 5 of the 'Your Own Portfolio" Course. It should be pointed out that at this stage I have the benefit of my Tutor's comments on many of the images together with his suggestions. These always play a significant part in my decision making. I also value the opinion of my wife who has shown throughout my time with the OCA that her opinion should be taken note of as it more often chimes with that of the assessors. In essence I have tested my response against that of others whose emotional commitment is less than mine so that their views are more closely aligned to objectivity.
I have printed all the images that I feel are worthy of inclusion in my final submission having excluded some at this stage that made it through earlier selection but have been replaced by later images. Now comes the process of final selection and I shall blog about this process as I proceed.
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