TC Photo Club Thursdays Meeting – March 18, 2010
Bob Boivert chaired the meeting

Open Discussion – INTENT in Photography

What’s the difference between those three words:
Accidental Death
Manslaughter
Murder
If you have read the title of this section, you have answered ‘Intent’.

The natural reaction for someone discovering photography is to go around and take tons of pictures, of anything and everything. And once in a while, there’s a pretty good one in the lot. But how come not all of our pictures are awesome? Why and how can we take more good pictures?

Technical aspects put aside, good photographers are often those that focus on an intent in their work or project. Although not everything needs to be deliberate, having an intent and taking time to figure out what we really wish to reveal with our pictures not only will help us to be better prepared technically but also to explore and discover in our surroundings what best represents that goal.

Unfocused, undisciplined photography equates to waiting for the shots to happen instead of understanding the subject and creating the opportunities. With a purpose, we can get prepared with appropriate equipment and select the appropriate location and time.

A shot list is a good way to get in the right place at the right time. A simple notebook can go a long way in keeping track of observations that are not recorded by the camera. Starting to take notes on a specific project we wish to undertake will usually help us to clarify that project’s intent. That’s part of the discipline it takes to learn on what works technically as well as about the artistic process that will concretize your intent.

The intent will also guide the photographer in the post-treatment of the pictures. Is it a factual record or an artistic vision? Do you want to show all things as they are or bring the viewer’s attention to one aspect of the picture? Again here, intent is often the key to judge the à propos of such intervention. Even before the advent of digital cameras, photographs were manipulated in many ways in the dark room. One famous example is of an Abraham Lincoln picture where Lincoln’s head was attached someone else’s body ( http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/farid/research/digitaltampering/ ). Looking for “photo tampering” in Google gives up many more examples.

And the ultimate question is why bother taking pictures at all? To preserve memories, to make a statement were some the answers. Each photographer will need to answer that question at some point.
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Wednesday March 24, a group will meet for a session of night photography. Names were taken and location will be confirmed, likely on the roof top of the NAC.
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The Summer 2010 session calendar of part time courses and workshops of the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa is available at http://www.spao.ca/

EXHIBITS

If you have information about photo exhibits, events or activities of interest, contact Line Blain at line.blain@tc.gc.ca or 990-5792 and she’ll put the reference in the newsletter/meeting minutes.