Erik Johansson stretches the notion of photography. For many purists and naturalists what he does goes beyond photography, it’s art. This is a bit different of what HDR photographers sometimes do and I disagree with. This is ART. He is creating something that uses photography as a woodturner uses a chisel. This is the case where photography becomes a tool in the production of something else. And the results are gorgeous.

After my previous rant on Video DSLRs and how photographers all over the world are chasing an illusion, I’ve just came across a guest post on the Leica Camera Blog by Pete Meyers, a fine art photographer from Santa Fe, New Mexico. I really enjoy his work, mainly the way he handles light and shadow in his photos. But back to the point… Pete Meyers wrote a rant (Making Images, Not Faking Images) where he goes about HDR photography.

…Photography is not a technical exercise. Many people are drawn to the media because of the whiz-bang nature of cameras, lenses, software and printers, but a great photograph is about feeling. It is about the feeling that the photographer had through the lens at the time the image was made and subtly outlined to the viewer in the final print. It is not about shock. It is not about X-ray vision. It is not about technical trickery and technique that draw attention to the photographer, not to the photographic subject.…

I share his ideas. The democratisation of photography (The masses appeal) is all about technology and selling cameras to John Does. It has nothing (or very little) to do with the production of fine art photography. Many photographers just apply the magic button of some PS/LR action and there they go…

In the sense of the word Amateur (from the latin amatorem, or lover), amateur photographers need to understand that its not enough to press a button to make a great photo. It’s not just taking a snapshot and thinking I’ll process this latter in PS. Professional / Amateur photography is HARD WORK and no gimmick will cut steps in the process.

With the introduction of video capabilities into DSLRs we’ve witnessed a revolution on what being a photographer meant. Yes, every single photographer on assignment is now using a high end DSLR to shoot video and is bragging about it on their respective blog, but what I can’t really see is a collection of demo reels that are technically perfect, that show practitioners exploring the limits of their gadgets, that in essence show nothing more than technical ability to work with the gadget. These ‘movies’ don’t have soul. Something is missing. What I haven’t yet seen is a good film made by those same photographers. Compare the photographer-director films with one made by a proper director (ex. like the 5D House) and you’ll see/feel the diferences.

The very notion that just because a photographer has a camera with video capabilities in their hands, makes him a great director is so strange to me that I feel I’m probably blind or something.

Sure, photographers see things in different ways of most common people do. They have to master a set of techniques to make great photos, they must know light, use it, they know composition, color, etc… And all that helps in the production of better movies, something that ordinary people wouldn’t have as background.

But photography doesn’t give them other things. How to direct actors? What about the notion of raccord? What about editing? All those things (and more) can’t be obtained just by being a photographer (even if a successful one) for 20 years in the business.

Yes, in the arts many times we have many artists that can express their messages in a multitude of formats and mediums, but what the Video DSLR industry is managing is selling gear to wedding photographers with the illusion that they’ll become some kind of Spielberg if they have the best gear in the world.

Artists can express themselves in many mediums, but putting a viollin on the hands of van Gogh wouldn’t make him a great musician and certainly you wouldn’t remember him in that way.