There’s More To Photograph Than You May Think

Hundreds drive by Rossi's everyday.  I bet almost no one would stop and photograph this old
building in this unique setting. Who would put a barber shop in the middle of a large factory
parking lot?  Ordinary but interesting subjects are everywhere.  (click to enlarge)

“Anything out there is fair game.” 

Jay Maisel, from an interview with Michael Reichman, 2007

I think there may be a problem with many of us photographers. I’m certainly not an expert but, as I think about it, the problem is that many of us are so busy looking to make the exceptional photograph that we miss opportunities with the ordinary. Opportunities to make interesting photographs are all around us everyday. Life, as it is, is happening all around us.  

Many of us tend to look at a lot of things without really seeing them. Without taking note.  One quick glance (if that) and our eyes move on. There’s a difference between looking and seeing. Just as there is a difference between hearing and listening. I don’t believe seeing is passive.  Seeing is noticing something that makes you figuratively stop for a moment.  Something that grabs your attention. Something that makes you feel something. Something that makes you curious. Life is happening all around us all the time and many of us are missing it.  Our eyes are open but we’re really not seeing things.

(Click to enlarge)

We all carry cameras for a reason—to make photographs.  But what kinds of photographs?  Everyone is different but almost universally we want to make excellent ones?  Ones that others compliment us on.  Carrying a camera should invite curiosity rather than constrain it.  Instead of asking whether something is “worth” photographing, ask yourself why you noticed it in the first place. That’s enough. Your eye caught it for a reason.  Something made you notice. Ask yourself why?  Not every photo you make has to be exceptional.  Interesting can be enough.

If you’ve followed this blog for a while you must have noticed that I like to photograph the ordinary.  Things as they are everyday.  Things that have caught my eye and made me stop and make an exposure or two.  Things that others don’t see and pass by.  You’ve seen many ordinary subjects posted here.  I believe the ordinary can be interesting, not necessarily boring and deserving of ignoring.  Should we only look for and photograph the exceptional?  I vote no.

Many would just pass this by.
(click to enlarge)

There’s something else that happens when you deliberately look for photographs in ordinary things.  I believe you start to see better—more completely.  Training your eye to find interest in everyday light, everyday patterns and everyday moments sharpens your vision as a photographer.  You become more aware of how light falls.  You start noticing subtle color relationships you would have missed before.  You see odd juxtapositions that are humorous.  You see patterns.  You learn to work with what’s actually in front of you rather than waiting for the perfect conditions or the perfect subject.  That discipline carries into everything else you photograph.  When you finally do find that dramatic landscape or that rare bird, your eye is already trained to see the details, the light, the composition, the context that can make the difference between a snapshot and a photograph worth keeping.  Photographing the ordinary doesn’t distract from photographing the extraordinary—I think it makes you better at both.

Another thing I see are a lot of ‘portraits’ of animals, birds, buildings, old cars, signs and the like. The images are fine. Many are excellent.  But portraits can lack something important and I think a lot of us miss it.  What is missing?  Context.  You may have an interesting subject but no context.

This old church in the South Dakota prairie could have been photographed up close.  But I felt
the context of its isolation was more meaningful than its portrait. (click to enlarge)

Context can be and usually is important. When you find something interesting, it’s tempting to isolate it—to make a portrait of just that thing. Sometimes that is the way it should be captured.  But often, the surroundings matter.  A old weathered sign might be interesting on its own but it’s the abandoned architecturally detailed building behind it or the parking lot with the old truck beside it or the utility poles with dozens and dozens of wires above it that tells you why it caught your eye.  When you look at the photograph years later, that context brings back the memory of what you actually saw.  What you experienced.  What you felt when you were there.  It also gives the viewer who wasn’t there alongside of you and didn’t share the experience a better idea of why you stopped to photograph it.

(Click to enlarge)

One of the things I like most about photography is that we all see things differently and produce different photographs.  An infinite variety.  I find it fascinating to view photographs made by someone who sees the world entirely differently than do I.  What catches my eye may not catch yours.  What seems worth photographing to me might pass you by entirely and that’s exactly as it should be.  Making photographs is a very personal thing because seeing is personal.  There doesn’t have to be a reason your subject is worth photographing other than the fact that you saw it and it interested you.  Seeing it made you curious enough to stop.  

Just don’t consider the ‘ordinary’ unworthy of your eye, your photographic efforts and your vision.  Don’t just photograph the best subjects in the best light.  I think you’ll be missing a lot.

The next time something catches your eye—keep your camera ready.  Embrace the ordinary.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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