Photography and Security Blankets
This post was inspired by working with photographers during the following classes:
Introduction To Photography Class
Intermediate Photography Class
Ongoing Study And Practice Support Meeting
Blankets Feel Great. Don’t They?
Blankets feel great.
Especially security blankets.
While they don’t eliminate the things that we feel insecure/anxious about, they can provide a temporary, illusory solution to our anxieties.
And our photography can have “security blankets” too.
Photography and Security Blankets
These security blankets come in the form of “rules of composition. And they also come in the form of the question “what’s the best____________” (fill in the blank.).
However, when we begin to look for security blankets in our photography, our work loses its fluidity and uniqueness.
Just to be clear, I’m using the word blanket as a play on words. What I mean by using the word “blanket” is a rule or some other statement that “covers everything”. And in that covering everything, we can be sure, instead of anxious or insecure.
As an example of a common blanket in photography is the rule of thirds.
However, there are plenty of others.
How Blankets Hinder Our Photography
While a blanket may feel good, because it covers us and protects us, it limits our movement.
And when we begin to look for security blankets in our photography, our work loses its spontaneity and open-mindedness. And when we lose spontaneity open-mindedness we lose fluidity and uniqueness.
In other words, everything becomes the same.
And how are we to stand out as photographers who use blankets?
In short, we don’t.
And if our photographs don’t stand out, they get lost in the crowd of visual “security” provided by “rules of composition and in the form of the question “what’s the best____________” (fill in the blank.).
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