I know that I have been talking about the photo festival in Gex quite a lot already. But I would like to share one more thought, or I should rather say the result of my presence there. The really great thing about the festival was the opportunity to talk to other photographers and visitors. I was very much surprised how all the attending photographers were willing to talk about their work, share their experiences and ideas. It was really special.
Since I moved to Switzerland seven years ago, most of my interaction about photography has been done over the internet, which is great tool and everybody can find there a lot of help and ideas. On the other hand I am finding internet to be quite impersonal and forcing people (me included) to spend more and more time behind the computer looking for something, creating virtual friendships and waiting for immediate feedback on whatever we do. At the end this situation leads to one and one results only: “we spend less time outside taking pictures”.
Do not take me wrong, It is great to have a feed back on our work and internet can provide us with that, but I see the big problem in the way how all the social networks are influencing our minds, creating standards and trends, which are being followed without thinking and at some point there is no difference between my work and work of others. I am not the one, who should say whether this is good or bad, but just for me personally I am not happy about it and I want to move somewhere else, to be “independent” again. Therefore, I kind of intuitively started to spend more time in darkroom, reading books and trying to find more interaction with “real” people. Luckily thanks to Alexis Gaillac (who I met in Gex) I will have a chance to join very special group of photographers called ARTgentik 73, who are confessors of the traditional analog photography.
So what I actually want to say with all of this, that I am going to limit my time with the internet. From now on this blog is going to be the main place for me to share my work and thoughts. I will also stay active with my friends from Lightharmony and I will try to dedicate the extra time to organize and visit more exhibitions, to finish our book about Iceland, improve my darkroom skills and most importantly keep searching for my own way.
Title: View Point II, Camera: Mamiya RB 67 Pro S, Lens: Mamiya Sekor 50 mm, Filtr: Cokin Red and 0.9 ND, Film: Kodak T-Max 400, Exposure: 120″ , f 11
I will be gone for next two weeks skiing, snowshoeing and hopefully taking some pictures. Therefore I would like to wish you all very happy Holidays Season and all the best in New Year 2013 !!!