Photography certainly has a reputation of being the most real medium for showing things. Every detail, every instance of light is so akin to human vision. Compare this to other visual media like watercolor, oil painting, dry point itching, linoleum cuts etc. All other media have an aesthetic that makes no pretension about realism. So is photographic realism its strength or is it the characteristic that separates it from the rest of the visual arts community?

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LW1469 - What You See vs What You Feel

Perhaps there is no more fundamental question in photography as an art medium than this one: Do we photograph what we see or do we photograph what we feel?

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Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.

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"How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

An aspect of the creative life that is rarely discussed is the importance of faith. We produce work without knowing where it might go or who might see it. But before that, we need faith that the ideas and thoughts, snippets and quotes, the image captures and the bits of flotsam and jetsam we gather might someday be useful.

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When I was out photographing the other day, it dawned on me that we are all minimalists, but perhaps to different degrees. The fundamental act of composition is the elimination of distractions. Even that is a form of minimalism.

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When you make art, is it an assertion of your fundamental beliefs and philosophies about life? Or, are you a third party observer who simply shares what you've seen with others through your art? In other words, does your art say, "This is who I am" or does it say "This is what I've seen."

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When it comes to photography, what does it mean to have accurate color? Doesn't the very concept of accurate color deny the fact that we humans see color differently, that color is a subjective sensation. Accurate color is not the same as emotional color. This way of thinking implies a new approach to color balance and color mixing.

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The waterfalls were impressive, but from what I could see, most of the people were even more impressed by, well, themselves. I saw very few people taking pictures of this nature's wonder, but almost everyone was taking selfies. Is this a cultural phenomenon? A psychological phenomenon? Or, a technological one?

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I said on this trip I was going to attempt an experiment to see in sixes as often as I could. My first opportunity was at Niagara Falls. I started with a simple question: What is the essence of this experience? Surprisingly, it wasn't the rushing waters that plunge off the cliff. Instead, the overriding experience was the mist that rose from the chaos.

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Here on the first day of my 2-month travel adventure, I had a chance to stop at the Fenimore Museum in Cooperstown, New York for a second look at the Peter Federman show, The Power of Photography. I couldn't put my finger on what made some of these images so special, but they definitely are. The thought I kept circling back to was James Bond in a tuxedo.

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Road trips always require a lot of planning. There are routes to be determined, gear to sort out, and reservations that need to be made. Notice anything missing? No, it's not a determination of subjects to be photographed, but rather a plan on how to photograph. Are we on the search for those fantastic shots? Simply gathering assets? Perhaps there's another experimental strategy that's worth considering.

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