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This is not the first time when I say this words. However, I decided to gather my thoughts in one and come up with the problem. And the problem is: the crucial moment in history of photography we are living these days: its end.
The conditions which arts must live in today are not promising, under my conviction. I really do believe the art is losing its battle with reality to face with. Adopting a political ideas, the world seems to support an utilitaristic way of being: what is good for the majority becomes the norm. As a not-supporter, to be euphemistic, of democracy, I can agree with the principle. How does the world of arts looks in my eyes then? Say, there is a large terrarium with hundreds of chameleons inside - how can you tell the one who didn’t change its colour and the rest adopted it? This is the art in our materialistic reality. There is a bunch of ‘artists’ which are supposed to represent something with their work. However, there are not many of them who really have a message to transmit to the world. Unfortunately, the tip of the iceberg they constitute, the real artistic world, is sinking, pulled by the chameleons that are not even intending but pretending to be the good ones. And it’s hard to tell one from another frequently.
I believe the reason why I see the state of reality this way is not that the art has decreased in sense of number of people interested in it. On the contrary, the amount of pseudo-artists increased tremendously last century. Due to progress which we like to see as our victory over the whole universe, God included; an apple of our eyes. You type in “how to be an artist” in search engine and you get the receipt. Thanks to the miracle of global communication everyone can be an artist or a specialist in whatever you like. Right… We are becoming so superficial that we will soon be able to compete with a sheets of paper: let’s see which one is flatter.
Photography, in particular, is endangered by some other factors. There are some chameleons too, of course. But the most worrying fact is the huge group of people who shoot photos like they were preparing breakfast. I mean, they don’t even consider photography as an art because they don’t bother themselves with considerations about art at all. As biologists would like all the world to be interested in their domain, sometimes I’d like all the world to be interested in what’s my domain. I know it is impossible and on the second thought I’m glad of world’s plurality. Nevertheless, I cannot accept the fact that the work photographers did and do is slowly becoming directed toward narrow group of recipients like magazines (I mean serious ones, not the glossies and the crap). Maybe I am too demanding, but isn’t the ignorance consuming us gradually? When I put them on the scales together - the ignorance and ‘chameleonism’ - the scales get crazy. I don’t know which one is worse.
But I do know which one is more dangerous. Art kept on surviving for such a long time with its fake side by side that it is impossible to give up now. Photography, then, will make it. But I am afraid it may be lost among the sea of so-called-photography that consists in ’shooting pictures’ and not ‘creating an art’. And its the photography itself that helped it happen. The evolution - or revolution (?) - of digital technologies, the one of the aspects of transforming the world into a global village, implanted in imaging lead to what is happening.
Is it possible that the real photography is maybe not dying, but somehow decreasing into ghetto, a niche for outcasts? No. I would rather say ‘the chosen ones’.

Here goes another one: Nikon retires film cameras lineup. The one of the companies that constitute a core of photographic equipment producers decides to give up on standard cameras. As Konica Minolta example shows, this branch of market is unprofitable. However, the production of high-end cameras F6 and FM10 will continue, together with eight of most popular Nikkor lenses. Nikon statement says that company decided “to focus management resources on digital cameras in place of film cameras.”

After shock caused on me when Kodak materials and Konica Minolta photography section became history, I suffer another heart attack. I like being witness of historical events, it’s inevitable, but not these days. Photography as I liked it is becoming a part of the world that has to do more with past tenses than MY reality. I believe we are able to make reality as we like it to be. If so, and I’m quite sure of it, I’m in minority. I’m not the one to judge whether MY minority is better or not or whether the right is ours or not. What I can say is that I don’t like reality like this one.

Sad but true, the shape of today’s civilization is sculpted by majority. And this fact lets me repeat once again: democracy is rubbish.

So this is it. The company of the one of the most influence on the photography market retires. Konica Minolta declared to stop the production of cameras till march 2006. The company that developed such innovative things as first auto-focus camera (Dynax/Maxxym 7000, 1985), the fastest shutter (1/12,000 sec. in Dynax/Maxxum 9xi, 1992) or CCD-Shift mechanism (Dynax/Maxxum 7D) resigns as a producer of photographic equipment. Nevertheless, the production of films can continue until march 2007 and company will go on with office equipment and other.
What can I say… It is really sad. All the more, Sony will be in charge of that part of Konica Minolta. So now we can expect that we will not see any SRL camera with Minolta’s spirit anymore. There were some rumours about an SRL which would be Sony and Konica Minolta effort so an SRL can appear under Sony’s name. But no-one believes that Sony will risk to enter the SRL cameras market. They will rather expand their influence on the compact cameras market where they are one of the leaders.
I am still in favour of classic photography but I think I can see an inevitable end of an era.

“Every minute I was there, I wanted to flee. I did not want to see this. Would I cut and run, or would I deal with the responsibility of being there with a camera”

These are the words of the protagonist of Christian’s Frei documentary. James Nachtwey, born in 1948, studied Art History and Political Science. I think personally that this fact has it’s echo in his work. The movie shows a man, a photographer, conscious of the reality he is living in and making art of it. But can the war photos be called an art? Definitely. Even though the main objective of Nachtwey is to show us, people of 21-st century, that our times are not golden; that the hermetic worlds we create around us is not the only ones; that there are still places on our planet Earth that doesn’t fit in the margins of civilization - I had no doubts when calling Mr. Nachtwey’s work an art.

I think this kind of photography is the major medium today. It is surely more effective than newspapers; since we read less due to a lack of time, we just look at photos in the color newspapers. Who remember the article read about events of July, 21? I can only remember a huge photo of the destroyed bus on the front page of next day’s paper.

This movie left me an impression impossible to get rid of. It made me realize that we are so blind sometimes, even more, we shut our eyes pretending that nothing happens. If I have this feeling of losing my time by not doing something to help people a hundred miles from here, what should feel all those who have opportunity - called money these days - but not even thinking of helping the ones around them…

…and this supposed to be a post about photography.

What can I tell you? I highly recommend the movie. It is more than worth seeing it.

© Christian Frei Filmproductions

My name is Marcin and you will mainly know me as one of this blog editors dedicated to one of my greatest passions: PHOTOGRAPHY.

About me

I study Spanish Philology on Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. The Spanish and Catalan language and culture are my second greatest passion. That’s for the studies…

I am originally from Starachowice, a town in Gory Swietokrzyskie. “Gory” means “mountains” in English… and I will be boring but that’s my third passion. I love Tatra Mountains especially.

Blog

In this blog I will try to explain you how do I see photography and all the thing relationated with this subject. In few days I will surely write some articles about black and white, digital and traditional photography, etc. It’s good to look through someone’s eyes sometimes so I hope you understand my ideas of the greatest art which lives hard moments these days, I think, as all arts these days. I will continue this subject later.

Yes, that was a marketing trick…

My camera

Well, I have more than one, as you shoud expect… but I mainly work on Minolta 700si for making the traditional film photos and Canon PowerShot 510A - it’s not a tecnological miracle, but all depends on the photographer… - for digital photography. I also have Praktica DTL, Zenit, Fed and Cmena (last tree are Russian masterpieces). I had opportunity to work with some other cameras and I guarantee I will share my opinion about them with you.

What photography?

I am specially interested in documental photography. Yet, although I consider it the most demanding, I do not scorn other faces of the ‘art of images’. Have you ever tried to shoot a limon? Do it and tell me if the results are satisfying.

(no rewards in this contest…)

I hope you enjoy participating with me in the great adventure with photography.

Love,

Marcin