Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Bill Jay Reading Response

The Thing Itself

 In the beginning of Bill Jay's article he talks about how most people never really think about the person taking the photo. I completely agree with his statement. Before I wanted to become a photographer I never really thought about the photographer either. I never inspected every aspect of a photo. Now I constantly think about the subject, the lighting, the type of camera used, and what the photographer did to get the shot. It does not really bother me whether people have me in their minds when they look at my photographs. I do not care if anyone ever remembers my name. What matters to me is if I can change how they think about the subject I am presenting to them. I want the audience to remember my subject.

Jay's ideas about finding subjects to shoot are interesting because not all young photographers sit down and try to narrow down what they are interested in shooting. I know I never did when I first started out in the photojournalism classes. I was taught to overcome my reluctance to take pictures of strangers and find the story in my subjects. I was never asked to think about what subjects I find interesting. Now, I have a little bit of an idea of what is interesting to me but I am still lost. I think following Jay's steps and shooting every day will help me and many other struggling photographers find their way.

Wed Class: Paper