Finding You Style? Don't Bother...

[Hamish Gill]

I think a style is an effortless thing ... If you try and define your style it will of course limit you, but any creativity is bound to reflect something in the personality of the creator. Enough creation by said creator and a "style" will probably be evident to others ... I would suggest that this is true "style" and that any conscious attempt to create one would probably end up feeling contrived anyway.
as such, style isn't something that I worry about ... And don't think anyone else should really

as for inspiration and indeed comparison ...
I don't think there is any concern in being compared to someone else. whenever I have been compared to another photographer I have felt it interesting to explore what they do. It often leads to being inspired to persue a direction or indeed deviate from one.
Inspiration is a wonderful thing and something I think should be talked about more, especially, where possible with those who inspire. Unfortunately often embarrassment or pride can effect those sorts of conversations ... If we could all discuss such things with unfaltering humility we would probably achive a lot more ... But unfortunateley the scope of human emotion is always bound to hinder such things.

And as for everything being done before ... And there always being something that you might emulate even without knowing it ... So what?! It's just the way it is ... I imagine we all have that little bit of drive to create somthing so different that it stands out ... Maybe that it creates us a name in the world of our chosen creative outlet. That probably is going to be harder and harder to achive, but really that isn't what creativity is about! It's about doing somthing personal, somthing that expresses . . . Whatever you want to express! Concerning your self with whether or not it has or hasn't been done beofre is wholly counterproductive and again will probably lead to it seeming contrived!

best bet is just 'do'! Be inspired, talk about inspiration, understand what inspires you and why and ultimately you will end up fulfilled ... And not through achieving some sort of notoriety or other outside influence ... But through achieving inner fulfilment ... That satisfying feeling you get when you finish working on a photo (or peice of music, sculpture, whatever), you sit back and go "I like that!" The more you do, the more that happens, and the longer the likeing lasts (if your lucky) ... And if other people like it ... Well, good for them I say ... And bonus for you ... After all giving pleasure is often as enjoyable as receiving. As long as its done for the right reasons I suppose ... ... ...

 

[Pete Askew]

What an interesting thread. I always think of a person's individual style as something that others observe. As Hamish says, it is not something that one can create (it becomes obvious when you see people try). I guess the photographers whose style shines through are, as Davie notes, those that do what pleases them and allows them to shine through - and with Davie we see his love of the landscape shining through in painterly glory. As for your pupils Rob, I think they are just trying to comment and using the conventional mechanism of comparison to do so. Just because a particular image reminds one of another, maybe more famous, image doesn't detract. It references. A while back I posted a shot and gave it a rather enigmatic title. I was surprised that so one commented and, to be honest, was rather disappointed that no one picked up the visual reference. But my conclusion was that the reference was only seen by me (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/landscape-architecture/9119-hunting-party-sleeps.html). However, last week I spend a few days with my oldest school friend (and very talented artist and photographer) and I showed hi the image and asked, "Does this remind you of anything?". He replied, "Breugel, Hunters in the Snow". This is exactly what I saw when I saw the scene and is why I processed it and presented it as I did. Was I copying? Clearly no. But I was influenced. OK, not exactly style but similar. We take stuff in and process it, influence by our experience, situation etc and I guess what comes out is, sometimes, our style. As Nihat observes, it is in us when we choose to capture and then when we create the output. I think Rob's tale behind http://www.realphotographersforum.com/general/10294-sleep-mode.html is a good example. There is vision there and it is filtered through Rob's imagination and presented in his style.

Well, something like that anyway!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I'm not sure what this thread is about But I like all the comments!

 

[Davie Hudson]

What an interesting thread. I always think of a person's individual style as something that others observe. As Hamish says, it is not something that one can create (it becomes obvious when you see people try). I guess the photographers whose style shines through are, as Davie notes, those that do what pleases them and allows them to shine through - and with Davie we see his love of the landscape shining through in painterly glory. As for your pupils Rob, I think they are just trying to comment and using the conventional mechanism of comparison to do so. Just because a particular image reminds one of another, maybe more famous, image doesn't detract. It references. A while back I posted a shot and gave it a rather enigmatic title. I was surprised that so one commented and, to be honest, was rather disappointed that no one picked up the visual reference. But my conclusion was that the reference was only seen by me (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/landscape-architecture/9119-hunting-party-sleeps.html). However, last week I spend a few days with my oldest school friend (and very talented artist and photographer) and I showed hi the image and asked, "Does this remind you of anything?". He replied, "Breugel, Hunters in the Snow". This is exactly what I saw when I saw the scene and is why I processed it and presented it as I did. Was I copying? Clearly no. But I was influenced. OK, not exactly style but similar. We take stuff in and process it, influence by our experience, situation etc and I guess what comes out is, sometimes, our style. As Nihat observes, it is in us when we choose to capture and then when we create the output. I think Rob's tale behind http://www.realphotographersforum.com/general/10294-sleep-mode.html is a good example. There is vision there and it is filtered through Rob's imagination and presented in his style.

Well, something like that anyway!

very well put Pete and it perfectly follows something Ansel Adams once said .... “You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”

 

[Hamish Gill]

I like this thread too ... We should air this stuff more often!

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I like this thread too ... We should air this stuff more often!