The Art of Subjectivity
subjective
səbˈdʒɛktɪv/
adjective
adjective: subjective
1.
based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
"his views are highly subjective"
synonyms:personal, personalized, individual, internal, emotional, instinctive, intuitive, impressionistic; More
biased, prejudiced, bigoted, idiosyncratic, irrational;
informal gut, gut reaction
"standards can be judged on quantitative data rather than on subjective opinion"
antonyms:objective, impartial
dependent on the mind or on an individual's perception for its existence.
.(source: Google)
Picture, Photograph, Painting - Whilst they all being with the letter "P" they are also governed by subjectivity - basically, one persons' love is another’s hate!
Take a look at the picture I shot below:
Now you might see it and think the split tone effect really adds character to the abandoned building (an old music venue and pub), tells it's story or makes you wonder just wonder what happened.
Alternatively it could turn you off, an old ramshackle building, sickly colours and washed out tone - why the heck would anyone want to photograph this?!
Subjectivity.
What's driven me to write this is, as a photographer, I think if you let other peoples views affect you negatively you'll never hit the creativity you know you can. Sure, we should all welcome constructive criticism, for me this is much more worthwhile than somebody just saying "I love this image!" in an online forum, giving us a like on social media or smiling when I hand them the camera to look at what I just shot.
There are people out there who tell you that you HAVE to shoot in manual, you HAVE to stick to the rule of thirds, you HAVE to use a 50mm lens for a portrait. These people aren't wrong... but they also aren't right.
When shooting an image you are telling a story, however you compose or shoot that photograph is your version of that story.
Lets take a trip to the movies to explain more:-
(Source - Pexel free stock image)
Watch a film, any film....hmm maybe not that one! What you are watching is the director/producers version of events. You could love the movie, the script is on point, the acting Oscar winning or the special effects blew you away!
Your friend watches the same film and finds it poorly written, the acting dull and the CGI/Effects underwhelming. Now, supposing a few years later another director makes a different version of the film, you hate it... the acting, writing, film style etc makes it the worst movie you've ever seen - your friend on the other hand goes to see it every night for 5 nights, he loves it!
That.. in a nutshell.. is subjectivity! I titled this first blog the Art of Subjectivity because that’s just what subjectivity is in itself, an art form which exists to split opinion, get people talking and fire up passions. When you take that lens cap off the camera you are opening up the freedom of expression which will lead to this very subject happening.
My point is shoot what works for you! if you shoot in jpeg.. fine, if you want to do everything in manual mode that's ok, if you don't want to stick to the rule of the thirds then don’t.. see what happens and explore!
Online I see lot of "must" "should" and "will" - I hope this very first blog has given you the confidence to see why exploration and freedom is much more important!
