The following information was a true “eye opener” for me:
Both the retina and the optic nerve grow from brain tissue during embryonic development. Ref: What Human Eye Structure Is Part of the Brain?
Realizing that the retina and the optic nerve are actually brain tissue has been causing me less eye strain and increased brain activity - or so I hope 
during my photo sessions.
Sometimes I still find myself stressing my eye which I notice almost immediately and want to laugh about every time. Like bulging eyes are the solution to anything?
In my case the more cerebral the photographic process becomes the more pleasing the end results will be for me. Obtaining this state is definitely more like a journey than a destination!
The Basic Rules Of Photography
A blog titled How to Obtain A Photographic Eye inspired me to write this post.
My first reaction: Rules (of photography) are what surely will kill or impede any (photographic) endeavor!!!
“So going into your shot you should know what you want the theme of it to be and this should be easily distinguishable to your viewers as well.”
This sounds like a rule or at least a suggestion so it MUST be ignored!
Going into a shoot without a clue can also have fantastic results through improvisation and by having a clear and open mind. What is better than thinking outside the box? How about not even having a box??? Or should I say: “There is no spoon”.
” … but the main point is that the subject is clear and unambiguous”
Ambiguous is great!!! I love ambiguous! An ambiguous photo could confuse perhaps force the viewer to think, make up his or her own mind or leave the viewer absolutely clueless. All of the above effects are fine.
“ … good photos most often represent a universal theme - one that everyone can relate to”
Something everyone can relate to equals boring and bland in my book. I would consider that a total failure.
There are countless tutorials on the Basic Rules of Photography.
I used to eat up information like this when I used to read everything I could find about photography. Most people will just have to pass stuff like this through their photographic digestive system and hopefully eliminate it ASAP.
I find these articles disturbing and confusing for a couple of reasons:
- the example photos are usually horrible giving little credit to the author
- the message is confusing: so these are basic rules which can and must be broken - hmmm … say what?
There also seems to be distortion and manipulation of reality in quotes like this: “I always hear people say that in art, there’s no such thing as a rule - you just go out there and take a picture and make a movie and it doesn’t really matter how.”
This sounds like such an oversimplification, a really stupid quote from a stupid source illustrated with once again, yes you guessed … get ready for them: horrible example photos.
These articles dumb down their easily digestible content ready to be spoon fed to the naive masses. I am still trying to break out of the prison of the “rule of thirds” which I often find myself in.
Famous Quotes From Famous Photographers
And finally just in case you do not wish to take my word for it I looked for famous quotes which reinforced the above thoughts for me … and maybe for others as well.
“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”
Ansel Adams
“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.”
Ansel Adams
“A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.”
Ansel Adams
“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.”
Ansel Adams
“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”
Ansel Adams
“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”
Ansel Adams
“I don’t know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just don’t get it.”
Robert Mapplethorpe
“There are no rules and regulations for perfect composition. If there were we would be able to put all the information into a computer and would come out with a masterpiece. We know that’s impossible. You have to compose by the seat of your pants.”
Arnold Newman
“Photography is still a very new medium and everything must be tried and dare… photography has no rules. It is not a sport. It is the result which counts, no matter how it is achieved.”
Bill Brandt
“Sometimes I enjoy just photographing the surface because I think it can be as revealing as going to the heart of the matter.”
Annie Leibovitz
“One of the biggest mistakes a photographer can make is to look at the real world and cling to the vain hope that next time his film will somehow bear a closer resemblance to it.”
Galen Rowell
“I used to hate doing color. I hated transparency film. The way I did color was by not wanting to know what kind of film was in my camera.”
Helmut Newton
“There are two dirty words in photography; one is ‘art’, and the other is ‘good taste’.”
Helmut Newton
How to Obtain A Photographic Brain?
You must have something to say about the world!
End of story.
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April 18th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
This was a good post. My mother use to tell me that one had to understand the rules before one could break them. I think that photography is like that. When you understand the rules, you know how to break them and create something truly fantastic.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:00 am
Hi Frank, ehm Ferenc
Thank you very much for your visit to my blog and the great comments you left, I am glad to see I could keep your focus for so long, as you apparently have plenty of other great things to focus on!
Absolutely love your portraits and fashion shoots, both colour as well as B/W. There are many, many (did I say many?) beautiful women out there, but it takes a good photographer who thinks outside the standard curves to portray them as such. Beautiful images of gorgeous women!
Thanks again, Harry