The Online Photographer

One of the things that was wrong this past week was that I really messed up the Comments workflow again, and, as has happened once or twice before, I failed to edit or "Feature" some good ones. As of right now, Sunday, November 5th, 10:00 a.m., everything is up to date. But when too much time goes by, people don't go back and see new comments added to old posts. I've added new "Featured Comments" to post going back to "AI Imaging is a Pox, a Fraud and a Thief." Here are some even earlier good ones I might have made you miss:

Michael wrote, on the "Hobbies" post: "To be honest, I've found myself drifting away from photography over the last couple of years. I think it's a combination of being stuck at home during COVID, the skyrocketing price of new gear, and the ever growing feeling that everything I photograph just seems derivative anymore. It just doesn't feel like a hobby anymore, I don't get that excitement to go out early on Sunday mornings with my gear like I used to. I used to blame it on the cold dark winters, having other things to get done, or not wanting to catch COVID, but the reality is was just hiding my lack of motivation behind excuses. Instead I've found my interest moving toward audio gear, where enjoyment, new discoveries, and cool gear can be found for surprisingly cheap prices. But the really funny thing is, I've actually grown more interested in looking at photos over taking them. I've joined numerous photography groups on social media the last few years, and I really enjoy seeing other people's work and giving feedback and answering questions. So now my Sunday mornings are spent spinning records while looking at people's portfolios."

Mike replies: First of all, I think that is a perfectly defensible way to participate in the photography hobby. I've always respected it. I think of it as "being a member of the audience," which I think is something every enthusiast should aspire to be.

But, as to your initial comment, I've been feeling that too, and I wonder what to ascribe it to—is it just encroaching age, or this stage of life? Does it perhaps have to do with the state of the camera market, which flew very high for a while and has lately been coming back to earth like Icarus? Are we feeling, and finding ourselves influenced by, the changing status of photography in the culture? Or is there something else going on? I don't even know if this ennui is general, i.e., culture-wide, or something that's just affecting you and me and...how many others?

And this is despite the fact that my own photography is actually going better than it has in years. I'm still in love with photographing with my "digital view camera" and I've been shooting a fair amount, and I think about it a lot. So there's nothing wrong with my motivation or my participation. Or my love of creating.

I really haven't put my finger on this yet, but (to mix metaphors), I've got my antennae out. I've felt what you're talking about. But I don't know why. I need to understand better what this is...what I've been feeling and why.

Rob Griffin wrote, also on "Hobbies": "Mike, Watch yourself. After exploring DE razors, you may find yourself teetering on the edge of the fine-writing-instrument abyss that is much like high-end hi-fi in its ability to attract a person’s hard-earned cash."

Mike replies: Yeah, why do certain things just grab us for a while, and a few of them not let go? I seem to get immersed in these little bouts of obsession that last a few days or weeks or even months. My theory is that it's the internet! There are all these little communities for every little geeky thing, all the happy people getting lost in the connoisseurship of thingys.

Trygve Strömberg wrote, on the "Gift Book?" post: "Some of these books are rare. Ragnar Axelsson: Last Days of the Arctic (magnificent); Sebastiao Salgado: Sahel, The End of the Road (famine, drought); Sally Mann: Deep South (wet plates, evocative); Susan Burnstine: Within Shadows (home-made cameras, dreamy); Alex Webb: The Suffering of Light (masterful photography); Rinko Kawauchi: Illuminance or Utatane (both are surreal); Masahisa Fukase: Ravens (dark and bleak); and Michael Kenna: Le Notre’s Gardens (different from MK’s usual). Perhaps too many, but...

"Pentti Sammallahti has been mentioned a few times already. His book Here, Far Away is superb."

Sreeram Chandran wrote, on the "Serendipity" post: "Worth mentioning the words serendipitiosity and serendipititious, coined by John Cusak in the 20-year-old rom-com Christmas Eve movie Serendipity. Incidentally, I hail from Kerala, a state on the southern tip of the Indian peninsula and very near to the island nation Sreelanka, Ceylon or Serendip! Kerala (known as God's Own Country) is very similar to Ceylon in climate, weather, landscape and culture; however we speak the language Malayalam (an anagram), while the people of Ceylon are two ethnic groups, Tamil and Sinhalese. I am also glad to let you know that I have been following your blog for a very long time, for more than ten years! In fact, I read your blog every day!"

Mike replies: Thank you very much for that Sreeram!

Bill Tyler on the "Video Lens for Fuji?" post: "I can't respond specifically to the X-H1, but I do have a recommendation. The book Making Movies by Sidney Lumet has several excellent descriptions of lens choices he made for various shots and the specific goals he had in mind when making them. The one that sticks in my mind most is the process during the filming of 12 Angry Men where the lenses and camera angles changed subtly throughout the film to heighten tension. Xander has probably already read the book, but others may find it interesting.

Mike replies: That book has been recommended here before. Thanks Bill. Xander ended up buying the Fuji XF 16–55mm ƒ/2.8, by the way:

Mark Sampson said, on the "Stuff Breaks" post: "As long as you're dealing with your house, may I recommend a book? It won't help you fix things but it's a wonderful read. How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built, by the great thinker Stewart Brand. Full of illustrations too."

Mike replies: That's right down my alley. I'll read that. Thanks. And by the way, right after I wrote the "Stuff Breaks" post, the toilet seat broke. Of all things. Guess how? The steel screws holding it together disintegrated with rust. Max possible age: 11 years. Who builds a toilet seat with screws that corrode in <11 years? I bought a new seat, then replaced all eight screws with stainless steel ones.

Joseph L. Kashi: "Most of the cost of building/renovation is in the labor. Using top quality materials instead of cheap 'good enough, I hope' materials only adds a few percent to the overall cost but definitely results in a much superior, more reliable product. Cheaper materials are very much false economy. I'm not referring to gold-plating but rather just getting genuinely better quality materials, sort of like the old Sears 'Best.'

"I've done a lot of defective construction litigation over the years and an ungodly high percentage is simply due to trying to go cheap, which is always more expensive in the long term."

Mike replies: I wish every builder ever would read what you just wrote!

Benjamin Marks on "Stuff Breaks": "I often rail at the impermanence of things, particularly those things that comprise our home. The structure apparently started out as a 1760s creamery for a nearby dairy farm, and it has had several generational iterations. Each renovation has raised alternating questions of competence and compromise, resulting in the current agglomeration. The place has what my wife calls 'character.' But really its purpose, other than keeping the rain off our heads, is to remind us of the second law of thermodynamics: that the universe tends towards entropy, and its painful local corollary, which adds to the law the phrase, 'this means you, bub.' My wife gently reminds me not to get upset when another piece of the structure fails—one might as well complain about the weather. Then again, it is somehow my job to fix those broken things, not hers, and so I am unable to reach the sense of philosophical detachment that she has so easily obtained.

"Bon Courage, Mike. You've only pitted yourself against time's arrow, after all."

Mike

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Stanley Banos: "In response to Michael's post: back in my film days, I really didn't shoot very much, and not from a lack of trying. I'd miss the more nuanced, less perceptible things in life that can make for an interesting, insightful photograph; was always looking for some kind of...grand statement. Throughout that era, however, I kept looking at and studying photographs intensely in books and galleries, both B&W and color—even though I only shot the former. After switching to digital color seven years ago, I find myself not only shooting more, but getting more keepers. I honestly feel that the previous years of studying more than shooting has finally kicked in and paid off. Just wish it hadn't taken so long!"

robert e: "About the 'ennui settling in over the photography hobby' thing, I have felt something similar over the last several years. In my case, this coincided with moving from the city to an over-manicured suburb. But I suspect another cause is the evolution of photography itself. In this era of ubiquitous smart cameras, instant review and quick, near-limitless post-processing, camera operation is a much diminished aspect of image-making.

"Once, heroes created works of art with boxes and shutters, or in the alchemical abyss of the darkroom. These days, the process of photographing (as we knew it) is far more accessible, and often just the first step of many to create even a casual image and put it to use (of which there are many these days). Over time, a once arcane process became mundane and accessible to the masses. Where does that leave photo nerds?

"Actually in not such a bad place. Yes, there is still value in working on our chops and obsessing over gear, but we are also freer to think about projects, questions, statements, to ask: What am I trying to accomplish? Or to simply enjoy photographs.

"I bet many of us have a forgotten list somewhere of projects we'd do if only [insert limitations here], and I bet some of those limitations have evaporated or become surmountable. If I focus on capabilities and opportunities, events seem to have relieved us of more and more technical obstacles. One no longer needs to be a technician or an optics expert to realize a vision. OK, those conditions were never absolute, but the dynamic has undeniably and dramatically changed.

"I'm telling myself now that I can mope about this and feel increasingly irrelevant, or I can leave old habits in the past and see where the new capabilities lead. I can keep studying classic processes, too, for their own sake. Or take up new obsessions. It's all good."