Take Photographs
Thursday. A better day today, saying this with some relief. Breakfast at the usual place quite early this morning feeling somewhat human. This is good, somewhat human being my definition of a better day. Otherwise the sun is out, not too warm, the postman having just brought me a DVD about Alfred Stieglitz, which, if it's like the Cartier-Bresson and the Man Ray DVD's he brought me yesterday, it was probably not worth the purchase. Better to buy their collections in photography books (and I have a number of them) than to look at their photographs on a TV screen. Of course there is commentary to go along with the pictures and commentary by the photographer can be good, but commentary is not photography and it often isn't of much use.
Who says?
I says.
Well, I take some of that back. In looking at the Cartier-Bresson DVD and his photographs I had the urge to dig out a film camera, charge the battery and slap on a lens. It's just sitting there, of course, but the really rich black and white prints old Henri was tossing about certainly were nice. Any one of his prints is better than all of the photographs I've ever taken, but that's no reason not to go out and shoot. Doodle-dee-doot. You know you're in the right place when you don't give a shit what anybody thinks about your work. Doesn't mean you're making good images, but it's not a bad sign in and of itself and the only reason to shoot them in the first place is to please yourself. (And sometimes your editor, if you have to make a living out of it. Wives and girl friends don't count.)
Don't count?
Not if you want to take photographs.
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