Don't Take Boring Pictures
Posted: Mon 03 Mar 2014, 11:40
One of the things which struck me about the "Only In England" exhibition at the Media Space were the notes which Tony Ray-Jones kept, with one in particular standing out, a simple sheet of paper outlining his approach to photography. Halfway down is the mantra "Don't take boring pictures", with "boring" underlined.
What he wrote back then in the 1960s is still just as relevant now, with the possible exception of camera shake, due to the manufacturers long since gifting us with image stabilisation technology. His "Don't shoot too much" maxim, though, is even more relevant in today's digital world which makes it easy to take lots of photos without having to worry about cost or running out of film. Shooting randomly might produce the occasional lucky outcome, but each press of the shutter should still be the result of a considered evaluation of the scene.
What he wrote back then in the 1960s is still just as relevant now, with the possible exception of camera shake, due to the manufacturers long since gifting us with image stabilisation technology. His "Don't shoot too much" maxim, though, is even more relevant in today's digital world which makes it easy to take lots of photos without having to worry about cost or running out of film. Shooting randomly might produce the occasional lucky outcome, but each press of the shutter should still be the result of a considered evaluation of the scene.