LAWRENCE RUSS: Soul, Art, and Society
Archives: Art and the Self
Please Don’t Give Me That “Unimportant Person” Crap
I hate phrases like “unimportant person,” “important person,” “ordinary people.” Jesus is “no respecter of persons.” Neither was Rembrandt or Goya. Neither am I. It’s a different and fitting matter, though, to respect people, but only in part, for what they’ve accomplished of value and provided for the rest of us. This photograph of mine […]
One of the Most Important Things to Be Said – but Which Almost No One Says – about Our Photography
If what we really want from our photography is popularity, or praise from supposedly-important members of the “industry,” or a lot of money, or if we don’t think of ourselves as making art, then we won’t care about this. But our not-caring won’t change the crucial truth: If our goals are shallow, our photographs will be shallow. If we mainly want to make our photographs bright and brilliantly-colored, in order to catch people’s momentary attention on a screen, then that’s what they’ll be. If our principal aim in life is superficial, centered on worldly success or values, then our photographs will be superficial, no matter whether or not they’re shown in a prestigious gallery or praised by the writers for prominent publications.