Rainy Day Ramblings

It’s raining today. It rained yesterday, too. And the day before. And the day before that. If the adage is true, we’ll be up to our eyeballs in May flowers. It’s a good day to write. Or visit the local watering hole. Or both.

Each summer the arts center on which I serve as a trustee holds its annual Along the River’s Edge exhibit, a juried affair that is open to the public. It’s time for me to decide if and what I’m going to exhibit. All artistic mediums are welcome, though the majority of entries are paintings. Still, each year there are a handful of photographs from me and a few others. While I have had sales in the past, photography has always proven to be a hard sell in this exhibit, for reasons I outlined in my essay Never Say Never Again. 

Subjectivity in art is not an either/or proposition, but rather a matter of degree. Last year I intentionally (stubbornly?) submitted a photo that was highly subjective and creative. It was rejected by the juror. The other photo was a bit more accessible and was selected but failed to sell. I wasn’t surprised by either result. Frustrated, but not surprised. For a time I considered no longer entering any photos whatsoever. Screw them if they don’t “get” my work, I thought. Real mature. Ah, the fragile ego of the artist. Ultimately, I decided I couldn’t let the lack of sales frustrate me. Nor can I take it personally, as difficult as that is to do. Rare are the opportunities to exhibit and share our work in the manner in which it should be shared: beautiful, physical prints carefully and thoughtfully framed. If social media is the lowliest platform for sharing and viewing artwork (which it is), then exhibits represent the pinnacle. It’s an opportunity to be embraced, finances willing.

Deciding which pieces to enter into the exhibit is a lesson in compromise, for I have learned that what stands the best chance of selling and what I wish to share are usually mutually exclusive. As an artist, I wish to exhibit photos that are more creative and subjective and are imbued with something of my personality and imagination. As we all know, however, the more subjective our work the smaller the audience. Do I enter pieces that are more likely to sell or pieces that more authentically represent who I am as an artist? Last year I chose the latter with predictable results. From a pragmatic point of view, it seems silly and stubborn to knowingly submit a work that will most likely not sell. Having a fine art print made and framed is not inexpensive. Besides, the exhibit is a fundraiser for artists and the arts center alike.

All of this got me thinking about framed prints as wall decor. The problem with framed photographs on the wall is that they must invariably be “pretty pictures.” That is, overtly beautiful and easily recognizable scenes or subject matter. If they’re from locations in which people are familiar, then all the better. Honestly, how many non-artists want to have a framed picture of roots or pine needles on their wall, in black-and-white no less? It’s not that those types of scenes aren’t beautiful, they most certainly are, just not in the way that say a sunset or mountain vista is beautiful. To quote Eliot Porter, such scenes are “the peaks and summits of nature’s greatest displays.” 

One of the central tenets of my photography is finding beauty in the ordinary, the mundane. I admit, though, that many of my favorite, more creative, and expressive images are not necessarily wall decor material. I may love that one photo I made of those roots, but it doesn’t mean I want to see it on my wall every day. It’s why I bristle when I hear photographers judge their work based on whether it’s “wall worthy” or not. It introduces the idea that the success of a photo is based on its usefulness. Judging a photo based on its wall worthiness is placing all the emphasis on nothing more than aesthetic beauty. Much worse is rating our photo based on how well it will perform in our camera club competition. No. We should judge our work based on the degree to which it reflects our voice and our sensibilities. Does it express how we felt about the subject matter? Our way of experiencing it? That is the criteria by which we should regard our photography.

I have yet to decide which two photos I am going to enter into this year’s exhibit. As I stated in the aforementioned previous essay I believe It is our job as artists to educate our audience, to inform them of the potentialities of photography. Through example, we can show them that photography can be a tool of creative and personal expression. Give them something to think about and that challenges their perception of nature photography. I’m tired of seeing people praising the obvious, the uncreative, the banal, the lowest common denominator. That’s not on them, that’s on us. We have little control over how our audience will react to our work. However, we can control how we wish to express ourselves and represent the medium.