Thoughts on Photography | #9 – Seeing (3)

I recently decided that I would like to start another very short column in addition to the book reviews – and I’m calling it ‘Thoughts on Photography’. Here, I will share a few personal thoughts on photographic topics from time to time – with as little text as possible (max. 3 minutes reading time) and few example images – perhaps just one. There will be no logical or strictly sequential order to the topics. But perhaps some inspiring or even controversial thoughts over the time… we will see. Feel free to share your thoughts with me…

#9 – Seeing (3)

In this part, I continue my thoughts on how people see differently from the last part. Today, however, I will focus more on what exactly we see and, above all, how we can show what we see through photography. Because that is what usually makes the difference. And that is very exciting because it picks up on the topic I already addressed in #4.

Only this time from a slightly different perspective – less from the point of view of image editing and more from the perspective of perspective and motif selection. Or – to be more precise – from the point of view of interpreting a seen object or a seen situation – and dealing with it photographically. This brings us partly into the field of storytelling, but more on that another time.

I will try to explain this using just one example. However, this example should actually explain very clearly and concisely what I am trying to express here. This example is the cover image itself.

Regardless of what this image triggers in you or what you think about it, it was, of course, photographed by me very deliberately in exactly this way. Deliberately in this exact section, deliberately from above, deliberately looking a little scary.

But I didn’t stage this picture (i.e. arrange the objects); I didn’t touch the items or move them even a millimetre. I simply took the photo the way I wanted it. The doll, the shoe – everything was just lying there.

And all of it in a more or less large pile of more or less trash.

What I want to express with this is that there is not just one world and one perspective that we can see. There are thousands of possible worlds and perspectives! And photography is a wonderful and almost unique way to show these worlds and perspectives – as we see them in detail – to others. 

Why one does it this way or that way, what one wants to express with it… that is a completely different and always very individual topic. That was not the point here…

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There is always light somewhere – go out and shoot!