For many years I was a multi-shooter in photography. I did not focus on any particular theme, technique or project. I was trying to develop my own photographic language but I did not know where exactly I was heading.
Over the past two years this has changed and I can now define certain areas of interest. I really like shooting pictures with intentional camera movement. The blur effect is something that I find aesthetically very attractive. Consequently I have reduced my photographic endeavours and I focussed on creating pictures with this particular technique.
Content-wise I developed some topics that I am particularly attracted to. I am interested in what we may call human nature but also landscape and cityscapes that I shoot with long exposure and motion blur.
Consequently my photographic output has changed over the past two years. You see much more ‘blurry’ pictures, pictures of people and also many landscape pictures with trees in multiple shapes and forms. A certain interest leads to certain outcome and in my case it is this triangle of humans, landscapes and cityscapes in blurred pictures.
Teufelsmoor Northern Germany Picture shot with Intentional Camera Movement
As the topics were narrowing down and the technique specifies into one direction I started wondering how this impacts on the diversity of the output. In other words, does it get boring after some time when you use a certain technique again and again and narrow down your topics a lot?
This question was recently brought up by my Flickr friend Stefan Speidel who lives in Japan and who spent the last 3 months in a mountainous region of the country. So he has been shooting Japanese landscape with hills and mountains and trees in autumn again and again. If you are interested please click the link to his beautiful black and white photography on Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rifugio_bobo/
Stefan Speidel Mt Fuji Autumn Mood
I have also another photographer on my mind who has “specialised” in one particular photographic style. Anne McGrath shoots nature themes with long exposure and intentional camera movement. She creates beautiful and poetic images of seagulls in flight but she also covers other topics like seascapes, sailing boats, pictures of swimmers. Please find her pictures in Flickr under https://www.flickr.com/photos/annemcgr
She also has a website
https://annemcgrathphotographs.com/index.html
Anne McGrath Seagulls in flight Picture shot with Intentional Camera Movement
So I was wondering if with this specialization the lack of diversity eventually leads to repetition and a boring impression. This was a worry that I had previously and that supported me in my assumption that I should keep my photography open and as diverse as possible.
Today I disagree. By using a certain technique repeatedly you gain experience that you can use to create your pictures more purposefully which increases your ability to create expression.
I think that repeating the same subject again and again eventually might lead to a boring outcome, but Anne McGrath’s pictures are a very good example for the contrary. She repeats flying seagulls very frequently but if you take a closer look at the images you realize that she finds a new side of aesthetics in each single picture. This way repetition leads to depth.
I now believe that by reducing latitude and gaining depth in our work we are able to create more meaningful work. I am still against a “reflectory” repetition of the same themes and techniques, just because previously this type of picture turned out to be successful. Art should be genuine and fresh and each piece should have a unique meaning. Going into depth can be part of the creation of meaningful art.
I thank both artists for allowing me to use their pictures in this blog.
Anne McGrath Seagulls in Flight Picture with Intentional Camera Movement