Genius of Photography - Hit or Miss?

Phil T

Phil T

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Phil Tufnell
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So with the final programme last night - what did those of you who watched some or all think?
I'm still unsure whether it was all a bit self-indulgent & interesting in a very abstract kind of way, or a razor sharp insight into a beautiful world that I'm too much of a heathen to comprehend...
 
Not watched them all yet. Based on what I've seen so far - some interesting stuff but wrapped in so much pretentious arty nonsense as to be pretty annoying. Can't help thinking a lot of the analysis was arty types seeing things in the pictures just to justify their own existence.
 
from the ones i saw, it was a good idea presented in a very boring way. Shame really.
 
I've only watched the first one - I have the rest on HD to watch later. I was not impressed at all - I thought there was a lot of pretentious crap talked - and they didn't even mention Hill & Adamson!
 
:lol: Oh thankgod for that, I thought it was just me!

I havent seen last nights yet, but going off all the others, I thought it was self indulgent codswallop for a significant part of it. The talking heads gave me the impression they were putting thoughts into photographers heads that probably weren't there at the time, just to sound clever :bonk:

The one guy I did like though, and forgive me, I have a lousy memory so can't recall his name, but he was the American that had been taking pictures during WWII but as a serving soldier, not as a journalist like Capa. His pictures, stories and opinions were definately worth tuning in for.
 
Watched most of them but last night, the joker that dose'nt handle the camera, dose'nt actually do any of the PP but calls himself a photographer... he's a director not a photographer. Mind you if some mug wants to pay 60K for a print....whose the joker and don't get me started on Annie!

RoberP got it in one 'arty types seeing things in the pictures just to justify their own existence' but i'll add 'and their commercial value' , what they are doing is making sure the commercial market stays afloat. Alot of these interviews were with curators or collectors.....go figure.
 
Generally I agree. Art for arts sake. More or less pidgeon holing it as something you need to excell at to understand. I suppose thats like many creative mediums. I found the Martin Parr stuff interesting, especially the road trip episode. There are many of us that have gone out and shot as good stuff but will never see the light of day.

As we all know there are so many facets to what we do and the show only touched the surface of what we enjoy.

Still, was enjoyable over all.
 
I agree with most of the above but I also found a lot of inspiration in watching and it helped remind me of all the things I love about photography, although perhaps for the wrong reasons at times.
 
Iain MacIntosh said:
Watched most of them but last night, the joker that dose'nt handle the camera, dose'nt actually do any of the PP but calls himself a photographer... he's a director not a photographer. Mind you if some mug wants to pay 60K for a print....whose the joker and don't get me started on Annie!
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:agree:

The part where he talked about his relationship with the camera was priceless. The shot was very contrived and I can't help but think that had he spent some time on the street watching life pass him by that he could have achieved a similar if not better shot. When it later became apparent that he didn't even do the pp himself I questioned why he should appear on the programme at all.

I was disappointed with last nights programme as it revolved around the high art of photography today, with very little on how the digital age has freed many people to express their own creativity.

Overall the whole series was OK, but not what I was hoping for. It was also clear that the cost of showing the shots was getting too expensive, I tired of seeing the same shots reported throughout episodes and across the whole series.
The most interesting episode for me was the reportage one.
 
Glad I'm not a total heathen then. It does seem a shame that the perfect opportunity to really engage the public on a more personal level was missed completely.
At least I taped the David LaChapelle biog a few weeks back - that was amazingly insightful & inspirational (well, to me anyway!).
 
When this series was first brought to my attention I was gutted knowing I wouldn't be able to watch it. (work commitments) Having read the comments above It would seem I've not missed too much.
 
pxl8 said:
I agree with most of the above but I also found a lot of inspiration in watching and it helped remind me of all the things I love about photography, although perhaps for the wrong reasons at times.
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I feel exactly the same, it is very inspiring, especially seeing how much money some images change hands for!

I hope this comes out on DVD as i would love to spend a day re watching it!
 
I've got the lot on DVD-RAM discs. If anyone knows how to transfer them onto a DVD R I'd be obliged!!!!
 
RobertP said:
Not watched them all yet. Based on what I've seen so far - some interesting stuff but wrapped in so much pretentious arty nonsense as to be pretty annoying. Can't help thinking a lot of the analysis was arty types seeing things in the pictures just to justify their own existence.
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Ditto.

There were SOME great shots and some really mediocre and more still that were utterly c**p.
I have been left with one over-riding impression by the programs and that is an even greater appreciation of the talent evident on this forum.
 
I thought the 1st one was ok and then all the rest was just a pile of crap. I gota say that 95 per cent of the pictures that members post on this site are far better then the pictures shown on the show.
 
PapaLazarou said:
I thought the 1st one was ok and then all the rest was just a pile of crap. I gota say that 95 per cent of the pictures that members post on this site are far better then the pictures shown on the show.
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Have to agree. Some, especially the street photography looked no better than snapshots. Now im not an arty person but some were utter rubbish.
 
Miss from me to. Watched the 1st 2 episodes then pretty much give up on due to the pretentious s**t that was spout on the 2 I watched.

Prety much agree with whats been said above so won' bother to repeat it

Its a:thumbsdown: from me
 
defo a miss from me :thumbsdown:
I was looking for a yawn emoticon thingy but there isnt one..:shake:
 
As a photo historical documentery, I thought it was very good, for people not familiar with the birth and growing pains of photography, the significant players and the defining images from the last 100 or so years, it was very informative.
There were plenty of great great photos and plenty of duffers, but I dont think that was exactly the point, what is great and what is not is a subjective opinion.
Theres more to "great" photos than technical perfection.
Overall, I didn't see much crap till the last episode, but they're only telling it like it is, 21st century imagery is pretentious rubbish.
 
Iain MacIntosh said:
Watched most of them but last night, the joker that dose'nt handle the camera, dose'nt actually do any of the PP but calls himself a photographer... he's a director not a photographer. Mind you if some mug wants to pay 60K for a print....whose the joker and don't get me started on Annie!
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All that time and effort and he still could not get the exposure right and had to sort it out in post production.


I saw all the 6 programs and yes there was a lot of crap in there, but also some good bits. #1 was best and #5 was utter crap.
 
whiteflyer said:
All that time and effort and he still could not get the exposure right and had to sort it out in post production.
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Thats what its all about these days, maybe he was a bit extreme (Gregory Crewdson), but the camera is becoming no longer the creater of images, it just produces the raw material for the main focus which is manipulation.
There was that other guy, who did an aerial shot of an F1 track in the desert, I forget where it was, but he was saying he didn't like the composition of some buildings on the skyline and a couple of the bends on the track and wotnot, so he moved them.......I'm thinking.....whatt...Its a photo of an F1 track, you cant swap turn 1 with turn 9 and move the pits into the main stand just cos you don't like the composition, the photo you want doesn't exist...idjut....tried to slap him but its just TV:shrug:
For these guys, its not about photography, its about making pictures using any means at their disposal, thats really kinda sad.
This serise was good at forcing the viewer to form an opinion, in that respect it was 100% successfull..
 
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