Style - do you have one, and if so, how do you know..?

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stevewestern

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Here is a question that may sound like a totally stupid one, but for me, it is a worry.
I have just been looking at mobilevirgin's (very impressive)year in photos, and he ends with asking 'Do I have a style ?'
I am trying to work out what my style is, but have no idea what people mean by that. I know what subjects I like shooting, and what seems to be the type of picture that gives me the results I like best, but is that my style ?
So, do you have a style, and if so, how do you work out what it is ?
Someone once told me that they could tell that 3 or 4 pictures that I had shown them were taken by me - They were all black and white, subjects were all people, but I couldn't see any more than that to say that they were by one person. Am I looking for more than there is, or am I just unable to see or what ??

Finally, as it is Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas to all here - many I have had dealings with, some I have met, and all have been really good people to have been in contact with.
Thank you all !
Cheers
Steve (getting slightly worried about my first proper wedding in 4 days - groom is a photographer with some wedding experience ...)
 
Funny you should say that, was talking to an artist friend of mine the other day, he was saying I have a style. He reckons he could spot the picture I've taken out of a bunch of other peopels pictures. No idea how he can spot mine to be honest.
 
So at least it isn't just me then..!
That is pretty much exactly what was said by me - maybe mine were the only rubbish ones in the pile, so hey, maybe that is my style..!
Problem solved - better look for another hobby I think...!
 
It's not just you. My friends like my photographs (generally ! ;) ) and say I have a certain style of shot. i remember Petemc on here saying this to me years ago and I was like !?! but who knows if its changed much since then. I for one can see some pics on here and assign a name even before I look at who took the shot. I think it's a sign of a good photographer/artist (well hopefully). :D
 
Alright, Steve,

First, I'll confess that I just woke up and am only just starting my coffee. I'm not brilliant at the moment.

Let me ask you a few questions. (You'll remember from Brighton that these will not necessarily be photography related. Just go with me.)

- Are you more drawn to comedy or drama?

- What moves you?

- What makes you laugh?

- Is there one particular image you can think of that really speaks to you, whether it's one of yours or by someone else?

- Do you like movies with ambiguous endings? Do you prefer movies that end with "happily ever after" or do you like sad/more realistic endings?

Answer those as thoroughly and honestly as you can (here or via PM) and we'll talk. ;)

- CJ
 
CJ.
Good Morning to you.
Just about ready to eat dinner here, with 2 rather excited kids, and me slightly spaced due to the painkillers...
Comedy or drama - not easy - comedy most of the time, but drama is what gets me.
The image that came to mind straight away was an old newspaper picture of a young boy who was deaf, and had been wired up or operated on to allow him to hear, and the picture was of his face, hearing sound for the first time. The next one is of the naked girl running towards the camers in Vietnam.
I like movies that leave you thinking - dark, ambiguous, un-nerving. I cry easily.
Thank you....
 
i supose you develop a style of sorts if you shoot for a while. i think its just a case of the way you like your shots to look. people worry about a style way too much.just shoot. if you like em, who cares what your style is.
if i like a shot , it gets kept. if i dont . D E L E T E.
 
Sorry - I had to rush off then, and again in 30 seconds, as dinner is ready.
CJ, many thanks for asking me, and sorry if I can't reply again for a few hours, but anything you have to suggest will get serious thought - I don't know where or how to start..!
I have always needed to be loved, liked, mr nice-guy, and need to have my confidance boosted at every occasion. I am also not good at looking in - scared of what I may find.
What makes me laugh - my kids, happiness - sometimes, when maybe driving home after a trip to London to work, I can't contain myself as I sit, driving along the motorway, and a huge smile, to the point of yelling out at the world as I sit in my little car, knowing I am going home. Music - i listen late at night, often with a little too much wine inside me, and music will make me weep, laugh, remember...
I am scared of looking inwards and finding that I might not like what I find. I am a loving, and much loved husband and father, yet still I have really dark times, and wonder why I am here.
Not really sure what else to say, and need to go now - sorry if this is all a bit too much...

Happy Christmas everyone, and maybe especially to you CJ, as you have taught me a lot this year, and maybe you are about to show me more that I would take forever to find if left to my own devices (no, you don't need to know about my devices..)
 
Gosh. It was throw away comment from me. It was prompted by the fact that, when I reviewed the thread there appeared to be no theme - just a pretty random series of images.

However, I shall watch this thread with interest to see what comes out of it.
 
Mobilevirgin - It may have been a throw away comment by you, but it is a major issue with me - I am trying to work out where I need to be looking, and having been told to look into what my style is, by a photographer I really respect, I am really struggling - I have no idea what 'style' means..
Not trying to be stupid, but if CJ, or anyone else can make me think, then so much the better.
Do we need to focus on just one type of subject - is that possibly the difference between a good amateur and a successful pro, or even a satisfied amateur ?
I want to be good, by my standards, at the sort of pictures I like taking, and so far have yet to work out what I like doing - am I doing it for me, for them, to be liked, or to give myself pleasure, or what ???
Not easy questions, but ones that need to be answered for me, and, I guess, by me, but untill I know what the questions are, its not easy to start to think through the answers....
Steve
PS - Mobilevirgin - not meant to be any kind of attack on you - OK ?
 
Sorry I'm long in getting back to you. Tomorrow, I promise. Christmas, you know... ;)

- CJ
 
steveinspain said:
Mobilevirgin - It may have been a throw away comment by you ......

PS - Mobilevirgin - not meant to be any kind of attack on you - OK ?
Click to expand...

And not taken as one. As I said, I'm interested to see what comes of this thread.
 
An interesting question and not at all stupid. I have a vague picture in my mind's eye of the type of image that I would like to produce, but it is difficult to put into words - if I could articulate it, I'd be able to do it, but can't as yet! I think that once I can (if I can) then I spose that you could say it was my style.
 
I'm quite happy that I have a style, or a few styles. It all depends on what I'm feeling when I take the photo. If the light is amazing, and the subject is incredible then I'll use HDR to really make the image dramatic and powerful because thats what I was feeling at the time. Other times I will stick to classic black and white because the scene does not need to be over complicated by colour. The same for people. I shoot b&w because I do not want the image complicated by random colours. I feel you can cut out so much junk and simply show the person as they are. You don't need complex Photoshop retouching techniques, or any such nonsense. Red channel, black and white. People look great with great light.

How do you know you have a style? I guess when someone says, or when you can replicate it consistently.
 
Steve,
A quick look through your gallery again and something leaps out at me. Portraits aside, almost all of your shots are angled upwards.....you invariably look upwards for your inspiration.

I won't attempt a psycho-analysis of that but maybe you can?

Bob
 
Bob - I am only 3ft 9 inches all, you know...
Good point though - I was always looking for my father approval (never got it mind..)
I have always felt like I ought to be doing better, that maybe I have never quite achieved - I am still looking for my first proper job, despite being nearly 50, and don't believe that I have ever really achieved anything that anyone else couldn't have done...
Blimey - I am not much of a salesman either, eh ?


PS - CJ - no worries, and no hurry - been waiting for answers 49 years and 10 months already..
 
Mid-life crisis Steve...I'm right behind you on that score....must be the impending 5 0

I stepped out of my nice cosy, materialistic, middle class comfort zone a few days ago and now I'm ashamed to step back in again.

Bob
 
steveinspain said:
I have always needed to be loved, liked, mr nice-guy, and need to have my confidance boosted at every occasion. I am also not good at looking in - scared of what I may find.

What makes me laugh - my kids, happiness - sometimes, when maybe driving home after a trip to London to work, I can't contain myself as I sit, driving along the motorway, and a huge smile, to the point of yelling out at the world as I sit in my little car, knowing I am going home. Music - i listen late at night, often with a little too much wine inside me, and music will make me weep, laugh, remember...
I am scared of looking inwards and finding that I might not like what I find. I am a loving, and much loved husband and father, yet still I have really dark times, and wonder why I am here.


Comedy or drama - not easy - comedy most of the time, but drama is what gets me.
The image that came to mind straight away was an old newspaper picture of a young boy who was deaf, and had been wired up or operated on to allow him to hear, and the picture was of his face, hearing sound for the first time. The next one is of the naked girl running towards the camers in Vietnam.
I like movies that leave you thinking - dark, ambiguous, un-nerving. I cry easily.
Thank you....
Click to expand...

Steve, finally back and ready to type what will likely be a book. I should preface to the other readers that a lot of what I'm going to say is based upon having met you, having seen your "old" work, and our conversations during and after the Brighton workshop. Just so you don't think I'm divining this all from the few questions I asked above. ;)

In your work, first and foremost, I see your feelings about yourself. In most of your shots that are not of your family (or workshop participants), I see a careful attempt to not be vulnerable. I see non-emotional shots designed to be visually pleasing but not the least bit moving. I think you are taking the pretty-but-safe shots you feel others will want to see, at least partly (I suspect) because it's scary to show others what is deeply moving to you. There's an enormous fear that others will not think it's valuable.

Looking at your images in your TP gallery, I suspect that you are a person who sees small things much more readily than the big picture, no pun intended. You show small bits of objects in your still life shots, probably in an effort to show things in a way most people don't see them, pulling out something beautiful or interesting in an everyday object. Trying to make people appreciate the unappreciated -- again a reflection on your lack of self-confidence. Shooting from those low angles so often -- again, likely an expression of feeling very small or insignificant in the world. You're making a strong statement about yourself almost against your will.

(To clarify, there is nothing wrong with images that reflect a lack of self-confidence. IMO it's actually a good thing. The most important thing your work can do is reflect who you are. And there's nothing wrong with who you are. My work often expresses the darker sides of my personality and life experience, and those images are my strongest and most memorable.)

Now, the images of your family reflect what you said in your post about being a loving and loved husband and father. Your family, specifically your role in your family, is where you feel most confident and accepted. As a result, your work is much more open and emotive. The prints you brought to the workshop that you made years ago show a lot more of that depth and emotion, not coincidentally because you made them before you allowed your confidence to be shattered by someone who never had the privilege of seeing your work.

Style is not the same thing as technique. Style is your photographic voice. It's what your work says about you (even if you don't want it to.) The technical aspects (from exposure to post-processing to lighting and all the rest of that) are just tools. Style isn't an action or monochrome vs. color thing. As I've said before, if you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it's not style.

Don't get hung up on the word "style."

I would say, Steve, that the still-life shots in your gallery are not really "you." They're pretty and nicely executed, but they're so guarded that there's not a lot of depth to be found. And you are a person who appreciates depth, honesty, and the power of emotion. When I suggested before that you look at those early shots of yours and identify what you (and I) liked so much about them, it was those things that I was referring to. That's where your strength lies, if you can trust yourself enough to be vulnerable.

I wish you would share some of those prints you showed me in Brighton -- let everyone see what you can really produce. You're thinking, "But that was ages ago, and I really can't shoot like that anymore, blah blah, etc." I don't believe you, so don't try that with me. ;)

Now that I've thoroughly embarrassed you, although you did ask for it.....

And of course, I'll add that only you know if I've hit the mark, or if I'm totally off base and best to ignore. LOL.

- CJ
 
That is a very interesting insight CJ. Even more so to me as I feel I can relate to it. Now Steve, she's got us all interested in what those prints were. :)
 
How can you tell a style?
I mean I never take photos of people, well so far.
I do like taking graves of all shapes and sizes, and sunsets.
 
CJ.
Thank you very much.
As I have said before, you have so much to give, and you do.
You have not ashamed me - you did say we could do this by PM, but as you like to share, maybe me doing this will help another person.
I had 3 sisters, and a father who felt threatened by a son - another man in the house, and one who was going to grow up and maybe expose him as the weak person he was, so he resorted to violence, mainly towards my mother, to see if I was 'big' enough to stop him. It was not a happy childhood, with almost everything I was good at being stopped, or at least not encouraged. I left home at 15, got into drugs big time, and over the next 2 years, my eldest sister died, my youngest sister tried to kill herself, my father died, and my other sister made a feeble 'me too' attempt to kill herself. My mother looked like death for a few years, but slowly, she and I (we had always been close - maybe you can guess) got things sorted, and while she is still fairly numb, she is fairly happy. I then had a bike smash, and while in hospital, met Kate, who is the best thing to have happened to me, and we have Billie and Jessie. My best friend, who I had helped through heroin addiction, cleaned out my house, bank account and took all my valued posessions.

I have worked in the building trade for many years, as it is easy, doesn't tax the brain, and the results are physical - my clients tell me how wonderful I am for having painted the wall - every time I finish a job, I start to worry if the cheque hasn't arrived within a few days - didn't they like it, don't they like me ?? Enough of that..

The pretty pictures in my gallery were almost all taken one morning on holiday, for an exhibition. They are not special to me, just meant to be images that might look fairly good on a wall in an expats house. Many sold. The pictures I like are mainly of my kids (not as scary as asking or just snapping a stranger, is it - I remember a thread by, I think, petemc about plucking up the courage to ask people on the streets..) and slowly I am starting to take more pictures that may be getting back to thew stuff I was doing before. Those prints are in London, and I am in Spain so I can't scan them yet to show them here at present, but I will.
Sorry if this has waffled on too long without saying much - It is not meant as a 'poor me' story, and sorry if it seems that way.

CJ, you are as close as I can imagine - I will re-read your post many times and try to take in what you have said.
I am very touched that a person I have met for just a few hours can be getting so close to the me that I don't really know.
Thank you so much.
I don't know what else to say right now, and maybe I have said too much already, but you have made my Christmas.

A quick PS - this is the edited version of my life - be grateful, as there are many more tales to tell..
 
I have neither style or taste, if my wife is to be believed!

:D
 
I thought this thread would make for interesting reading; and I was right. I'm not sure that I have anything particularly useful to contribute, but I've read the comments a couple of times now and I'm glad you 2 were prepared to have this conversation in public.

For me finding (or defining) a style is not so important (no offence, Steve), I just go and take pics and if I think they look good, then I'm happy. If others like them, then I'm very happy. That'll do for me, but CJ's comments will no doubt hang around in my head next time I'm out with the camera.

So thanks for this.
 
Mobilevirgin - CJ identified in my pictures something that I can't see, and I need to see.
Having spent much of my life hiding from me, it will help me and my photography if I can work out who and what I am, and what I need to do to help myself.
For me, CJ's pictures are very real, they hit home with me, and she is an amazing photographer - I would like to be able to take pictures like she can - not the same, but similar - she makes a contact with the subject, and it shows to me.
I want to write more, but need to go - we have jsut got back in from a 10 minute reccy of the church where I am weedding photographer tomorrow - after 6 hours...! I need to sort out my memery cards, charge batteries and recharge myself - more to follow in a couple of days, and wish me luck !!
Steve
 
Thanks for the wonderful compliment, Steve.

I'm glad to hear you're exploring the roots of your photography (and yourself) again. It'll be very good for you. I know you're quite shy about photographing people, but I think you have something unique and valuable to offer.

Two quotes for you, at the risk of sounding either trite or pompous:

And if these pictures have anything important to say to future generations, it's this: I was here. I existed. I was young, I was happy, and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my picture. -- Robin Williams, in One Hour Photo
Click to expand...

The things you're most afraid of have already happened. -- Deepak Chopra
Click to expand...

In other words, you have the opportunity, with your camera, to do the opposite of what your father did: that is, to make people feel important and significant, to reveal what is wonderful about them. And if people criticize you or fail to see value in what you do, then so what? You've already proved you can survive that on a much grander scale.

Good luck with the wedding tomorrow. You'll do great.

- CJ
 
Good luck Steve, and show us some samples later if you can.
 
steveinspain said:
Mobilevirgin - CJ identified in my pictures something that I can't see, and I need to see.
Click to expand...

Excellent - then this exercise has been worthwhile. And that's why it has been interesting for me to watch from the sidelines.

Do well at the wedding - I'm sure you will.
 
If I paid attention then Steve must in the busy part of the wedding right now!

Enjoy it M8, we are holding all our thumbs for you and know you will do well.

Remember to breathe!!!


:D:rules::thumbs:
 
I can't believe the amount of support I have rceived over the last few days, and have no way to express my gratitude (to Music man as well, who has PM'ed me as well)
The wedding is done, many problems, and a mountain of pictures to process, but I will show a few soon, but I ill also try to work out how to reply and respond in a way that seems fitting - I am truly humbled by the open-heartedness shown here. Thank you.

X
Steve

PS - never allow yourself to be bullied at a wedding - make sure you retain control - I didn't, and the low sun caused me so many problems..
 
Well it's over now and you're through the barrier. Any 'mistakes' you made will be the last because you'll have learnt from them.

Looking forward to seeing some of the results.
 
As someone who knows you (!?) I wonder if you would like me to contribute to this thread as I have some - probably contradictory - thoughts on your search for your style?
 
Weeellll...... firstly I'm not sure that soul searching is a step to be taken lightly - although as you might argue that witches don't have one I'm hardlt in a position to comment! If CJ says you took some really good photos many years ago you obviously did that sans introspection. And as your life has continued to have many challenges/obstacles your soul has continued to develop and become more enriched, then, by my reckoning that extra seasoning can only produce better photographs.

Secondly, as a result of firstly.....

I think this is more about confidence than style. Who are you trying to please? and why? Are the photographs for your sole enjoyment (in other words, for pleasure), for the enjoyment of others, to commercially market, to exhibit, or, as is more likely I guess, a combination of these things? My thoughts about you are that you are warm, generous, funny, complicated, scared, self-deprecating, supportive, and with a lot of self-doubt. (Ha, it takes one to know one)

Thirdly, are you the best judge of your 'style'? I've, v v v briefly seen (as in a split second!) one of your old photos and it was like an emotional punch in the gut - you know which one I mean. Writers often have a support group that crtitique their work made up of people whose opinion they respect, perhaps you need the same thing?

I'm sure that eventually you will be aware of your own style, but, in the meantime, don't let your internal meanderings detract you from taking more really good photos. After all, curiosity killed the cat .........

Much love

xx

ps, I haven't finished yet, I'll add to this later!!!!!!
 
crikey CJ is still scarey isn't she!

how did the wedding shoot go?
can you share any pics?

Mike
 
Mike - wedding still being processed, and until the couple see the pictures, no, I can't, though there is one I may post soon, as no faces are revealed - now, I must talk to my family, who have not seen me for days..
 
I think what I'm becoming more aware of is the psychology of photography, and, therefore, your relationship with the subject in your viewfinder. Do you want to simply 'report' an image or do you want to empathise with, or engage with the subject?

Previous posts refer to your positioning with an inanimate object, and there may be some truth in that, but you also have some pictures where you are towering over family members - are we to believe that this too is representative of your subconcious?

I'm just advising caution as everything we do is open to alternative interpretations (and the truth doesn't always set us free!). Style may be a detail, an unconscious signature, a deliberate positioning, a selected subject, a technical mastery, a navel gazing exploration, an altruistic pursuit, a need or desire to shock, cynical exploitation....... ad infinitum. Which brings me back to what you want to get out of it, because, if it is for everyone to like you and what you do, stop taking photographs right now.

Once agin, with much love

xx
 
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