Two Thirds of an Expert Photographer

Four and a half years, and 6,667 hours deliberate practice learning the art of photography, am I now two thirds of an expert?

Time to reflect:

• Have I met my expectation?
• What have I learnt?
• Have I spent this time wisely?
• The next 3,333 hours?

If you have any comments on this review, please post them below.

Have I met my Expectations?

Protection and Maintenance of the Goal

In November 2017 I described the purpose of this project as: “learning to create more original and aesthetically pleasing images.” These were the words I used for becoming a better photographer; making more interesting pictures; and without defining either original or aesthetic.

Better photos:

• show the viewer something new and interesting, i.e., “original”
• purpose – clearly defined subject and emotion
• balance – the crux of aesthetics

are achieved by:

• composition
• lighting
• sometimes timing.

The way a photographer habitually achieves the above defines their “style” and gives a unique “look” to their images. So style is something that must evolve as a result of deliberate practice.

Distinctions

Distinctions are important as they are a metric by which one can measure progress. By now I would have expected to have gained the following:

• Associateship (2nd level) – achieved Licentiateship (1st level), presented 2 versions of a woodland panel to the Amersham PIC group which were both heavily criticised and considered far from the mark.
  Undeterred, I have another version of the woodland photography for the Landscape category and feel I am close to having enough for a Visual Arts submission of my reinterpretation of René Magritte, if this is a viable option
• FIAP Excellence grade (2nd level) – achieved Artist grade (1st level) but have enough accepted images for the 2nd level. So this goal is effectively achieved. See “AFIAP – Artist FIAP” post;
• PAGB Distinction (2nd level) – twice failed the 1st level, CPAGB.

What have I learnt?

Art in General

I have definitely learnt a lot about art and will revise my What is Art? post to prove this. Watch this space.

Favourite quotes from the last 3,333 hours:

“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.”

Edward Hopper

“The beginning and end of all Artistic activity is the reproduction of the world that surrounds me by the means of the world that is in me, all things being grasped, related, recreated, moulded and reconstructed in a personal form and an original manner.”

Johann von Goethe – adapted and carried with him always by Edward Hopper.

Philosophy

In the last (middle) third of this project I have encountered new philosophies including:

• Structuralism, holds that a text has meaning based on the cultural context in which it was made
• Post-structuralism, holds that meaning is attributed to a text as much by the reader/ viewer as it is by the author
• Phenomenology relates to how we experience the world as opposed to the Cartesian approach, which is the study of how it actually is
• Modernism, generally encompasses all the “ism”s in art from the end of WWII to the mid-60s-ish, with the general philosophy that everything is getting better. “Modern” = better than before.
• Post-modernism, actually the isms aren’t better than earlier art, and society as a whole is going to hell in a handcart.

“A painting is not a picture of an experience, it is the experience.”

Mark Rothko expressing the post-structuralist appeal of his paintings.

Photography Specifically

When I started this project I would have struggled to list 10 famous photographers. Now I could list 100 and describe their individual characteristics. My post “Top 100 Photographers of All Time” written after about 2,000 hours, is sorely in need of revision!

Actual Practical Skills

Technically, I consider myself to be broadly competent in most of the following:

• Studio lighting – I’m fairly sure I knew more about this than the person running the RPS Continuous Lighting course at Amersham Studios on the 28^th October last year. However, there is always more to learn, in particular regarding portrait lighting
• Product photography – doing OK on the Karl Taylor course where the standard is set for commercial photographers
• Street photography, engaging with people who look interesting, this is a new skill
• Post processing has always been a strength of mine. I have learnt Capture One Pro for both tethered shooting and non-tethered processing
• Photoshop, learning the skills of convincing compositing.

Have I Spent my Time Wisely?

Styles or phases of development:

• Pep Ventosa style multiple exposure abstracts, mainly of buildings in London. Started in Spring of 2019 with a serendipitous meeting with Lynne Blount at the annual exhibition of the Cambridge Camera Club on 3^rd May. I still have an aesthetic leaning toward abstract images created from multiple exposures.
• Street Portraiture – inspired by the work of Yin Wong who took me under his wing shooting in Portobello Road, London on the 21^st July 2019, and ComicCon on 24^th October 2021
  • Reenactments – Chiltern Open Air Museum and elsewhere
  • ComicCon
  • Boarder Morris Men
• Product photography
  • Karl Taylor course
  • Glass photography for Jackie Banfill and Alison Vincent
• Intimate Landscapes – Stoke Common project
• Composites & self-portraiture – René Magritte project

The Next 3,333 Hours?

Technical

Need to master my new Camera: Sony a1, which is an order of magnitude more complicated than anything I have owned in the past. In essence this means configuring it to suit my various workflows: street portraiture, action and landscape.

Distinctions

Most important are the RPS distinctions. I need to just get on with this: submit the Trees of Stoke Common panel to the Landscape group and look at the possibility of using my Magritte images for a panel.

Other Groups

In addition to the RPS and PAGB the inner circle of UK photography includes the London Salon and Arena groups. Membership is invitation only but they have exhibitions which are open to non-members.