IMHO - Opinion, Judgement and Knowledge

[@captop12]

I've often felt disappointment with the feedback, or lack thereof, from most of my family and friends when I shared my photographs with them. I am, indeed, an amateur, and am conscious of my inexperience. But when I review the pictures I've taken over the last eleven years, I notice an evolution in my style. It has gone from the Bob Ross aesthetic (no disrespect, Mr. Ross) to something else. Research and study of the masters was the catalyst. I've a long way to go to reach their level, yet believe I'm on the right path; the one that makes the artist in me happy. Your video instilled a sense of empowerment and validity to my quest. Thank you.

[@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494]

Many thanks for these comments, I am so pleased you feel you are evolving and growing as an artist. Ultimately it is how we feel ourselves that is most important, rather than the comments of family and friends. It's a lonely business.

[@philzpayzdabillz]

The Bob Ross/generic landscape photography connection is amazingly perceptive

[@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494]

As is your comment philip_q, lol!

[@CarlosLopezPhoto]

Just discovered your channel, nice work, please continue doing more videos. This kind of video is the one that photographers need more instead of all the review and technical stuff around there.

[@jasonbokar7482]

That was... simply... one of the best descriptions of what I want to be as a photographer. Thank you... thank you...

[@tommartin9731]

In the painful age of "everone is entitled to their own opinion" I appreciate your voice of reason. Yes, there are aesthetic standards and we can learn to evaluate quality from rubbish with education.

[@jimphilpott902]

Excellent video. I have arrived at a definition of a good photograph: it leaves me with more questions than answers. Your work is a welcome break from gear and technique.

[@rakeshusharamkulkarni]

"The Masters are always on your Shoulder"

[@GPadugan]

I need more of this in my life. Keep it up!

[@MrGoodpairofshoes]

OUTSTANDING THANK YOU

[@timwatley4793]

I'm glad you mentioned Friedlander, I think he has been dominating landscape photography for a long time now.

[@georgem5589]

Another thoughtful video. Reminds me of how reality is held up by imagination and myth.

[@moilami1]

Great narrative. I mean more wisdom in this than in 1000 photo forum postings.

[@JCarlos.unknown]

Another interesting video. I suspect there are more to come.

[@FlosBlog]

Bob Ross was also a hallmark of German television in the early 2000s and to be fair the bob ross show was called „The joy of painting“ not „How to make great paintings“ so it’s more of a focus on emotion and process rather then end result. While I’d agree with what you said about taste generally I would also think about where these principles come from, because I am not of the opinion that they are millennia-old, but of a rather new and upper classy provenience. Maybe that’s because I am more of a romanticism then a modernist.

[@clasijuls1]

your videos are amazing and adoring ..and true

[@BJEPhoto]

Yes, excellent video thanks. I think the choice is between leading vs following. A good artist will create what they imagine and make it accessible if we're lucky. But more popular, commercially minded folk will create/ copy with constant attention on the audience. Because a sense of aesthetics isn't widely spread, and because people naturally like only slight variations on a familiar theme, this approach is unlikely to help the artist create something truly profound or original. Probably more lucrative though...

[@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494]

Yes you're quite right Ben, all the best artists I know are obsessives to a certain degree. They have to express something, enunciate some feeling as a matter of urgency, and they generally do it for themselves regardless of an interested public. The lucky ones find an audience who are willing to pay, most of us don't unfortunately. Speaking as a penniless painter myself, I will continue to do what I do regardless of recognition. I don't feel I have a choice. It is a form of illness, I suppose, but a benign one!

[@MoisheLettvin]

I just discovered your channel yesterday and have been trying to "ration out" your videos and not watch them all at once. Soon, though, I will run out and once again I'll be hungry for this kind of dialog about visual art and photography in particular. Do you have recommendations for other sources (books, film, etc)?

[@robertocollo2890]

Lewis Baltz - Texts Robert Adams - Beauty in photography John Berger - Understanding a photograph each one citing additional sources. then, you know how it works, one book leads you to the next.

[@provocase]

You might want to check out Alec Soth's YT channel (American art photographer)... he produces very interesting vlogs discussing other photographers and their books, always with thought provoking insights: kzbin.info/door/HIxfgu7HE9_Tok9OGNrQ_gvideos

[@MoisheLettvin]

@@provocase Yes I've been watching his videos, they're so good!

[@provocase]

@@MoisheLettvin Ah, okay - cool!

[@Yourmomma568]

Bob ross spent years living in the wilderness in alaska. His paintings were not landscapes of places he'd been, but amalgams of things he'd seen. He personally described them as dreamscapes. And his art was an escape from the horrors of war. Bob ross wasn't the most innovative painter, but he was very good at his craft. Shitting on something because it isn't unique, or because it's not challenging to consume, is stupid. I wouldn't call myself a fan of Budweiser, but i am a brewer, and I know how technically challenging it is to make such a brew, even more so to make the same thing in different environments, with different water profiles and ingredients year after year, all over the world. I grew up around artists and musicians, and while i never pursued visual arts myself, and cannot judge on a technical level to the degree that someone who has dedicated their life to it, from my experience with musicians i can say that the ones who were snobs almost never made it anywhere. Occasionally they would be really successful, but for the most part they were never as good as they thought they were, and I'm not talking about money, I mean their music stunk. The best writers, and composers were always people who had real reverance for the medium, and could appreciate aspects of almost anything. The people who worked at playing different popular styles were often the best technically, and their expression was always the best because they had so much to draw from. They also didn't live in an ivory tower. They had real experiences with music and life and how they both affected each other other and the people around them. The musicians who only hung around other "real" musicians, and stuck to their little bubble of "good", stunk. I didn't know enough about visual arts to judge, but socially I observed the same thing. Don't confuse popular for bad, and challenging for good. You might like challenging because you've seen everything and that's what you find stimulating, but if you dismiss the cliche then you'll miss when something truly special is staring you right in the face. Bob ross is definitely cool, and his art was definitely art. Picasso is cool, too, but for very different reasons.

[@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494]

No mate, it's not art, it's product.

[@Yourmomma568]

@@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494 what an incredibly flippant and glib response. Totally devoid of any thoughtfulness or introspection. If you're ever wondering why you weren't successful in art, consider that it's either because, you lack those qualities and it shines through in your work, or you don't have the right connections. If neither of those veracious facts make you reconsider your position on the intrinsic value of art, then you've truly stymied yourself irremediably. Otherwise, fantastic youtube content.

[@GillmanStudio]

What I have always found fascinating within this subject is those who are able to appreciate what most would deem as 'my child could do that' often believe thier own art is therefore justified [as art too] even if it is banale. I think I made sense there? Maybe better said as a statement; 'you dont appreciate my art because you just dont get it' ... doesnt make it good art, right? I was watching a well known 'youtuber' recently who has fantasitc knowledge of the art of photography, very articulate too, nice guy but his photos are, well, quite dissapointing. Although he may argue I just dont get it. Those who cant, teach? Maybe.

[@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494]

Hi Martin, yes there are a lot of photographers on KZbin who are very knowledgeable about the gear but their work is pretty awful, lol! There are dozens of gear reviewers, people like Maarten Heilbron and Gordon Laing who I subscribe to, very interesting and useful, but they are not photographers, they are journalists. Nothing wrong with that, I love Maarten and Gordon, but these guys generally don't know much about art or aesthetics. Ted Forbes is great, but again, he comes from a teaching and curatoratorial background. I come from being a practising artist for the last thirty years so I have some insight that they might not possess.

[@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494]

Hi Martin, yes there are a lot of photographers on KZbin who are very knowledgeable about the gear but their work is pretty awful, lol! There are dozens of gear reviewers, people like Maarten Heilbron and Gordon Laing who I subscribe to, very interesting and useful, but they are not photographers, they are journalists. Nothing wrong with that, I love Maarten and Gordon, but these guys generally don't know much about art or aesthetics. Ted Forbes is great, but again, he comes from a teaching and curatorial background. I come from being a practising artist for the last thirty years so I have some insight that they might not possess.

[@Stefazio]

Great video, congratulations. But I believe the photographic language is not only that of artistic/author's photography. Photography has other languages: commercial, informative, documentary, experience, communication, narration, research, decorative ... The hyper-saturated color photography you are talking about has a commercial value: it promotes places of tourism, photographic workshops and travels, and photographic equipment. You can find it in trade magazines, books, and tourist guides, or decorative calendars and prints. Those who only love their favorite photographic genre and despise others, do not truly love photography. To do commercial photography you need a strong immediate impact and this genre has it. If, however, a photographer thinks he is making art with hypersaturated landscape photographs then he is wrong. Photographs, of any kind, all have one thing in common: they connect humans and all have the right to exist and their usefulness.

[@seoulrydr]

nice vid

[@MrJOKER06]

Dear Justin, do you have a channel to advise me for painting, a bit like yours in photography ?

[@stilllife-artandthephotogr3494]

Hi Bad Mojo, I am a painter myself but I haven't really looked at painting channels on KZbin because I am afraid of what I might find. I'm sure most of them are terrible! If you see something you think is good, please ell me.

[@justininfrance]

👍👍👍

[@Yourmomma568]

Talking shit about artists is lame. Especially bob ross. That sweet sweet man.