Lot – © John Neel
Awesome is a loosely used word. Today, it seems to be the way many describe anything that seems likable.
The word itself has a more selective meaning. It was originally used to describe those things, which rise way above normal expectations and usually those things we find truly amazing, magnificent and marvelous.
Those last few words are equally abused.
In the area of photography, it is an overused term used to describe the viewer’s preferences and perhaps the maker’s ego. I find it is often used to describe a camera image that someone seems to simply like. There is a huge difference between an image that passes with a “like” versus an image that deserves the label awesome.
To make a great image depends on many factors – the photographer, a state of mind, the ability to see, choice of subject, intent, timing, the moment, the light, the camera used, the lens used, the framing, the angle you choose, the focal length of the lens, compression, the level of detail, focus, foreground, background, color, b/w, saturation, what the image implies, the message, the skill level and creativity of the user, and ultimately the way it affects the viewer, not to forget post processing and presentation.
© John Neel
Everything in the image counts. A great photographer has most if not all of this in mind when shooting while instinctively understanding the functionality of his/her camera in order to consider the subject. The most important consideration is in finding a subject that has not been shot zillions of times before.
But even more important is asking the questions – What? And Why? Having something meaningful to say is the most important of all photographic skills. It is important to communicate – even if you are the only viewer.
The awesome in photography is in the what? – In the Why? – In the When? – And in the How the image connects with a viewer.
That connection is the communication that takes place. Photography is a form of visual communication. It is a kind of language that works off of clues. In that sense, it is a puzzle that one solves through visual inference. A photograph tends to utilize what is shown in a way that suggests something more interesting. That new thing is a trigger for understanding something at a higher level. The subjects within the frame take on a new characteristic as a metaphor.
The thing that has the potential to become awesome, is the thing understood. The awesomeness comes from realizing a higher reality. The thing photographed becomes a symbol for new meaning – a metaphorical extension. That new thing is called a heightened reality.
A photograph has the potential to become awesome through the understanding of what it implies.
The awesomeness is in seeing beyond the obvious. In the full act of making an image, it is the reading that is the role of the artist as well as the task of the viewer.
The full reading is when you can realize the otherness that exists within the frame of a great image.
That is when the word awesome would be appropriately expressed.
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