Who doesn’t like to see good photos and pictures? One of them must be you! Therefore, our PC crew had the opportunity to talk with Chelsea Pearl, one of the photographers with the cyanotyping technique that not many people use.
Without any further or due, lets some minutes to read and see what’s Chelsea Pearl have in mind about photography:
Let me tell you a thing that almost every art teacher told their students: “nothing is truly original anymore, so find things that are worth imitating”. I think being an artist/photographer has taught us how to push our creativity beyond our limit, making sure that our works are different than others, but some artists take inspiration from other artists. Every artist is competing on how to be the most creative, well-known, and praised, but the real question is how to make yourself stand out from the other artists and how to make your work distinguished.
I agree with the first statement, I don’t think anything is ever original anymore. We just take inspiration from something and sprinkle a little bit of our twist of creativity and message. But I do recognize that some photographers are different than others and have a different approach to their artwork and also the treatment of making it. Let’s take a look at two of these inspiring photographers: Martin Parr and Gregory Crewdson. I think highly of them and I get inspired seeing their work. I can describe Parr’s work as harmless, mundane, and candid. And here are some of my favorite works that he made:
Anyone who sees his work for the first time might’ve thought about how his works seem to lack any effort in making it. But I think these are some of the most wonderful photos that have ever been taken. Now take a look at Crewdson’s works that I can describe as out-of-this-world, suspense, and dreamlike. A total opposite of Parr’s works, if I may say so.
He made these pictures with a lot of effort, obviously. He has a production team and whilst Parr takes pictures of what is happening at the moment, Crewdson is creating the moment so he could capture it. I think Stranger Things might’ve even taken inspiration from him, and Crewdson took inspiration from Edward Hopper, an American painter with a very distinguishable work. With that being said, even the most distinguished work was created out of the inspiration of somebody else’s work.
But what really sets you apart from other photographers? Is it your skill, treatment, style, colors, or mood? I think, what sets a photographer apart from others is the photographer’s beliefs, knowledge, and the purpose of creating the art itself. Is it for personal pleasure? Is it to convey a message? Or is it an homage to someone? Other than being consistent in my work, my character is my value that is in the photos, and everybody has their own values. What sets a picture apart is the person behind that camera itself, with a different value that is added to that photo that could end up making the photo look different from what others took (color, composition, and mood), and the reason why I took that photo.
I find that finding my own character means that I have to find myself first and how I set myself apart from others is to be myself in the process of making the art. Thus, the result came out as my own.
