Photographers, but few real photos

Over the past two years and even more so in 2014, Guyana has seen a radical boom in the amount of persons taking up the occupation as “photographer”. This year however, I personally grew terribly frustrated with the work of many. As their work is being uploaded onto social media platforms, the true artists have revealed themselves. Whilst the weaker ones look redundant and typical and there has been a lot of this. Some are artistic whilst some are very much bent on discovering all the angles of St George’s Cathedral, which I find quite boring and average.

I personally feel that most of the photographs being produced are just being produced for the sake of it. In a country with such a small population what we need is diversity from the arts; photography very much included. What we are currently experiencing in the “photography” industry in Guyana is a saturated pool of “photographers” for the most part. Like fashion designers, I see photographers as persons that have to develop an aesthetic and voice for themselves. With thousands of photos circulating, onlookers are craving the ones that have created signature styles and the ones that have mastered niche groups such a wedding photography, beauty photography, fashion photography, landscape photography etc.

If there was ever a time to take your photography skills and develop them into a voice it is now. Some have revamped and commercialised their trade. However, we still aren’t where we are supposed to be. Of course like any other artistic trade, practice makes perfect. I do believe charges and “statuses” should be relaxed so as to reduce the uncalled for clout that most “photographers” come with. I think when a client hires a professional photographer he/she is looking for his/her story to be told visually. The photographer’s job is to try to achieve that as much as possible unless the niche is completely specialist.

Nevertheless, whilst we have seen a lot of weeds in our photography garden, we have also seen quite a few flowers. Work that will resonate with us forever and continue to move us. I don’t have the world of space to share all the photos I appreciate but I would like to highlight a few that I love. Being surrounded by numerous artists, I tend to employ junior/beginner photographers with the blog to give them the experience they need in order to develop their voices. Though their journey is still very long, more photographers need to recognise the value of practice, aesthetic and patience and the impact these could have on their work. Along with the junior photographers attached to the blog, it is always good to have an experienced soul around. With that being said here are few pieces from both senior and junior photographers that have resonated with me.

 

www.online-runway.com

https://twitter.com/theonlinerunway

http://instagram.com/theonlinerunway