13 November 2008

Making Pictures

I've noticed (as my interest in pursuing photojournalism grows) that photographers refer to "making" pictures. This phrase comes across the tongue in an awkward way, because I think we are often use to "taking" pictures.

Do we really take anything? I usually say that I capture things. However an image itself is a reproduction and, if it is a good one, a reproduction with an emphasis on the dramatic. Making, then, however awkward it might be, is more apt and I think is the artist's celebration of succeeding in "doing" photography.

If I put aside the words-in-quotes now, what stands? Did I take this image. Did I capture the moment and remove it from some realty? No. I produced a reproduction through which we might relive the tradition that surrounds Butler basketball.

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