CHAPTER 7 - THOU SHALT NOT COPY BUT STEAL
Originally quoted by T.S.ELIOT "Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal", then attributed to Picasso as "good artists copy, great artists steal", let's keep it short by saying that, whatever your work is, stand behind it! In any case, everything you read, watch, listen, dream, is channelled into your pictures and most of the time they are Déjà-vus. The only problem is to know and carefully select what to carry with you, your burden in this wonderful and scary trip. Sometimes (almost always nowadays) we run out of ideas. Then it's time to stimulate inspiration by stealing and appropriating some alien visions (rather remote than contemporary). Take for example the first ever window view of Nicéphore Niépce. How many window views (my favoured is Robert Frank's from The Americans, Butte, Montana, 1955) have you seen in almost 200 years of photography and how many will we see until the end of its days? What matters is, when working on your window view, to reflect on the powerful symbolism which is behind it (escape, isolation, sterile communication) and on your state of mind (melancholy, esoterism), the absolute creeps of making contact since we need not just one frame (the viewfinder) but two (the window) to approach the world. The second liberating thought that you should have is to consider photographs no closer to works of art than cardiograms. It is not within our lifetime span that photography will acquire the fine-art label, so why care if you work will ever enter a Museum or a personal collection! In any case, both destinies are so eclectic (in a sacred isolation) that the masses will not have access. And your happiness of taking photographs won't be shared more than it is today! To be cont'd NB: The pictures featuring here won't be in the book. I only wish I could have been the author. Instead, they reflect quite well my thoughts and this makes them extraordinary in my eyes. I am grateful to all those who give me the opportunity to see also through theirs. Michail Moscholios - Photo by Makis Makris All content © SCP ________________
1 Comment
Koushik Sinha Roy
2/14/2017 05:36:49 pm
You hit it hard, Michail. This is so beautifully put up here.
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This is the public curated Gallery of the STREET CORE PHOTOGRAPHY Group
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Michail Previous
August 2018
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