Student work: Does it Make A Statement?

One of my students sent me this photo and as always I like to copy exactly what each photographer had to say. I’ve found that there’s a lot of folks out there that have had similar experiences at one time or another.

Here’s what was said:

“I wanted to ask you if you thing that the attached picture makes a statement on its own, without any explanation required. It is called “Whatever the Dusk or the Dawn ” because I entered it in a Can Geo photo contest called “Whatever the Weather”.

I took it because I liked the colors and the multiple layers in the sky. I did not want to include the sun or other silhouettes in the frame, because I liked the simplicity of the colors alone.
I find that people don’t have the reaction I expected towards this photo. I believe that they take it as another pretty picture of a sunset that everybody can point and shoot.

This is one of those that does not scream the center of interest at you, but definitely has the visual interest through colors. When I look at it I see an abstract painting on canvas and all kind of other things, but as you say I am not there to tell my story.

Any critique will be appreciated.

Thank you very much.

I immediately wanted to send you a link to an article I read some time ago and have repeatedly show to my BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Workshop” I conduct around the planet. It’s called “Giving meaning to photographs”. I think you’ll find it the answer to all your questions.

Remember that you’re not always going to be around to share your thought process or emotions at the time you created your image; it has to stand on its own merit. The feeling you had and the thoughts running through your mind were important to you. Unless the viewer was standing next to you, he can’t sense the same ethereal qualities just by looking at a pretty sky that he might have seen before.

So many times I’ve been driving down the road or walking on the beach and had the pleasure of witnessing a beautiful sunrise or sunset. The first thing I do is to look for anything else I can put in the photo to add what I refer to as a “layer of interest’. If I don’t see something I may shoot anyway just because I’m a photographer and like to take pictures of pretty things. There’s just as much chance as me not shooting it and just standing there smiling while I enjoy the forever fleeting moment.

Reason being that I’ve personally shot a million pretty skies and my files are crowded with them!

Here’s a post written my a very famous photographer who once said, “If you don’t have anything to say, your pictures aren’t going to say much. http://joebaraban.com/blog/my-favorite-quotes-gordon-parks/

Having said all this, it is a pretty sky with great colors…but just another pretty sky.