Boshonto Family

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Anyone who fails to understand photography, will be one of the illiterates of the future.

When you taking a picture with your fancy mobile set to capture the moment of any event as your personal memories and use it, we usually
call it snapshot not photograph. You might say, hey!! My phone camera has 3.2 Megapixel or 5.0 and its even has optical zoom and I can even take night photograph! Well fairly dude, you can do it but unfortunately though your fancy photo tool is almost as same size as legendary Leica but the quality of your photo is worst than $1 worth Kodak back in 1888.

Probably you don’t have any idea what happened back in 1888. In 1888, Kodak first came to market with the cheapest consumer camera with the tagline: “You Press The Button and We Do The Rest”. 120 years later you do the same thing but getting a result which is far worst then that cheapest camera of 1888. And you are letting your tool control you, instead of you controlling it.

If you look around, you will see many people who claim that, they are doing photography with their tiny little cheap consumer camera which doesn’t let them control it; instead they have to put that in certain given mode and look at it in its cheap low resolution LCD and take the snap. If you are one of them, that little tool of yours can certainly make you the popular snapshot taker for friendly get-together or Weeding in your local community but not a photographer.

When you look at a snapshot, the main thing you are looking at is- a memory. So the picture should be clear enough to preserve some remember able moments. And in that photograph, there should be an artistic interpretation of that event or person or object and it must be properly composed with structure, balance and dynamics. Without structure, balance and dynamics a picture would only be a jumble of random objects.  

For composing a photograph you must study, learn and develop an eye and thus be able to compose the arrangement of visual elements within the frame of a photograph. But the most annoying thing is, people who think they know the art of photography don’t even know the simple basic rules of it. I am not saying that you must know all the rules and follow it all the time. If you want to be a good photographer you must know existing rules so that you can use it or break it and make something out of the box.

I am in this field of visual art for a long period of time and won couple of award for my art work internationally and ranked always on the top. The reason is all of my works are purely unique.

Once a guy who claims himself as photographer told me, I am too geeky about photographic hardware and they are photographer and they are more concern about its art. Dude, you need to know exactly what you are using and how to control it properly.

I don’t want to make an argument about Canon or Nikon’s Gears of today’s world. They both are good and  have some unique features. Though I always use Nikon and I know it very well that Nikon’s technology were 5-6 years behind Canon. Just recently they came up with full frame technology. But please don’t use the technology without knowing it properly.

And for art, I have to say people like you need to go long way, like we are in it for a long time and will always be in order to improve ourselves.

Remember, for doing photography, whatever professional tool you use, you should know one thing- from the belly bottom photography to legendary rangefinder Leica or from large format to 35mm or less, there were many technologies to capture the essence of moment and make it a photograph.
If you really want to become a photographer you need have the knowledge of how this pure scientific and the way more aesthetic medium “Photography” came into today’s stages.

Basic is always basic.  It’s the core.If you don’t have it, then where ever you try to position yourself you are just an empty bottle.

These days, there are many clubs about photography and they frequently arrange contests. Once I talked with a judge of a local photography contest, pointing a picture and told him this picture looks ..hmm..so far ok, but though it was taken in bright sunny day but not taken using the sunny 16 rule, if he would, that can make the photograph look far better with balanced highlight and shadow.  What surprised me is, the judge of that contest don’t have the idea of basic sunny 16 rules, it would be a wild imagination he knows about the classic exposure rule or zone system.

People use and practice those rules for many years, so that they get the right exposure and the taken photographs will be crisp and full of details and depth.

One of my most favorite Nature Photographer John Shaw once asked in a workshop of his, “Sunny f/16“works when you are on a mountaintop? His Answer was. “Well, since the sun is 93 million miles away from us, I don’t think moving 10 or 12 thousand feet closer is going to make much difference one way or the other.”

If your knowledge of photography is like the sun, so far away, it doesn’t actually matter what way you try to understand it.

“Anyone who fails to understand photography”, said the Hungarian artist and photographer Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, “will be one of the illiterates of the future”. But at that time of First World War, he never even thought that with the courses of time, there will be so many people with cameras and who will claim to know photography. But they are actually far more illiterate than anyone around us.

Now-a-days, there is another group of people who take poor picture and edit it with Photoshop. They enhanced its element by editing. Dude, I am in the field of advertising for a long period of time and use Photoshop far batter then you can imagine. I can make you and your photography an iconic image but I don’t do it. In most of the cases these people break the code of ethics of NPPA and make their poor picture a photograph just to place themselves a well known photographer. I can’t understand why do you need to make your own work a fake one!!!

We live in the era of wiki.  We do facebooking instead of sending email but there is a big number of lame people who take this social networks to show their so called photographs (!!!). They have no idea what social networking is. It’s a place where you can put your family snapshot and you can even make album but it’s not a place for you photo work or its so called appraising lame comments.  There are so many places for photographers to share and express their photos. But certainly it’s not Facebook or any other social networking sites.

These days, people don’t want to study. But you need to have the mentality to learn. And learning doesn’t mean knowing EVERYTHING. In the context of photographic knowledge I am nothing but a sincere student who loves to know every step of it.

If you ask me, what would you study? I will say, instead of just clicking your shutter release button, you simply search in the Wikipedia and know what you are doing. You will get the history, example and so many references that can guide you to become a good and proper Photographer.

Last of all, if you think I am too arrogant in my photographic knowledge, I have just one thing to say: improve your IQ to understand what I have written here. And here is good news for you. Many people can be able to upgrade their IQ just by studying. I assume you at least have that knowledge of studying what you want to study.

**Friends Please see my Notes in Facebook
Anyone who fails to understand photography, will be...

Damn, You are holly batman.
Did you just insult the cool, attractive features of photoshop and the turnout of this photoshop?
But dude whatever you have said is an absolute truth. Congratulations.
I have seen so many "photographers" modifying their photos with photoshop and earning the bestest compliments to themselves. Yes they are acomplished to turn over their photos attractive and elegant. But excuse me, where did the naturality of photos disappear? WHY with a million dollar question mark do any one has to put so much artificial effects to add other features to something. why the photographer cant remain their photo graphy as it as to capture its autencity. Though I am semi- anti-photography depending on the interpretation of it, yet I assume photographers do takes photos to keep one particular moment alive for eternity or to convery some kind of message. I wont go over this, it will lead to another disscussion. But whatever you were willing to express I very much agree with you; and glad that you brought up being a photographer. " I can’t understand why do you need to make your own work a fake one!!! " well said man.


HaHaHaHaHa
dont u know its fashion to upload thousands and thousand of stylish photos of ownself? Forget about social networking. Networking is concept ( in terms of present fb conditions) has turned out give and take lame photo comments to each other. I am not saying it is a step of lameness to upload of our picutures. It can be done. But depending on its interpretation. LIke the term social networking- social gathering involves picture taking. And we may put them at one electronic place like facebook to celebrate it. But to show off? hell no. The biggest proof of showing off is making own profile public and let the world viewing our stylish poses of photography. Photo graphy in social level has an impact to recall happy moments of oldies. There is nothing wrong in it. But at times.......Like you it is not the place to show creativity. There are other places indeed to value one's creativity. Let the social networking work for its purpose of gathering and yah include photos to celebrate.

Dear nIrob mAnush,

Thanks for your valuable comments, I always like to say, when I write an article or journal, I love to hear from critics and commentators and their valuable opinions and the word of wisdom they want to pass.

I posted link of this article in Facebook, and guess what happened!!! People whom I knew as good photographer and wise in term of their point of view turned against the article. They almost disagree each and every point I discussed;  And some said they don’t need to learn all these rules, they knew a lot and that’s good enough for their photography. (!!!!). And the most common thing happen in Bangladesh pointing the age, as I am younger I can’t be right.  One even wrote what's my age, isn’t it the time for me to get mature.  

That same old ego problem and the narrow vision, hope someday these people can actually have the broader perspective.

And I have no other option then write these.

You must agree with me that there is no blueprint for the word “Creativity”. It springs out of the originality of one person’s mind. But for me I believe, “If someone follows a scheme written in some books or journals about creativity he or she aren’t creating, actually he is copying. “

It’s really pathetic when someone get the article totally in wrong way, my goal was- when someone become a photographer they must understand the use of their tools, and must understand how it work.

I don’t want to write a single reply here, because all those comments you made about the article-the answer is- in the article ironically, unfortunately you didn’t able to understand it or overlook it, that’s why at the end I wrote “ improve your IQ to understand what I have written here.” Yes I was too direct but I never thought that wise people like you actually proved it as a “Fact”.
Anyway, I always believe that science is for you to make Things, not just to study. I don’t say you must be an inventor but as least you know the process, to reinvent it and help preserving the knowledge of this civilization.
Around you, you will find many people who can make compass, life saving tools from this very nature and can survive in the Extreme alone. But not many can make camera and take photo of that extreme conditions. But who knows passion and proper Knowledge can make you reinvent a camera in that extreme, of course it will be much bigger size than anything.  

That’s why many people say, “Talent, commitment and Passion, that’s what you need” but they forget to talk about one thing “direction, right or wrong.” And it’s actually depends on you, who can chose the right way.

Simply AWESOME dude .....

Your quoted (BOLD) lines says everything , there is nothing more to write about .....
BASIC is BASIC ..... if anyone doesnt know the basics of photography ...(s)he better stay away from it .... these pplz ruinning this field wiv their immature workz ...... and i am very much surprised to know ... how someone who even doesnt know the rules could be judge ? ....

good work (y) dudeman ... keep on going !!