THE TRUTH of ART

Pentax ist D, FA 28-80, processed in QTPFSGUI HDR

"As an artist, you are a representative human being—you have to believe that in order to give your life over to that effort to create something of value. You're not doing it only to satisfy your own impulses or needs; there is social imperative. If you solve your problems and speak of them truly, you are of help to others, that's all. And it becomes a moral obligation."— Stanley Kunitz, The Wild Braid, p. 103

I got that quote from a blog entry of a blog i'm following of a person who went a year without the internet. Really cool and if you'd like to check it out you can do so here...http://internetfree2009.blogspot.com/

One of the reason we as creative people, whether it be photography, writing, painting, etc..do what we do is because we enjoy it. But there is also a higher calling. Its to find truth in life, sort things out, express the pangs of the human condition. For as the quote says, if you have been through some problem and solved it and you showcase it in you creatives then you can help others.

Sharing is the end product of creativity. Everyone who creates wants someone to see what they have created. Some will be adored in their lifetime for being the best. But best is just a standard set by somebody else. In the end there is no good or bad, better or worse... its all the same.

This picture to me is so life like. I processed a single image in QTPFSGUI, a freeware HDR program. It really does have a 3D feel to it. When I see it I remember the day, I feel like I am there. Its not a solution to anything but simply a moment in time where a few people gathered to look at their city. There is life going on all over the place. I have recently been asking myself what is the purpose I have for writing. And well I guess the answer is there to share solutions and insights to the human condition. So that somewhere out there someone can feel they are not alone.

These days everyone has a camera and everyone is a photographer, but not everyone's skill level is the same. Being new, a beginning photographer can make up for lack of technical skill by being creative. Its like a child at play having fun, exploring infinite possibilities. Taoist call it, PU, the uncared block. It means having infinite potential. The only problem with infinite potential is that it never gets anywhere since its only potential.


I think the further you go along with any ART you gain better technical skills but begin to lose the ability to simply enjoy a picture, a song, or a painting for what it is in it awesomeness. Instead the experienced artist wants to analyzing the style, the lighting, the composition, and everything else, to the point that they miss the point. The truth of it. The Joy of it. A little sad really to get all serious and replace the ability to admire art with the ability to criticize it. We no longer use art to for its purpose. We lose that childlike ability to enjoy things and replace it with the master's ability of scrutinize. And we wonder why the masters' never laugh.