We live in a world which distinguishes between “amateurs” and “professionals”. The latter may or may not be formally trained and in any event ply their calling for a living. The amateur is generally self-taught and earns a living doing other things.
The distinction need not bother us. The bibliography lists more than enough guides to effectively teach oneself to become a competent photographer, provided the novice applies these lessons by exposing plenty of film. Being steeped in the history of photography (a history remarkable for its fashions and feuds) is not a pre-requisite. Indeed one such history of photography makes this very point:
“Unlike the Americans, most of the noted European photographers were “amateurs” with no orthodox technical training or professional experience. Consequently they came to the medium without the conceptual limits that traditional practice necessarily encouraged” 106..In science, “paradigm shifts” often come from researchers who are young or new to the field-those whose views are not fully conditioned by what professional consensus deems “true”. Keith F Davis An American Century of Photography: From Dry Plate to Digital Hallmark Abrams (Kansas City) 1995
Or as Susan Sontag puts it, “…it is now clear that there is no inherent conflict between the mechanical or naive use of the camera and formal beauty of a very high order.” The amateur can pursue a vision without the constraints that commercial publishing may impose （the history of photography is replete with renowned photographers who felt fettered and frustrated by their work (examples include. Eugene Smith and Life and Kertesz and Conde Naste. But National Geographic a different story). I took these shots as an amateur. The full moon was photographed with a very long exposure (two minutes) in a hut by Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest lake.
Although taken over a decade ago I still recall the eerie celestial silence. The sunset was taken in a gorge in South East Brazil with a 300mm lens to distend the sun.
The same location provides a very different vista a few minutes earlier.
The differences are accounted for by using this time a 28mm wide angle lens and its not framed vertically.
Copyright Mark Berthold 2006
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