Evening star., 1912-08-25
CONCERNING PHOTOGRAPHY.
The Usual Thing Not Always the
Right and Fitting Thing.

sne LotInu 'b>t
Though the usual thing is often ths
right and fitting ,hing IN general afraits.
II H. m. always so. and particularly 10
this the case in pho'osraphy. For conn
mercial purposes in photography tho
usual thing Is the best Great clearness.
excellent technique In printing and Mega
tive making. so as 10 secure the brightest
and most attractive presentment. is what
is aimed at. and must be secured. but
when the aim is artistic the usual thing
becomes very generally the wrong thing.
but Ii requires some knowledge noe
only of Photography hut also OF art to
know when the usual thing is not right,
and how the artistic result differs from II.
II must not be thought that because
the usual thing is not required therefore
q slight is put upon excellence OF TECH
nique and the highest possible skill in
carrying out all the operations involved.
II may be boldly said that given the rest
equal, the man with the finest technique
will do the finest pictorial work: he Will
be like the painter who not only knows
what to paint. but how to do II. Many
painters have keen eye to effect and a
fine sense of composition. but as they
cannot put down what they see. as far
as success goes il is all one as though
they had no such gifts. while many a
man who has fine technique sees only the
obvious and the commonplace. and his
technical excellence in production cannot
This Is also true in photography. There
are just these two classes Of workers. tho
excellent In technique and the seeing In
the pictorial In nature. and 1t would be
easy to pick out many pictures In any
exhibition illustrating both these sides.
1t Is the combination OF the two which IN
% valuable, and which when II occurs
often gives the lucky owner a deserved
pre-eminence over his fellows. He sees
well, and he can get into his print true
version OF what he sees. and we have the
pictorial photograph.
Curiousiy enough there are few people
who are able to judge when photograph
is artistic in aim and In truth. The
reason of this is not far to seek This
acceptance Of what photography or
rather the average photographer chooses
to call a successful result-the usual
thing-is so universal that II is almost
useless to point out its falsities. They
are readily accepted as truths by the un-
thinking. Only a few years ago II was
considered the right thing In photography
to represent the sky by white paper.
Photography speaking through the mega
tive of the day. which had dense
opaque sky portion. said II was right and
SO the general public accepted II without
a murmur. 1t Is now recognized that
such a representation of the panorama of
the heavens is an Insult to the beauty or
nature. and even the Iicture post card K
II has no clouds has any way "A sky tint
Photography said. and still says. that
green grass should be represented in a
monochrome by a dark tint. that yellow
flowers should appear almost black, ana
that few clouds should show uron the
print. but those that ARE theatrical
enough and vigorous enough to regi ter
upon the most ordinary plate. Photogra-
ply exaggerates lines. wrinkles and
shadows on the face. and makes freckles
as plain as raindrops on the pavement.
Photography is all wrong In this, but few
notice It, SO strongly has the photo
graphic convention got itself accepted.
What is required then but that the re-
suits of photography should not he ac-
cepted without question--that on looking
at a Photographic print the truth or
falsity of II should be referred to ones
knowledge Of nature and her effects. and
that 1t should be accepted or condemned
as Ii appears true or false to nature A
little study OF nature will soon expose
the falsity OF the usual thing.