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What I have noticed about western photographers is that they approach photography as if they are painting. Carefully thinking about the composition and techniqu

by enaaem 5y ago

What I have noticed about western photographers is that they approach photography as if they are painting. Carefully thinking about the composition and techniques. Make sure everything is perfect according to a vision. Japanese photographers are more spontaneous. Pictures look more like snap shots of everyday life. Often imperfect. Out of focus, crooked and blurry. They often just use a point and shoot on automode. I just want to say that there are different ways to think about photography. I find the Japanese approach very interesting, because it uses unique properties of photography that is different from painting. Unlike painting you can take as many pictures as you want. You can take a camera everywhere. There are unique moments in everyday life that are beyond your imagination. http://www.artnet.com/artists/daido-moriyama/ http://www.artnet.com/artists/daido-moriyama/ https://sabukaru.online/articles/hiromix-shaping-the-identity-of-90s-japanese-female-youth https://sabukaru.online/articles/hiromix-shaping-the-identit... https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2014/05/26/the-snapshot-photography-of-muga-miyahara/ https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2014/05/26/the-snapshot-photogr... https://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/162-masahisa-fukase/overview/ https://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/162-masahisa-fu...

antiterra 5y ago
I don’t think this difference is as culturally bound as you suggest when you are talking about photography as art. You can absolutely find photographers who make choices differently in either country. Photography with light leaks, distorted color from expired film, imperfections, composition from the hip, abstractions, etc. is easily found around the world. Remember that editing is as critical a part of the artistic process as the construction of the photo.
CharlesW 5y ago
I'm interested in your "east vs. west" hypothesis, but how did you arrive at it considering the enormous number of western street/snapshot/grunge/etc. photographers?
- enaaem 5y ago
  I'm aware of western snapshot photographers like Nan Goldin. All countries have photographers of all styles. My impression of east vs west mostly comes from visiting photo exhibitions and I do notice a difference between styles and what each culture appreciates most. I don't have the artistic background to truly articulate what is different. But I do notice many photographers in the west, like the person in this article, approach photography like painting.
Lio 5y ago
I enjoy the photographers you've linked to Japanese photographers are great but I think you are wrong with the generalisation about Western photographers. There's definitely people that work on prearranged scenes but there's also people like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Kappa that pushed the idea of "the decisive moment". They worked with pre-set Leica range finders and usually a single lens (50mm). Their idea was to just see perfect moments, be in the right place and just take the photo. Or Weegee The Famous. He was a New York press photographer turned artist who when once asked what the secret to good photograph was answered "f8 and be there". i.e. just take the photo and don't worry about the imperfections. ...or William Klein. He made his name initially taking blurry street photographs as he walked about. These are all well known big names but you get the point. Western photography is too broad a term to jump to conclusions about a dominant style.
- shrx 5y ago
  Robert Capa, not Kappa.
  - Lio 5y ago
    Ah yes, sorry my bad. Too late to edit now.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
makeitdouble 5y ago
I'd wager there is a technical component that plays a bit here: During the economic "boom" phase, Japanese had plenty access to money and Japanese cameras, film etc. Hiromix for instance started photography pretty early, and focus a lot on catching youth as its happening to her and her surroundings. She was taking a very large number of photos (as anyone should) from a relatively young age, on film. There must be people who have taken the same trajectory in the west, but thinking about the costs at the time I wouldn't expect it to happen at the same scale, and consequently the talent pool would be smaller in the end. Japan and photography is a true love affair, I see the diversity of the photographers coming out of Japan as a testament to how they were free to put photography in their everyday life when in the west it looked to me more like a special occasions thing (reminds me of the Olympus "Pen" philosophy, of having a camera in everyone's bag, the same way we carry pens)
kqr 5y ago
It sounds to me like you are confusing technical quality with composition. The images you gave as example have lower technical quality, but there's nothing imperfect about their composition. They're really well made photographs! There is (was!) a set of photographers around the North Atlantic who also made fantastic photographs of low technical quality. Do an image search for "pictorialism". If you are like me and don't give a crap about technical quality, you might like it!
bayindirh 5y ago
> What I have noticed about western photographers is that they approach photography as if they are painting. Actually, photography have many schools and these schools are not limited to any geography one may say. Photography is a very personal thing and unlike painting, you generally work with what you have. I personally like spontaneous photography a lot, because I like to "archive" or "make permanent" what I see and like. There's a selection: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zerocoder/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/zerocoder/ All of these photos are taken as "Ah, that looks good. Let's take what I see home with me". I like to discuss these images. AMA.
quickthrower2 5y ago
I am definitely a japanese photographer then but mainly because im too lazy to spend much time trying to be perfect.
inamberclad 5y ago
Of course all kinds of people exist on both sides of that (arbitrary) line. Hiroshi Sugimoto has exceptionally composed works: https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/artworks https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/artworks

by enaaem 5y ago

antiterra 5y ago

I don’t think this difference is as culturally bound as you suggest when you are talking about photography as art. You can absolutely find photographers who make choices differently in either country. Photography with light leaks, distorted color from expired film, imperfections, composition from the hip, abstractions, etc. is easily found around the world. Remember that editing is as critical a part of the artistic process as the construction of the photo.

CharlesW 5y ago

I'm interested in your "east vs. west" hypothesis, but how did you arrive at it considering the enormous number of western street/snapshot/grunge/etc. photographers?

enaaem 5y ago
I'm aware of western snapshot photographers like Nan Goldin. All countries have photographers of all styles. My impression of east vs west mostly comes from visiting photo exhibitions and I do notice a difference between styles and what each culture appreciates most. I don't have the artistic background to truly articulate what is different. But I do notice many photographers in the west, like the person in this article, approach photography like painting.

Lio 5y ago

I enjoy the photographers you've linked to Japanese photographers are great but I think you are wrong with the generalisation about Western photographers. There's definitely people that work on prearranged scenes but there's also people like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Kappa that pushed the idea of "the decisive moment". They worked with pre-set Leica range finders and usually a single lens (50mm). Their idea was to just see perfect moments, be in the right place and just take the photo. Or Weegee The Famous. He was a New York press photographer turned artist who when once asked what the secret to good photograph was answered "f8 and be there". i.e. just take the photo and don't worry about the imperfections. ...or William Klein. He made his name initially taking blurry street photographs as he walked about. These are all well known big names but you get the point. Western photography is too broad a term to jump to conclusions about a dominant style.

shrx 5y ago
Robert Capa, not Kappa.
- Lio 5y ago
  Ah yes, sorry my bad. Too late to edit now.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

makeitdouble 5y ago

I'd wager there is a technical component that plays a bit here: During the economic "boom" phase, Japanese had plenty access to money and Japanese cameras, film etc. Hiromix for instance started photography pretty early, and focus a lot on catching youth as its happening to her and her surroundings. She was taking a very large number of photos (as anyone should) from a relatively young age, on film. There must be people who have taken the same trajectory in the west, but thinking about the costs at the time I wouldn't expect it to happen at the same scale, and consequently the talent pool would be smaller in the end. Japan and photography is a true love affair, I see the diversity of the photographers coming out of Japan as a testament to how they were free to put photography in their everyday life when in the west it looked to me more like a special occasions thing (reminds me of the Olympus "Pen" philosophy, of having a camera in everyone's bag, the same way we carry pens)

kqr 5y ago

It sounds to me like you are confusing technical quality with composition. The images you gave as example have lower technical quality, but there's nothing imperfect about their composition. They're really well made photographs! There is (was!) a set of photographers around the North Atlantic who also made fantastic photographs of low technical quality. Do an image search for "pictorialism". If you are like me and don't give a crap about technical quality, you might like it!

bayindirh 5y ago

> What I have noticed about western photographers is that they approach photography as if they are painting. Actually, photography have many schools and these schools are not limited to any geography one may say. Photography is a very personal thing and unlike painting, you generally work with what you have. I personally like spontaneous photography a lot, because I like to "archive" or "make permanent" what I see and like. There's a selection: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zerocoder/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/zerocoder/ All of these photos are taken as "Ah, that looks good. Let's take what I see home with me". I like to discuss these images. AMA.

quickthrower2 5y ago

I am definitely a japanese photographer then but mainly because im too lazy to spend much time trying to be perfect.

inamberclad 5y ago

Of course all kinds of people exist on both sides of that (arbitrary) line. Hiroshi Sugimoto has exceptionally composed works: https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/artworks https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/artworks