Welcome to this page whose purpose is not entirely certain. To have a place to put philosophical rants? To serve my vanity might be a plausible explanation. Oftentimes I consider myself a philosopher more than a photographer. The mere unproductive task of 'thinking' is my primary mode. Philosophy is the new high. Philosophy without parachute and all the kids are doing it. My pictures are just a vent or channel, produced by the instinct of communication. Yet I have an immense interest in all 'arts', literature, music, paintings and so on. These are to me mediums with which one can communicate concrete and abstract thoughts, and I'd be tempted to delve into them all, had I the time and the abilities. The idea of using photography presented itself to me when I suddenly found I'd accumulated some experience with both the camera and the computer.
There are basically two things which sometimes make existence worthwhile; 'intellect' and 'aesthetics'. Regrettably these are characteristics mankind has been sparingly gifted with, and what we actually experience essentially comes from only a few devious individuals, whose relative accomplishments keep justifying the reproduction of men, and fuel our precious lives with some meaning. I've come to believe that, myself included, 'we' are only gifted to the extent that we, in varying degrees, can sense that there are concepts that lies beyond the comprehension of our mental abilities. We can only understand that there are something we are missing, even though being more sophisticated than the animals we know of, 'we' constitute the lowest form of life one could imagine intelligent. Religion tries to convince us of spiritual dimensions with higher beings while science suggests extra-terrestrial life. Yet none of the proposed sentients have made their presence more evident than the monsters in my closet. Skepticism aside, I guess I'm always hoping for a judgement day or alien invasion to put us out of our misery, one way or the other.
Futile as I find it, I have to continue with my pictures, even though there are always prospects of running out of ability around the next corner. Statistically I shall never achieve anything of significance. Neither will most of you. But not to try... Find some comfort in that there is nothing to lose.
The qualities of the creations are absolutes, the only thing relative is our subjective preferences. Contexts like time, place and social circumstances changes only the current interest for the creation, while the inherent quality is unchanged. Most modern artists decide not to acknowledge this, and have instead promoted context to the foundation of their circus. But the essence of being remains timeless and ever repeating, and nothing is new under the sun. I believe the fundamental substances of a truly good picture are intellect and aesthetics. Then other ingredients will necessarily follow, for instance emotion, like an unavoidable 'evil' one could argue. Still it is a prominent source of the inclination. To transform it into pleasant aesthetics is the key, like taming our primitive nature.
I think I shall henceforth, or until I get a better idea, dedicate my work to the futility of existence, the end of everything and how it could have been. |
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