When I was a less experienced artist, I thought that less gloss meant less talent. For, after all, it seemed to me to be commonly assumed in our culture that talent resided only in the gloss, the perfection, and the polish. If your art didn’t have polish it was only because you we’re able to apply it.
Now, I tend to feel just the opposite. Gloss, more often than not, acts as a substitute for soul, a clear vision, intent. It’s certainly more challenging to find the perfect vintage car to purchase than it is to select a shiny new sports car. It seems like gloss too often is the easy way out.
Photographically, for me, this translates away from traditional, more “perfect” images and toward the more real moments. It’s the off moments, or rather the “un-moments” that make stronger, more emotionally charged images. Those images feel more like my life—far more imperfect and far more relevant.
There are a million images around us to prove my point. Think of the work of so many masters. Cartier-Bresson. Think of Warhol’s photos, of Avedon’s. Or more modernly, of Ryan McGinley’s or Chris Buck. Examples from my own work can be found in the Seattle 100: Portrait of a City book
. I shot 100,000 images for that book, and the ones the made the final 300-image book edit were almost always this “un-moment” of which I write. These un-moments–these instants just before and just after those photographic moments that have been so historically revered in our culture–seem so much more revealing, engaging, and meaningful. My growing experience tells me that this sliver of time that captures the spontaneous and the genuine and pierces through the façade of a conventionally “perfect” portraits does so in a way that more accurately reveals the truly human.
Certainly there are exceptions to my hypothesis abound – where polished images succeed – its simply my hope that we suspend our de facto acceptance of the new-and-polished and recognize that it’s more often something gritty that challenges us to find a deeper aesthetic, take a longer vision and seek more soulful connections. Put simply, “gritty” may require more emotional and metaphysical investment from us viewers, but it is far less deceitful than “glossy” and creates a far greater opportunity for culturally-relevant, creative success.
[this post is adapted from a piece on design that I origially wrote for Arcade Magazine]
Oh those awful perfect pictures …
Great post, this should make for a great experiment that helps break artists out of their comfort zone and start experimenting with moments.
As always, great post. Really triggers my mind to think about it. Thanks 🙂
@Domnique, I think you’ve confused a couple of concepts. If I’m right an un-moment is one that is not COMPLETELY manufactured. As such studio moments can create un-moments. Un-moments are not about going out and photographing just anything as it happens with no interference, they are about being willing to allow things to happen in any environment – particularly ones where you might be expected to have control.
@Bradles, great point. I agree that allowing for some “spontaneous” moments within whatever environment/setup you are can lead to very nice photos, and is something important for all of us to be open to.
Love it. I shoot a lot of “gloss” looks for actor’s headshots and modeling books here in LA but I love, love, love to capture the essential essence of someone in those “un-moments”