RealityMontage

I have decided to write a manifesto of photography. It is based on a post I made some time ago for my travel blog Bazaar of Dreams. (post shown below)

While I enjoy art photography and some of the commercial product its artificiality sometimes becomes unattractive. It is too slick or processed and does not convey too much reality often. Or conversely it is so hyper-real that it seems almost imaginary.

So I am making up my own rules.

1. Camera goes everywhere. Every place you are is someone’s destination
2. Picture a story, a question, a puzzle
3. No artificial sets or added props
4. No typical genre photography (landscape, landmark, travel, event, commercial)
5. Camera settings automatic unless lighting conditions make that impossible
6. Camera must be hand held
7. No filters or special lenses
8. No acting
9. Images should be as realistic as possible
10. Any special effects must only be incidental such as from camera movement or lens flares
11. Cropping is acceptable
12. Photoshop only for basic corrections
13. In montages indulgence can be unlimited
14. Adding and deleting rules is acceptable

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(revisions thus far = 7)

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The Original Post

The photos presented are mostly taken by me. I am not any kind of professional photographer. Just someone with interest in “capturing the moment” as the commercial goes.

If I were to have a philosophy it would be something like the filmmakers who embrace the CINEMA VERITÈ (literally ‘film truth’) or the DOGME doctrines. The DOGME filmmakers particularly Lars von Trier, espouse authenticity without all the artifice. Here are the crucial vows from the DOGME original manifesto.

The Vow of Chastity
“I swear to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by DOGME 95:

1.Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2.The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot).
3.The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; shooting must take place where the film takes place)
4.The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5.Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6.The film must not contain superficial action.(Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7.Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8.Genre movies are not acceptable.
9.The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10.The director must not be credited.

Furthermore I swear as a director to refrain from personal taste! I am no longer an artist. I swear to refrain from creating a “work”, as I regard the instant as more important than the whole. My supreme goal is to force the truth out of my characters and settings. I swear to do so by all the means available and at the cost of any good taste and any aesthetic considerations.
Thus I make my VOW OF CHASTITY.”
Copenhagen, Monday 13 March 1995On behalf of DOGME 95

Lars von Trier and  Thomas Vinterberg

While I am not so austere-I like the value of the document over the set-up. And I like reality over the superficial gloss. So that is why I don’t do “art photography”.

This philosophy is in direct opposition to my philosophy of writing where any sort of distortion for the most frivolous of reasons is acceptable to me.