Joerg Colberg, one of the most articulate minds on photography and art, figured out the answer when people ask him what it is that he’s actually “looking for in photography (and art).”
“What I really love is transformative photography…Transformative photography is photography that changes you as a person, that asks questions (instead of answering them). You’re not the same person any longer after you’ve looked at it – and given the nature of this experience, it usually cannot be depleted (even though it might become weaker with time).”
And while Mr. Colberg is not opposed to the “occasional visual tickle,” his answer gives new context to some of his prior blog discussions on photography.
“For example, when I’m talking about how I prefer the message over the medium (and not the other way around), that’s why. There is no transformative power in the medium itself (even though the visual impression created by some photographic processes – think daguerreotypes – can be stunning).”
Think back to every episode when you’ve seen a body of work that completely transformed your own thought process or even style of photography. For me, that was absorbing the work of Sam Abell and Alex Webb for the very first time. Johnathan Newton of the Washington Post showed me Sam Abell at the Mountain Workshops, and Matthew Ratajczak showed me Alex Webb over a break in the The Stuart News newsroom. Within a span of minutes on those two separate occasions my photography style and direction was irrevocably altered. It’s impossible to disagree with Mr. Colberg when he says the “experience of coming across a new body of transformative photography is exhilarating and indescribable.”
Read the rest on Mr. Colberg’s blog Conscientious.
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