Observation

ART is a very vague and gigantic word. It also has very fluid lines which keep changing according to the hopes, desires, experiments, tolerance etc of the society or individual in which it is evolving. Maybe the only thing definite about it is the expression of skill and thought.

When my cousin brother gave me his old SLR non-digital camera i was immeasurably happy. I thought the time for truly grasping this art had come forth. Once i began handling the instrument i realised how much thought I'd have to give each picture as i slowly figured out each little knob and its twisting and turning. I also simultaneously learnt about other subtleties and skills which are required for going that extra mile. Patience was one. You weren't gonna get that perfect snap in the first go. You'd have to learn how the lighted played with its subject, how it played with your instrument, if they dance right. And then there were those strange mistakes which turned out looking so good that you figure its a technique you can use. It takes time and a slow tuning of senses with environment and instrument.

Lately though with the advent of digitals it seems to me that the careful conversion of a layman into an artist has been seriously hit. Digitals give you a chance at taking a photos to your hearts content making that thinking process behind each picture that much lesser. As the point and click cameras are called so they are used. No setting frame, choosing angles etc it can all be done once back home leisurely with the myriad photo manipulation softwares available.

I'm not saying that i haven't enjoyed the joys of digital photography. It gives a novice a fair chance of doing their trial and error without culminating to great costs. Yet each time i hold that large film camera in my hands i cannot help feeling the nervousness and excitement of learning, of trying harder to get something right, of mixing emotion, with image, light and film. Maybe the relegation of the art of photography to the backrooms of manipulation more than the subtly of framing in the real environment makes me feel like some of the romance and adventure has gone out of the art of photography.