It should be enough. It was for most of my lifetime. A good still photograph with a good piece of copy. You don’t need much to get a point across. WE don’t need much to get a point across, and yet it now feels like the human brain needs more. It needs everything. And it needs everything at the exact same time. Stills, motion, copy, sound, and nearly endless ways to add effects. Changes in speed, distortions, reflections, artistic filters, stylistic color grading, animated transitions, and 3D elements, just to name a few.
Watch the first episode of Miami Vice. There are scenes where the camera holds on Tubbs for what seems like an eternity. Subtle changes in his face as the scene goes from Tubbs on a stakeout to Tubbs defending himself to the climax of the scene. No cuts, no jumps, no fancy transitions. For most, it will feel like agony as their short form brain panics at the first sign of something slow. (Why people watch films with their phone in hand. A truly alarming event.) Fast forward to the average commercial, film or episodic of today and no wonder there are warnings to those who suffer from things like photosensitive epilepsy. A blizzard of cuts, jumps and filters. Reality, now considered boring, replaced by green screen, sound effects, raging graphics, coffee colored skies, and endless drone footage.
But here’s the thing. I still think there is a place for simple. Still + copy.
You might not get the app crowd. Their imbedded algorithm is too strong. Having to read will deflect them back to the digital sandbox. But that’s okay. I know now, we don’t need them. When I see someone I know mindlessly flicking I secretly tune them out and then turn them off. But again, I do think there is an audience for simple. In fact, I know there is. It might be older, more subdued, but this audience is interesting to me. Thoughtful. Experienced in the REAL WORLD. Capable of listening. Capable of reading. PEOPLE WHO ASK QUESTIONS.
These images should be enough to get a point across. In this case, one or two of these images MIGHT make a larger edit for an ongoing project, a project mostly NOT about birds. Here is why I like this. If you are forced to come to this site to see these images, read these words, and ultimately see the final project, you are isolated here. There is no cue of films to watch next. You can’t swipe anything. You are my visual hostage. And if you must read, it slows you down to the pace I want you at. Again, I’ll lose 90% of my YouTube audience just my forcing them to come here, and that is one hundred percent good by me. If they can’t come here, or anyone else’s site for that matter, no reason for me to be in contact with them. Harsh? No, not at this point. Why stand by and watch the slow motion car accident when we’ve had ample time to predict the crash was coming? I find that YT heavy consumers tend to talk more than do, and damnit if I’m not at the age when doing has become all caps URGENT.
Over the past few years I’ve dabbled in making films. This started as a test for work but blossomed into something more, at least for a while. But now I have perspective. I know I can’t be a still photographer and a filmmaker at the same time, and if one has to give, well, there is no comparison. I’m a still guy. I believe in the inherent power of a still. Given the time it needs, given the presentation it needs. Given the space on the page, or the layout.
I don’t believe stills and copy will ever return to form in any mainstream way. We are past that. There are some stellar options still, but many mainstream outlets are mindless now. Hacks counting views and subs like everyone else. Mainstream missed the boat. You can’t take a limo to lunch and still call yourself a servant of the people. But again, who needs them? This stills and copy world, we can do ourselves, and can frankly do it better than we could if we were still mired in the OWT. (Old World Thinking.) Try getting an assignment to tell a great story while getting the time, access and support you need. Try getting a decent wage or try getting paid quicker than ninety days. It happens but is the fight worth fighting, and can you win that fight consistently enough to experience a career?
When I think about stills and copy I get excited. It’s like when you got a baseball glove as a kid and you oiled it and worked it, and oiled it and worked it, day after day after day to break that thing in. After a long period of putting in the work, the glove became yours. They might have sold a half a million Dale Murphy model gloves, but there was only ONE perfectly fitted to your still growing hand. That’s how this feels to me. When I walk through the rooms of my house I see still images I’ve been looking at for decades.(Only two are mine and only because they didn’t sell.) My TV is not on. In fact, my TV isn’t even plugged in, nor is it connected to any service.
I feel like the stills world is a tribe worth joining. Impervious to the noise, at least in some ways. And remember something, stills are damn difficult. Good ones, anyway. Knowing what’s truly good, knowing how to edit and present is an art form. You don’t need much. Just a few here and there.
Comments 14
Well, I don´t have a TV since 2002. Stills made me move away from the front of the screen and stop swallowing what it had to show to me. Stills made me learn a whole new world of light, art, paper, watercolours, pigments, RGB, CMYK. Stills made me go to places like Albania, the Everest, Japan, Atacama desert. Stills presented me to amazing people, thinkers, philosophers, writers, scientists, professors, tutors, from all over. Stills taught me to reflect about what am I doing, after all, at the end of the day. Stills made me learn, explore and understand the world around me much more than the TV had done. Interestingly, stills made me MOVE CLOSER! Thanks Dan.
Author
Fantastic Rudy. I feel like I won’t ever tap out when it comes to stills. That no matter what I do, there is more to do.
There is a place for stills and copy. And thats right here. Thanks.
Author
That’s the plan!
Empowering, thank you Dan.
I know working on Copy will be a painful but necessary switch (for me) from never really having written anything to composing some written word or story where the photo takes second place.
My analytical Left brain always seems kick in thinking about the tactical pieces. What I don’t want is to end up with is a To Do list as my Copy.
People always say when it comes to journaling to just start writing. I find that very challenging working in a very technical field.
I love the process of making stills because it forces me to slow down and get creative. It is the most rewarding part when all the elements come together.
With that said, I really would like to get into writing but my Left brain always seems to kick in. Immediately I think homework, essay, term paper, SOP, etc. All from years of schooling and being shaped to stay “within the lines”.
Practice. Practice. Practice. These are the words that are stuck in my head. but…I would like to ask if you have any tips to get started in the “creative writing” process?
Author
You just start. There is no other way. And keep in mind, nobody is going to see whatever you do. It’s for YOU, not for US, at least the journal part.
I feel the same way. I have resisted everyone tell me I need to do video instead of stills. Video just doesn’t interest me except for the occasional short video of my kids doing something as they grew up. I wish I was better at writing and I have made a short journal entry everyday this year. Mostly just what happened each day or how I felt, nothing special. I like your idea of a still photo and writing a story to go with it. I plan to try this in the near future. For me photography is just a hobby and a stress release my everyday job. Thanks for the motivation.
Author
Video is often suggested as if it’s the same as stills. Like when reporters were suddenly asked to make stills or shoot motion or both. Execs who were so disconnected to how the news was collected. Or photographers suddenly asked to write copy. So easy, even a child can do it!
Totally agree. I almost get motion sickness watching the news—and why do they have to say, “After the break, we’ll…” every five minutes? Like we can’t pay attention to more than five minutes of news at a time? (And then to keep our attention, they crank up the volume on the commercials—especially those advertising inane video games.) Oh, for the days of MacNeil/Lehrer (and infrequent commercials for intelligent people).
As a writer and photographer, I love pairing text and image. Probably why I love creating photo books…which make it easier to share work than requiring people to attend a show.
I’ll make one exception: I made my last project into a video, primarily because I wanted an easy way to share it with people faraway—something I could simply link in an email. At first, it was an unsatisfying and poor substitute for the photo book. But then it became a project of its own, and I loved incorporating music as an added dimension. And—it’s a video of stills!
Author
Frontline. That’s about all I can handle. I don’t know how anyone watches CNN or Fox. It’s like a video game. A blizzard of disinformation with overdone graphics and insane levels of noise.
– Stills and copy.
– Gin and tonic (I don’t drink, sorry).
– Black & White.
Timeless combinations.
I have found that restricting myself to a high-quality “attention diet” is a challenge because so much of the produce I want is sitting next to the candy aisle; i.e., the info or conversations I am hungry for are on platforms filled with eye-catching distractions. Sometimes, when I look at the clock after an internet binge, I feel more shame than if I ate a dozen Oreos in one sitting! I can lose weight. I can run a few laps. I can never “work” the time back. It is maddening.
Keep it coming.
Author
You are not alone. A lot of folks feel bad about their lost time. They speak of it as addicts do. Embarrassed. Freaked out a bit. But they know they are in the grips. Just gotta keep plugging and cutting, plugging and cutting.
Let’s not allow stills and copy to become strangers!.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWlGX6PSudk
Author
Never. All I need.