Are Strobists Techno-fetishists?
Posted by photonovice on January 19th, 2008
Today Oliver Nielsen wrote an interesting comment on my Belly Dancers article.
Here is his full comment:
It’s a good article. I do think all you “strobist” people should focus a little more on making your images look less “strobist” ie. not like images obviously shot using a few speedlights.
You are killing your photography with this technofetish you all have for your speedlights. I have also recently bought a couple speedlights, to supplement my real strobe setup, but in the past I’ve shot many images without any flashes or modifiers at all. You can do a lot of stuff by working with the surrounding walls, available light etc. And not as a compromise, but as a huge contributing factor to MOOD. Emotions.
Essentially, what I’m getting at is that you “strobist” people seem to have no real vision or mission with your photography. A belly dancer lit and posed like seen here (and by Honl as well on Strobist.com and YouTube) is just plain¦ plain¦ Boring and plain. And the lighting is way too pronounced to be interesting.
I’m not writing this to diss anyone, but to suggest some direction for your photography. Being one in a million “strobists” will probably never get your stuff in a gallery, or change the world, or make you famous like famed Chase Jarvis. The difference? He has vision. And a lot of gear, but I assume he’s not obsessing with it. It’s just tools.
If you listen to, or read, The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield, you will note that being a strobist equals being an amateur. The pro does not worship his equipment.
Best cure? Buy some Rotovision or AVA books on pro lighting. With and without flash. Available light included. Learn to shoot and work with what you have. 3-point lighting is not the holy grail. It’s boring and dated. Hair light? Fill light? Not the stuff that made Terry Richardson, Avedon, Helmut Newton, etc…
Learn to shoot. Lighting can’t hide boredom! Not even poor lighting. Or perfect lighting.
I think – and this is an amateur’s opinion – he is right in that lighting on its own will not make a picture good. We definitely should not overuse lighting – it must be kept as a tool and its effects almost invisible for the viewer. And available light is also to be considered when framing a scene into composition. Light – in most of the cases – must not over-dominate on a photo.
And I can fully accept that he finds my belly dancer photos boring. The negative feedback is the one that can teach. However, I would be able to learn even more if he could have pointed to those aspects, techniques or whatever that could make my pictures better.
He wrote one thing that bothers me though.
…”strobist” people seem to have no real vision or mission…
It can be true if it’s only about me, since I am really only at the beginning of my journey in the world of photography. I do not have a genuine long term vision with my hobby, that’s true. But even I visualize the image consciously before setting up the lighting and taking the picture. I suppose it’s even more true in case of many other strobists.
I’m afraid Oliver’s comment is more general. It is a comment about those roughly 17000 thousands of strobists reading David Hobby’s blog, learning, practicing and discussing lighting techniques. Strobist is about lighting, that’s for sure. This is why people discuss this topic there.
But does that mean that we do not have a vision?
January 19th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Are Strobists Techno-fetishists?…
I got a comment on one of my blog entries stating that strobists (those who read Strobist.com and deals with lighting possibly more than the average) are techno-fetishists without real vision with photography.
Do you agree with that?…
January 20th, 2008 at 8:01 am
You could always let people judge for themselves… (50 pages of photos from Strobist readers)
January 31st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Nothing wrong with constructive criticism, but the comment, “I do think all you “strobist” people should focus a little more on making your images look less “strobist” ie. not like images obviously shot using a few speedlights”, is fair. Lighting is just a tool of the photographer and to label a group for a style and then imply they are killing photography is a bit much. Using electric instruments are not killing music, and special effects are not killing film making, it’s just a style. There is a time and place for every style. Some photos need a special look and some don’t. With as many photographers as there are in the world today one must exploit their own style and vision. After all if we all compose, light and produce the image the same then the art of photography is dead. The vision must be broad and open to new ideas and concepts.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Comments like Nielsen’s are total flamebait. It wreaks of an old man shaking his fist at overly-pierced teenagers. Photo blogs focus on gear and technique because it’s constantly changing. I don’t need you tell me how you got your shot composition. I can see that by looking at the image, but I would like to know how you are diffusing your light or what you are bouncing it off of.
I don’t need Nielsen to tell me that ‘mood’ is important. That’s a given. His comment about strobists lacking vision is a byproduct of his ignorance of what your blog and similar blogs seek to do. That is, provide an platform for photographers of varying skill to have an open dialogue.
What kind of advice is “Learn to shoot.”?
February 7th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
[...] Are Strobists Techno-fetishists? [...]
September 1st, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I admit to being a generalizing mofo;-)
The comment came from the fact that many pro photographers have trouble makin a living because everyone is now “photographer” since they have a DSLR camera. But, at the same time the world is FLOODED with extremely boring images. Boring wedding pictures, boring portraits, boring fashion in the magazines! Really, I think the quality of the majority of work has gone way way down. There was more thought, vision and attitude 5-10 years ago than now.
However, there are still some who shoot really good stuff. But the hordes of amateurs mostly shoot crap. Not that every amateur shoots like crap, but most do. And the technofetischism that prevails, only makes it worse. People get blind. They don’t see. They just think their images evolve, since they are now shooting with more megapixels, and more speedlights than they did last year. But that ain’t true.
But again, tools are tools, and some are really talented at using them.
January 16th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I’m glad I’m not alone about how I feel about strobists. Strobists obsessed lighters need to get their heads out of their butts and stop trying to make flashy photos. A LOT of the work is instantly recognizable due to the harsh lights and digital imaging equipment. They seem to be obsessed with matching each others looks. I can’t stand the pics of people jumping in the air and screaming – it’s like they are all trying to force meaning and emotion into their shots. I started using strobes to learn so I can’t bash it as learning tool, but it’s disgusting to see all the amateurs can’t or refuse to take it to the next level.