Hello ,
Camera operation, composition, and light are discussed most during my photography classes and lessons.
However, seeing and looking are topics that also get a lot of talk.
I always like using dictionary definitions when discussing a topic.
Because having a standard definition helps give a good reference base for the discussion.
So let's talk about seeing vs. looking.
The Oxford Dictionary defines looking as directing one's gaze in a specified direction.
On the other hand, seeing is defined as seeing someone or something.
The words seem to describe the same activity, but there's a subtle yet, significant difference.
Furthermore, those definitions may bring an understanding to the use of the "words," but words often fall short of
understanding what it's like to do the activity that the words define.
So, for the sake of discussion, I think we can put a finer point on these definitions.
Seeing is an activity that entails an open, relaxed, all-encompassing overview.
Looking is an activity directed toward something specific.
When we look, we are looking for something specific or at something specific.
In a way, looking is like putting on blinders that narrow our view and attention. It's an experiential shift from seeing to looking.
For example, if we're walking along and I ask you, "Do you see that"?
Since we're seeing everything in our view without narrowing blinders, I imagine
you'd probably respond by saying, "Do I see what?"
And as soon as I tell you what I'm seeing, we go from seeing and attending to everything in our view to looking and bringing our attention to something specific.
Looking is narrow and finite.
Seeing is an open, ongoing process of curiosity and investigation.
This applies to our photography because looking is about surface appearance but seeing takes us beyond the surface appearance.
So, when we look at something, we have to return to seeing it to create a unique picture based on how we think about what we see.
A powerful and exciting photograph shows us more than what something looks like.
It goes
beyond what something looks like and reveals what something IS like.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with the people who suggest the impending end of photography because of the increased use of cameras on our phones.
There's no denying the glut of imagery.
And I do agree that we've created a desert of "ordinary" images.
But every once in a while, we see a photograph that stands out like an oasis in the landscape of ordinary imagery.
And I'd suggest that any stand-out photograph was made by a photographer who was seeing rather than looking.
Everyone looks at surface appearances.
Excellent photographers have learned that seeing takes us
beyond looking at surface appearances.
They've learned to work with seeing as the action that drives their creation of photographs and adds uniqueness to their imagery, making their pictures stand out.
To create uniquely expressive work that shows more than surface aesthetics, we must understand the differences between looking and seeing as activities we do.
And then use each activity skillfully and appropriately when creating pictures.
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