When Do You Throw a Photo Away?
Sunday 16 April 2023, 23:23 by Elvira Smit | 4,626 views | 4 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
I recently read a quote that I immediately stuck in my notebook. On the very first page, no less. Below, you can see the result and I’ll tell you why I like this quote so much.
sobering
When I read the sentence 'is it art or can it go?', I had to laugh. It shows how subjective art is. Its value depends on the person looking at it.
For one person it can go, while for another it is art. That fact is so sobering to me that I want to see the sentence every time I pick up my notebook.
The sentence helps me realise that what I do can simply go in the eyes of some people. And strangely enough, that is exactly what frees me, for a while, from my perfectionism.
The essay I cut that quote from was in De Groene Amsterdammer magazine. Lena Tijen won the Young Art Criticism Prize with it, and I understand why.
In the piece, she writes about her own father, an artist with an extensive archive that grows by the day.
She dreads having to sort through his legacy when he dies. Because it is not only his belongings, but also the order they are in that matters and must be preserved:
My father’s books are not arranged alphabetically, but according to various principles that can differ from one bookcase to the next.
~ Lena van Tijen in De Groene Amsterdammer
My own photo archive
As a photographer in the digital age, my legacy is fairly modest in physical terms. But look on my hard drive and you’ll find an impenetrable tangle of images. I know my way around it, but nobody else does.
If I want anything at all to remain of my photography, I need to print things, make books and organise exhibitions. And quietly hope that a museum buys my work.
But I’d rather focus on today and the fun I have making things. So when asked ‘is it art or can it go?’, I answer: today it is art, but tomorrow it can go.
About the author
Ik heb een eigen fotografieblog, Kronkeling. Daar schrijf ik om de week twee artikelen. Over hoe je je blik kunt scherpen, je creativiteit kunt aanwakkeren, en over fotografen die mij inspireren. Geen technische zaken, wél over hoe je leert kijken. En dat blijkt nog een hele klus. Een mooi startpunt zijn de Kronkeltips, die vind je hier.
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4 comments
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Robert wrote on Tuesday 18 April 2023 at 12:49 | replyHaha Nando about the caretaker. I once worked for the municipalities and received a mountain of artworks. After installation (250+) one was missing. After a lot of searching, found it with the waste paper! It looked, to me, like packaging cardboard with some vague paint strokes. Luckily saved.
Translated from Dutch.
With photographic regards Robert -
Peter Kappinga wrote on Wednesday 19 April 2023 at 17:26 | replyThanks to Robert's comment, my appreciation for Elvira and her ramblings, which I receive every 2 weeks and read with pleasure.
Translated from Dutch. -
Elvira Smit
wrote on Wednesday 19 April 2023 at 20:13
| reply
@ Robert, I'm not Nando but I suspect your comment was meant for me
Translated from Dutch.
I laughed out loud at your description of the unexpected work of art ("packaging material with some vague paint strokes". I can totally picture it! -
Elvira Smit
wrote on Saturday 22 April 2023 at 07:54
| reply
@Peter Kappinga, nice to hear, thank you!
Translated from Dutch.
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