All art forms have “tight” and “loose” styles. It’s the difference between classical music and jazz, sonnets and poetry slams, photo-realism and abstract expressionism.
And of
course photography does, too. Tim
Walker’s work is a lot more planned and orchestrated than, say, Annemarieke van
Drimmelen's, and is done with a lot more attention to technical things like
lighting and exposure and composition.
(O’2ND Spring 2011 Campaign |
Sigrid Agren, Julija & Molly by Tim Walker)
(The Libertine Magazine.Silver Angel.Dorothea Barth Jorgensen By Annemarieke Van Drimmelen For Lula Magazine #15.Fall 2012.8)
But
the thing is, Walker’s work isn’t JUST about these technical things. He’s not a musician on stage perfectly
playing scales. The technical
quality supports a creative vision that’s far, far grander than nailing the
exposure. And van Drimmelen’s work
isn’t merely about lack of technical “correctness.” The loose, moody style supports a much grander creative
vision, too. What lurks in those “underexposed”
shadows—wouldn’t we all like to know?
Today,
technical execution is a creative element like any other, and needs to be
chosen as such. “Perfect” has no
value in and of itself, and really has no meaning, anyway. Doing something like lighting a 70s
themed shoot in a way considered perfect in the 1950s makes no sense at all.
“Perfect” is, today, a variable, not a constant.
“Perfect” is, today, a variable, not a constant.
With
this in mind, the most important bag of tricks you can have is a flexible bag
that, like a screw, can turn left and right, to loosen or tighten your
technique as required. No more
hammering a screw into a hole that doesn’t fit.
