Navel Gazing

infra-plancher-2,
originally uploaded by mcmrbt.

I love Flickr, I'm hopelessly addicted, and there's a nice vibe and community feel to it all. But it can be a little like the photo equivalent of blogging, by which I mean that people are taking photos of things they wouldn't normally take photos of... just so they can put them onto flickr.

And some of these photos are superb, don't misunderstand me. It's just that you start to see a lot of the same/similar subject. The macro shot of junk you have lying around on your desk/table etc. The blurred self portrait showing mostly your eyes.

I like to see the photo-magazine definition of what constitutes fine photography being challenged. After all, there are whole websites dedicated to the blurred/vignetted photos you can take with cheap Russian cameras - and the cumulative effect of those can be stunning.

I saw a similar effect when I saw an iPhoto library full of pictures taken by my nephew with his cheap, miniature digicam. The joy of taking photos coupled with the sensation of 8mm or 16mm filmmaking: frame after similar frame moving across your vision.

But rather than walk around with my camera looking for subjects right now, I'm tempted to delve back into the past and scan a few old photos. On the other hand, I should carry my camera everywhere and gather shots while I can. For example, on a whim this morning, I drove up the A5 from the A43 to Junction 18 of the M1, instead of getting on at 15A as I'd planned. And of course you see things (with fresh eyes) on the A5 that you'd have no idea even existed if you stay permanently on the blue roads. I saw some huge circular brick structure would have made a great photo. Still, it was pissing with rain.