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Originally Posted by kid cue
this wasn't my experience in the art school where i took classes -- there, the photography students were the stars of the program, got most of the attention, and benefited/suffered from the most in-depth critiques. i feel like photography (along with video) is the trendiest medium in the art world now, at least in America.
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where did you go to school? the school i attended and many ive seen around here while shopping for a grad program are all pushing conceptual art. so if youre dedicated to a specific medium youre looked at as a bit foolish. especially so as a photographer.
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Originally Posted by kid cue
i skimmed through that enormous book maybe last year ... i really like him in writing, and a lot of his work. i like a lot of japanese photographers though, i think because there, photography seems totally distinct from the other arts, especially in book form. there doesn't seem to be as huge a difference between "art" and "amateur" photography there.
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if you like his thoughts on things, check out "arakimentari." its a dvd with him giving his views on photography and life. theyre all over ebay, though prices on it seem to be continually rising (got it for ten dollars about 2 months ago. now they seem to be at about 30.)
postwar japanese photography is just incredible. although a lot of was born out of american work, they took it and ran with it. much of it is years ahead of the work being done in other places. its funny to see some of the foremost critics give some "new" philosophy on photographs, and some japanese photographer had said the same thing 15 years earlier in some little magazine. but the world of japanese photography was not that familiar to many outside of japan for some time so it's understandable.
japan just is apparently a culture that is a perfect environment for photography. it seems so bipolar. you have the traditional japanese customs and values and how they work next to the westernization that has been creeping in. the major cities in such close proximity to the small little towns that seem to have not changed for such a long time. the level of dedication to work and the absolutely insane ways of partying and stress release. and of course as with any culture you have class struggles.