2024 12 20
Photography isnât art. Itâs too easy to make a photo. Thereâs no skill involved, therefore no artistic value.
I disagree with this, of course, however completely understand and agree with the logic behind it. Seeing photography as art will never be something everyone can do, I donât think. Anyone can make a good photo (good is relative in any art form, of course). Anyone can also make a good painting (good to someone, at least!), even if theyâve never painted once in their life, but the âbarrier to entryâ is far more difficult. To make a photo, you just take the phone of our your pocket and push a button. To make a paining, youâll at least need to find a store that sells the necessary supplies, or place an order on Amazon and wait a few days.
In my younger years as a photographer, I would often scoff at fine art photography, mostly because I didnât understand the thought process or put in the time necessary to understand what the photographers were trying to do or say. Iâd see them using a giant large format film camera to make some images I often found boring and label the whole process unnecessary and self important. Sure, I still dislike plenty of photography that is overwhelmingly embraced by the more formal art world, however, I do now have a far larger appreciation for, and valuing of, photographic art that is challenging to make. Using 4x5 film instead of a 100mp digital medium format camera, for example, should earn you some respect, even though at the end of the day itâs the work (and the person doing the work, but thatâs another topic for another day) that most matters.
Yesterday, this video popped into my feed which I found fascinating in many ways. While the clickbait headline is off topic for this blog post, his sentiment at the end is spot on. The guy makes a technologically-impressive camera that produces terrible images, however, the process is what makes the images incredible, and therefore, in his opinion, art.
âI know this thing makes worse pictures than a camera that costs $2⊠but when I use this thing, I fee like Iâm making actual art, which I do not feel when Iâm using a digital camera.â
As always, art is in the eye of the beholder, but it is also made in the decisions of the person making the art.
That toilet image would be much better art if I made it on 4x5 film instead of a film-emulating smartphone camera.
-Clayton
Channelling Duchamp. Chicago, Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Photography isnât art. Itâs too easy to make a photo. Thereâs no skill involved, therefore no artistic value.
I disagree with this, of course, however completely understand and agree with the logic behind it. Seeing photography as art will never be something everyone can do, I donât think. Anyone can make a good photo (good is relative in any art form, of course). Anyone can also make a good painting (good to someone, at least!), even if theyâve never painted once in their life, but the âbarrier to entryâ is far more difficult. To make a photo, you just take the phone of our your pocket and push a button. To make a painting, youâll at least need to find a store that sells the necessary supplies, or place an order on Amazon and wait a few days.
In my younger years as a photographer, I would often scoff at fine art photography, mostly because I didnât understand the thought process or put in the time necessary to understand what the photographers were trying to do or say. Iâd see them using a giant large format film camera to make some images I often found boring and label the whole process unnecessary and self important. Sure, I still dislike plenty of photography that is overwhelmingly embraced by the more formal art world, however, I do now have a far larger appreciation for, and valuing of, photographic art that is challenging to make. Using 4x5 film instead of a 100mp digital medium format camera, for example, should earn you some respect, even though at the end of the day itâs the work (and the person doing the work, but thatâs another topic for another day) that most matters.
Yesterday, this video popped into my feed which I found fascinating in many ways. While the clickbait headline is off topic for this blog post, his sentiment at the end is spot on. The guy makes a technologically-impressive camera that produces terrible images, however, the process is what makes the images incredible, and therefore, in his opinion, art.
âI know this thing makes worse pictures than a camera that costs $2⊠but when I use this thing, I fee like Iâm making actual art, which I do not feel when Iâm using a digital camera.â
As always, art is in the eye of the beholder, but it is also made in the decisions of the person making the art.
That toilet image would be much better art if I made it on 4x5 film instead of a film-emulating smartphone camera.
-Clayton
2024 11 25
This morning, I woke up a bit grumpy, thinking about how success at my job has increasingly more to do with being good at sales than it does being good at photography. This isnât just true for commercial photography but fine art, crafts, trades, etc.
Tonight, I read the latest Tim Kreider Loaf piece about how thereâs a show at The Met right now consisting of art made by employees of The Met. He sums it up humorously by saying the museum is promoting it as well as if they were hanging their childrenâs macaroni art up on the fridge. Is art worthy if it was made by the security guard of the art museum?
Is art better if it is made by an attractive female who gains tens of thousands of views via social media posts consisting of high-energy videos of herself? It is worse because of this?
Of course, none of this is new, but Iâve been thinking about the landscape of the art world (you know, bananas taped to the wall and whatnot) a lot lately, as I myself wade deeper into art both through my photography and a documentary project, which is in the early stages of development. That documentary will likely explore these thoughts, ideas, and frustrations in further detail, so I need to figure out what art is. If anyone reading this knows, please leave it in the comment section below.
Thanks!
-Clayton
The art of skating as seen through neon art by Neon Mike. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This morning, I woke up a bit grumpy, thinking about how success at my job has increasingly more to do with being good at sales than it does being good at photography. This isnât just true for commercial photography but fine art, crafts, trades, etc.
Tonight, I read the latest Tim Kreider Loaf piece about how thereâs a show at The Met right now consisting of art made by employees of The Met. He sums it up humorously by saying the museum is promoting it as well as if they were hanging their childrenâs macaroni art up on the fridge. Is art worthy if it was made by the security guard of the art museum?
Is art better if it is made by an attractive female who gains tens of thousands of views via social media posts consisting of high-energy videos of herself? It is worse because of this?
Of course, none of this is new, but Iâve been thinking about the landscape of the art world (you know, bananas taped to the wall and whatnot) a lot lately, as I myself wade deeper into art both through my photography and a documentary project, which is in the early stages of development. That documentary will likely explore these thoughts, ideas, and frustrations in further detail, so I need to figure out what art is. If anyone reading this knows, please leave it in the comment section below.
Thanks!
-Clayton
2024 07 09
Too busy to blog. Relearning how to be a photographer. Busy drinking all the worldâs best coffees. Busy planning a wedding; relearning how to make film photos; learning how to make all of the cocktails; thinking of opening a bar. Busy coming up with new ways of making money. Too busy to blog.
-Clayton
Kimball Arts Center. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Too busy to blog. Relearning how to be a photographer. Busy drinking all the worldâs best coffees, scheming and dreaming. Busy planning a wedding; doing my morning pages; relearning how to make film photos; learning how to make all of the cocktails; thinking of opening a bar. Busy coming up with new ways of making money. Too busy to blog.
-Clayton
2024 04 05
Sunsets are like a photographer cheat code. Itâs easy to make a nice photo with a brilliant sunset. Because of this, sunset photos are cliche and not really something professional photographers like to make photos of, unless they are mentally-healthy mainstream photographers.
One of my best ideas was an app that has one and only one task (aside from gathering emails to monetize): send you a push notification when a pretty sunset is happening near you. Iâll never act on this idea so I will give it to you, dear reader, to act on and become an overnight millionaire.
Yesterday I briefly partook in a âphoto walkâ now that I am a film photographer and people take me seriously (before sneaking off early and going back to my studio to edit my clientâs digital photos which are due before I can leave town and make more digital photos for another project). I spotted a fun scene in an alley and raised my Contax to make a serious film photo. It was subtle, just the way a carâs headlights were bounding off a puddle halfway between us, but just after snapping a frame, I heard an audible sigh from a photo walk participant as he mockingly-proclaimed, âan alley photo!â Just as instant shame set in, but before I even had a chance to turn around and awkwardly defend myself, but annoyingly just after I made the image, a massive airliner dramatically emerged from the overcast skies perfectly placed in my composition like a phantom sign that I indeed was on to something.
Sunset scene with a skateboarder making use of the popular Slappy Curbs spot outside the Kimball Arts Center. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Sunsets are like a photographer cheat code. Itâs easy to make a nice photo with a brilliant sunset. Because of this, sunset photos are cliche and not really something professional photographers like to make photos of, unless they are mentally-healthy mainstream photographers.
One of my best ideas was an app that has one and only one task (aside from gathering emails to monetize): send you a push notification when a pretty sunset is happening near you. Iâll never act on this idea so I will give it to you, dear reader, to act on and become an overnight millionaire.
Yesterday I briefly partook in a âphoto walkâ now that I am a film photographer and people take me seriously (before sneaking off early and going back to my studio to edit my clientâs digital photos which are due before I can leave town and make more digital photos for another project). I spotted a fun scene in an alley and raised my Contax to make a serious film photo. It was subtle, just the way a carâs headlights were bounding off a puddle halfway between us, but just after snapping a frame, I heard an audible sigh from a photo walk participant as he mockingly-proclaimed, âan alley photo!â Just as instant shame set in, but before I even had a chance to turn around and awkwardly defend myself, but annoyingly just after I made the image, a massive airliner dramatically emerged from the overcast skies perfectly placed in my composition like a phantom sign that I indeed was on to something.
Follow your instincts. Donât let the haters bring you down. Shoot the pretty sunset if it makes you happy. Shoot more film (and digital to pay for the film).
-Clayton
2024 03 10
In researching (aka looking for ideas to steal) video content to help me âpivot to videoâ six years too late to salvage my commercial photography career, I remembered a great website that was super inspiring back in the day called California is a Place. This website was super ahead of itâs time back then and the content holds up today, while serving me a nice reminder that filmmaking was my original passion that got me into this mess to begin with!
Anyway, time for me to make some videos.
-Clayton
Photographer Saverio Truglia loads in supplies for a photo shoot at See You Soon. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
In researching (aka looking for ideas to steal) video content to help me âpivot to videoâ six years too late to salvage my commercial photography career, I remembered a great website that was super inspiring back in the day called California is a Place. This website was super ahead of itâs time back then and the content holds up today, while serving me a nice reminder that filmmaking was my original passion that got me into this mess to begin with!
Anyway, time for me to make some videos.
-Clayton
2024 01 07
This is Dinah. She owns Spinning J and is awesome. I had a wild idea a few months back that would require me to find new partners and/or investor money (have a loose $100k youâre looking to do something with? Hit me up!) so I reached out to her and some other people to see if they may want to get involved. The idea is really cool and I hope it happens, however, itâs a bit of a long shot at this point because I donât think the space is still available. If it does happen, surely youâll be hearing a lot more about it soon.
-Clayton
Dinah. December, 2023. ©Clayton Hauck
This is Dinah. She owns Spinning J and is awesome. I had a wild idea a few months back that would require me to find new partners and/or investor money (have a loose $100k youâre looking to do something with? Hit me up!) so I reached out to her and some other people to see if they may want to get involved. The idea is really cool and I hope it happens, however, itâs a bit of a long shot at this point because I donât think the space is still available. If it does happen, surely youâll be hearing a lot more about it soon.
-Clayton