Stephen Shore: Brief Summary
Stephen Shore is an American photographer who tends to photograph a variety of places, objects [and occasionally people], his most well known work being his books ‘American Surfaces’ and ‘Uncommon places’, both of which he photographed whilst on road trips in the 1970’s. He’s often referred to as ‘one of the most remarkable photographers of this generation’ due to his techniques and use of colour which were not popular at first but gained popularity over time.
3 Quotes from an interview:
- “One of the key indicators of success is ambition. With some students, I know they have more talent than they think they have, but they have little ambition”
- “A less mediated experience; it’s still about making a photo that is less the product of visual and artistic convention”
- “If you were an actor, you’d have to learn how to walk with a conscious mind. You’d have to walk consciously across a stage – being observed while trying to look natural… There is an essential difference between that actor looking natural and the stagehand who walks naturally onto the stage after the performance… And I’m convinced there’s something equivalent to this in photography.”
I agree with Shore’s ideas about photography, particularly with his point about ambition as I believe someone can have talent in an area but if they don’t try to do better, they will not improve and will overtaken by those who are motivated to do their best. This also links with his point about consciously photographing as improvement only comes when a person actively chooses to do better – an individual has to consciously choose what they want to photograph and what they want that image to become if they want their images to look great rather than just photographing for the sake of doing so.
However, I’m not sure if I agree with Shore’s ideas about having photography be a less mediated experience as I think it’s up to the individual photographer to decide. On one hand, photography is not always about conveying a message or feeling as it can be as simple as appreciating a view or moment and wanting to revisit it later through the capture, yet, some images work a lot better with a meaning attached to it, making it feel more sentimental and real to the viewer/photographer themselves.
Image analysis:
Shore has consciously made multiple decisions in order to create this image from opening both car doors, blocking off the lady in the image to having the lady’s head turned away from the camera instead of asking her to pose with the car [which would of made more of a commercial image]. I think he chose to do this to represent how every individual has their own corner of the world that most people won’t see. This idea is amplified as the lady is the main focal point of the image despite being turned away from the camera. The image looks quite natural/relaxed, despite how it was most likely posed, as seen from the lady’s position.