I finally broke down and decided to join FRAMES. There is always an inner dialogue when it comes to spending more money on monthly subscriptions, and I am very careful about such choices. I like the FRAMES app as an alternative to Instagram (so far, anyway).
Today, this quote on FRAMES from Anja Schultz -
This is the task to which a photographer must be bound, to succeed in sublimating the banality of everyday life, extracting, with the framing of his camera, those portions of the world, insignificant to the inattentive eye, full of significant layers of signs.
Hmm . . . there is something about this quote that doesn’t sit well with me. It’s the part about sublimating the banality of everyday life. Banality—to lack originality, freshness, or novelty; commonplace—carries a negative connotation, and the idea that we need to sublimate banality reinforces this idea. But I wonder if it might be more accurate to say that the work of the photographer is to celebrate, uncover, uplift, or elevate the pieces of everyday life. It’s not about rescuing the beauty of everyday life, it’s about noticing that it was there all along.
As the new year rolls in, I’m having no difficulty sidestepping resolutions altogether. But I am tempted by the lure photography classes and projects, falling prey to the notion that creative inspiration resides somewhere outside myself. For a few moments, I contemplate an online mindful photography course. It sounds like a good fit. But perhaps this is more of what I want, but not what I need.