Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-07-12)

10 6 July 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 12 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

A

fewmonthsagoI sawa series

of paintingsbyBobDylanin a

gallery.I’ma bigfanof Dylan

thesinger-songwriter,butit

turnsoutthatI’mnota bigfanof Dylan

thepainter.Oneimage,‘Womanin Red

LionPub(Green),2008’,featuresthe

outlineof a ladypaintedwiththick,rough

brushstrokes.It’sanunflatteringpicture,

withoddlyplacedlinesgivingherlumpsin

allthewrongplaces.Anotherpicture,‘Train

Tracks(Orange),2008’,remindsmeof a

perspectiveexerciseI carriedoutin anart

lessonat school.Thesepaintingswere

pricedat over£2,500each.

Lookingat thedisplaymademea bit

cross– if it weren’tforDylan’sname

thesepaintingswouldprobablynever

haveseenthelightof day.It mademe

thinkabouthowartis valued,andhow

muchof it is todowithsupplyand

demandratherthanartisticmerit.It also

mademethinkaboutallthetalented

photographersI havemetwhowould

givetheirbackteethtoreceivegallery

representation.Dylanis a superb

singer-songwriter– oneof thebest– but

shouldn’thehavetostartat thebeginning

witheveryoneelsewhenit comesto

branchingoutintonewmediums?

In recentyearsthenumberof models,

actorsandmusiciansdescribing

themselvesasphotographersseemsto

haveskyrocketed.Oneof themost

obviousexamplesis BrooklynBeckham

who,despitequestionabletalent,shota

campaignforBurberry.Havingseenthe

resultsJonathanJones,artcriticfor

TheGuardian(who,incidentally,likes

Dylan’spaintings)wrote,‘thesepictures

havenobiteandnodrama,nothingto

say.’It’sthefinalpartof thesentencethat

wounds– tobetoldthatyourpictures

have‘nothingtosay’wouldcutmost

photographerstothequick.ThankfullyI

thinkthesonof VictoriaandDavidcan

handlethecriticism.

Andthen,ofcourse,therewas

Bekham’sphotographybook,WhatI See.

NowI’mnotgoingtoaddfueltothefire

byoffering a full critique here – all I’ll say

is Beckhamshootswitha Leicaandhas

doneusalla greatservicebyprovingit’s

thephotographerandnotthecamera

thatcreatesgreatpictures.Again,it’sa

caseofsupplyanddemand.Penguin

(whopublishedthebook)knowsthe

nameBeckhamsells,andwhetheror

nothehasanythingworthsellingis

prettyirrelevant.Tobefair,if youthink

backtoyourfirstphotographicefforts,

nomatterhowterrible,wouldyouhave

refuseda bookdealif it werehandedto

youona plate?

Theonlywaytostopfillinggalleriesand

bookswithcelebritynonsenseis toplace

theemphasisbackonartisticmerit.Sure,

it’sa hardersell,butI wouldlovetosee

moreworkfromrelativelyunknown

photographers.Thesepeoplemight

nothavea backstorythatfeaturesrich

parentsoraward-winningmusic,butthe

qualityof theirpictureswillspeakforitself.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED

©

LOU

SL

TTLE/MART

NPARR

FOUNDAT

ON

Weallknowcelebritysells,butintherush

tomeettargetsaregalleriesandpublishers

providing enough opportunities for true talent?

View point

Tra cy Calder

TracyCalderhasmorethan 20 yearsof experiencein the

photomagazineindustry.Sheis theco-founderof Close-

up Photographer of the Year. Visitwww.cupoty.com.

‘Thewaytostopfilling

gallerieswithcelebrity

nonsenseistoplacethe

emphasis on merit’

© MAARTEN MELLEMANS

© JAMES PATERSON

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Get the

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In next week’s issue

Portrait Special

On sale Tuesday 9 July

MartinParrbelievesthatpost-warBritish

documentaryphotographyis underrated,

andaimstoredressthebalancewithsome

lesser-known bodies of work at his gallery