One thought and one question: do we create an aesthetic in photography and then become a hostage of it?
I recently read on blogs two aspects of photography that are, to a certain extent, common sense because several other people have already written about them:
(1) The significant difficulties to make a photograph, the one that carries strong emotions is guaranteed to be a great photo? The answer is no, of course. Many times a photo that you did without much effort ends up being a great photograph. Of course, this is not the rule. On the contrary, perhaps this is the exception. But, this is the reality of the facts.
(2) Will it be possible to make a spectacular photograph without at least a small direction of the photographer of the subject being photographed? My practical answer after some good years photographing rural workers under different scenarios of their activities is no. And, on behalf of the poetic license, I conclude that I have doubts if this would not be the case with most of the great photos we know of.
I can say that some of my best photographs in this project were obtained when I decided to direct them.
The point is to direct our subjects in such a way that the resulting photograph has characteristics that little or nothing resemble the fact that these subjects are posing for the photo. Of course, this aspect is the most critically difficult of a great photograph involving people.
From these and other aspects, I have a third question or restlessness for which I have no answer: have we created an aesthetic over the years and then become a hostage of it? My feelings point in a direction that yes: we become attached to this tangle, to this intricate web that is the aesthetic in photography.
Antonio Mozeto 