Though I wish some of the artists responding had been less technical in their opinions (looking at you, Walead Beshty), I think different examples given were interesting. The Copperheads by Moyra Davey, explained in George Baker's response, was particularly interesting given that it gave me some enlightenment into the meaning of a photographic body of work in a way that I could understand and appreciate. Generally it seemed the artists agreed that photography isn't dead in the sense that no one will do anymore photography, but that photography is destined to change and return and be revitalized, and that process is something to embrace and rejoice. One of my favorite responses was by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, who provided some profound insight into what photography is today. One quote by diCorcia that I particularly enjoyed:
After years of questioning the nature of photographic truth we have arrived at a place where truth is measured by the degree of the lie and the only thing positive is a double negative.This quote is representative of what many of the respondents said: That much of photography today is an attempt to see what cannot be seen, to reveal more than reality as a photo is meant to reveal. I enjoyed the thought, because it gave me some ideas about where I might want to go with my photography this semester - do I want to stick to the real, the classic purpose of photography? Or do I want to play on the idea of what's not there?
Also, to Brooks, I apologize this is more than 7 sentences.
