Visual acuity, for the most part, is a disciplined perspective. To varying degrees it is inherent in us all (in my opinion). To a greater degree, it is subjected to the back burners of life—without consciously understanding what it is. It’s that “feeling” you always can’t seem to describe.
I’ve thought intently about how our propensities can lead to everyday passive experiences. The amount of energy needed to maintain active monitoring of one’s visual acuity requires total concentration. It’s a consistent active vision of the human experience—realizing how it favors passivity instead of activity. Such as always searching for ways to make one’s life easier (more passive). Seeking to make tasks less demanding on our psyche and physicality though we know we can handle them with ease.
Do you know of someone that detests the Brooklyn Bridge? Ever wondered why that might be (beyond its tourist attraction)? How many people do you know that adore the bridge? Is it conditioning through imagery or media? Is it because the ingenuity and engineering required to build it resonates with them? More than 33,000 pedestrians and cyclists crossed it every day in 2018. If you’ve never visited it, have you wondered why you are predisposed to liking it (or less likely) disliking it?
Propensities implanted in human nature are virtually limitless. It’s mainly how we go about our everyday lives. We choose what we have propensities for in every aspect of living. For purposes of this newsletter, we’re just going to speak to photographic propensities. When looking at series of photographs from well-known photographers, we can pick out their propensities quite easily:
Richard Avedon ← link
Yousuf Karsh ← link
Michael Kenna ← link
Phil Penman ← link
James Van Der Zee ← link
O. Winston Link ← link
You as a viewer could categorize the way these photographers photographed as “their styles.” I don’t discount those thoughts. I believe they can be categorized as their propensities as well. Propensities are not constructed on weak attributes. They’re built on one’s internal supposed beliefs and/or strengths.
Instagram is a good way to identify propensities. Study the photographs of any person’s feed. The more photos in their feed, the more one’s patterns and propensities can be identified. If someone has photographs of only food in their feed, that’s one propensity. If all photographs are black & white, that’s another. If they’re all sandwiches on plates, that’s another. Are they lit with the same lighting, that’s another. And on and on and on.
I offer a view of my Instagram feed above for study. Do you notice any propensities within the sampling?
Tap on any photo for larger size
These photographs above have a few major visual cues that could link back to me as the photographer. I figure most people can use their innate visual acuity to offer opinions on what my propensities are within them. The patterns are obvious.
This second set also has visual cues that can link back to me. Visual cues can be confusing with the need to confirm if all six of the photographs were taken by the same person. The black & white and color mix could complicate things. What level of visual acuity does it take to come to a contented conclusion? Innate? Mid-level experience? High-level experience?
Recalling when I was younger, someone asked what I desired to do when I grew up. My answer at the time was the typical “Doctor, Lawyer, Fireman, Policeman.” A vision shaped by the people surrounding me. Parents, Siblings, Teachers, Friends, Neighbors, and the greater society. So much of my surroundings in early years defined how I would see the future with me in it. Being taught to visually see the possibilities of photography was the catalyst that set me on the path to creatively seeing the world by “actively seeing.” Not picking or choosing how I see, because I learned that already. It’s choosing various ways to photograph the things I see.
If this article was informative, or insightful—please hit “like” to acknowledge its impact. Share with someone you believe would also enjoy it. I’d also appreciate your thoughts if all or part of this essay is totally opposite of your point of view.
I appreciate you taking time in your day to read this newsletter through.
Til next time…
Cheers
Truly curious about your work - from the first time I came upon them. Such insight - and yes I think many of these I have a propensity for - they are images from my earliest memories in Brooklyn. The people, the subways, the river, the Brooklyn Bridge. Then back. You teach, yes?
Yes, propensities are much more than style. I like the idea of people finding dharma, the path to which they were predisposed.