Go to a museum for a photo exhibit, and you’ll see lots of old photographs. This might be necessary because of what the image is of, the time it was shot, or other reasons. Greener photographers might find these images boring. That could be because they’re not interactive for them to scroll through — in which case, they probably need to learn to appreciate the silence it can give their brain. Others might not find the images to be all that incredible to begin with. And there’s a reason for this — they’re probably not a thinking photographer
Words from a Thinking Photographer
Many new photographers aren’t taught to think more critically about the images that they’re looking at. Critical thinking about art and photography is something that you typically can only get in a more educational setting, like in classrooms or in photo meetups where we look at prints. And even that has to come from someone who understands the difference between looking and seeing. These people are who you’d call a thinking photographer.
How Old Photographs Change Generations of Photographers
From the original old photograph, you can trace the evolution of how these images have changed culture. Here’s an example, so stick with us.
- Robert Capa was one of the founding members of Magnum Photos and shot some of history’s most important photography.
- Robert Capa influenced Bruce Gilden. Gilden quite literally states, “When I first picked up a camera, I made Robert Capa’s sentence my mantra.” Capa has also influenced the work of other photographers like David Gleave.
Of those two photographers influenced by Robert Capa, Bruce Gilden has been an incredible force in the world of photography. His work has influenced several other photographers. Here are direct quotes in interviews that we’d done referencing Gilden as an influence
“Bruce Gilden and Robert Capa were some of the first photographers who instilled in me the philosophy of pushing the visual hierarchy of a scene to an extreme,” says photographer Daniel Anez. “I began playing the game of “how close can I get to my subjects,” so I think I developed that skill somewhat early in my photographic journey.”
“In general, I love raw, candid street photos by people like Martin Parr, Bruce Gilden, Daniel Arnold, and a million more,” says Josh Ethan Johnson in our interview. “However, I’m not always in the mind frame to get those shots. My empathy takes over and I miss lots of shots because of it.” Both of these people can be labelled as a thinking photographer.
You can also see influences of Gilden in the work of Salvatore Matarazzo and Cam Crossland. One could also say that they see influences of Weegee in Gilden’s work.
More specifically, Robert Capa was a war photographer. Bruce Gilden photographs people that he considers to be characters, but he took Capa’s teachings and applied them to his own style.
All of this has happened through Robert Capa. If he didn’t influence photographers, then others wouldn’t have been able to put a modern take on the work that was made. All of these photographers have put their own original take on this style of documentary photography. If someone is influenced by Bruce Gilden, then they’re indirectly influenced by Robert Capa. This shows how all the older images are so important. They’re the predecessor from what all other things were made from. Would someone else have done the work? Possibly, but they wouldn’t have done it in the same way.
The lead image in this article was shot by me, and wouldn’t have happened at least in some way if it weren’t for Bruce Gilden. The same goes for the image above.
Ultimately, by studying the originals, we can see how others interpret their work. And from there, we can find ways to intepret it and use it within our own photographic identity. This helps you shape your own creative vision by taking what ws done before and applying it to your own thought process.
