The Creative Aspect Of Photography

"I am enthused about photography — in an effort not to make pictures myself, but to help others in that medium."

The speaker was Edward Kaminski, Los Angeles, a lead- ing exponent of the creative school of photography. Formerly a teacher at the Los Angeles Art Center, he also directed a select group of photo experimenters in a school of his own. Many years ago he toured the country telling camera club members in Dallas, Chicago, Milwaukee and New York — to name a few stops — his views on the creative aspect of photography.

In many clubs this is a controversial subject. To some it means upsetting the traditional, salon type of photography, so comfortably settled in well-worn grooves. Others see the creative approach as endless manipulation of photographic material to produce an unphotographic result.

To Kaminski it is photography with freedom, imagination, freshness and enthusiasm. 'Too many photographers today are alike," he says. "They want the same kind of cameras and shoot the same type of subject as the others. The result is photographs of 'Wagon Wheels' and 'Driftwood' in salon after salon.

"Too many camera club members don't know what pictures to shoot. They like a club assignment because it tells them what to do. They conform in photography just as they have been made to conform in normal living habits ... In going to school and in their jobs. It can fall into a groove. .. or a rut. .. and lose its challenge." Well, how do you get new picture ideas with imagination?

"Imagination, like any other muscle, must be exercised regularly to be developed fully." Here's one way. Cut out a little rectangle from white cardboard. Hold it up to your eyes and go around the room looking at the various pictures in that space. Go outdoors and try it there. It is surprising how many interesting picture forms there are around us when you look for them.

Here's another exercise with a few handy objects. Arrange and rearrange them and study the various picture possibilities through the cut-out rectangle.

Now for a practical shooting exercise outdoors. Take a picture of a scene you like. Come in closer and shoot hall the original area for picture number two. For picture three come In closer and shoot half the area again. Come in closer yet for picture four and by picture number five you'll probably be as close as you can get to shoot one single detail out of the original scene.

"The value of this lesson," Kaminske emphasized, "is in how soon a photographer learns to eliminate the unimportant details in order to concentrate on the most significant."

These exercises are preliminary steps to the final set of experiments which produce the type of "creative" pictures by which the Kaminski students are identified.

"You've selected a picture subject from the methods suggested. Now make five exposures of that same subject," Kaminski suggested. "Develop and print one of those negatives normally. But experiment boldly with the other negatives to see what will happen. Solarize one of them, by turning on the white light during development Try extreme temperature ranges—heat and cold— and see what reticulation will do. Try double printing, positives of the negatives and print them as bas-reliefs.

"That's the road to creative photography," he concluded. My conclusion is that one should expect to find the road liberally littered with unsuccessful negatives and prints created in the process. But the experiment is worth trying.