William Kious wrote:
I used to study and keep up with trends but I realized a few things:

1. The exercise is ultimately futile due to the flux of society's tastes. In other words, receiving recognition is more a matter of luck than hard work.

2. Little value is placed on fundamental knowledge.

3. The process started to influence my own work.

I do try to stay current with technique. I suppose that counts.

Exactly!

JoJo wrote:
Just as with almost all other technical arts photography is perpetually evolving.
The trick is to make enough time to keep up with the advancements in the technical fundamentals.

The best way to do this is to communicate with your peers; talk/read, watch, experiment, learn.

I am not sure if I am clear about my quest for knowledge... it goes way beyond the merely technical aspect.

I try to understand what makes the human brain tick, how it perceives color, art, art history, painting techniques... psychology etc.

I find those topics fascinating and the more I understand about those things, the more I gain knowledge about human ideas, the better I believe I can convey my art (besides photography I am also a surrealistic painter)...

udor wrote:
What do YOU do to further your skill and knowledge as an artist?

I'm in the process of filling out an application for another Masters program (studio art this time). As a NYC art teacher, I need to keep my subject area knowledge and skills sharp. All my graduate study so far has been in Education so it'll be nice to go back to the studio, which I haven't done since my BFA program - 20 years ago.

Blaneyphoto wrote:

I'm in the process of filling out an application for another Masters program (studio art this time). As a NYC art teacher, I need to keep my subject area knowledge and skills sharp. All my graduate study so far has been in Education so it'll be nice to go back to the studio, which I haven't done since my BFA program - 20 years ago.

NICE!

JoJo wrote:
Just as with almost all other technical arts photography is perpetually evolving.
The trick is to make enough time to keep up with the advancements in the technical fundamentals.

The best way to do this is to communicate with your peers; talk/read, watch, experiment, learn.

udor wrote:
I am not sure if I am clear about my quest for knowledge... it goes way beyond the merely technical aspect.

I try to understand what makes the human brain tick, how it perceives color, art, art history, painting techniques... psychology etc.

I find those topics fascinating and the more I understand about those things, the more I gain knowledge about human ideas, the better I believe I can convey my art (besides photography I am also a surrealistic painter)...

Many people learn the basics, go out and shoot and wonder why they never improve/grow/prosper.
These are the people that continually regurgitate the mechanics but have little if any idea why. They may think they are creating art (and in their own mind are) but the rest of the world sees their attempts a unidimensional reproduction

Then there are those that learn the basics AND the ‘why’ of the art.
These are the people on the perpetual quest for the mastery of their art AND desirous of moving forward by exploring the ‘why’.
These are the people that will continually produce art, be it to the left or right of the accepted art.

Look at Van Gogh – he couldn't even give his art away to cover his bar bill - he purposely did things that were unacceptable in his time… and it’s taken the rest of us “artistic peons” more than a hundred years to figure out Van Gogh had risen to a degree of mastery of art in his time that we have yet to completely comprehend today.

JoJo wrote:
Sure, you can learn the technical fundamentals in a formal (classroom) setting but then you can also learn the technical fundamentals of riding a bicycle in a classroom. The real ‘classroom’ for photography, and bicycle riding, is in practical application.

Apples and oranges.

There IS practical application of photography in a classroom setting. You don't just sit in a class reading books about photography. You actually do it.

udor wrote:
What do YOU do to further your skill and knowledge as an artist?

Blaneyphoto wrote:
I'm in the process of filling out an application for another Masters program (studio art this time). As a NYC art teacher, I need to keep my subject area knowledge and skills sharp. All my graduate study so far has been in Education so it'll be nice to go back to the studio, which I haven't done since my BFA program - 20 years ago.

And this continued quest for 'more' is what I think udor is referring to.

You must move forward... or you stagnate.

JoJo wrote:
And this continued quest for 'more' is what I think udor is referring to.

You must move forward... or you stagnate.

Yes!

Pat Berrett wrote:
In addition to running a full time studio and problem solving all day, I teach.

I have been teaching for the past 20 years and find that student questions reveal the gaps in my knowledge about both the technical aspects of photography and the aesthetic side.
A simple question about where ideas come from or why certain compositions work better than others can lead to great insight.



“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
― St. Francis of Assisi

"Better the illusions tat exhalt us than ten-thousand truths."

-A. Pushkin

Alabaster Crowley wrote:
I'm in art school, for photography.

Excellent! Keep on with the quest.

JoJo wrote:
Sure, you can learn the technical fundamentals in a formal (classroom) setting but then you can also learn the technical fundamentals of riding a bicycle in a classroom. The real ‘classroom’ for photography, and bicycle riding, is in practical application.

Alabaster Crowley wrote:
Apples and oranges.

There IS practical application of photography in a classroom setting. You don't just sit in a class reading books about photography. You actually do it.

I think you are taking an oversimplified view of my statement.

Although a student goes through the mechanics of clicking the shutter in class (and doing practical application assignments), the real learning of the ‘art’ does not begin until you are called upon (or receive the calling) to actually create art.


As for my CV, I have been learning the ‘art’ for almost 30 years. I received my DFA in 2009 and my quest still continues even today… and I still do not even come close to the understanding of ‘art’ that the illiterate and unschooled Van Gogh demonstrated over 100 years ago.

JoJo wrote:

Excellent! Keep on with the quest.

It's such a challenge at times, but I feel SO good when I finish a project and do well on it. My school is amazing too, because it's so well rounded. I'm learning so many different forms of art.

JoJo wrote:
Although a student goes through the mechanics of clicking the shutter in class (and doing practical application assignments), the real learning of the ‘art’ does not begin until you are called upon (or receive the calling) to actually create art.

Do you mean "called upon" like an assignment for a job, or like you "hear the calling" from art, in a more intangible way?

Alabaster Crowley wrote:
Do you mean "called upon" like an assignment for a job, or like you "hear the calling" from art, in a more intangible way?

Let's get all biblical for a moment...

One day you may awaken and see before you 'the quest'. (you'll know it when you see it)
If you accept this 'quest' you will be consumed and plagued by it until you complete the quest.
If you complete the quest successfully the angels will sing... and then those damn angels will show up with yet another quest to haunt your creativity.


or does 'all consuming passion' work more appropriately

udor wrote:
...
Most recently, I think it was two days ago, I downloaded from the documentary channel "Cracking The Colour Code":

"An unprecedented global journey to explore the frontiers of how we view colour, make colour and use the power of colour to communicate meaning. Colour is a fundamental part of our world. Landscapes, animals, fashion, painting, movies, food – everything around us resonates with the language of colour. All our waking lives – and even in our dreams – we navigate our way through a world of colour. Yet, whoever we are, colour has the power to stop us in our tracks – and to make us wonder."

What do YOU do to further your skill and knowledge as an artist?

Please share!

edit upfront because my reply is all over the place...I 'get' passion for creativity and expression from within to out.
Yet, my reply is a bit wacky! End edit.

It is likely that I am oversimplifying my statement but, isn't it that the more exposure or taste of art, (any moving art...) increase your appreciation for it? Similar to how tasting good wine changes your perspective on other wines, (no, not expensive, just good.)

Ah, Perfume side bar, (could scent have a refined appreciation, like art, food, wine and what not?) okay, sidebar:... the better scents you experience the more you appreciate the sublte mixtue and recipe of scents, (I absolutely adore the scent Fracas or anything with tuberose or plumeria and 15 years ago I couldn't stand them!)

...occasionaly gardenia too, just not altogether. More side bar, the tuberose has a powerful midnote punch that comes up 30 minutes later and overtakes you until it subdues to a misty calm endnote.

Okay, side bar done. I think I need to go experience some wine and chocolate to expand my taste-pallete, or um, colour!
Jen

JoJo wrote:
Look at Van Gogh – he couldn't even give his art away to cover his bar bill - he purposely did things that were unacceptable in his time… and it’s taken the rest of us “artistic peons” more than a hundred years to figure out Van Gogh had risen to a degree of mastery of art in his time that we have yet to completely comprehend today.

+1


...when you stop learning, it is time to die.

JoJo wrote:
Although a student goes through the mechanics of clicking the shutter in class (and doing practical application assignments), the real learning of the ‘art’ does not begin until you are called upon (or receive the calling) to actually create art.

You seem to be implying that the only thing that the student gets in his/her education is some button-pushing mechanics that any primate could master…

Looknsee Photography wrote:
I believe that there are two aspects to making photographic images:
     The technical aspect, and
     The aesthetic aspect.

There is a third aspect to most photographic images (and, by extension, most art):  the theory/meaning.


Picasso's Guernica isn't just a funny picture of horses and people… some lesson in applied cubism.  It's about war and suffering.  The brutality that innocents endure in times of bloody conflict.  The senseless violence that is dismissed off-handedly as "collateral damage."  If you're only ever concerned with technical and aesthetics, you'll only ever create pretty, technically sound and utterly meaningless work. 

Which isn't to say that I haven't had aspirations no more complicated than making pretty pictures at times.  I have.  But that is not the totality of it and to think so is limiting one's expression.

Kincaid Blackwood wrote:
Picasso's Guernica isn't just a funny picture of horses and people… some lesson in applied cubism.  It's about war and suffering.  The brutality that innocents endure in times of bloody conflict.  The senseless violence that is dismissed off-handedly as "collateral damage."  If you're only ever concerned with technical and aesthetics, you'll only ever create pretty, technically sound and utterly meaningless work.

Could not agree with this more.
Sadly, I'm still in pretty-pictures-of-pretty-girls mode.

Thanks for the reminder....

JoJo wrote:
Although a student goes through the mechanics of clicking the shutter in class (and doing practical application assignments), the real learning of the ‘art’ does not begin until you are called upon (or receive the calling) to actually create art.

Kincaid Blackwood wrote:
You seem to be implying that the only thing that the student gets in his/her education is some button-pushing mechanics that any primate could master…

If you wish to go this route; then yes.

Pat Berrett wrote:
“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
― St. Francis of Assisi

You can teach the basics to most people (and most primates) - they can replicate your teaching - this elevates them to "labourer" status.

You can attempt to motivate and introduce desire to a labourer - if the labourer accepts AND THINKS the labourer's status is elevated to that of craftsman.

Now comes the most difficult part, trying to teach a person "art".
Stop now because you can not teach "art" - you can teach the mechanics of "art", you can teach the fundamentals of "art"... but you can not 'teach' someone how to be artistic - that comes from within.

JoJo wrote:
You can attempt to motivate and introduce desire to a labourer - if the labourer accepts AND THINKS the labourer's status is elevated to that of craftsman.

Now comes the most difficult part, trying to teach a person "art".
Stop now because you can not teach "art" - you can teach the mechanics of "art", you can teach the fundamentals of "art"... but you can not 'teach' someone how to be artistic - that comes from within.

Bruce Lee for me said it best; "Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle. In short, enter a mold without being caged in it. Obey the principle without being bound by it. LEARN, MASTER AND ACHIEVE!"

udor wrote:
What do YOU do to further your skill and knowledge as an artist?

I agree that something formal, either a class or a good book, are necessary to learn the technical fundamentals. I have found that an occasional class or quality workshop are useful to exchange thoughts on my work along with that of the others in the session. The most important thing is to photograph regularly and have people give the images honest critique.