The ARTIST'S EYE: SHARINGAN

I posted before about The Artist's Eye: Byakugan, a journey towards How to See things as a photographer or shutterbug but it took me a while finish this follow-up post because of my very busy schedule in the office and I was also internalizing this level while I was taking photos. I found out that it’s easier to write this topic than to apply this in reality. Yup photography is not just clicking your shutter. It’s about making an artwork. It’s not easy, I tell you.

Every time I had an opportunity to take photos like covering a birthday party or during weddings as a backup photographer, or am on my own doing street photography, I kept thinking about what’s the best subject. Yes, my common subjects are people but how should my subject appear in my photograph: should it be correctly exposed or should it be blurry or in focus or should my subject can be identified easily or just simply visually entertaining?

"Protection"

Sidestepping from what is already given by the society as to how the subject should appear, I have to take an image that is visually entertaining but different from what others do. Visual Art must be visually entertaining, depending on how you understand the term visually entertaining: be it pleasant, peaceful, sexy, bothersome, or maybe disturbing. Still, those are called visually entertaining.

"Listen"

Honestly, my photos aren’t that visually entertaining and interesting as what the society understands about the term. Many say my photos are dark. It's true. My subject is usually unidentifiable in my images. I am an old fashion artist where I want my viewers to read my images, probably because I was an editorial cartoonist during my Philosophy days.

Most of my images during the 32nd Kadayawan Indak-indak sa Kadayawan have no faces? If it has, the subject is not the human face per se but emotions. That’s how I side-step from what the society wants to see.

“Most of the people in this city stare on my painting but never cared to look at it.”

- quote

"Observe"

Why bother sidestepping from what the society understand about visually entertaining subjects? This is what the world wants to see so, why bother? Imagine a flower, a stone, a leaf, a tree, a dog, a cat, a beautiful face, a cake, an ice cream, or imagine the Statue of Liberty or Eifel Tower or Mt. Apo. Everyone knows how it looks like because we have this mental image of these things since childhood. Everyone knows and everybody has seen these subjects; they can Google it to see how it looks like. What’s the point of taking pictures if your pictures are the same as mine? Taking images of what it normally looks like is depriving your creativity, your inner self, your character. Your images are yours and it is an expression of yourself.

"Which light provides Light?"

"Double Time"

How to see through a Sharingan Eye in photography? Before clicking your shutter button, see your subject the way you see it and the way your subject let you see. Let it speak to you by connecting with your subject through your emotions, knowledge, morals, and wisdom. Don’t just stare, look and be creative. Visualize your image. With these in your heart and mind, you will be able to see some stories about your subject that can’t be noticed by many. You’ll see that your images sidestepped from what the world offer. Inspire others with your images.

"Locked In"

Here’s a little exercise to develop our Sharingan eyes. Yes, you might say this is the dumbest exercise to develop your eyes in photography but once you finish this, you’ll learn how to See for the rest of your life. Ready?

Take one egg and put it in the center of your table. Grab your camera, a smartphone is better so you wouldn’t be wasting your camera shutter, and challenge yourself to produce 5 DIFFERENT images of that egg without touching or moving it. I produced 5 different images out of it.

"Lovely"

"Check"

This series of articles on my journey towards Seeing may or may not end here. I am still journeying to become a better shutterbug. I tell you guys that I am not a better shutterbug right now, even though I write this post at the moment; I am not and I am still and will always still internalized this “How to See” thing every single day as a shutterbug.

Wanna join me capturing and biting moments? Take whatever camera you have right now, let’s go out and see the world. Capture moments and share your stories through your photographs.