INTRO: "The Byakugan (白眼, Literally meaning: White Eye, Meaning (Viz): All Seeing White Eye) is the dōjutsu kekkei genkai of the Hyūga and Ōtsutsuki clans, inherited from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. It is regarded as one of the "Three Great Dōjutsu", the others being the Sharingan and the Rinnegan."
Previously I posted about Ideology vs. Influence: how we see, how our ideas came up, and how the world influenced our formation of ideas. Now, take your camera and go out. Observe your surroundings and capture moments.
But wait, what are we photographing at? Anything! We can take pictures of anything and make it as our subject.
What is a Subject? “It is what you photograph, what you draw, what you paint. A subject can be anything and anything can be a subject.” A subject can be a book, cell phones, foods, insects, flowers, people, emotions, love, anger, dreams . . . anything. Anything that interests you can be your subject. When I was in my elementary days, I love sketching, drawing, and painting people’s faces even if it doesn’t look great. I just love doing it. Now that I am into photography, my favorite subject is still human beings specially emotions.
Because of the “viral” concept from the internet today, lots of potential artists lost his/her eyes to see his/her subject. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and websites are suggesting many things to us to do the same because it’s trending. It's like do this and you’ll get more likes on your Social Media account. My art’s aura and style changed when I started drawing action figures like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Marvel and DC Characters, Dragonball Z and many more superhero characters. Nothing was wrong with it and I like it because my classmates and friends loved it.
Look at this guy who made a comment on my post before. . .
He was right; taking photographs with beautiful women, showing their skin is what men wanted to see. I can gain more viewers, and maybe have lots of followers but that’s not what I love to do in photography. That’s how they see; I don’t see it that way. That guy who made a comment was telling me to do what others do.
I remember what my elementary and high school classmate told me, “MK, you are just copying other artist’s style, make your own.” I did not fully understand his point that time but because he was an artist, a good one so, I followed his advice though I still did not get it. Yes, I created my own superhero characters; I made a comic book like Marvel and DC did. But he wasn’t impressed with what I did and told me the same thing; I was just a copy cat.
What should we photograph is not the question but How should I photograph a subject is the real question. Emphasizing the “How should I” because we should take and make a photograph not based on what the world wanted to see but how we see it because that’s what the world needs to see. Your way of life, your thoughts and ideas belong only to you. How you take photos of your old cell phones, batteries, street, fruits, a broken glass, plates, vegetables, flash drives these are all yours.
What you choose to photograph are all yours. It is true that many have photographed the same subject but how you see it is uniquely yours. How you see it reveals who you are, it shows your inner self as Bob Llewellyn said: “Every photograph you make is a self-portrait!” Art is an expression of oneself. That’s why don’t copy what others did.
Too late for me to realize what my classmate said to me that I was a copy cat, what he meant was even if I draw, sketch, or paint Superman, it should be my style. Yes, I created a superhero character of my own but the style I used wasn’t mine. To illustrate this, if you are familiar with the Uncanny X-men type of drawing, compare it with Manga or Anime type of drawing, plus compare it with the Power Puff Girls, they are all cartoon characters but have different styles and trademarks. Draw a rose, one artist demonstrates it with vivid colors and dark tone, one artist illustrates it unsaturated colors and light tone image, another artist makes it with high contrast, another one shows it with an abstract type of art. This is because every artist has his/her own eyes, how he/she sees a subject is totally his/her own, and then make it visible to the world.
How does an artist see? They are very much receptive to their subject and they become more aware of it and because of this awareness, they can draw out the extraordinary. Yes, almost everything is ordinary. We see lines every single day, papers, ball pen, fruits, escalator and the likes can be our subject. But let's see it more than what the majority sees it. Let's make the world see what they need to see from the things they are used to see but they can't see because it's so ordinary.
Awareness is the key to see extraordinary out from ordinary. In photography, what matters most is how you make things new from an ordinary subject. Pay attention to what is not commonly seen because it will jump start your photography to the next level.
Till my next post: THE ARTIST’S EYE: SHARINGAN
~THANK YOU~
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