A Transient Rumination

Original Post August 20, 2008

I was talking with an old student today about the difference between style and voice. We all think that we want style when it comes to our photography. Style is good, it is what drives the capitalistic machine that is America and it is what photographers use to sell product. But when you look deeper at what Style really is and compare it to Voice you can begin to see that style is a veneer on the surface, a ’slick package’ with little substance. Photographers wield style in many ways, through use of Photoshop magic or specific lighting. Certain styles come into fashion and fall out of favor year after year, but what about this other thing called Voice? 

An artist that has a Voice has something that is elemental. Voice is power. Voice is rock solid. Voice never goes out of style.  When a photographer finds out what drives their personal creative process, the beginning of finding a voice can take place. When the craft of photography is mastered the Voice can become clearer. When work is continuously created the Voice becomes louder and can reach a larger audience.  The photographers Voice can grow for decades and it can be applied in many different genres yet the thread of authority in the work will remain. Voice anchors the style and binds the one to the other.

Tags: Creativity

This entry was posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Creativity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.