I guess I would have to consider myself a “refucynic”. I did not go to art school, nor did I want to. I am a self-taught photographer… I love the history and consider myself a classicist (I prefer the old, dead guys, and the guys who will be gone soon). Sometimes that comes across as “snobby” or “elitist” but I really don’t care. I photograph what I like and do not restrict myself to any one topic/genre/style. I think that work can stand on it’s own without explanation, especially the guys I like. Most of the photographers I admire never went to art school or wrote statements… they didn’t need to. Many wrote about their photography, but not the BS we see today. Maybe because the world was simpler then, and now…

The younger “emerging” “artists”… they are a different story. It seems to me (for the most part) they are project-oriented. Pick a project (even better if no one else has done it before) and then try to make photographs. Therefore they need a statement from the get go. They do box themselves in a lot. Most of the “emerging” stuff I see I don’t like. I am happy that (as stated above) it is OK to say “That sucks!” The thing that really gets me is that a lot of this emerging work looks the same. I couldn’t tell you if MFA-1 or MFA-256 did it. Kind of like what happened to popular music (read Rock n Roll) in the 1980s – it all started sounding the same. And now we have American Idol… thank you very much. That’s why I gave it up for jazz, and not that “smooth jazz” garbage (same story, different genre).

I personally don’t have/sort of have a statement. I only say that I am drawn to “things that have been overlooked, forgotten, or looked at, but not seen. I find compositions where others see the ordinary, or nothing at all.” Does that mean that I won’t do landscapes again? Nope. In fact, for some reason I “had” to do some landscapes last time I went out. I don’t know why, I just felt like doing landscapes. Many of the images I made in Phoenix have disappeared in the last year… gentrified. I am playing with portraits now, and indeed, my most recent one (last week) has faded already (a victim of the economy). So I guess, my “sort of statement” works, but it doesn’t box me in.

I think the one thing that the “art schools” don’t/won’t teach is how to “enjoy” photography. Photography is an exhilarating, contemplative, personal, gratifying… oh cr@p, I might as well say it… it’s FUN! Most of these MFAs I see look like they have some psychological issues to work out or they are out to change the world. They’re not having FUN!

“I’m pretty good at recognizing cr@p when I hear it” Dabney Coleman, On Golden Pond

“You like that word, bullsh!t? It’s a good word.” Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond

There is the tendency within academia to push students to get it “figured out” – how their work functions conceptually, visually and technically – and inevitably, the artist statement (or Senior|Graduate Thesis statement) ends up being considered the “ultimate and defining articulation” of the work, sometimes to the point where the work is considered secondarily.

I would propose to both students of photography, photographers, critics as well as my colleagues in academia that we collectively focus on the conceptual, visual and technical considerations the work presents first and foremost and use these artist statements to supplement and potentially expand upon our reading of the work. Nothing is lost for the artist to write these statements (and academia | critics to advocate them) provided our eyes are focused on the work – that the photographer | painter | sculptor has truly lived with their work and that this comes through in any discussion regarding the work (whether it be in writing or verbally). In the end, this potentially provides for a more engaged and informed level of discourse for all involved and ultimately, we all benefit from such participation in pushing the medium forward and in new directions.

I follow a similar path when looking at and reviewing work myself, and as everyone has been saying, the photographer and reviewer always get more out of it if some thought has been given to some kind of statement or development of ideas.

To some extent, I wonder if photography has a special, perhaps more specific, relationship with artist statements. There are certainly some mediums that use them more and some that use them less.

An artist statement has two functions:

Providing a written context of the photographer’s intentions, thoughts and working process for a portfolio of photographs which is particularly insightful when the photographer is not there physically to speak about the work.

And, allowing the photographer to organize and structure their thoughts so he or she can be in command when presenting themselves and their work to others that allows for the work to be experienced in an engaging and meaningful manner, particularly in determining what to say and what not to say.

From a personal stand-point, I like to look at the work first to draw my own thoughts and conclusions without the influence of the statement when reviewing a portfolio of photographs. And when I’m meeting with the photographer, I’m most interested in what inspired the photographer, the development of the work from initial curiosity to what is being presented, and what the photographer believes the work is about in relationship to their intentions (what kind of dialog exists between the photographer’s intentions and a viewer’s interpretation).

In the end, whether were the photographer or the viewer, we are left with the work. And hopefully, the work will function on its own in such a manner that is visually engaging, demands contemplation and consideration and asks questions of the viewer. What am I looking at? And why do I keep wanting to look at it?

I think you hit on the absolute most important aspect of writing artist statements:

It’s a system designed to make the artist spend more time with their work. I hate absolutes, so I can’t say that all work needs more time spent with it, but I must say that I wish more artists realized the importance of editing and living with your work. So much emphasis is placed on the initial creative moment, but everything that comes after is also part of creativity. Likewise, spending time with your work is important to making better work in the future.

Good post Ian.

Jeff also has image titles, or at least I assume the words to left are, and they work well.

I have to say that most of the websites that I’ve seen with an artist statement before the gallery don’t benefit from it. Websites with interviews and articles written by others about the work are often more interesting. I love when an artist presents multiple people’s viewpoints along with their own.