The more serious role of photography.

[bobt]

In my "real world" camera club I am known for my view that photography has a much greater purpose in life than simply winnng competitions.

95% of our images are never going to win competitions, and so they tend to languish on hard drives everywhere - unseen, and unappreciated. I favour a less competition centric world and a less competitive environment where photos are shared simply for what they are, rather than whether they satisfy the very subjective tastes of judges.

With this in mind I have sometimes ventured into A/V contests simply because they are less focussed on the photographic merit than on the overall message.

Recently I took this a step further by creating an A/V which hopefully illustrates the more powerful potential of photos and A/Vs to bring about awareness and change - to try and use photography in a more meaningful way. Clubs make group A/Vs using various member's photos and I have used images taken by a friend of mine, whose images we simply don't get the opportunity to take ourselves.

If you have a spare moment, check it out - I found that it needs to buffer for a minute or two to run smoothly on Youtube, and you do need sound. I suspect that few of you will be aware of the information contained in my A/V.

Let me know what you think ......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W--8Thd9DqQ

[Steve Axford]

Well done Bob.

I would comment that I think you mean Laos and Cambodia and not just Cambodia. It is my understanding that the bulk of the munitions were dropped on Laos. In the east of that country the primary raw material seems to be old bombs and drop tanks from B52s. I believe that about 300 people die each year (and many more maimed) from old bombs, often cluster bombs.

I do agree that winning comps or putting unrealistic values on your photos seems quite pointless when you could be using them for things like yours or really anything that gets them seen rather than what keeps them hidden. Use them to promote whatever it is you believe in, be that cleaning up bombs in Laos and Cambodia, platypus in the creek or beautiful scenery in Tasmania.

[chris_m]

Well said Bob, a very moving a/v.

Having visited Cambodia and meet young people damaged by these munitions it is a stark reminder of what has been left behind for these people to deal with.

[bobt]

Well done Bob.I would comment that I think you mean Laos and Cambodia and not just Cambodia. It is my understanding that the bulk of the munitions were dropped on Laos. In the east of that country the primary raw material seems to be old bombs and drop tanks from B52s. I believe that about 300 people die each year (and many more maimed) from old bombs, often cluster bombs.

Thatks ... and yup ... that's where the 80,000,000 comes in. You can imagine what our government would be doing if it was in our backyard!


I do agree that winning comps or putting unrealistic values on your photos seems quite pointless when you could be using them for things like yours or really anything that gets them seen rather than what keeps them hidden. Use them to promote whatever it is you believe in, be that cleaning up bombs in Laos and Cambodia, platypus in the creek or beautiful scenery in Tasmania.

I think there's a role for both, but often camera clubs seem to have very little focus except for beating the hell out of each other - and sometimes I think that it can stifle learning. It also makes so many of our images redundant. i reckon I come back from overseas with around 2000 acceptable images, and enter maybe 6 in comps. The other aren't necessarily bad ones - they just don't meet the strict standards we aim for in a comp.

I've got shots that I'd show on a "slide show" night and people would like them - but in a comp? No way. I'd guess most people are the same. That's why we sometimes have travelogues by members - really interesting, just no judges or people being judgemental.

[Film Street]

Good work Bob.

[kaylors]

This is absolutely, without a doubt one of the most moving eight minutes for me. Brilliant!