Ralph Gibson - Master Fine Art Photographer

[HTCSWEOD]

Nice... very interesting interview... I particularly liked the bit on black and white images (three steps away from reality) thought provoking really... thank you for posting this.

[felipe200794]

hasselblad makes masterpieces

[DerrickthePinecone]

Search "DerrickT" on Flickr dot com.

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[Jrshuffles]

Amazing advice

[ConstantineRobbins]

This dudes' hilareaous!

[ironkatia]

Digital is more more easy than film. You only have so much film and you can only process so much. Film is magical and romantic. Digital is unedifying for me. I'm proud of my master film images. A real photographer can make amazing images with a pinhole or 35mm camera. That is the real test..

[Grainne7C]

Really like his advice for young photographers, im coming up to graduating from my degree in photography and its hard knowing which way to go, i know theres much more money in fashion, advertising and more commercial stuff, but im a fine art photographer at heart and love black and white, Ralph Gibson's advice has really made me see that its best to just be true to yourself.

[edwardolive]

wonderful

[rorrt]

A camera is a tool.

How you use that tool, is the important bit.

I use toy cameras, costing £1.

Although me being a photographer do not consider myself an artist, i think i have created some great photos on film and digital, in a studio, out on location.

But thats they way i feel about myself, i think the term "Artist", is very overused. I dont think a photojournalist can be an artist in the same way.

[Chrisguy42O]

andre kertesz is boss :D

[KnightsbridgeAce]

Interesting work. Interesting advice.

[EdVidz]

One comment that I remember about Gibson's work was that his work was a hate letter to America. His work captivated me at first, and then instinctively I stepped away from it. In person he is persuasive and techno-oriented so maybe I'll take another look.

[anniejlemay]

I have lots of admiration for all the work of Ralph Gibson.

[jonballphoto100]

Film v digital is foolishness. The enlightened photographer developes in his mind what he wishes to produce (the final product) and then works backward through the tools available to him to create his product. You never hear of construction workers arguing about the merits of a new shovel and how they'd never go back to the old one. The real problem is that most photographers have nothing to talk about besides the piece of equipment that they become "married" to.

[royalsteven]

Hah that was always the problem with talking noral photography at school. A realistic picture is just a picture. It just is. Noth much to explain or talk about. It only becomes fascinating once pictures are abstract or breathe your own vision/signature lke he said.

[spiderfacecrackface]

Well said.

[AdlerChalk]

@jonballphoto100 I don't agree that you can 'know' what most photographers think or do.

[1MinDLesS1]

@jonballphoto100 because most construction workers are not artists nor would they look at themselves as so.

[miguelgaio]

@jonballphoto100 Words of wisdom my friend.

[vicmitch]

@jonballphoto100 Product is what factories make. Art is a result of process.

[Israe5l]

thank you

[Laureen73]

The first time I heard the Infinite Monkey Theory was 10 years ago... a painter that saying that if you give (film) cameras to monkeys, eventually some will end up taking good photos. If cats can paint I guess monkeys can take photos!

[KlausG4]

By the way...even Jessica Lange takes great films photos and publishes phto books...Also Jeff Bridges... and Andy Summers!!!!!! I guess shooting film is not so difficult after all!!!!!!

[KlausG4]

the Infinite Monkey Theorum: Monkeys don't go to the MoMA, nor the Metropolitan, nor Chelsea, so they don't know about Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff and others using digital photography... and each having dozens of monographs published about their work. I forgot! monkeys don't read nor go to bookstores either!!!!!

[strangefinder]

A wonderful interview. His track record and portfolio speaks for itself. Regarding his mention of the use of film and the lack of a digital masterpiece, I couldn't agree more. There's something called the Infinite Monkey Theorum; give enough monkeys digital cameras and they'll end up creating a masterpiece.  It takes skill to shoot film and a gift to create a masterpiece with it.

[royalsteven]

I think art has nothing to do with the instrument you use. But merely with how you use them and how much creativity and thought you put into them. Same with music and film. An instrument is nothing wihout someone controlling it and 'bringing it to life'.

[AdlerChalk]

@royalsteven What a nice way to put it.

[royalsteven]

Thanks :D

[miavonni]

please ! he clearly doesnt know shit ! well i take that back he is an old fashion guy and doesnt like change !!! art is art digital or film !! if he thinks he created masterpieces cuz he used film !! stupid !! foolish ! as a matter of fact the number of real good artists are alive today and alot of them are photographers ! im not a photographer im an artist with a camera ! i think some of the best photography is happening as we speak !! I love his work ! just get over ur ego man !

[gloriousdove]

It's about developing your eye, not if you use digitial or film. You still have to have a good eye and then learn to use those tools. If you study his images, you can learn about the zone system too and see how he uses those zones. It's really interesting.

[miavonni]

I totally agree he really is  a genius photographer! I jus get tired of some the ol photographers stuck in film ! hey my fave togs were back in the early 1900s!

[KlausG4]

Ralph is a master of photography, but he says he doesn't know any masters of digital photography... that is ignorance or at least being miss-informed...nevertheless I love his work.

[boeder101]

This would be a little off-topic, but you're making this a 'film vs digital' debate. I'm not hearing Ralph speak ignorantly about the new medium, but I've heard alot of digital enthusiasts speak with aversion and fear about film. It's still about what you say, not how. What does the period have to do with it? It's that artists individual message - I'm sure he doesn't care how he's seen on the timeline....

[castelao66]

Compare a nude by Michelangelo, to a nude by Picasso, or compare a figure by Raphael to a figure by Goya or by Cindy Sherman (by the way, she also has gone digital).

It is not about Gibson doing film or digital, the irony is in the aversion of some film photographers to digital. Artists or photographers working with digital do not speak with aversion, fear or ignorance about film; Gibson speaks with ignorance about digital photography .

[castelao66]

"So he doesn't do digital. It's what you SAY not HOW you say it. Mediums come and go."

This shows an ignorance of art history. How you say it, it's as much a part in the development of art as meaning. If you notice the development of art in the last 2500 years, although subject matters and intentions may sometimes stay the same(one example , the figure as a subject matter) what differentiates periods is also the HOW.

[gerryaltman]

Ralph, you have it wrong. Content is what counts not film or digital.

Gerrythetailor

[boeder101]

"....When an artist is not able to accept new advances in the medium it usually means that the artist is not keeping in touch with the avant garde of his time...."

Did you catch what he said at 6:30 about being true to yourself as an artist?

So he doesn't do digital. It's what you SAY not HOW you say it. Mediums come and go.

[castelao66]

There are many masters of digital photography...

Thomas Ruff among others...

When an artist is not able to accept new advances in the medium it usually means that the artist is not keeping in touch with the avant garde of his time.

[castelao66]

andreas gursky digitally manipulates his photos;

many of the artists working w/ photography are working digitally. Do people here go to galleries??

[royalsteven]

He's so true when he says 'I don't know any great masters of digital photography'. Although digital photography is a relevant and logical devlopment of photography it isn't near as artistic or valuebale then the old analogue photography. Photography with telephone? Please.

[commonlanguage]

A brilliant photographer, brilliant. No one anymore is doing or seeing what he does. He is a link to a style and philosophy of photography that is real and valuable. Ralph becomes more valuable as the years pass. Watch his physical reaction when he mentions Weston as an influence. Perhaps the greatest of all, he knows the debt we all have. Peace.

[newyorkernut3]

A big ego who is so into himself over the years

it gets just worse and worse ,in any event his bank account matches his ego from fools that

collect this simplistic work.

As a publisher of other greater photogs he was much better but that was the last time this ham was doing anything other than his own spiel.

If you tell people you are great some will believe you.

He really was influenced by some of the

guys and gals he published but would not

acknowledge that,even on his deathbed.

[violentauntie]

I agree with the sentiment of this comment despite being influenced by this guy when I started 20 years ago. Unfortunatly it seems to be human nature to raise a few people up way beyond their true acheivement and ignore everyone else, many of whom would produce good work (better?) given the chance. It's some kind of mass ego/fear effect...

[lomofatboy]

Great man

[theoneenlightened]

Could you explain how he is great and what he has actually accomplished. The discipline of photography will never have a master, because there is nothing to master, transcend, graduate, ... . Painting, on the other hand, does. I'm claiming to be the first and only master of the discipline of painting, who transcended the object, graduated the subject, ... . Cheers!!!