World, I have finally arrived. Oh yes, I have become very proficient in taking bad pictures. I am very able (not willing though) to take really crappy photographs. I have discovered new methods and ways of ruining good film, and along the way, wasting costly time and materials. I am able to do this, no matter the camera, film, place or occasion. That good I have become at taking bad pictures.
On a more serious note, how bad is bad? I mean, if I am to judge from a technical point of view, a bad photograph is one of the following, or a combination of any of: bad exposure, bad framing, bad processing, bad scanning. Others may have a different opinion but I stick to my list of bad. Bad can be a photograph which does not meet or exceed your own expectations of the camera, the film, the technique or of, overall, yourself.
However, if I am to disregard the technicality of a photograph (can I?), then the memory of the place, the friends surrounding you, the occasion, all these can be viewed as the meaning of that photograph. As an amateur, I take photographs to enjoy myself, and to build and archive memories of moments I once lived.
When I look at a “bad” picture I took in the past, I remember and re-live the moment, and I care less (and less) about the fact that the picture is over grainy, over this, under that, scratched or whatever. I hope this makes sense to some. Anyways, rant off. All these pictures were taken with a Minox 8×11 camera and various film and places.
