Introspection

[sk66]

In another post I asked if I was alone in being "bothered" by seing "junk" in a male nude image.

There were insinuations of me being homophobic or feeling inadequate......I don't *think* so, but perhaps...In fact I would have to think there is some truth to me being marginally homophobic. Regardless of how "open/mature/secure" I want to be and think I am there is a lot of "ingraining" that occurs thru-out our lives that is hard to completely overcome.

And that is the point. to understand oneself and affect change. There are many areas of photography where this may be aplicable to you.

Why am I uncomfortable doing street photography?
Probably a lack of confidence...to overcome this I spent a couple days being very overt using my D3 and 28-70 f/2.8 and I had a great time.

Why cant I take good portraits?
Probably due to a lack of confidence and interpersonal skills..this isn't so much a problem for me being able to take good portraits and I don't lack confidence in my technical skills, but my lack of interpersonal skills means I don't "like" portrait photography so much. Something for me to work on....

Etc, etc.

The point is to understand...if you understand you can change or accept. If you accept you must understand you are accepting being limited in your photography and perhaps in your appreciation of photography and other photographers.

A lack of self introspection and change/development probably means you will only take pictures of "things"....Scenics, objects, nature, animals....all very "safe". If that's fine by you then ok, there are a lot of great photos to be taken there. If not.......

Way to open up SK66.
I appreciate your candor. Based on what you've written, I suspect this degree of candidness is a but unorthodox for you. Hence - the kudos.

There were insinuations of me being homophobic or feeling inadequate

I'm widdya on this one ----- personally, I have no interest whatsoever in looking at a naked dude. Say this one three times fast - "Personally, I don't find peckers appealing!" I believe that to be the case for a lot of people. Pork swords should remain sheathed!

Think about it - if it were completely comfortable for all there wouldn't be so many "pet names" for Mr. Happy now would there?

I could start a thread to see how many names we could come up with for John Henry, but that seems to me to be a bit immature and sophomoric. I mean who really cares how many names there are for the giggle stick?

Does every Tom, Dick, and Harry have a name for their ankle-spanker?

The proverbial purple helmet warrior, to me, is a private thing. You can call it art but I'm not about to go stand in a gallery and view "Tallywhacker at Dawn" next to the Mona Lisa or a Renoir.

Just the opinion of one dingaling to another.

Thanks for listening.

[HVACman]

@ Bakeys

Perhaps it's mostly societal conditioning. I don't really know my ancient history all that well but the ancient Greeks didn't seem to have a problem male nudity. The masculinity of their male statuary seem to me to under emphasize the appearance of their toga-trout...and over emphasize other parts of the anatomy, like the hands, for example. Or was that the Romans...?

Is it an issue of what we individually consider to be attractive and unattractive? Of course it is, homophobia aside. Sorry, I don't buy any thinking that says I may have some homophobic feelings just because I don't want to see another mans twig and berry's.

But then I suppose this is one of the purposes of true art - to get us to think about what the picture means to each of us individually, and how we feel about it.

[sk66]

This thread wasn't supposed to be about male nudity issues...

The point is that if you want your photography to improve beyond "technical skills" you have to improve yourself...You have to find where your personal weaknesses and issues are and address them...

[sk66]

Originally Posted by Bakeys

Way to open up SK66.
I appreciate your candor. Based on what you've written, I suspect this degree of candidness is a but unorthodox for you. Hence - the kudos.

Nope, I'm quite open and upfront....
perhaps too much so sometimes.

[HVACman]

Originally Posted by sk66

The point is that if you want your photography to improve beyond "technical skills" you have to improve yourself...You have to find where your personal weaknesses and issues are and address them...

I couldn't agree more.

Speaking only for myself, I know I can improve... to a point. If I were to master all the technical skills I possibly could, naturally my photo's would improve (a lot!). But it seems to me that there is an intangible aspect to photography, and that is how we each see the world around us. I think that's the difference between a very good photographer and a true master. Personally I would rather have been blessed with the eye of an artist, rather than technical skill. But alas, that was not to be.

[dandellion]

Nice thoughts. Photography can be indeed a great self-discovery tool. Thanks for bringing this up.
Now I have to go through my collection and do a bit of introspection.

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by sk66

In another post I asked if I was alone in being "bothered" by seing "junk" in a male nude image.

There were insinuations of me being homophobic or feeling inadequate......I don't *think* so, but perhaps...In fact I would have to think there is some truth to me being marginally homophobic. Regardless of how "open/mature/secure" I want to be and think I am there is a lot of "ingraining" that occurs thru-out our lives that is hard to completely overcome.

And that is the point. to understand oneself and affect change. There are many areas of photography where this may be aplicable to you.

Why am I uncomfortable doing street photography?
Probably a lack of confidence...to overcome this I spent a couple days being very overt using my D3 and 28-70 f/2.8 and I had a great time.

Why cant I take good portraits?
Probably due to a lack of confidence and interpersonal skills..this isn't so much a problem for me being able to take good portraits and I don't lack confidence in my technical skills, but my lack of interpersonal skills means I don't "like" portrait photography so much. Something for me to work on....

Etc, etc.

The point is to understand...if you understand you can change or accept. If you accept you must understand you are accepting being limited in your photography and perhaps in your appreciation of photography and other photographers.

A lack of self introspection and change/development probably means you will only take pictures of "things"....Scenics, objects, nature, animals....all very "safe". If that's fine by you then ok, there are a lot of great photos to be taken there. If not.......

I am kind of in the same boat, but opposite. I want to get more in to portraiture, and street style stuff, but being a severe introvert is kind of hindering. Some people can get past it by being behind the camera, but it just makes it worse for me. There are many shots I have missed because of this fear, but it is getting better. I have had to really think about where this fear is coming from, and constantly remind myself that being embarassed sometimes will not kill me.

[daft_biker]

Originally Posted by sk66

There were insinuations of me being homophobic .......

Were there insinuations of you being normal too?

There are few things that cause me to call for SWMBO to change channel on TV but one of them is men kissing. I don't mind paying extra for the channel with women kissing on it though

[andrewdt]

I hoestly haven't taken the time to even analyse what type of photography I do and don't like (and what I am good at or not). In fact this is my photography problem - I do not give it the time it deserves, and when I set aside time I have not prepped and I feel totally uninspired etc... viscious circle developing.