Photographic Significance—What does it look like?

John White talks to the new class of IMPACT 360 in Pine Mountain, GA

If you are like me you want to create a body of work that makes a difference to the world.  You want to have images that move people in some way.

The danger of pursuing this carrot in life is how you define what significant work looks like.

There are a few people who I admire their body of work.  Eugene Smith the father of the modern photo story is at the top of the list.  Who wouldn’t want photos like he did of: The Country Doctor; the victims of industrial pollution in Minamata; a nurse-midwife in South Carolina; or his coverage of Dr. Albert Schweitzer?  Henri Cartier-Bresson is another photographer who was know for capturing the “Decisive Moment” in one image where the fleeting moment captured qualities making them iconic in human history.

Dr. John Basie talks to the students of IMPACT 360

I wrote about Lewis Hine in an earlier blog post here.  His body of work helped congress change the child labor laws—that is impressive and significant.

Is this how you measure what is significant?  Maybe there is another way to measure your significance.

Maybe today when you make a portrait of a person the family will treasure forever—that could be really significant. Knolan Benfield, my uncle, made a portrait of a man that was very significant.  The older gentleman came in for a portrait session and didn’t tell him that he was dying of cancer.  The family later let Knolan know that he had died and they really treasured the photo, because it captured him so well.

You can see the impact already of the professor on these students

While you may still be concentrating on the images you capture, maybe you need to realize you maybe touching people’s lives in just being with them today.  It was your camera that introduced you to them, but your smile, handshake and you taking the time just to listen to them turned their life around.  Maybe they were quite depressed and feeling insignificant. 

I want my images to be significant and all I can do is doing my very best and critique my work and the next time do something that makes it even better.  However, I am not able to make my photos significant, because it is the audience that will determine that part.

One thing I am starting to learn more and more each day is that people I meet need me to be present with them.  I need to live in the moment and not the past nor the future.  In doing this then they have my full attention.  Being significant is learning to be present with those you are with right now.  By the way I have a personal confession to make—I really stink at this. The closer I am with someone the more difficult it is.  I do a better job with strangers.  I want to do a better job and struggle with this. 

Think about it for a moment—who has touched your life the most?  If you are like most folks you will mention a parent, teacher or someone who just took some interest in you.  Most of us will not mention a rock star, a celebrity, a political leader, and a religious person like Ghandi, Martin Luther King, or a famous photographer.  We will mention someone who was present with us and treated us with honor, dignity and respect. 

Trudy White takes a moment to get to know one of the new students and ask how he is doing.  Can you see the significance of this moment on both of them?

Be careful what you pursue, because you may just get it and miss the best part of life.