Aleksandra Galert's Blog: I'm thinking about... - Posts Tagged "math"

In my photography school, I have a colleague, who is trying to find a formula for everything: in such cases use this lens, for such pictures use this aperture, for those choose longer shutter speed and for editing these use Photoshop, but for others Lightroom. The problem is, in photography, as in any art, there’s no formula. You just have to get to know some rules and then use your brain, heart and experience, to create pictures that express yourself. Nobody can tell you exactly what you should do and this is the hardest part of it, but also the best one. That is why art creations are a never ending story, as there are endless ways to paint, write or take pictures. Even if it seems there are only a few technics to use.

This example made me think, that with life, it’s exactly the same. Nobody can tell us what we should or should not do, because they are not in our shoes. Like in the art you create your own style by trying and loosing, in life it’s exactly the same: you find yourself this way. That is why trying to copy somebody else’s life usually ends up as failure, because everybody’s different, and that is what is so beautiful.

William Shakespeare said: “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” Another quote I read lately, this time of Audrey Hepburn is this: "I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped. Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it." Comparing those two quotes of such famous people I come to conclusion that maybe sometimes we fail, because we just want too much. Has it ever happened to you that you wanted something so badly and it was never coming, but when you eventually stopped thinking about it, it came true very soon? I think in our busy lives, we should create a balance between our hard work and race for success, and just keeping calm and being happy. Time will show what comes out of this formula.

There are songs that for a period of time you can hear on the radio over and over again. Few days ago, I was sitting with my friends when we heard the latest music hit for the x time. This was the starting point of our discussion. I don’t know if you’re aware of the fact of how much research is done on the popular songs. You think they just come out straight from the artist’s heart? Maybe some of them do. But the music business is the money business. So before spending a lot on recording, music video and promotion the agents have to be sure they’ll earn their revenue. Everything is carefully checked: which rhythms had the hits from the last years, what were the songs about etc, etc.

You may feel confused and disappointed. How can that be? You might even feel cheated. You might be wondering if the same thing is happening with other modern artists: painters, photographers, designers and so on. But let’s try to be reasonable for a moment…

If you look carefully at the history of art, you’ll find out that most of the biggest and most famous works were not created just as the result of artists’ inspirations. They were ordered by rich clients, like cardinals, kings, aristocracy, who wanted to get a particular result. Of course, the artist was adding its style to it, but they also had to eat, so they were fulfilling the clients’ needs, and so that their artistic taste.

Is that so different from the current situation? Aren’t we the clients not even knowing that we ordered a piece of music until we get it? Our delusions about creating art can get harmed now, but until we like what we get is it so important whether the inspiration came from the morning coffee or the scientific research? Probably in a few centuries people will still be watching/listening with astonishment some of the pieces created now, not caring much for the source. So let’s just enjoy the art as it is.