11 — Subject vs. Subject Matter
How do I make all the elements of my work fit together? A question I hear often. It has to do with website and Instagram presentation (family beside wedding work, for example) and mental organization (“what am I doing?”) Understanding subject vs. subject matter is a concrete step toward clarity. It’s a crucial distinction in the arsenal of philosophy of art which practically improves our lives.
In an Aperture essay on the work of Susan Lipper, writer Gerry Badger gives this guidance:
“The real trick—and here photography becomes immensely difficult and complex— is deciding what to photograph. And that, in essence, is a two-step process, or more accurately, a two-level process. The first step, or level, deciding upon the raw material—trees, nudes, war, raindrops on windows—represents a photographer finding her or his subject matter. It’s an important step, but not yet “job done.” The second, and much more difficult step, is to say something— something unobvious and personal—about the raw material. The two are very different entities, and a photographer’s subject may bear only the most oblique relationship to her subject matter.” Excerpt from Far from New York City: The Grapevine Work of Susan Lipper by Gerry Badger
For most of us in MEMORY CULT, the subject matter that interests us is family. Some are more interested in womanhood and motherhood. Some in childhood, birth or the transitions of parenthood. Family is a family photographers subject matter. The subject, as stated above, is that “unobvious and personal statement” about the subject matter. This takes time, honesty, community and trail and error to figure out.
Two questions to help us get there: what was the greatest loss of our lives? Often photographers unconsciously seek out a subject which fills a vacuum created by loss. The next (and more fun) question to answer: what is the greatest adventure of our lives? The thrill that we seek that gives us purpose and joy. In answering those two questions you may find the clarity of your subject appear.
“Putting it all together” whether visually or mentally happens when the subject is reflected in any chosen subject matter. If my subject is wonder, I can photograph a cloud, child, woman, camera or house and the subject will be rendered. Subjects typically choose us in a spiritual, serendipitous unfolding of creative life. Open yourself to the question and the answer will appear.
Extra credit: study 3 photographers you admire, seeking to distinguish between their subject and subject matter