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Comment by florabuzzword | Hacker News Reader

Well put. Everything you said and a little bit of elaboration on art...

One of the best parts of photography is the speed at which you can have a conversation with your own visual system, refining it in the process.

Understanding art can be thought of as getting bored and finding something new, which is no longer boring, and repeat. Eventually you find yourself bored by almost everything, but with an intense passion for succinct relatable expression. This is often mistaken for pretension, and many do skip the process altogether; most unfortunately, even people calling themselves artists do so.

My point is all these composition rules are great; it’s invaluable stuff. But, you will get bored of them, and that is the beautiful part.

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I wouldn't say "get bored of them", so much as sublimate them so you no longer think consciously about them. And you learn that it's not "following the rules of composition will make great photos", so much as "most great photos follow the rules of composition".

Composition is also about tension/resolution, much like music. You can increase tension, but that doesn't mean you're actually breaking rules.

Fair. I want to add that when I talk about “getting bored” of them, I personally do this in a childish and unrefined way on a regular basis. So I don’t want to sound like I necessarily mean progressing beyond them. A childish rebel instinct can result in boredom all the same. Paired with curiosity, it’s granted me with an accumulation of experiences in exploraing the visual world. The rules are wonderful but breaking them is what gives me resilience as an artist. It’s why I can fall from great heights, lose access to a medium, and overcome jealousy. I can always recall my own fluidly evolving set of rules. Don’t get me wrong; praise is really important, but the confidence in child’s play has over time fostered a relationship with my eyes that I only know to call love; certainly the closest thing to freedom I’ve ever known. I wish I were exaggerating because I sound like an absolute dork.

At the end of the day, I am actually a rigid rule follower in my output. Most of the rule-breaking takes place in my imagination. I find myself giggling to myself on film sets regularly, for example. Or at bus stops for that matter. This is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

Or as Charlie Parker allegedly said, "Learn the changes [harmonic structure], then forget them."

Taking interesting photographs is much harder than taking well composed photographs. For that you need to refine your visual pallette and explore for good and interesting subjects, and find interesting ways to capture them. There are countless well composed shots of the Eiffel Tower, some are probably even accidental. So it does become hard to give much weight to composition, unless it is bad.

I really like your boredom thesis. I'd always heard something along the lines of

"Whereas an accomplished jazz musician knows the rules, a master knows when to break them."

Which doesn't capture artistic intention, motivation like your notion of boredom, and the implied seeking of novelty, until that too gets boring.

I am so glad you mention this!

I always heard that as well. Cinematographers love this phrase, but I totally agree. That saying leaves the concept less than dependent on personal experience. I still don’t understand why, but the purest of expressions seem to come as side effects of the engagement process; not as rewards for accomplishments. So, one must engage and be honest as they can with the act itself, which isn’t to say one must suffer, but just aim to be in touch with their own experience with the medium. I will admit I personally suffer, but it’s not helpful.

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