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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2008-06-17
Gray Matters: Group Dynamics
Jim Merithew enjoyed the people watching at the Festival of the Photograph.
By Jim Merithew, Wired News
Photo by Heidi Huber
Jim Merithew enjoyed the people watching at the Festival of the Photograph.
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So I am just winding down from my weekend at the Festival of the Photograph (http://www.look3.org) and I just wanted to share a few observations with you.
If you missed the Festival or never heard of it I hope by this time next year you will have rectified this situation because the Festival is well worth the trip to beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia.
Although, I loved seeing all the great photography and also enjoyed ripping on the photography I found uninteresting or just plain confusing, what I really loved about my time in Virginia was observing the people and watching the group dynamics.
From what I observed there definitely is a caste system operating in our photo community. It seems that there are the cool kids and then there is everyone else.
It was fascinating to see it in action. You have a handful of famous photographers wandering around the streets of Charlottesville for three days with several hundred well-intentioned lesser-known photographers all trying to get just a brief moment of face-time with the talent.
Eugene Richards has said that these events and the attention they bring are difficult for him because he prefers to be behind the camera. But, it was a delight to see him sitting with everyone else, snuggled up next to his wife in the grass, watching the final night's show.
And so with the spotlight shining brightly, the stars were drawn together, partially because the top of the community is small, partially because they have shared experiences and partially because we, the fans, can be a little annoying with all of our silly questions and freaky staring, drooling and awkwardness.
Author's note: this is where I name drop, so if you can't stand this sort of thing you should skip to the bottom.
Having seen the caste system on full display I have to say that almost to a person if you get your brief moment in the sunshine that is celebrity it is usually a pretty great experience.
I had the pleasure of catching a ride to the show with Sadie Quarrier, a Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic, and the unbelievable sweet and talented Penny De Los Santos. Quarrier has an intimidating title, but you couldn't find a more thoughtful, intelligent and down to earth person if you tried and what a set of teeth.
Photo by Sol Neelman
Penny De Los Santos, left, and Sadie Quarrier (Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic) hang out at The Festival of the Photograph.
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Even after all those years at the Geographic she is still a huge fan of photography. Talking with her and others I had to take at look at my own cynical attitude toward photography.
I also had the pleasure of bumping into the famous Scott Strazzante at a party one night. This guy is a complete class act. Watching him in action, you can completely understand why people let him into their lives. If my life ever became news, I would consider letting him take my photograph. He is so nice and unbelievably talented... I hate him.
I hung out at a house party thrown by none other than David Alan Harvey. At one point he came out on the front lawn and I awkwardly blurted "David, thanks for the party". Not my finest moment, but David was enough of a class act to come over and chat with my friends and I.
I had beers with Aurora's Andrew Cutratro. I haven't seen Andy in over 10 years and he is as "real" as the day I met him, even though his stuff was showing on the big screen.
On the final night I stood and watched Maggie Steber smile, chat, and hug her way through admirer after admirer after admirer. She just stood there smiling, giving whatever was asked of her.
I guess in the end what I realized was I will probably never be a member of the cool kids club and that is OK with me. I have a great group of friends whose work and friendship inspires me and that makes me feel pretty cool.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and the author alone. They do not represent the views of his employer, co-workers, friends or family.
(Jim Merithew is a picture editor at Wired News. Jim invites you to direct your questions and comments about this column and other issues involving photojournalism ethics to him through his member page: http://www.sportsshooter.com/merithew.)
Related Links:
Merithew's member page
Festival of the Photograph
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