NYT Op/Ed
As a photographer (writing is like this annoying thing I do), I am fascinated to read about what a curator actually kinda does. I am compelled to wonder about the connections and disconnections between the artist and the gatekeeper.
The NYT usually axes me off when I say gatekeeper. Why is it you people cannot call a term the term. Antediluvian. The gap between archivist and the artist is real. It's bad for art. It's bad for everyone. The operant problem is articulated: "It stilled my mind." As a photographer attempting to survive, I would cut off my left leg to have time to be still and time to think. This exists in a dreamworld.
What I see is not what a curator sees. I see people giving up on the cameras we are sold. Even phone cameras are too big and bulky. The camera I now use is as big as a matchbox. I know how to hide the thing, too. The point is, where are the trends. Where is photography going. How can we photograph the difference between what the curator feels pulled toward, and what I want to shoot.
I shoot stories. It's complicated and it isn't complicated. I shoot people in public places who have no idea they are being photographed and I do not care what they know or do not know. Shooting inside museums is not unlike attending a funeral. I am one person. One take. There are no moments that are the perfect moment. It's solitary which is why an autistic like me can grab that moment and wring it dry. I still don't know what a curator does. You did half your job. Great piece. But educate me, please.