di Sergio Mauri

I love Substack as well as I love Medium and other platforms that make possible for people writing and, by the way, earning some money. I focused on photography newsletters on Substack. Photography for me is a very interesting and creative field and it is much more interesting and creative when people write about photography. People, in the case of writing, express themselves in their best ways. So, let’s see photography on one particular topic.

How much fetishism do we have in photography? And does it belong to photography? A lot! Why taking pictures so often, compulsively, nearly hoping it can be useful for somebody? And explaining why you are doing so and so on, so on, so on. There’s no rational reasons, except for yourself. It’s a little selfish, you know, and hypocritical you tell people you’re doing a service for them when it’s definitely for yourself. On the other side what do we have? We have people who want to see some images, show a voyeur profile, need to be gratified by them, people who think what they see and read is exclusive. And of course it is. But, you know, there’s something fancy, because only paid and private posts adding something really new, valuable and really on the point, can be defined as exclusive.

Anyway, both sides meet at this level.

Now let’s go back to fetishism. It’s in the idea of the special, unique, unrepeatable shot which is the result of your research, when you look around your eyes in a world that your point of view matters (and matters a lot). It’s the certification that the things you see are seen in that way solely by you; you have a peculiar glance which is just yours. Subjectivity matters, objectivity depends on it. Subjectivity is everything, from your thought to the world in front of you.

Someone could say, at this point: I take pictures just because there’s a world, I want discover, which is out there, and is far from my subject. The outside world is truly existing, it is not a product of my mind, it’s indipendent from me. Ok, it’s a way to see reality and life.

Choose what’s the best for you.