PhotoNOLA: Six Shooters - Tidbits

Jane Fulton-Alt's photo from the "Burn" series

Last nights PhotoNOLA Six Shooters event was as huge success. Here are a few of my deciphered notes which include some heady tidbits of dialogue from the panelists, moderator and audience.

• New Orleans is a place of transformation, its part of the culture to reinvent yourself visually
• A photo is successful when you step back and look at your photograph and see your own value in it
• To be a successful photographer today , must you also be an editor, marketer, writer, web-designer, curator, etc?
• Photo as object not image
• New Orleans is a place overrun with similar interpretations, it deadens us to the place, can new beauty still be found here?

Obviously since I wrote down these quotes they resonated with me for some reason. The second bullet made me think a lot about my work, because at this point with the proliferation of images I've been capturing and displaying I wonder which have any real value? Who will determine that value if I don't at first? What am I shooting? Why am I shooting?

The last bullet has made me think about shots taken in NO, Im going to re-examine some of my overlooked shots of New Orleans now actually to see if any strike me. I know none of them truly capture the 'spirit' of New Orleans, but I know I have some beautiful shots somewhere.

Those of you living in NO, should definitely check out our next Six Shooters probably being scheduled in April some time, there was a great vibe at last nights event and the crowd kicked ass. Checking out the Seth Resnick Lecture tonight at Tulane's Freeman Auditorium at 6:30.

Comments welcomed as always.