Dr. Zubkov

Photography is a relatively new form of art, born barely a century ago. To me, photography is ever so fascinating because everyone can take a picture, but so few people can make a piece of art. Edward Weston once said, “The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh” and indeed, I have seen photographers take everyday mundane items off their desks and turning them into art, such as Andrei Belkov’s Paper Moods #5 (2008) and I have seen photographers travel the world many times over to find rare subjects from unreachable places, living worlds aparts from the viewers – just look at Peter Gasser and his Namibian photos, for a example. I have seen photographers build elaborate nighmarish sets (check out Joshua Hoffine) and I have seen them take one picture of a single nude person and make it art. I am not educated enough to meaningfully discuss the fine points of contrast and color, composition and lighting, aperture and exposition, but I certainly can see impressive subjects in photography. The classic photographer I want to highlight here is the controversial photojournalist Diane Arbus, known for capturing images of freaks, midgets, prostitutes, circus performers and asylum inmates, painted by the critics as anything from mad genius to crass exploiter. Her famous photograph, “Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park” may not be so extreme, but it succeeds in making the people pause and think. What is that boy thinking? Is he ready to kill, or is he simply annoyed that the picture is taking so long?