Art and the amateur photographer

Many years ago was when I first learned basic photography. It was in high school. To make a long story short, I never had the money to purchase a 35mm SLR, lenses, developing, etc. So I was away for a long time. A few years ago, as digital photo technology began to mature to a decent level (and my income was a wee bit better), I bought a 4mp digicam. It had manual capabilities so I began to experiment and re-learn all that I had forgotten. One of things I read had to with the study of art as an aid to learning good photography, especially paintings and drawings. While I understood the concept, I didn't have any practical experience with it. I'm sort of a hardhead in that I often have to experience things for myself before they sink in. I have no formal art or photography training, so nothing to root the concept with.

I had a neat experience at the beginning of the year related to all this. I made my first visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum (www.mam.org). I've made many photos of the outside of this incredible structure, but have never been on the inside. My real goal was simply to shoot photos of the building. What transpired was much more, indeed, a very special treat.

The special exhibit was called "Rembrandt and His Time", which was the first gallery we went through. It was a collection of a number of works from Rembrandt and his contemporaries. I viewed many of the paintings and drawings through my photographer's eyes. A number of things really stuck out. Most of the Dutch masters were heavily into landscapes. I saw the very elements that eventually translated over to landscape photography. Many of the paintings had dramatic skies with storms or foreboding clouds. Colors appeared slightly exaggerated in a Velvia sort of way. When people appeared, they were always doing something interesting, like pushing a cart, or children playing. They added to the scene without being a distraction.

As I walked through the permanent exhibits I looked with great interest. I walked into a room of impressionist art. Mind you, I've seen it before in books, but never in person. While much of it was interesting and even intriguing, nothing hit me like the Monet. His Waterloo Bridge painting simply blew me away. No photos on the internet or prints in books can come close to seeing this in person. It glows. It actually glows. The colors are subtle yet vibrant. The most interesting feature is the mood. It's a scene in the fog mingled with smoke from factories in London.

I can't say as yet how this will affect my photography, but I'm quite sure that it will in some way. I'm looking forward to my next visit there and I may even become a Member.