On Sharing Secrets
I want to approach this topic delicately and acknowledge that there are many different views on this point which I find to be valid and respectable. I’ve listened to and participated in a few debates about the issue of sharing editing techniques, and I usually find that in the end it boils down to one’s personal perspective on the subject. Editing is a skill that many people still find to be elusive. It takes patience and practice and even after all those hours of time put in, it is difficult to come out the other side with anything that resembles a style. Let me place myself in this context here, on flickr and in terms of editing, because I will find it easier to write this if I acknowledge where I stand in this. First, I am a part of flickr. This automatically makes my work subject to editing critique and questioning. Second, I have partially built my reputation (whatever reputation that is…it is hard to see things subjectively) on my editing technique as much as my concepts and photographic skills (though many people will argue about ‘photographic skills’). Third, I receive emails asking how I edit my photos, so I am assuming here that someone is interested in hearing about it.
Fortunately or unfortunately, whichever side you may be on, the photographic world is moving further and further into a digital dependency. It goes further back than computer editing, though, and can in fact be sent back to darkroom techniques and styles. Though my knowledge in this genre is limited, I am aware that there are several things you can do to film to “edit” it in the processing stage, such as pushing or pulling the film. Flickr is a special place because it brings all kinds of photographers together who are in different stages of development and allows us to communicate and share with one another. One benefit of that for some people is picking up tricks along the way, especially in the editing of photos. In my experience, Flickr is heavily made up of photos that are digitally processed, though the infamous, and usually very proud, “SOOC” photos do pop up from time to time.
I want to raise a question here of etiquette when it comes to sharing secrets about editing technique. I think that the forum in which we are sharing our photos is one that allows and encourages the sharing of secrets. It is a very personal community despite the size of it, a place where I and many others have made lasting friendships and creative partners. Because of the personal nature of the site, it is easy to feel like you know someone. But does this “flickr friendship” mean that it is okay to ask how other people edit their photos? I say yes, ask away, there is no harm in asking. The problem for me arises when people demand to know something, as though it is their right to know simply because we are both on flickr and they took the time to write. This is the part where I do not want to step on any toes.
I get emails, as I am sure countless other people do as well, asking how I edit my photos. Sometimes the questions are specific (i.e.: how do you get your hair to stand up?), while other times they are very vague (i.e.: how can I edit my images like yours?). I will reply to all messages, sometimes with a straight answer and sometimes with a vague answer, it all depends on the posing of the question and my comfort level with sharing the secret.
I find that this is a question of personal artist taste, and I am not one to give up my own secrets. Perhaps I will be criticized for that, but I often compare a photographer/editor to a magician. People do not often ask a magician how they did their trick, and if one does ask, they certainly cannot expect to get a response. How many magicians do you know that willingly go around explaining their tricks to everyone who asks? My editing techniques are no where near as elusive as a magician’s tricks, but the analogy works here. I have spent an enourmous amount of hours working on my personal craft, and it feels like I am letting go of a very personal secret when I share how I did something. I am more than willing to share techniques if I have learned it from a tutorial or something similar, but when I spend hours and hours of thought and editing on something just to figure out the principal behind it, I hate to give that away so easily.
Now here I ask myself a question: am I just a mean person? Shouldn’t we all be working to help each other and grow? Wouldn’t I want someone to teach me how to do something if I didn’t know? My answers to these questions are all two-fold. Am I mean? Partially? Should we help each other grow? Absolutely. I do want to help people where I can, which is why I divulge certain aspects of my editing. How do I get the aged look? Textures. How do I make my hair stand up? Copying and pasting another photo onto the main one. How do I edit my photos? I am not about to begin that long email, to anyone! I also do not go into depth on things as well. If I wanted to teach everyone exacly how to replicate my photos, I would only be hurting myself. We all try so hard to be different and to create something unique, and my perspective on sharing secrets is that we have to protect what makes us special. I protect my secrets partially, and partially not. I am willing to tell you that I use textures, and that I copy and paste my hair, but I am not willing to tell you all of the details that go into that. I think that giving a start point is really all that someone should need to build from there. It is often the overall concept that is hard to grasp, not the details. The details are what makes the editing on process unique.
An example that I would like to bring up here, and I’ll use this space for a shameless plug to her book, is Miss Aniela and her newest release. I received her “Multiplicity” book (a very worthy visual read, I must say) as a holiday gift and one of the sections of the book that is probably prominent in making sales is the coveted “How To” section of the book. It goes into detail about how she creates her clone images and even some detail about her post processing techniques beyond perfecting the clone. In this context, I think that her decision to include this section of the book was a very intelligent business decision. I might buy that book solely to catch a glimpse of how she creates her elusive images! Some would argue that this is entirely the smart thing to do, because even if she shares her secrets on how she edits her photos, no one can be exactly like Miss Aniela. This I am not so sure about, as I think there are people out there who can emulate any style, and who have the concepts to back that up.
I want to approach this topic delicately and acknowledge that there are many different views on this point which I find to be valid and respectable. I’ve listened to and participated in a few debates about the issue of sharing editing techniques, and I usually find that in the end it boils down to one’s personal perspective on the subject. Editing is a skill that many people find to be elusive. It takes patience and practice and even after all those hours of time put in, it is difficult to come out the other side with anything that resembles a style. Let me place myself in this context here. First, I am a part of flickr. This automatically makes my work subject to editing critique and questioning. Second, my photography is based on my editing technique as much as my concepts and photographic skills (though many people will argue about my ‘photographic skills’). Third, I receive emails asking how I edit my photos, so I am assuming here that someone is interested in hearing about it.
Fortunately or unfortunately, whichever side you may be on, the photographic world is moving further and further into a digital dependency. It goes further back than computer editing, though, and can in fact be tethered to darkroom techniques and styles. Though my knowledge in this genre is limited, I am aware that there are several things you can do to film to “edit” it in the processing stage. Flickr is a special place because it brings all kinds of photographers together who are in different stages of development and allows us to communicate and share with one another. One benefit of that for some people is picking up tricks along the way, especially in the editing of photos. In my experience, Flickr is heavily made up of photos that are digitally processed, though the infamous, and usually very proud, “SOOC” photos do pop up from time to time.
I want to raise a question here of etiquette when it comes to sharing secrets about editing technique. I think that the forum in which we are sharing our photos is one that allows and encourages the sharing of secrets. It is a very personal community despite the size of it, a place where I and many others have made lasting friendships and creative partners. Because of the personal nature of the site, it is easy to feel like you know someone. But does this “flickr friendship” mean that it is okay to ask how other people edit their photos? I say yes, ask away, there is no harm in asking. The problem for me arises when people demand to know something, as though it is their right to know simply because we are both on flickr and they took the time to write. This is the part where I do not want to step on any toes.
I get emails, as I am sure countless other people do as well, asking how I edit my photos. Sometimes the questions are specific (i.e.: how do you get your hair to stand up?), while other times they are very vague (i.e.: how can I edit my images like yours?). I will reply to all messages, sometimes with a straight answer and sometimes with a vague answer, it all depends on the posing of the question and my comfort level with sharing the secret.
I find that this is a question of personal artist taste, and I am not one to give up my own secrets. Perhaps I will be criticized for that, but I often compare a photographer/editor to a magician. People do not often ask a magician how they did their trick, and if one does ask, they certainly cannot expect to get a response. How many magicians do you know that willingly go around explaining their tricks to everyone who asks? My editing techniques are no where near as elusive as a magician’s tricks, but the analogy works here. I have spent an enourmous amount of hours working on my personal craft, and it feels like I am letting go of a very personal secret when I share how I did something. I am more than willing to share techniques if I have learned it from a tutorial or something similar, but when I spend hours and hours of thought and editing on something just to figure out the principal behind it, I hate to give that away so easily.
Now here I ask myself a question: am I just a mean person? Shouldn’t we all be working to help each other and grow? Wouldn’t I want someone to teach me how to do something if I didn’t know? My answers to these questions are all two-fold. Am I mean? Partially? Should we help each other grow? Absolutely. I do want to help people where I can, which is why I divulge certain aspects of my editing. How do I get the aged look? Textures. How do I make my hair stand up? Copying and pasting another photo onto the main one. How do I edit my photos? I am not about to begin that long email, to anyone! If I wanted to teach everyone exacly how to replicate my photos, I would only be hurting myself. We all try so hard to be different and to create something unique, and my perspective on sharing secrets is that we have to protect what makes us special. I protect my secrets partially, and partially not. I am willing to tell you that I use textures, and that I copy and paste my hair, but I am not willing to tell you all of the details that go into that. I think that giving a starting point is really all that someone should need to build from there. It is often the overall concept that is hard to grasp, not the details. The details are what make the editing on process unique.
To what extent should we all help each other with the craft of image-making? I know that I have my firm beliefs on the subject, which is not to say that they won’t change one day, but for now they are solid. What are your thoughts?
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I get emails every now and then asking about my color editing techniques (I don’t do as much photomanipulation as I used to so I don’t get a lot of questions there). My personal policy is that of most packaged foods: I give the ingredients but not the recipe. For example, when asked I might say something like, \I use the high-pass tool and channel mixer\ but don’t divulge the formulas for either. I don’t feel comfortable with straight up saying \No, I won’t tell you that,\ so I’ll throw them a little bone. Besides, it’s not like I’m a revolutionary when it comes to editing, I just have my methods. I just hope I can help them find their own!
I agree that it is up to the artist to decide how much to share of their process. It is true that there is no harm in asking (although I think there can be harm in the *manner* of asking). Also, the person asking should not have any expectations as to the response. It doesn’t make you mean that you don’t want to share certain secrets. People should not arrive at that conclusion…
I think the internet breeds this to a certain extent. People feel okay sending an email to ask this type of personal question when they would not ask it if they were standing with the artist at a gallery and admiring a piece of their work.
It is an interesting topic. I am glad you raised it!
First of all, I really admire your work. I think it’s some of the best I’ve seen on flickr.
I think you are correct in your stance/feelings about sharing secrets, as far as it goes.
I think, however, that you are under no obligation to share or help anyone. You do enough by sharing the results. I think that’s true for anyone. Now: if you feel like providing tutorial, or responding to requests for details, that’s great, do it as much as you like, but it’s not an obligation.
I also think that in the end, it’s not about secrets. The things you do are not ‘tricks’ that once learned, would allow others to copy and dilute your work. What you are doing is creating art, in a way that expresses your vision. Further, it’s time consuming hard work. Nobody can really rip that off (unless they also have a vision and put in the hard work, and if they were in that place, they wouldn’t want to rip you off anyway).
To extend to your analogy: in truth: most magician’s ‘tricks’ are actually a ton of work. I’ve studied and known a few, and I’ve asked and gotten answers about how tricks are done, and usually, the crux of any magic trick is a ton of work. the basis for most good tricks is that you set up in the audience member’s mind a state of: ‘there’s no way he’d do “X”‘. i.e. ‘there’s no way he’d set a hundred dollar bill on fire.’ or ‘there’s no way he’d actually track down my home address’ or ‘there’s no way he’d have a tie exactly like mine (that he just cut in half).’ and I have to suspect, having seen the results, that this is really what makes your images so compelling. Not the ‘tricks’ but rather the care and attention and time and vision and all those other things that you put into them. so really, you have nothing to fear by losing your secrets, other than the waste of time to explain them to others.
I think you do the right thing to get people started, and certainly don’t need to do more. in fact: just like with a magician, too much explanation can lessen the experience for the audience.
Interesting post Brooke. I totally understand your stance and I personally don’t share my secrets for the selfish reason that it would take too long to explain. However, I am not opposed to telling anyone any secret at all. I don’t even consider it a secret. Is it a secret how one paints or draws ? No. You could tell someone every editing secret you have but they would never make work like yours unless you did it for them. Its too personal and your ‘hand’ is all over it. There is no need to fear that your work won’t be special anymore if others know how to do it too. It is TOO special for that. However, it is not your job to be a teacher ! :)
I agree very much so that it would be impossible for other artists to replicate what I am doing exactly, but on the other hand I am someone who can look at a before/after only and gather many of the ingredients to replicate the image…so perhaps on one hand it is fear that someone else will do the same…but on the other hand I simply hate seeing HOW someone created a piece of art because I want to see it for what it is – the final product, not how they created the final product. Something, to me, is really lost when I know a process, and I don’t want that to happen to my own photos.
Thanks for the responses, really great to hear them!!
Oh, I totally agree, if the mystery is gone, something is definitely lost ! I really love just seeing the final piece as a whole, I would never want a broken down version of your pieces ! :)
I have to say Brooke that each time I read your blog it’s like I’m reading a conversation with myself…Thank you for putting your opinions out there so eloquently.
The whole point of art for me ..be it photography,drawing or painting, is trial and error ..without figuring it out for yourself there is no blood sweat and love put into it.
Running other peoples actions and copying straight from tutorials is all well and good for the initial learning process but if you continue using each step without without understanding why you’re doing it you cannot claim that image as your own original work.
Sorry that statement just relates to how i feel about my own work I in no way mean to offend anyone.The joy of it all for me is watching how the image unfolds.I love figuring it out for myself and delight when I rise to that challenge and create something that I didn’t realise I had in me!
Fact is you can’t share each step with people anyway as it is something that is personal and unique to you.
I recently taught a class on drawing portraits and had to put into words how I draw…which I found next to impossible.Unfortunately “look at the picture, then draw it!” is not a suitable lesson plan.
Anyway sorry for all the rambling I guess what I am trying to say is your art is inherent to you and it wouldn’t matter if you shared every minute detail of your process with someone, their work wouldn’t have the emotion, blood , sweat and love behind it.
@Hazel – I very much agree. I was recently asked to come give a lecture about my work, and they mentioned it would be great if I talked about how I create my images in post processing. That to me is an odd request, because I first wouldn’t know how to put those hundreds of steps into words, and I also don’t think it is appropriate to ask an artist to come speak to a group of people just to tell how they did something. So I hear you when you say it was hard putting into a lesson plan. Well said, thanks for the comment.
I think you are taking the correct approach for you. Share what you feel comfortable with. I don’t think it is mean to withhold some secrets.
However, i will say this. Even if you sat me down for a week with personal tuition, I may be able to re-create the look and feel of your art – but in no way would I be able to re-create your artistry. For me, that is the most important part of your work. The thought and emotion and plain genius that goes into each image is very much yours alone.
I think digital photography hasn’t gained the respect it deserves just yet..that request would never be made of a painter, etc. as people believe that such talents cannot be replicated by a simple tutorial.
yet people will continue to have such a blase attitude towards digital photography until they open a file in photoshop and realise that there are no post processing elves that dance around your screen burning and dodging all the while singing their little hearts out.
the attitude of “oh, your camera takes such great photos” will always be there amongst those who know no better…
and to be honest I’ve given up trying to explain otherwise.
I prefer to get on with it, while they will never understand or care to know the amount of hours work I put into one image the only thing worse than their ignorance of the subject is watching their eyes glaze over as I try to explain it. :)
Brooke,
I respect your thoughts on the matter, but I’m not sure if I fully agree. On the one hand, the idea of teaching other people to create “art” is a great idea. Who knows? They may turn around an produce something that inspires you.
That being said, as someone who has no secrets to share, it is easy for me to say that. Your art has a particular signature — for someone else to copy that would lesson it. I remember hearing that Paul Simon used to let his sheet music out there, but he would purposely let out certain notes that he plays to keep it different. Maybe we share the secrets that help others grow, but keep the secrets that stand as our signature.
Certainly, I agree that it is the individual’s choice. I’m a little appalled at people demanding to know anything.
I openly share how I process pictures and my reasoning is this ~ someone could sit down with Picasso and he could show that person exactly what he did – how he mixed the colors – which brushes he used – what type of canvas – how he laid down the strokes – his reason for each decision – and that person could walk away and try and replicate it, but wouldn’t be able to. The person might get close to a Picasso-esque style, but would not be able to think like Picasso, or make the same decisions as him.
If what you are creating truly is art, then it’s unique to you. People could try and cultivate a Brooke Shaden style but all that does is make the original look so much better :)
You should believe that you’re more than your “secrets”, because those are extremely hard to hold onto, and art is much more than just elements stitched together ~ it’s the creativity of one individual captured in a format others can see, and in the end no one can replicate that.
As I see this tricky issue, I agree with you, Brooke. Personally, I’ve been wandering around Flickr for a while, admiring other people’s pictures and wondering myself how do they do that. But I’ve never asked anyone how to do the same, I only try to find the answer by myself thinking a lot and testing my theories with PS. I must admit that I haven’t even reached a level in which I’m enough satisfied (and I’m very aware of that maybe, I will have this feeling for a long time, because I might want to learn more and more one day after another).
To carry on, I have to say that I’ve had the same feeling as you lots of times. When you have reached your goals, when you have put sweat and blood on your picture, giving it up it’s not so easy.
The more you work to achieve your goals, the less you want to reveal your secrets. As you said, it’s like asking a magician how to reveal his tricks.
I try to use Flickr as a tool for learning, not only to learn editing but also to stare at other people’s work and to decide more or less if I like doing this or not. Putting it in a nutshell, to develop myself by comparing techniques, styles, and new textures.
Everybody has to have an influence in his own works -influence from a person, from a picture, from past experiences, etc.- and that’s not bad. But if your intentions are to try to copy someone, that’s different.
To conclude, I’ll say that maybe it is good to teach your skills to someone else, but only if you are a paid photography teacher. Other way, you will hurt yourself and this person won’t try to fin out by him/herself.
I have appreciated your work for a few months now and look forward to each new posting. To add an older persons point of view (and I hope I do not offend); Coke did not manage to become as large as it is and employ as many people as they do by telling everyone how to make it and what ingredients are in the drink. The formula (your concept), the ingredients (your creativity), and the production process (how you use the camera, photoshop etc) are your trade secrets. Therefore, you are not a mean person for limiting what you share, you are just protecting your business.
i, for one, think your work is spectacular….so much so that i posted about it & linked to you just yesterday!
Great discussion. I hardly ever ask how something is done, even though I am often very curious. Even people who I have met in person and are facebook friends (a level, I think, above flickr friend) have just plain ignored requests or comments I have made that sound like I am asking a question on how they did something. I would much prefer that they tell me that they would rather not say, than ignore the question altogether.
I love it when someone asks me how I did something. It validates my work (haha, “work”). I understand when people prefer not to, but I enjoy when people ask and I tell them freely. People who have done the same to me have turned out to help me greatly advance my OWN WAY of doing something similar–they basically helped me get things rolling.
BTW, a while ago you linked to some free textures on flickr. How do you use them since they are at such a small size?
Love your stuff. I have you bookmarked.
@Eric – It is an interesting debate, whether or not to share secrets. I actually love doing it, I love the opportunity to share things with people, sometimes I think I should have become a teacher. But I also think there is a time and place for that. I am going to be teaching workshops soon and will certainly be sharing secrets in that environment, but simply leaving them out there on the web only feels detrimental to myself. About the textures, I simply stretch them – I know it sounds like a bad idea but I have printed at 40X40 inches with no problems, oddly enough. If they did create a problem I would stop using them, and if that day comes I’ll come back here to link to a new set of textures :)
I guess I’m on the other end – I’m one of the people trying to figure out the secrets. :)
but I think there are different type of curiosity in people. Some people want to know the secrets just to imitate them, and after awhile a lot of the magic disappears. I can feel that way with polaroids sometimes. Even though I really enjoy polaroid photos, I think much of the love I have for them is in the format itself, the look of it, and a lot of the magic happens when the format fuses together with the personality (the “style”) of the photographer. With all the iphone apps that exist now, the format is easily recreated, and the secrets are exposed, and used dispassionately, losing it’s magic.
I’m writing a book, and I would like to combine it with photography. Not really as an accompanying illustration, but more of an amalgamation or merging with the words. I have sort of a vision or a sense in my head how I want the pictures to feel, and a lot my experimentation is trying to get closer towards that vision. I guess, that’s the other type of curiosity – for example, when I saw your underwater pictures, I was thinking that I want to learn that technique, not because I want to imitate it, but because I wonder how it will look like trough my eyes, how I can use that technique trough my vision, where that will take me, where my creativity will lead me from there.
When talking to people about secrets, I feel this is how I decide what to tell – whether I feel the person is going to imitate, or be inspired. The ones wanting to do an imitation probably would want the whole formula, but the ones wanting to use the knowledge as a spring board is more than satisfied with seeing a picture of you holding a camera in a plastic underwaterbag to begin to experiment, learning and making mistakes along the way to create their own view.
Needless to say, I am glad for the little crumbs of insight into the secrets I pick up. Just the word Collodion under a photography has made my journey leap a big step. And even though I’m not doing collodion prints, that little nibble got me into liquid emulsion on glass negatives and large format and hand coloring and what not.
So maybe, when I get as far as you, if someone ask me how I do underwater pictures, I’d just say – transparent plastic bag!
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