After reading Bill Jay’s “Past Perfect”, I would say that I completely agree with his arguments! History is what makes up the future, and as photographers, to be able to work creatively we need to be working with past and present.
History is one of the main subjects that I learnt about when studying photography in high school. It is what got me interested in photography in the first place. I loved looking at past photographer’s works, and the different techniques that developed how photographers work today. It is with the knowledge of the past that inspires my work of today.
The very last sentence of Jay’s reading says it all! “Every Photographer is Janus, The two-headed Roman God, who could not look forward without looking back”. This serves as inspiration for today, we too cannot move forward with our photography, without looking back on what has already been.
It's great that they taught you history in high school - most curriculums have very little history, let alone Photo history. Yes, I also obviously agree with Jay, and I have seen over the years that the best students are the ones that understand the history of the medium - so you know you are not re inventing the wheel, and you can contextualise your work.
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