Reaction Paper 2

I totally agree with Emmet Gowin, that pictures cant be made for an assignment, or on cue. Pictures and photography are spontaneous. Pictures happen from living life, and are the results of who you are.

Gowin states that the photographer is a part of the picture, and that whatever picture an artists makes is part of their identity. Part of what makes them who they are.

Gowin explains that artists don't think about what they are making, they let it happen. Artists don't have the work of art that they produced in their minds. Artists are the start of the artwork, and art happens, it isn't planned.

Gowin feels that the pictures of his family were agreements, agreements to be faithful. Agreements that he, himself, made when getting married. To always honor and love his family. Gowin feels as if his family pictures are more than a record, they are part of their lives, and results of their living. They make him who he is.

Emmet Gowing shows great insight with the fact that things we do and feel don't teach us what to do, they teach us what we already are. What we think and do everyday makes us who we are. We can't change ourselves and our vision of everything in the world around us.

Emmet Gowin shows great maturity because he accepts and encourages photography styles of other photographers. Even though he does not demonstrate all the same techniques, he accepts what they are, and does not refuse to acknowledge them. He wants to make his pictures in his own way, and follow his own instincts. By understanding and accepting the artwork of others is an artists first step to maturing their own work. Making their artwork as well as their personality flourish.