[转帖]可能大家都看过这个了

The Seven Levels of Photographers

Ken Rockwell 的一篇引起不少讨论的文章。虽然有点主观。。

Artist: Top Level 7 (equivalent to "Heaven" in Christian mythology)
This is the highest level.
An artist fixes his imagination in a tangible form called a photograph. He captures the spirit of place or person, real or imagined, in this photograph and the viewer responds to this.
An artist is a complete master of his tools. When creating art an artist transcends common existence as his spirit flies up to meet that which he is capturing. He may practice and learn his tools while he is not creating, however when creating the camera becomes an extension of his mind. No conscious thought is expended on the technical issues with which he is a virtuoso while creating photographs.
To make a musical analogy, a musician may woodshed his scales, but when he's jamming he's not even thinking about fingerings. He's lost in the passion of the moment.
Just like professional surfers who have a dozen boards or pro guitarists who have 23 axes, an artist may have a slew of cameras, each for a different purpose.
Likewise, other artists may only have one camera, or none at all. It just doesn't matter.
Artists sometimes dress funny and tend to stay up late. They usually prefer to photograph attractive young women and are proud of it.
No one ever sees their work since they have crummy ability to promote themselves, and sadly, usually don't even appreciate their own excellent work. Those that do drop down to Whore, which sadly and paradoxically means you will never see the work of a true artist unless you know one personally. Good artists are usually too embarrassed to show their work to anyone unless you are intimate with them, since their work is their soul.
Artists use any sort of camera, including pinholes and disposables, or 8 x 10s. They use whatever instrument they need to create what they want.


Whore: Level 6  
A whore is an artist who sells his soul by accepting money or drugs for his art.
By lowering himself to this level his vision is compromised.
Why? Because when one depends on selling one's soul to pay for one's food and pad one does not screw with the program, which means that one does not try new styles.
If a whore's work pays his bills after years of trying, it's unlikely any whore will be open to trying new styles while he still needs the dough.
Artists with representation (meaning they are represented by a gallery or an artists' representatives just as pimps do in the sex trade) may lose that representation if they change their style.
Therefore, art for sale from one person rarely gets better or different.
The style that sells is all a whore's johns and pimps (representatives) want to see. See Barnbaum's book on artistry. It is extraordinarily difficult for a successful whore to change styles once one has been accepted.


Amateur: Level 5   
People who earn less than half of their income from photography are amateurs. This has nothing to do with the quality of their photography.
This person loves to create photographs. Good amateurs of pure spirit can transcend the other levels directly to being an artist.
People who shoot weddings and etc. on weekends as a side line from their day jobs are still amateurs; they just charge for their photos. And as you read here they may also charge a lot for their snaps.
Amateurs who think that better cameras will improve their photos are at risk of descending to the lowest level of equipment measurbator. Too many amateurs have been misled by camera makers into thinking that they need good cameras for good images. This thought is poison to creating art.
Amateurs who lose themselves in creating great images are set for a path of enlightenment.
Being an amateur is a good thing; from this level one can rise to the level of artist rather easily.
Amateurs almost always shoot Canon SLRs.


Snapshooter: Level 4   
This is my mom and most people. These people want memories, as opposed to photographs or cameras.
Snapshooters who are graphic artists or otherwise visually literate people often make fantastic images that impress everyone. These snapshooters are artists and don't even realize it. They usually dress better than the artists who think they really are artists.
Believe it: it's the photographer who makes an image, not a camera.
Snapshooters use point-and-shoot and disposable cameras, which give the same excellent results as the Leicas, Nikons, Canons and Contaxes used by everyone else.


Professional: Level 3   
A professional photographer is a person who earns his entire living (100%) from the sale of photographs.
Professionals do not create art for a living; they create images for commerce. They usually have some familiarity with the tools and can get out decent images, however they may or may not be able to capture imagination.
Of course professionals may create great images, but that's on their own time.
Professionals spend very little time worrying about cameras, except when they need to get them repaired. They spend most of their time looking for work and pissing about how all the other photographers in town are dropping their prices.
Professionals spend more on film and lab fees each month than they spend on camera gear in a year.
There are no professional nature photographers. They all either have day jobs or make their wives support them.
Professionals shoot Nikon SLRs, Mamiya medium format and Calumet 4x5" cameras. They cannot afford gear as good as most serious amateurs.
Unless you are a commercial photography buyer or know one as a friend you have not heard of professional photographers. The ones you may have seen in camera ads proclaiming that they use this or that camera are just spokesmodels.
Professionals don't have websites and don't put out technical newsletters. Those people are usually amateurs.


Rich Amateur: Level 2   
These are amateurs who, by having too much money, buy lots of equipment which can fetter their freedom of expression. They are mostly men, and many are old or retired.
Rich amateurs shoot Leicas, Contaxes, Alpas, Hasselblads and Linhof 4x5s. These are great cameras, but the results are the same as the Zenits, Pentaxes, Bronicas and Tachiharas.
Today they mostly shoot Canon 1Ds-Mk IIs, 5Ds or Nikon D2X.
These are the same idiots who bought the first 2.7 Megapixel digital SLRs designed for newspapers like the Nikon D1 back in 2000 just because they cost $5,000. They gave technically poorer results than the film cameras used by snapshooters. All because it's expensive doesn't make it good.
Bad rich amateurs think fuzzy B/W images of poor people are art.
Some rich amateurs fall into the bottom spiritual level easily because they worry too much about equipment, others go straight on to create great art since they don't have any worries about equipment since they think they own the best. Oddly, few rich amateurs produce ordinary work. It either rules or sucks.


Equipment Measurbator: Bottom Level 1 (equivalent to "Hell" in Christian mythology)
These men (and they are all men) have no interest in art or photography because they have no souls. Lacking souls they cannot express imagination or feeling, which is why their images, if they ever bother to make any, suck.
These folks have analysis paralysis and never accomplish anything.
Does poring over a microscope analyzing test images have anything to do with photographing a Joshua tree at dawn? Of course not. Even worse, time wasted concentrating on tests is time not spent learning useful aspects of photography and certainly time that could have been better spent actually photographing. Test just enough to know what your gear can do, and then get on with real photography.
They are interested solely in equipment for its own sake. They will talk your ear off for hours if you let them, but as soon as you ask to see their portfolio their bravado scurries away, or they think you want to see their cameras or stocks. You can read why cameras simply don't matter here.
Most seem to come from technical avocations, like engineering, computers and sciences. These people worry so much about trying to put numerical ratings on things that they are completely oblivious to the fact that cameras or test charts have nothing to do with the spirit of an image. Because they worry so much about measuring camera performance we have dubbed them "Measurbators." Unfortunately, many of them wander into KenRockwell.com looking for information on camera performance.
Many of them also play with audio equipment, computers or automobiles. They enjoy these toys just like their cameras for their own sake, but rarely if ever actually use them for the intended purposes.
Younger ones play video games or engage in chat rooms and web surfing. Older ones join "camera" clubs. (You should join photography clubs, but never camera clubs or any clubs that try to score art, since art is entirely subjective and cannot be scored numerically.) Likewise, these people never create anything notable with any of this other gear either, but they sure get excited by just having, getting or talking to you about it.
The one type of gear these people ignore is the only type of gear that actually helps: lighting.
Someone with a decent portfolio is not an equipment measurbator. Someone with more cameras than decent photos just may be. People with websites teeming with technical articles but few interesting photographs probably are.
Do not under any circumstances deal with these people, talk to them, read their websites or especially ask them for photography advice. To the innocent they seem like founts of knowledge, however their sick, lifeless souls would love to drag you into their own personal Hells and have your spirit forever mired in worrying about how sharp your lens is. If you start worrying about this and you'll never photograph anything again except brick walls and test charts.
These people are easy to identify. If you've read this far you've probably seen their websites. They always have lots of info about equipment, but very few real photographs. Beware of any information from any website not loaded with photography you admire.
Other people have other words for these people. This article here adds some more perspective.
I had to pull most of the photos of equipment off my site because these people were spending more time looking at my equipment than my art! The bandwidth for which I pay was being eaten up by these idiots looking at my lenses, instead of looking at the photos in my gallery which is the whole point of this site. That's why all the stupid pages like this one are in yellow, so that their eyes hurt too much to waste too much time on the nuts and bolts.
Most people who waste my time e-mailing me with technical and equipment questions through this site unfortunately belong to this unenlightened bottom group. Almost anyone who actually worries about the level they occupy belong to the bottom. Many of these folks stalk the Internet, and spend hours getting off "contributing" to technical websites and photography chat rooms like Photo.net, www.dpreview.com and photocritique.net instead of making photos. The guys here aren't too bad, and most of the Leica people here are just equipment collectors.

一. 艺术家：最高等级 （相当于基督神话中的"天堂"）
这是最高等级。
一个艺术家用一种叫照片的确实形式把他的想象固定在这照片里他捕获事物的灵魂，无论是真实的或是想象的，而观众则对此作出反应。
一个艺术家会善加利用他的工具。当艺术家在创作时，他的灵魂也迎向他正撷取的东西，而这超越了常理的存在。当他不创作时，他会学习使用他的工具；但只要当他开始创作，照相机会成为他心智的延伸。足称摄影大师的他，在技术方面不作有意识的思考。
这跟音乐挺相似的：一个音乐家也许会练习音阶，但当他演奏时，他甚至不会想到他的手指 -- 他忘情于那一刻的激情中。
正如一个专业冲浪者拥有一打的浪板，或者一个吉它手有二十三条轴线，一个摄影艺术家可能会有很多相机，每一台有不同的用途。
同样地，别的艺术家也许只有一台相机，或者根本没有，但这无关紧要。
艺术家们有时穿着好笑，而且常常熬夜。
没有人见过他们的作品，因为他们在推销自我的能力上十分拙劣。那些善于推销的人，只会把自己降级为灵魂出卖者。不幸的是，这意味着除非你认识一个真正的艺术家，否则你不可能见到他们的作品。好的艺术家们通常觉得把作品展示给别人看是一件十分尴尬的事情，除非你和他们十分类似，因为作品是他们的灵魂。
艺术家们用各种相机，包括针孔相机、一次性相机、或者 8x10 相机。他们使用任何器材，只要它可以创造出他们所想要的。

二. 灵魂出卖者：第六级
一个灵魂出卖者是一个以灵魂换取金钱或毒品的艺术家。
一个艺术家若将自己降到这个等级，他的眼界可能已经被遗弃了。为什么？因为他靠出卖自己的灵魂买所需的食物，他压低自己的声音以求不违悖这一体系，这意味着他不可能尝试新的风格。如果一个灵魂出卖者多年来以他的工作换取钱财，那么只要他还需要面包，他就不可能尝试新的风格。
一个有经纪人的艺术家（画廊或其他代理；如同拉皮条的）如果改变他的风格，他就可能失去他的经纪人。
因此，商业艺术工作者从来不会有所长进或改变。一个有商机的风格就是拉皮条的想要看到的风格。看看 Barnbaum 的关于艺术性的书，他说明了对于一个成功的灵魂出卖者，要改变已被众人接受的风格是十分困难的。

三. 业余爱好者：第五级
这种人从摄影获得的收入低于总收入的一半，但这和他们摄影的品质没有关系。
这类人喜爱拍照，一个拥有纯洁灵魂的业余爱好者可能超越其他等级，直接成为一个艺术家。
一个在周末拍摄婚礼以补充日常工作收入的人依旧是一个业余爱好者；他们只是为他们的照片收费。
业余爱好者若认为好的相机会提高他的作品水平，他就有可能会被降级成为最低等级的器材测量员。太多的业余爱好者被相机生产商误导，以至于相信他们需要好的相机来拍出好的图片，这种想法毒杀了艺术创作。
一个业余爱好者若能在创造不朽图片的努力中释放自己，他就步入了一条领悟的道路。作为一个业余爱好者是一件好事，他们比较容易成为艺术家。
业余爱好者们几乎总是用佳能单眼相机。

四．拍快照的：第四级
我的妈妈和大部分人属于这一级。相对于照片或相机，他们更重视记忆。
快照者常常是图形艺术家或者视觉工作者，他们常常拍出非同寻常的照片，而这些照片常常给人留下深刻的印象。这些快照者是艺术家，但他们并不认为如此。他们通常穿得比自认为是艺术家的人体面。
他们相信：拍出照片的是摄影师，不是相机。
快照者用傻瓜机或即可拍相机，拍出别人用莱卡、尼康、佳能和康泰克斯所拍出的效果。

五．专业摄影师：第三级
专业摄影师是一个以摄影赚取所有生活费的人。
专业摄影师不为生活而创造艺术，他们为商业而制造图片。他们通常比较熟悉器材，能拍出不错的图片，但是他们并不一定拥有捕获想象的能力。
当然，专业摄影师可以在一定时间内拍摄出不错的照片。
除非当相机需要修理，专业摄影师很少会去担心它们。他们几乎用所有的时间找活干，或者抱怨城里的其他摄影师又在降价了。
专业摄影师每个月在胶卷和冲印上花的钱比他们每年在器材上花的钱还多。
没有专业自然摄影师．他们要么白天有工作、或者由妻子供养。
专业摄影师用尼康单眼相机，玛米亚中幅，和Calumet 4x5。他们买不起大部分严肃的业余爱好者所使用的器材。
专业摄影师没有网站，而且不出版技术分析的刊物。他们通常是业余爱好者。

六．富有的业余爱好者：第二级
这些业余爱好者们太有钱了，他们买很多器材，而这些东西禁锢了他们表达的自由。这些人通常是男性，其中很多是年老的或退休的。
这些富有的业余爱好者用 Leica, Contax, Alpas, Hasselblad, 和 Linhof4x5 相机。这些都是很好的相机，但是他们拍出来的效果和用 Zenit, Pentax, Bronica 和 Tachihara 拍出来的差不多。
稍微穷一点的用 Nikon，甚至 Canon。
最近这些白痴们开始用专为报社设计的单眼相机，例如 Canon EOS-1D 和 Nikon D1x，而这些相机的品质比拍快照的所用的像机还差。最愚蠢的那些人则等待要价$7000的Contax N 数位相机，这台相机比 Nikon 和 Canon 的是数位单眼相机还不如。而这些人还是只能拍出比用便宜的胶片单眼相机还差的照片。
糟糕的富有业余爱好者们则把模糊的黑白穷人照当成是艺术。
一些富有业余爱好者很容易堕落到最低的精神等级，因为他们太担心他们的器材。而其他的人则直接进入到创造伟大艺术的殿堂，他们并不担心他们的器材，因为他们相信他所拥有的器材是最好的。

七. 器材测量意淫者：最低级 （相当于基督神话中的"地狱"）
这些男性（他们的确都是男的）对于艺术和摄影没有兴趣，因为他们没有灵魂。灵魂的缺乏使得他们无法表达想象力和感觉，这也就是为什么即使他们拍了一些照片，也全都是废物。
绝大多数人拥有技术方面的爱好，比如工程、电脑和科学。这些人过于在乎用数字评分，他们完全忘记相机或测试表的良莠与照片的灵魂并没有任何关联。因为他们太在乎测量器材的性能，所以我们给予他们 "测量意淫者" 的绰号。不幸的是，他们之中的许多人到KenRockwell.com来寻找关于器材性能的资讯。
他们也玩音响，电脑或车子。正如他们看待他们的相机，他们把这些当玩具，而很少把它们用到原本该用的途径上。
年轻一点的玩游戏、上网或聊天。年纪大一点的则加入"相机/器材"俱乐部。（你应当加入"摄影"俱乐部，而不是相机俱乐部、或任何试图给艺术评分的俱乐部 -- 因为艺术完全是主观的，不能用数字评分。） 同样地，这些人从来不用他们的器材创造出引人注目的东西。但是他们肯定会为拥有、获得或与你谈论这些器材而感到兴奋。
这些人忽视的一种工具是唯一的有用的工具：光线。
为了他们自己的缘故，他们只对器材感兴趣。如果你让着他们，他们会讲得你耳朵生茧。但是一旦你想看看他们的作品，他们的声势一下子就消失了，或者他们会以为你想看看他们的器材。
一个有不错的作品集的人不是器材意淫者。拥有器材比好作品多的人、有成堆的技术文章而几乎没有有趣照片网站的人大概就是器材意淫者了。
在任何情况下都不要和这些人交往、与他们聊天、或者看他们的网站。对于单纯的人来说他们像是知识库，但是他们病态而缺乏活力的灵魂特别喜欢把你扯入到他们自己的地狱去，让你的灵魂一辈子困于担心镜头锐度的泥沼。一旦你开始担心这个，除了砖墙和测试表外，你将再也不会拍任何别的东西。
这些人很容易辨别。如果你已经读到这里，你大概已经看过他们的网站了。他们经常有很多关于器材的资讯，但是几乎没有真正的摄影作品。如果一个网站没有你崇拜的照片，你得当心它提供的资讯。
我不得不将一些器材的图片从我的网站上移走。这些人看我的艺术，但是他们花更多的时间看我的器材的照片!我所购买的频宽就被这些白痴用来看我的镜头，而不是用来看我的艺廊中的照片 -- 而那些才是这个网站的意义所在。因此我这个愚蠢的网页都用黄色作底，目的就是就要让他们的眼睛受不了，而不能在这些无聊的东西上浪费太多的时间。

GregoryTug

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GregoryTug

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