I have had some good conversations recently, among them about the recent work of Peter Peryer. What these discussions do most is remind me that in the majority of cases photography is about seeing and recording something that relates to the photographers interests. This of course can be many things, such as irony or beauty or something shocking or humorous, or relate directly to specific themes of the photographer, such as Mr Peryer would say " one of my themes concerns size, more specifically, just how big is the subject that we are looking at"
Interestingly when Mr Peryer shows these photographs they go back into the public domain as the object was when it was photographed, and the viewer is left asking the question that attracted Mr Peryer. So to understand why an individual photographed something, it helps if we understand what interests and concerns them. Considering this helps me to better understand what is at the core of my own photography, and confirms to me that we are always better off trying to comprehend the things we don't understand, rather than dismiss them. We don't have to like something for it to be beneficial for us in some way.
