20 Mar The Id
The title of this essay didn’t start out to be psychological – I think I was on the way to typing something else and the kettle boiled or the cat yowled to be let out. It just got those two letters and stopped. I’ve no idea what it was originally going to be…
Well, now that we’re here, what of the id in photography?
The dictionary seems to think that the id is the part of the brain that is associated with instinctual, repressed, and antisocial desires. That pretty much describes a lot of things in the photo game, doesn’t it?
a. Instinctual.
We have an instinct to grasp at something shiny. If it is a new lens with an enormous front element, or a camera with chrome strips adorning it, the connection is obvious. Even in the days when black was the new black and every camera had to be supplied in that colour to make the user a professional, there were some makers who knew that chrome lens barrels and camera bodies would sell themselves to the id.
Flashes of all sorts are just the same – indeed photographic flashes call attention to themselves in the most obvious way. Some go further than just a burst of light – they beep, squeal , or chirp constantly to remind you that they need to be fed and exercised. Like the cat, really.
We also have an instinct to seek something that is new – even if we don’t know that we need it. This is the sound basis of much of the advertising that the photo trade does. New, Nouvelle, Neuheit, Now. No waiting. Buy it…
We want more – even if we do not need more – and we want it for less – even if it cannot be provided for less. All instinctual.
b. Repressed.
Sometimes our ego or super ego tells our id that it cannot have the new model of camera that has just been put on the shelf. Sometimes it is the accountant and sometimes it is the wife who put their foot down. The id never takes it well…but ids are inventive things. Ids find ways around obstacles.
” If I sell the A and trade the B I can get the C…if I demand a really big discount and then claim it on the tax and sneak it into the house. ” The id is a lot like Gollum in Lord Of the Rings.
c. Antisocial
Well antisocial can be a lot of things – from criminal activities to just not mixing well at parties. I am guilty of the latter…or is it the former?
As far as photographers go, some do pursue their art dogged by this characteristic. They may choose to avoid all people and concentrate on inanimate objects – they may go the other way and dog people on the streets with intrusive photography. They may take pictures that make everyone look and feel bad. It can be depressing to think about.
But some can be sociably unsociable in photography – the technicians who do not engage but who produce perfect records for science or history. The lone artist. The even lonelier critic. The incredibly lonely writer of weblog columns…
So, is your photographic id doing things for you – or with you – or against you. Only you can say, but do take a look in your camera bag or equipment cabinet and see if there is anything there that appeals to you on a level that you cannot analyse. It may have been an id-purchase. Also think about the things you take pictures of – and the things that you never let yourself take pictures of.
You can’t remove the photographic id, any more than you can remove the ego or superego…but you can harness the energies it has to do things that the other bits would approve of. Join a camera club, shoot a subject that you never tried, use your oldest piece of gear for a month until you can make perfect results or it breaks in your hand.
Then you can go get a shiny new one…
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