What Makes A Photograph Work?

What makes a photograph work?

EDITORIAL

aperture seeks the answer to the question "Why does one make a photograph?" not to "How does one make a photograph?"

We hold that technique is the servant, not the master, of the photographer. aperture is unconcerned with cameras for the camera's sake, gadgets for the gadget's sake, or photochemistry for itself. These things we leave to the manufacturer, the gadgeteer, and the researcher. We acknowledge our debt to science, industry, and the consumer who supports them, and move on.

The technique of the photographer having delivered his work to the hand and eye of the public, we ask, " What has this man to say? Does he tell ns of life, love, and pursuit of happiness, the birds and the bees, the quick or the dead?" Being of an inquiring nature, we also ask, "How has he accomplished this?"

7'he sole reason for aperture's existence is the assumption that there are others who share this viewpoint. We open our pages to those, who through their photographs and the written word, can shed light upon these matters of concern. I bought -ful contributions are solicited.

The work and ideas of young photographers are as welcome as the contributions of those who have gained recognition. aperture draws no editorial boundaries between amateur and professional, pictoria/ist and documentarían, journalist and scholar. 'The criterion is one of creative thinking, significantly expressed in words and photographs. The goal is the advancement of photography as a profession, an art, and a medium of personal expression.

{Contributions should be addressed to 7’he Editor, aperture, 133 Jackson Street, San Eran cisco 11, California)

MELTON TERRIS