why misery attracts more than beauty?

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or is the opposite?
what makes a better subject for photography?

Martin Unger 07.12.04, 22:12 Post 2 of 28

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There we have to talk about human psychology, so there will be many contrary points of view, I think.
When taking pictures and working with them we try to find a way to express something. That means we try to find a way to communicate with other people and thereby scratching a little bit on the bottom of their souls. And here I think that's possible both with beauty and misery, but maybe misery causes some attitude of defence in us (like "at least it's not me") causing a bad conscience in us. Beauty on the other hand makes us enjoy the situation and that's much easier to deal with.
But both, the positive and negative emotions can be equal in strength whilst dependend on the mood in which you get one. I mean: when showing me a "sad" picture when being just happy I might say "no, I don't want to see that now" whilst showing a beautiful picture when I'm emotionally down I could say "how dare you showing me that right now?". Both reactions too mean such a state of emotional defence.
So there are many factors causing us to react the way we do in the concrete situation. Maybe when sitting down deciding that we want to see some good pictures we allready have decided to be open for every emotion you can cause with a good pic.
But as I said, both beauty and misery are equal in strength.
But maybe all that I wrote here is just nonsense?

Post Edited (10:21h)

Vladimir Danilov 08.12.04, 16:13 Post 3 of 28

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I can not explain that, but just took my camera and shot her.

[fc-foto:2258445]

Post Edited (9:49h)

Mohamed Hilmy 11.12.04, 08:32 Post 4 of 28

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i think misery makes you defencive, and you want to prove a point. but beauty does not provoke you, it makes you calmer and happy.

Sjoerd van den berg 03.01.05, 13:05 Post 5 of 28

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simply ...jealousy.....people on the whole believe that grass is gree3ner ion the other side of the hill. and when a little misery comes to the news they feel a little more comfortable for a while where they are at...:))

Regs Ray 30.01.05, 17:19 Post 6 of 28

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thanks guys for sharing your opinion!
see you again in the FC
regards to all!

Esti Eini 30.01.05, 18:34 Post 7 of 28

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Tolstoy wrote in the first lines of Ana Carenina that all happy people look alike , but all misery ones look unique. Every misery has his own story.
But personally I like happiness better.

Jordan Shepler 01.02.05, 19:33 Post 8 of 28

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Maybe we're just tired of beauty... Too often we see in magazines and advertisements, some crude interpretation of beaty. so much so that the term [beauty] means nothing any longer. But in photos depicting extreme emotion such as pain or missery, they are most often undeniable. It's nearly impossible to fake such a thing.

Tomasso Hall 24.02.05, 00:49 Post 9 of 28

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The beauty can be found in even the most ugly subjects. It is just the way we have been brought up that makes us look at aww or be disgusted, feel sorry or happy. In the US and most of the western world slim women with little backside but big boobs are accepted as beautifull, sexy etc. In Africa it is a sign of (not the boobs :) being poor, unhealthy, etc. The fatter a woman the healtier (and in some cases wealthier) and also better childbearers.

Art (and beauty) are in the eye of the beholder. My slogan is "an eye, for the unusual usual". www.photografix.nl. Keep shooting.

Patrick de Warren 27.02.05, 06:20 Post 10 of 28

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I actually think it is the opposite ...beauty attracts more..

documentary photography is on the slow..

The most iimportant question is what do you like the most, what drives you and where do you excel the best.

Tony AKa fototaker 08.04.05, 19:23 Post 11 of 28

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when one is miserable (i have LoTs of experience in this emotion), our thoughts and emotions are affected. it changes the way one thinks, reacts to something, even though normally we would react a different way.

i used to photograph a LoT of homeless people, mainly because i have lived on the streets myself; as a teen and now as an adult. while i am not proud of it, there is a change in oneself when you live on the street.

you either decide to be more harder (cold, distant, unfriendly) or more compassionate (more helpful, more kinder to others, especially those in need). strangely enough, i changed for the latter (friendlier, though i have always been too DAM friendly).

i dont shoot too many homeless now; it depresses me. instead, i like to capture scenes of solitude: lone trees, empty and single benches or chairs; singular objects and scenes always attract my eye now.

but from our misery, the world is able to see the misery, and sometimes the beauty that hides within us.....

When 05.09.05, 12:03 Post 12 of 28

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Very interesting discussion.

Esti, I think Tolstoy is very right. Misery does wear on people, it has such an affect on the body.

I think people that have gone through difficult times can sense it more than people who haven't been through great tragedy. There is something that happens to people, a change in how the brain functions when you experience a loss or extended sadness. The center part of the brain that sends messages back and forth from the logical side to the creative side gets shut down.

I've done some observations as to what people prefer - pictures of sadness/anger and of happiness or beauty, also of symbolism. I used to do studio photography which was always about making people as beautiful as possible. Since then I have been through a series of great personal tragedy and have worked with populations that experience long term emotional stress. I find it hard it almost impossible to do that type of photography now, it feels very shallow to me.

A sense of beauty is something that is developed very early in an infant. They tend to prefer the same features that adults consider beautiful, symmetry, and spacing of features. It's a more self centered appreciation. Understanding misery - pain, suffering, and having empathy are learned. Some people never learn how to relate to another's feelings - or how to appreciate expressions of these emotions or states. Then there are those that have been through experiences who appreciate beauty on a higher level, those experiences are usually drawn from going through survival and being deprived of beauty.

From what I've seen, I tend towards the belief that perceptions of beauty are much easier for people to relate to (whatever that cultural perception is), and misery takes an acceptance of one's own mortality and frailty to appreciate. I think the more a culture ignores or has issues with subjects like suffering, death and pain the more likely they are to be obsessed about beauty.

I guess one thing I have been made aware of is that people from cultures where life is hard have more reaction to images depicting negative emotion, those from more capitalist - abundant societies tend towards the more attractive images that depict no emotional response except to show beauty.

Unfortunately not all of the comments I have received on these two were public. What I can say is that the number of clicks to the number of comments are greatly outweighed towards the "beautiful" one. The comments on the "misery" one are usually very deep and sympathetic, but much more rare.

[fc-foto:3655110]

[fc-foto:3570473]

Hopy Familianto 28.09.06, 10:48 Post 13 of 28

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beauty can become a misery,
and..
misery can become a beauty,

depends on the mood..
am i right..??
so i think both of them are attract..

^^

Post Edited (10:49h)

xxx xxx 08.10.06, 04:23 Post 14 of 28

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beauty, misery..both is relative...

its depends always on the personal point of view...

Pansa Sunavee 08.10.06, 05:56 Post 15 of 28

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useful thread .......