This photo was taken November 18, 2009 at the David Crowder Band concert in Charlotte, NC. David Crowder, a Christian musician, actually stopped singing during his concert and allowed his other band members to keep playing the song while he captured this moment of everyone praising God in the auditorium. He took three pictures; one to his left, (where I was) one in the middle, the picture that is shown, and one to his right. First of all, I am a strong advocate of finding art in photography. I believe in the "art" of capturing real, genuine moments on film that could never be reproduced by any other means, and I think that is why this picture is so dear to me. David Crowder felt so inspired by his audience that he chose to capture this moment, because surely just telling his family and friends what he occurred that night at the concert could not justify the actual event. I read in his blog, where I got this photograph, that there was a moment that he looked across the room and not a hand wasn't raised in that place, honoring and praising God. He felt so special and moved that he was able to be an instrument of God's by leading that praise and by doing so, helping people grow closer to God. This is real art, it really happened, and being a part of that moving night and seeing it myself is awe-inspiring to say the least every time I see this photo.
I believe art should be something that is captivating, whether it is a photograph or not, and should engage the viewer to either desire to be there, feel empathetic for the subject of the art, or find some way to allow every viewer to connect to the art itself. Art should keep people staring at it, making them want to try to figure out why is this here? What is the meaning of this? etc. Art should be a creation of passion, and this photograph in my opinion is the essence of art.
Sharing a moment like that with a crowd is very powerful. Is the picture really the "art" here, though, or is it a record of the "art," which would be the music and crowd, and the feelings created by both the music and the worship context of the event?
ReplyDeleteAlso, how does the worship (theological) context inflect the aesthetic experience? Does the art make the faith experience stronger or does the faith experience make the art more meaningful or powerful?
Obviously, my perspective tends to separate these strains out, but thinking about how they interact is useful too.
To me the picture is the record of the "art," as well as why David Crowder thought to record this event. I think the way the art inflects the aesthetic experience depends on the person. For me, the faith experience made the art more meaningful and powerful because I know how powerful and beautiful God is, and I saw it firsthand at the concert. For a person who doesn't have that strong of a relationship with God, this art could have made the faith experience stronger.
ReplyDeleteThanks for these questions! It made me think about this a little bit!