Week 8 EOC: What makes a photograph Great?

What makes a photograph great? I think this has to be one of the hardest questions for a photographer to answer. It’s difficult to say what makes a photograph great because each and every person who views it views a photograph differently. The experiences a person has had throughout their life up until the moment in which they view a certain photograph will influence the way that individual person see’s and experiences the photograph. Many photographers will say that the photograph is only great if it has all of the essential elements of design in it, like composition, lighting, form, lines, etc. I think that what Kevin Carter said in response to this question hits the nail on the head; he said, “I think that it is a photograph that asks a question.” I think this is a very true statement, I believe that when a photograph poses a question to the world and to the viewer it becomes something more than just another photograph. I want to make these types of photographs and I suppose most photographers want to do the same. I don’t want to be remembered as just another photographer but rather the photographer that took that one photograph.

“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
― Ansel Adams

I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don't find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges.  ~William Albert Allard, "The Photographic Essay"