Things have some small meaning.

And I wish that's as far as it would go. But artists and art teachers seem to think otherwise. According to them, there is always a hidden layer of meaning and intent, and how the so and so purposefully accentuates/offsets/outlines/draws-the-eye-to something else, and a whole bunch of meaningless meanings that have nothing to do with the original intentions or purpose or meaning of anything.

Oh, and by the way, see how the strong orange really brings out the richer colours of the picture, and brings emphasis to everything here.

By the gods, you'd expect that every artist had a mind like a steel drum full of ball bearings, and that every bloody ball was a unique way of adding a little more meaning to a single piece of plain old art that is really just meant to look nice on the damn wall.

My art teacher does this all the time. She brings mundane meaning to a simple piece of artwork. It's so infuriating, knowing that the guy just took the picture from that angle because that was the only way he could, or just because he wanted to, or because the lighting looked crap any other way, and hearing her blather on about the 'specially chosen posiotioning' meant to 'specifically bring the foreground to the centre of attention' and to 'really stretch the meaning of the topic'.

I just feel like saying "No. Hell no. That was taken like that on the spur of the moment. I took that there because it was convenient. There's no underlying meaning, no special thought or interpretation, no unique colour features, it's just a bloody photo that looks kinda neat. No special thought required."

She also seems to think that photography is a 'mindset'. And she critisizes me for not 'getting into it'. I'm cynical and sceptical and all those words. I don't need to 'get in the groove' to be able to take a photo. Go away, and I'm not taking your class ever again. Ugh.

Bloody meanings.