Moyra Davey

Notes on Photography and Accident

Moyra Davey presents essentially a stream of consciousness regarding her thoughts on photography and efforts to stay interested in the art form. Davey resorts to writing in an attempt to become more inspired by the practice and discusses how there is always an element of chance required in photography; it's a piece that feels very personal and familiar as an art student constantly looking for inspiration and to be honest, not always finding it.

While very well researched and documented with multiple citations and a lengthy bibliography, there is an intentional lack of editing in her short, long, insightful, and/or rambling entries; because of this style, her main perspective becomes a bit diluted for me while reading. Even though the piece lacks true organization, Davey's pure love of photography and vast knowledge surrounding the subject is quite clear through her notes and extremely pleasant and sincere tone. The author is mainly trying to express through words and the actual, physical process of writing itself, that no matter the medium, all forms of art, photos, and even text are essentially accidental.