Artists use the tools, mediums and methods available to them to the best of their ability; great artists shape their tools as much as their tools shape them. It would be fascinating to see how great artists from the past would use today’s tools and mediums; for example, how would Edgar Allan Poe have used Twitter?

Dreaming, Primrose Hill, London, England. Click on the image above to view larger.

Daniel Shea interviews Alec Soth on Too Much Chocolate (link via Brian Ulrich):

DS: Right, I’ve read that you’ve said photography really isn’t a great medium for story telling, and so is that where your frustrations stem from?

AS: Well, that photography is just not good for storytelling, yes. I also just think photography was much more interesting 50 plus years ago, and now there is just this overabundance of photography. It’s like saying “What type of art do you do?” “Oh, I do Twitter.” (laughter). I just put these little fragments out in the world, but I would rather call myself a novelist than a Twitterist. And I sometimes feel photography is that.

A couple thoughts to unpack:

• Wait, was photography more interesting 50 years ago?

  On the average, yes. But at the peaks?

  The ubiquity of photography has not flattened its peaks; even if there is much more photography (and creative content in general) to ignore today, and it has become harder to recognize true “quality” by the traditional professional’s definition, peaks still exist.

  But they aren’t necessarily the same peaks, and that’s probably the hardest change for us to understand and accept.

• Alec may feel photography is a poor method for storytelling for him, but I think he’s being modest: Alec’s fragments piece together to tell beautiful stories.

  Interestingly, Alec was one of the first photographers I remember that used blogging in a powerful way, a guaranteed read for his insights and thoughts on photography. I remember the pang of loss when he stopped blogging, a loss yet to be filled by his infrequent gifts at his Magnum blog. Given that, I think he understands the power and creative potential of new tools, even if he doesn’t depend on them for his photography.

  Thus, even though he may rather be a novelist than a Twitterist, that doesn’t mean other artists can’t use the medium effectively.

  Why? Because great artists shape their tools as much as their tools shape them.

• I adore artists, not their tools.

  Regardless of the era, great artists pick from the range of tools, mediums and methods available to them to create and distribute their “greatness” to the best of their creative ability and commercial temperament.

  Wouldn’t Shakespeare have written a blog? Wouldn’t Picasso have used Photoshop? Wouldn’t Poe have used Twitter?

  But put aside the debate if an artist would have used new tools and mediums; it’s far more interesting to consider how an artist would have used them.

  It would be fascinating to see how great artists would use today’s tools and mediums, interpret today’s culture, share their vision, communicate their messages, test the traditions and rules, market their work and make a living.

  And looking forward, I’m curious to see how we will use tomorrow’s tools … just as soon as we figure out how to take advantage of what we have today.