It's not that it is a particularly distasteful image, for reasons either cultural or aesthetic. It's that I do not, under any circumstances, agree that this man should be considered a photographer, or his images photographs. They have nothing to do with documentation, light, or a wonder at the way things really are, which tends to be my basis for photographic inspiration, and something I see other photographers inspired by. They wish to capture something. Interest is sparked and recorded. Like Pipo quoted on our syllabus, "I photograph things to see what they will look like photographed."
John Paul Caponigro's images have nothing to do with any of that. They are his self-indulgent Photoshop ejaculations. He is an artist, to be sure. Some of his images are quite striking, but they are not photography, and to call them such degrades the entire medium.
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