I’ve spent some time recently pondering the concept of knowledge versus wisdom and how that might apply to photography, and secondarily to life.  I’m not sure what triggered this train of thought but once it activated, I haven’t been able to let it go.  So, I thought I’d tease out some thoughts for you to consider about knowledge versus wisdom and see if they might help you in some small way on your creative journey.

I’m sure we all have different definitions of what we think knowledge is and what wisdom is.  That’s OK, I don’t think there is one “right” answer to the distinction between the two.  I’ve always felt that knowledge is centered around facts, information and data that we gather, either through research or anecdotally in life.  While wisdom comes more from experience in applying judgement and solutions.  We’ve all heard the phrase “wise man” and typically that’s associated with someone older who has a lot of experience.  My simplistic definition tends to follow that.  

When I poked around the web reading a bit on this topic, I came across this graphic that I thought I’d share. Reading through their statements about knowledge versus wisdom, I tended to largely agree.  I’d be curious what you think. Knowledge is about facts, knowing truth from falsities, acquiring facts and data, and can be acquired through education.  Seems fairly cut and dry.  A person seeking knowledge will do research and gather information and on a given subject can determine whether something is fact or a lie.  Most of what they talk about is almost rote acquisition of information; collection and storage of info.  No mention of “processing” the information.

Whereas with wisdom, the graphic speaks to more “soft” skills around information.  Wisdom is composed of knowledge as a foundational element.  And, it also includes experience, often gained over time, which supports some of the popular perceptions of “wise”.  And lastly, it talks about “good judgement”, which is the application of critical thinking in relation to the knowledge.  There is a lot more weight placed on the “processing” of information and knowing when, or when not, to apply certain knowledge in a given situation.

Alright, so how does that relate to photography…afterall, this is a photography blog.  Let me give you a few examples of what I see could be the difference between knowledge versus wisdom in our world of photography.

Example 1

Knowledge: Knowing how to adjust your aperture

Wisdom: Knowing what aperture to use in a given situation to achieve the creative results you are wanting

Example 2

Knowledge: Knowing you should use a circular polarizer in a wet forest

Wisdom: Knowing how to use a polarizer and under what conditions it works best (90 degrees to the sun) and how much to dial in to achieve the results you need

Example 3

Knowledge: Knowing how to adjust your shutter speed to blur moving water

Wisdom: Knowing what shutter speed will be the best for the photograph you are trying to make, given the volume and speed of the water

Example 4

Knowledge: Knowing how to make a tonality mask in Photoshop to edit an image

Wisdom: Knowing why you would want to make one and when some images might benefit from one and when some won’t

 

These are just a few simplistic examples that I could list for you to think about the point I’m trying to make.  Knowing how to use your camera and all the various settings is knowledge.  Applying different settings in given situations is more akin to wisdom.  I see a lot of folks in my workshops, all at different levels of proficiency on the photography curve.  No matter where you are, that’s great!  We were all beginners/intermediates/experts at some point and with work and time, we grew.   The first steps towards photographic wisdom are grounded in knowledge. Knowledge of our cameras, knowledge of our processing applications, knowledge of light and color, etc.   We all need to learn and know this stuff.

Photographic wisdom, though, comes from experience.  Trial and error, time in the field, mistakes and successes, etc.  I feel that all of our goals should be driven more towards attaining wisdom than just knowledge.  It’s in wisdom that we can truly create artistic photographs, intentionally and not by a happy accident, through our judgement and application of knowledge in a certain situation with certain conditions. I come across a lot of people who have a lot of knowledge, or think they do, yet in the field they do not have the wisdom to apply that knowledge in a manner that achieves their creative goals.  I have referred this to the “hubris of YouTube”.  I’m guilty of it too, spending time watching videos of other folks, thinking I’m learning (maybe I am) and then with an inflated sense of self due to an abundance of knowledge, I fall flat in the field because I didn’t have the wisdom (experience) to apply that knowledge well.

I’m fortunate that I get to spend many days in the field with a camera in my hands.  My guess is most of you have jobs or a long list of chores to do which prevents you from getting out as much as you’d like.  You might be saying to yourself, “how can I gain wisdom through experience if I don’t have a lot of free time”.  Valid question for sure.  I encourage you to create projects close to home that will help you build experience and wisdom with your camera without traveling too far away.  You can spend time in the yard experimenting with depth of field on the leaves of a bush, or, walk the neighborhood with your camera spotting and capturing different light qualities.  Local parks, zoos, arboretums…there are so many places locally that can give you real world experience with your camera.

Knowledge versus wisdom.  To me, seeking and hopefully attaining wisdom is an admirable goal and one I strive towards in photography and in life.  Knowledge is just knowledge, it is like tools in a toolbox.  Having tools is one thing, knowing when to use what tool and to use it properly, that is wisdom.