(embiggenable)
THERE ARE THOSE WHO VIEW MY PHOTOGRAPHS and come to the conclusion that I make pictures of people, places, or things. That’s somewhat understandable inasmuch as there are, in fact, people, places, or things in my photographs. That’s cuz, with the medium’s intrinsic relationship with the real world, it is very difficult to make a picture that does not include people, places, or things, or, evidence thereof.
That written, I rarely make a photograph whereby the making of which was incited by the depicted, literal referent. In fact, in most of my photographs, many viewers are confused, re: what exactly is it that I was making a picture of? That being the case, it is ever my hope that such viewers might experience a momentary revelation which enables them to see what I was actually making a picture of…
…to wit, a literal / actual depiction of how I see the world. And, to be precise, I see segments of the real world in random convergences of line, shape, space, color, and value. Elements that, when isolated from a particular POV and within a photographic frame create form. Form which can be pleasing / disturbing / agitating / confusing (take your pick) but, to my eye and sensibilities, always visually interesting. An interest which derives, not from what is literally depicted but, rather, from how it is depicted. Although, the depicted referent and the depicted form are inexorably joined.
So, all of that written, you might ask what does this have to do with size matters….?
… the size that matters is photographic print size. That is, if a picture maker’s intent is to depict form, a print must be able to be viewed in its entirety all at once. That’s cuz, the form to be seen in a photographic print can not be broken up into individual parts. And that’s cuz, whatever the “parts” of a photograph might be, they must work together as as an integrated whole otherwise the form falls apart.
That being the case, I would suggest that, while there is no one-size-fits-all print size for the viewing of form, there is a you’re-standing-too-close print viewing distance-dependent upon the size of the print-if a viewer wishes to discern the form to be seen in a print. That written, the “right” print size for the viewing of form must be determined by the viewing distance restraints of the viewing venue - a viewer must be able to stand at a distance from a print to allow for viewing its entirety all at once.
RE: nosey people. I hate it, at gallery viewing of my photographs, when viewers get nosey. That is to write, when they get their noses to close to a print to ever discern what my photographs are about. I have often thought about drawing a chalk line on a gallery floor to indicate the “proper” viewing distance. And, to enforce the idea, greet the gallery goers baseball bat in hand and letting them know that stepping over the line gets them kneecapped. Maybe even reinforcing that edict with a medic in attendance and an ambulance parked outside the gallery door.