# 5987 / reflections on art (book) ~ it is exactly what it was

covers ~ (embiggenable)

spreads ~ (embiggenable)

spreads ~ (embiggenable)

statement ~ (embiggenable)

AFTER 8 YEARS I HAVE FINALLY GOT AROUND TO remaking the photo book, refections on art ~ the eye traffics in feelings. The photo book which was actually stolen. A happening that I consider to be of the highest compliment.

As I felt it necessary to mention in the book, I will write again here that the pictures in the book are straight out of the camera. They are not double exposures or composites.

FYI, I believe it is worth a mention, re: Mike Johnston’s OL/OC/OY notion, that I am not a such a picture making practitioner. I am (in my personal picturing), in fact, a OL/OC/IP - that is one lens / one camera / in perpetuity.

To clarify: in the making of pictures meant to be art / fine art, I have always, through a number of picturing “periods”, used one lens / one camera for a considerable length of time. In the beginning (c.1980) I used an 8x10 view camera and a Ektar (Kodak) 10in. lens for about 3-4 years. Later (c.2000, after a 20 year fine art hiatus), I used an Olympus µ4/3 camera (one iteration or another) with a 20mm lens on one camera and a 17mm lens on another-the 2 lenses were very similar in angle of view. Eventually, about 3 years ago, my “one” camera became the iPhone (one iteration or another) and using the “normal”, aka: semi-wide lens. During the 20 year hiatus I did use one lens / one camera to make a ton of personal snapshots ( and a some Fine Art pictures). That camera and lens combination was-I actually had 5 and still do-the Polaroid SX-70.

I mention this because I truly believe that one lens / one camera is the only way to find one’s vision and move on to making Fine* Art.

* for what it’s worth, in a series of books (mystery books by a single author) I am reading, a re-occurring character defines FINE as, Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Egotistical.

5582-84 / faux Polaroids ~ I miss the noise

(embiggenable) ~ iPhone using RTRO camera app

(embiggenable) ~ iPhone using RTRO camera app

(embiggenable) ~ iPhone using RTRO camera app

RIGHT FROM THE GET-GO, IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT back in the day when Polaroid TIME ZERO film was available, I probably-I never counted them-made 3>4,000 pictures using one or the other of my 4 Sx70 Polaroid cameras (still have them).

Most of those pictures could be categorized as "family" snapshots. On the other hand, a fair number of them were made for commercial / editorial assignments and as TiME ZERO/SX70 Polaroid art. A quite in vogue genre which, after the SX70 was no longer availabe-TIME ZERO continued to be available-drove the prices of used SX70s to stupid levels. I was fortunate enough that, with the exception of my first photo store bought SX70, I picked up my other SX70s at flea markets-pre internet / ebay /et al-for no more than $20US each.

In any event, I was truly depressed-well, at least bummed out-when TIME ZERO film slipped into the annals of photographic history. That written, I have managed to save all of my SX70/TIME ZERO pictures in 2 huge (approx. 20x30inch) plastic bins (with cover). They are all just chucked in there willy-nilly which is a perfectly acceptable form of archiving TIME ZERO prints.

All of that written, I have come across an iPhone app-RTRO from Moment-which produces a reasonable representation of TIME ZERO film. That is, except for one big exception - color rendition. I have created a work-around for that exception in the form of a saved custom Photoshop CURVES setting which gets a file in the ball park, TIME ZERO wise.

So, while I can produce an image/print with a pretty good look and feel of TIME ZERO film/prints, The thing I really miss is the whirl and mechanical noise of a print being ejected from from an SX-70 camera and then watching the print develop in your hand.

civilized ku # 3580 / art reflects ~ book 'em Dan-o

(embiggenable) • iPhone

all book spreads~ (embiggenable) • µ4/3

I HAVE MADE A NEW PHOTO BOOK, ART REFLECTS, on blurb (see it here). There are several reasons for making this book ... 1) my only copy of this book was stolen (high flattery), 2) as previously mentioned, I want to test a different blurb paper.

AN ASIDE: The pictures for ART REFLECTS were made on a single street in Old Montreal. They are single exposures, not double exposures, of art in gallery window displays made with a single click of the shutter release. The reflections are of the buildings on opposite side of the street. HINT - works best on a narrow street on an overcast day. END OF ASIDE

WHY I MAKE PHOTO BOOKS AND why you should too.

Best as I can tell, there are 55 photo books-of my pictures-in bookcases and on table tops in my house. They are divided into 2 main categories. Most are photo books of my separate bodies of fine art pictures. The balance are photo books of our travels / vactions.

In my pursuit of exhibitions of my fine art work, the fine art photo books can be used as porfolio-like (the printed quality is that good) submissions to galleries and art centers. For some exhibitions, I print 5 "special editions", signed and numbered, of the exhibition pictures and offer them as exhibition "catalogs". And, on occasion, I pick up one the books just to re-acquaint myself with my work.

The vacation / travels photo books function just like a family photo album. As such, for the wife and I, they preserve fond memories and experiences. And, in the case of travels with my grandson (primarily our annual grandpa / grandson Spring break trips), a duplicate book is made for him.

While these photo books serve many functions and provide much pleasure during my lifetime, one of the most significant reasons for their making is for posterity. That is, after I am dead and gone. I think of these books as an undertaking to save my family the daunting effort of sorting through my thousands of pictures in order to assemble a legacy of my picture making activities.

All of that written, the other significant reason for the making of these books is that, plain and simple, I like looking at my pictures in printed form. In fact, I like looking at any pictures in printed form. That's why I have at least an equal number of photo books of other picture maker's work. iMo, if it ain't in print form, it ain't a photograph.

So, my question to you is this .... why don't you make photo books? Or, do you?

I would love to read the answer to either of those questions if you would be so kind as to leave a comment on this entry.

single women # 35 / picture windows # 71 / art reflects # 32 ~ 6 days and nights

While in Mahattan during my recent 7 days travels, I discovered - at the Aperture Foundation gallery - a delightful little (5x8") book, Office Romance by Kathy Ryan. (see some pictures HERE)

No, it is not a romance novel but rather a collection of 154 iPhone pictures (4x4") which depict the same number of referents as seen by Kathy Ryan her place of work - the New York Times Building in MYC. According to Ryan ...

This began when I saw a bolt of light zigzag across the stairs one afternoon at The New York Times Magazine. I pulled out my iPhone and took a picture of it. Then I started seeing pictures all the time - incredible beauty and poetry in my office. It got my heart racing. When I see a certain kind of light out of the corner of my eye during the workday, or somebody us illuminated in an unsusaul way, I take a few pictures. It's a compulsion. Making pictures has become a call-and-response to the light and the day.

Inasmuch as I am a "call-and-response" (to quotidian referents / experiences) compulsive picture maker and a fan of small / precious pictures / photo books, Ryan's book gave me the idea of creating a small book (6x6" with 4x4" pictures) of my pictures which were made over the course of my recent 7-day travels. A diarist approach to presenting those pictures.

See the pictures.

Fyi, during the 6 day period I was able to add 1 single women, 2 picture windows and 3 art reflects pictures to their respective bodies of work. Although, the art reflects pictures will be the start of a sub-category within the art reflects body of work inasmuch as the manner in which the art is displayed through the gallery windows and the reflected architecture in those windows is decidedly different from that which is depicted in the current collection.

civilized ku # 4077-79 / art reflects # 31 ~ gone to the dogs

gone to the dogs ~ Manhattan / NYC,NY (click to embiggen)

art reflects ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

art reflects ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

McSorley's Old Ale House ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

McSorley's Old Ale House interior ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

Headed home today and will have more NYC pictures to post.

All pictures posted on this trip were processed on my iPad with Photoshop Express and edited (vignette and frame)with Snapseed. All will be re-processed at home with my normal workflowand then re-posted.

FYI, Abraham Linclon drank beer at McSorley's.