life•gas stations (civilized ku)•people ~ on discursive promiscuity (36 hours)

May 17, 2021

IN THIS ENTRY ARE MOST, BUT not all, of my picture making activity over the last 36 hours. Discursive Promiscuity wise, I did not set out to picture any particular thing / referent during that time frame. In fact, I did not "set out" at all. The activity was instigated soley-as I moved about my world-by whenever and whatever pricked my eye and sensibilities. And, as mentioned in my last entry, during post picture making processing-some on the iPhone, some on the desktop-I was able to sort the pictures into appropriate body of work folders to include, kitchen sink / kitchen life / landscape (ku) / people / gas stations (civilized ku) and a relatively new body of work, narrow DOF.

FYI, promiscuity wise, in addition to my separate body of work folders, I also save all of my pictures, regardless of theme, into 1 of 2 other folders: a) every µ4/3 picture of have ever made, or b) every iPhone picture I have ever made. In total there are approximately 12,200 processed pictures in those 2 folders.

FYI # 2: for the iPhone users or iPhone as a respectalbe picture making device curious followers out there, on the last entry a link to an article, Gueorgui Pinkhassov | Sophistication Simplification, on the Magnum website was left by Geoff Morgan. It's an interesting read. From the article's intro:

Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s new book, Sophistication Simplification, takes the photographer’s Instagram work as a point of departure, in “an attempt to return images from the virtual world into the usual, material one.” On the occasion of its release, the Magnum photographer reflects on his practice, the role of the iPhone and the changing of cultural mores prompted by the digital revolution, changes in the media and the role of photography. The collection of “small sketches made on the run—the fruits of a fleeting moment” is available to purchase through his publisher.

# 5730-32 / the new snapshot (gas stations) ~ making sense

April 18, 2021

A FEW ENTRIES BACK, I WROTE, re: my gas station pictues:

"...I believe that my hesitency to embrace this project is the fact that I do not have a clear-in-my-head project intent. That is to write, that, were I to be pressed to write an artist statement, re: this project, at this point it would be a rather rambling, un-focused statement."

That statement incited a response form Thomas Rink:

"Is an artist statement or a written concept really required? Visual aesthetics does not work on a conceptual (language) level - a picture says more than a thousand words...so, is an artist statement essentially no more than a means to combat our fear not to "make sense" to others?

I have forever been an advocate of/for the artist statement. Whenever I have felt compelled to write / speak in defense of the artist statement, it has usually been as a response the idiotic opinion that a picture that needs words is a failure. That written, let me be a bit more specific about my feelings, re: the artist statement.

First and foremost, iMo, an artist statemnt should be, as the saying goes, short and sweet. And, it should refrain from attempting to "explain" anything about the photo(s) which accompany the statement other than to inform-avoiding pretentious artspeak-a viewer about what instigated the picture maker's desire to make the photo(s). In other words, never, ever put thoughts in a viewer's mind about what the photo(s) "mean".

As an example, an artist statement, re: my gas station pictures, might read something like this...

THERE USED TO BE MEN (AND WOMEN) IN COVERALLS
(WITH GREASY HANDS)

While driving with a friend, I noticed the need to get some petrol. As we approached a "new fangled" gas station cum ~~mini~~ maxi mart, the thought occurred to me that, in my life time, the manner in which I/we got petrol had changed considerably.

As a result of that change, the landscape has, in many places, become littered with relics of the places where we used to get petrol. Many of these relics are abandoned, a few still sell petrol and a few have been repurposed for other business pursuits. In any event, the fact is that most of these "traditional" gas stations have literally disappeared.

While I have pictured some "traditional" gas station remains, I have not been able to picture the men and women in coveralls (with greasy hands) who have completely disappeared from the gas station landscape inasmuch as one no longer needs to interact with a human while getting petrol.

After reading the above artist statement, it is then up to a viewer to "make sense" of what the pictures "mean" to him/her self. To engage in deduction, speculation, and fantasy based upon what he/she brings, life experience and knowledge, to the viewing. Or, as Paul Strand stated:

"Every artist I suppose has a sense of what they think has been the importance of their work. But to ask them to define it is not really a fair question. My real answer would be, the answer is on the wall.

# 5715-19 / civilized ku (gas stations) ~ going, going, gone

April 11, 2021

EVEN AS I CONTINUE TO ADD more gas station pictures to my collection I have still not decided to formally commit to the project. Dispite the lack of commitment, I have, nevertheless, given the project a tentative title, there used to be guys in coveralls with greasy hands. Although, it turns out, with some research, that there used to be gals in coveralls with greasy hands.

In any event, I believe that my hesitency to embrace this project is the fact that I do not have a clear-in-my-head project intent. That is to write, that, were I to be pressed to write an artist statement, re: this project, at this point it would be a rather rambling, un-focused statement. And, I most definitely want to have of body of work that evidences a consistent visual characteristic...which, at this time, is a somewhat deadpan picture making approach. An approach which, when coupled to my the new snapshot technique, seems to be a very valid visual picture making / presentation manner of picturing.

All of that written, it is quite possible that I am over-thinking the whole thing. Guess I'll just have to give it some more thought. And, keep making more gas station pictures.

FYI, I made the top-most picture in this entry as a quite possible cover picture for a quite possible photo book inasmuch as it does illustrate one of the themes of this maybe project. That is, the fact that "traditional" gas stations are disappearing due to the fact that corporate America has decided that "super"-10-12 pump-it-yourself gas pumps-gas stations accompanied by a "mini" mart-to include a made-to-order deli, seating booths, a very modest grocery selection, and every candy, junk food known to humankind and a slection of a zillion bottles of carbonated soda, water, and, of corse, beer, are what Americans want.

The picture in question has an abandoned and stripped bare former gas station in the foreground with a "super" gas station directly behind it across the street. Sorta a living and the dead picture.

# 5707-11 / civilized ku (gas stations) ~ gas 'er up (or not)

April 8, 2021

OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS I HAVE been out and about searching for and, consequently, picturing "traditional" gas stations. By "traditional" I mean gas stations which were dedicated to pumping gas (by men in coveralls with greasy hands) and performing auto repairs and maintenance. However, very few (if any) of those meeting that definition still exist.

What does exist, especially so in rural areas like where I live, are many abandoned remnants of gas stations, still in use gas stations-some of which still sell gas-which perform maintenance and repair only-and older gas stations-built in the 50-60s-which have added some sort of quickie-mart / convenience store to the operation. Some architecturally unique / interesting gas stations have been acquired and converted into antique /specialty retail stores.

In any event, my recent driving about picture making has focused on picturing gas stations. A big part of that motivation is devoted to figuring out whether I want to pursue a gas station body of work. Cuz, the fact is that, for a number of reasons, I am not certain that I do wish to do so.

One reason for that hesitancy is that I am not that keen on creating a series of primarily "documentary" pictures. That is, pictures made just to document that something exists. Rather, I want to make pictures which conform to my unique manner of seeing, aka: my vision, which is not so much about what is pictured but more about form.

The thought has occurred to me that, perhaps, this project would best be served by being a subset of my the new snapshot series. BW pictures with a snapshot border might just be appropriate for this project (should I decide to undertake it)....the depicted referents are not dependent upon color to be interesting and the snapshot border supports the idea of another time. I am pretty certain that approach would not be viewed as merely attention-getting gimmickry.

That written, over the next couple weeks I will be out and about-with µ4/3 camera / 25mm f1.8 lens attached-looking for gas stations to picture.