All photos ~ (embiggenable)
THE GENERAL CONSENSUS WHEN I SLIPPED MY iPHONE out from under my sheet and started making pictures in the OR was one of confusion; “what the hell.”, “doesn’t that guy know where he is?” That written, they went about their business and no one asked me if they should smile.
In case you have not figured it out by now, I will make pictures anywhere I can.
birthday cannoli ~ (embiggenable)
Brooklyn ~ (embiggenable)
Cooperstown~ (embiggenable)
my kitchen + Brooklyn sink with window ~ (embiggenable)
EVERY YEAR-FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS-THE WIFE and I go to Cooperstown, NY where the wife has an annual conference. While she attends the conference, I play golf and hang out around the very upscale hotel on the lake. The trip also coincides with her birthday so we always go out for a nice meal. This year we also went to NYC / Brooklyn for a couple days before heading to Cooperstown (the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame). All of which brings me to the point of this entry…
….I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GONNA TAKE THIS ANY MORE…
To be precise, the “this” in question that makes me mad as hell is any utterance such as:
“It's fantastic for the things it's meant for and designed to do, but it's mainly a communication device. It can be exasperating as a camera.…they”-iPhone files-“fall far enough short of the best "real" cameras that ultimately they're just not terribly satisfying…”
iMo, those who make such utterances are; a) those who have not made the effort to understand the in and outs of how to use the iPhone photo making capabilities, b) those who are not using the RAW capture capabilities or c) don’t know how to process RAW files for maximum results, d) those who, like the commentator quoted above, are using older generation iPhones, and, e) those who are gearheads who make photos that are tack-sharp with saturated color and high dynamic range but are, nevertheless, rarely worth a second glance.
Now, to be certain, I am not proposing that an iPhone “camera” is ideal or well suited to every picture making task or that it can “satisfy” every picture maker’s aesthetic. However, that written, I am emphatically emphasising that it is perfectly capable of producing photographs that are as good-that is, expressing the intent of the photographer-any other picture making device.
Any one (me, being a prime example) who has used a wide variety of cameras-8x10 / 4x5 view cameras, medium format cameras, 35mm cameras, Polaroid cameras, and the like-knows that every camera has its own distinct peculiarities, both in their use and their rendering results. However, the only thing that matters to the picture making artist is that any given camera helps in producing his/her picture making intent.
All of the above written, just let me declare that, in a “perfect” picture making universe, I wish that picture makers would just pick whatever camera device is best for them and their intent and vision-if they even have one-and then keep their fucking yap shut and concentrate on making pictures that “satisfy” their eye and sensibilities. I might not like their pictures but that sure as hell it won’t be because of the camera they used.
FYI, during the 6 day trip I covered a lot of ground, picture making wise. l returned with 25 “keepers” which spanned multiple photography genres: landscape, street, people, night, and still life. All of the pictures were made with my iPhone 24 PRO Max camera device set to produce RAW files. And, to my eye and sensibilities, the results were very satisfying and, BTW, the “cmaera” served all of my picture making intents very well, thank you very much.
woke up. looked out the front door. made a picture. ~ All photos (embiggenable)
drank coffee, had a donut. went upstairs to get dressed. made a picture.
after a doctor appointment went to grocery store. made a picture.
went back home. went upstairs to warm up the cocktail hour porch. made a picture.
late night just before retiring noted part of an 8 year old arrangement on the fireplace mantel. made a picture.
SO ALL THIS STUFF ABOUT COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY HAS ME thinking, re: forget about defining what may or may not constitute a good color photograph and/or photographer. Instead, how about defining what constitutes a good photograph independent of categorization- i..e., bw / color, street / still life / landscape / et al.
CAVEAT there can never be a universal definition cuz, as Julian’s grandmother said, “For every pot there’s a lid.” Itaque, the definition found herein is decidedly influenced by my bias(es).
It would be easy, and a cop-out, to just quote Ansel Adams and be done with it:
“There are no rules for good photographs. There are only good photographs.”
On one level that makes some sorta sense. Although, yes, he was most likely offering an opinion about rules, as in, you don’t need no stinkin’ rules to make a good photograph. However, the fact of the matter is that, if there are good photographs there must also be not-so-good (bad?) photographs-plenty of which were made by the rules. In any event….
My photographs-and those which give me viewing pleasure made by others-tend to be driven by an openness to every picture making possibility the world offers. An openness-sorta like making photographs “to find out what something will look like photographed” (Garry Winogrand)-which is akin to curiosity. That is, a curiosity which recognizes that any thing in life, if accurately and profoundly penetrated by “seeing…observation full and felt” (Walker Evans) is interesting and always strange.
My photographs-and those made by others which give me viewing pleasure-most often present interweaving repetitive visual elements of line, shape and color. Nevertheless, the recognizable individuality of any motif is superseded by its role in the pictorial whole. It is the resultant pictorial effect, not the technique, that predominates. The whole is indeed is greater than the sum of its parts. And, I might add, the whole is most often greater than that which is literally depicted.
I am not interested in technique beyond having enough to get the job done. And, the last thing I would want to be evident in my photographs is how they were made. To wit, Robert Adams said it best:
“…if the goal of art is to be reached, only pictures that look as if they had been easily made can convincingly suggest that beauty is commonplace.”
My photographs-and those made by others which give me viewing pleasure-always dwell in the two dimensional world. That’s cuz there ain’t no 3D in the world of photography. It’s flat as pancake, paper (substrate) thin and best viewed-and pictured-in that perspective. Apologies to stereoscopic practitioners.
All of the above written, I suppose I could have just written that my photography pursuits have the goal of suggesting that the commonplace is a never-ending, ever-changing world of visual patterns / forms which present the opportunity for the making of interesting, strange, and therefore, to eye my and sensibilities, beautiful pictures. I also like pictures made by other like minded picture makers. Although, I am always open to surprises.
all photos ~ (embiggenable)
AS THE IDEA / CONCEPT OF COLOR IS BEING BATTED AROUND on TOP, the topic, as is most often the case, devolves into the malarky and flapdoodle world wherein the need for understanding the interaction of color, both a practical and a theoretical understanding, is consider to be de rigueur for the making of a “perfect” color photograph. Ya know, so you can use color as a colorist, rather than as an incidentalist.
In the entry, examples of good ‘great color photographers are given by many. Amongst the names, Saul Leiter is mentioned repeatedly. iMo, very good example but….I doubt that Leiter ever gave much of a tinker'‘s damn about understanding the interaction of color, both as a practical and a theoretical matter. Consider Leiter’s own words:
“I think that mysterious things happen in familiar places…I like it when one is not certain of what one sees. When we do not know why the photographer has taken a picture, and when we do not know why we are looking at it, all of a sudden, we discover something that we start seeing. I like this confusion…I think that I learned to see what h see and do not see. One of the things photography has allowed me is to take pleasure in looking. I see this world simply. It is a source of endless delight.”
iMo, the nano-second that you starting thinking about color when making a photograph, that is the moment that you screw up the process, i.e., you lose the delight of simply looking and begin making a photograph according to the rules. iMo, ya gotta just look and feel it.
ASIDE While I consider Leiter’s work a forerunner of fine-art color photography-inasmuch as he did use color film in his picture making-nevertheless, my thinking is rather conflicted, re: the idea that he was as color photographer. It seems, based upon the fact that he was an experimental-ist when it came to what color film to use. He regularly “explored” the color distortions of expired films and the unpredictable color renditions found in the emulsions of small-manufacturer’s films.
To my way of thinking, Lieter was not utilizing the actual colors of the actual world in the making of his pictures. Rather, he was sorta playing around with the color renditions of one of the tools of the medium, aka: film. So, does that make him something other than a color photographers? A color distortion-ist photographer, perhaps?
That written, his color work-whatever one wishes to call it-is a delight at which to look.
(all photos embiggenable) ~ adirondack scenic
landscape
around the house
kitchen sink
people / portrait
travel
picture windows
single women
still life
street photography (in situ)
quite possibly my favorite picture from 2023
AT THE END OF THE OLD / START OF THE NEW year, it customary in some quarters to do a year-in-review thing. In many cases it is a a “best-of” kinda thing. In any event, here is my take on it…
Inasmuch as, in an overall scheme of picture making things, I toil in the discursive promiscuity garden of picture making, I nevertheless feel compelled, by the medium’s custom of organizing itself into recognizable, theme-based bodies of work, to relegate my pictures to separate / definable bodies of work - 10 bodies of work as presented above.
That written, re: the pictures in this entry, while they are presented as the “best-of” each category, they are not necessarily my favorite pictures of 2023. If I were to discard the limits imposed by adhering to separate theme classification, it is possible that some of these pictures would not make the cut. Case in point, the adirondack scenic picture would be nowhere to been seen.
That’s cuz, to be honest, that genre-“beautiful” scenery pictures-is not something that I pursue with any passion. The simple fact of the matter, picture making passion wise, is that the only dictate that drives my shutter activation finger is the making of pictures of selected segments of quotidian life which prick my eye and sensibilities.
all photos ~(embiggenable)
THE FIRST 1000+ MILE LEG OF MY GRANDSON / GOLF 2000+ MILE TRIP is in the books.The Penguins shut out the defending Stanley Cup Champs and the drive from Pittsburgh to Pinehurst NC through parts of the Blue Ridge / Appalachian Mountains was quite picturesque. Golf is good.
all photos ~ (embiggenable)
PICTURE WISE, A FEW STRAGGLERS FROM THE LAST 24 hours in California.
Travel wise, today, after 36 hours of rest and recuperation at home, I am off on my 10 day golf-with-the-grandson trip. Our destination is Pinehurst, NC, approximately a 1,000 mile drive away.
Leaving this afternoon for a half-way stop over at my ex’s home for an over night break. Then on to Pittsburgh on Sunday to meet up with the kid and go to Penguins game. Monday, it’s on to NC. Next Saturday, after 5 days of golf, it’s a drive from NC to Morgantown, West Virginia, where I will stay overnight, then drop the kid off at school-University of West Virgini-on Sunday. Take a campus tour then head out to the ex’s home for another half-way over night break. Buy her breakfast on Monday morning and head home.
I will be posting entries during the trip. As promised, I will not bore you with a ton o’ golf pictures or golf stories.
CALIFORNIA, SPECIFICALLY THE BUILT UP URBAN / SUBURBAN areas that are dominated by highway systems that are alternately Indianapolis 500 speedways-with a fair number of kamikazi pilots at the wheels-and very slow moving parking lots, is not much to my liking. Some might suggest that the ocean / coast line is a saving grace but, to be honest, it don’t do much to light my fire.
So, after 4 days I have managed to not take a walk on the beach. That run is about to end this afternoon cuz I feel that I would be remiss in my duty, photography wise, if I were to come home without a beach picture. I am also proud to write that I have not made a sunset picture. Although, I do have a fair number of pictures of family members taking pictures of or staring at the sunset.
And, writing of family members taking pictures, one photo opportunity I did not explore-I actually wish I had-was making pictures of them taking zillions of pictures of each other. FYI, inevitably, all of those pictures were taken with the subject(s) just standing somewhere looking at the picture taker…
…just shoot me (pun intended)