(embiggenable) • iPhone
socially distant ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone
(embiggenable) • iPhone
WHENEVER THE IDEA OF "READING" OR FINDING "MEANING" in a photograph comes up, I am reminded of a quote attributed to Gen. George S. Patton in the movie, PATTON:
You know General, sometimes the men don't know when you're acting.
Patton: "It's not important for them to know. It's only important for me to know."
However, in my head, it goes lke this....
You know Mark, sometimes viewers don't know what the meaning of/is in your pictures.
Me: "It's not important for them to know. It's only important for me to know."
And, more or less, what I know is that, picture making wise, I am (primarily, not exclusively) a formalist. I.E., I place an emphasis on form over content or meaning in my picture making and, to be certain, in all of the arts. Add to that the idea that I am also a sensualist inasmuch as, re: picture making and the arts in general, I tend to make pictures-and view / appreciate art in general-which prick the physical sense of vision, aka: seeing, rather than to stimulate the mind. That is, to instigate feelings rather than thoughts when a viewer encounters my pictures.
That written, I certainly understand that feelings can, and most often do, lead directly to thoughts. Which is pretty much how our wiring works. But, when it comes to making pictures and viewing art, I have been, iMo, fortunate to have been able, to quote Bagger Vance, "to learn how to stop thinking without falling asleep."
A practice which I believe is most valuable to the "understanding" of art.