# 6534-36 / commpn places-things • folliage ~ some men follow their junk

all photos (embiggenable)

RECENTLY, OVER ON T.O.P. , THE TOPIC OF “the most interesting photographer in history” was raised. To define that phrase M. Johnston went on to write, “Interesting meaning fascinating or thought provoking, in any aspect—personal lives, significance, ideas and attitudes, accomplishments, whatever.” Stated that way, I had very little interest inasmuch as I have no curiosity, re:what someone who makes pictures has for breakfast or if that someone picks his/her nose or who might literally, run around in little circles from dawn to dusk. The only saving grace in that descriptor was the inclusion of “significance” and “ideas.”

Having written all that, I can state that the primary interest I have with any photographer is the pictures he/she make or have made. The only interest I might otherwise have, is bit of background on what drove him/her, if applicable, to pick up photography and, minus any art-speak, what he/she believes he/she is trying to accomplish with their work. However, that would only interest me if I found his/her photographs interesting.

So, in any event, I thought, just for giggles and grins, that I would enlighten my readers with my list of photographers who. iMo / to my eye and sensibilities, make interesting photographs…

  1. THE SIGNIFICANT: In a class by themselves, Shore, Eggleston, Meyerowitz, Adams (Robert), Frank. These guys radically changed the idea of what can be photographed and what constitutes a good photograph like no other photographer before them.

  2. THE QUIRKY: Joel-Peter Witkin, Diane Arbus, Martin Parr, Weegee, Paula Klaw.

  3. THE VENERATED: Evans, Stieglitz, Weston, Margaret Bourke White, Porter, Bresson.

  4. THE ONE AND ONLY: Maier

In my personal photobook library, re: Photographer Monographs, I have at least one-in some cases 2 or more-book of each of the above named “interesting photographers”. That written, I have many other monographs by photographers whose work I admire. However, they tend to fall in one or another of the 1-3 categories listed above and I felt that those listed are more than enough for anyone to figure out the kinds of photographs I find interesting.

Burtynsky is one of my favorites (embiggenable)

FYI, a photobook I would emphatically recommend is Photo-wisdom ~ Master Photographers on Their Art;

Through the extraordinary images and insights of 50 of the world's master photographers, Photo-wisdom explores the richness of contemporary photographic practice. Photo-wisdom features commentaries from original interviews with world-leading photographers alongside exquisite reproductions of key images chosen by the artists themselves.The result is an unprecedented collection of 200 images showcasing each master photographer's work and their unique voice. ~ from publisher’s description

Then there’s this review-written by a woman-a customer on a used book site:

“It's big, it's beautiful, it's full of photos... but is it really full of wisdom? And if not, do we care? ….there's a lot to learn and a lot to love even if you never read a word of the accompanying first-person essays (mostly taken from interviews). But I do love reading that some photographers rely on luck, some make elaborate plans, and some let their camera lead them around much as some men follow their dicks.”

Keep in mind that “contemporary photographic practice “ is c. 2010, when the book was published and also note that the 50 photographers presented range from award-winning photojournalists to celebrity shooters; from politicized environmentalists to elusive artists; from timeless veterans to new visionaries; and from great storytellers to the makers of lasting icons. iMo, the diversity of the practitioners is what makes the book especially interesting.

In any event, the book is highly recommended and it can be found on a variety of used book sites (including Amazon) for very reasonable prices. I purchased my copy in 2012 in an upscale, small storefront, used book store on 2nd Ave. in the East Village NYC. Over a couple decades I visited the store 2-3x a year. It had a photobook section of ever-changing titles in near like-new condition at quite reasonable prices. Not that I am counting, but it is possible that half or more of photobook collection came from this store. Unfortunately, it closed a bout 10 years ago.

FYI, it should be evident from my discursive promiscuity approach to picture making that I am a photographer who-according to the woman reviewer quoted above-falls into the picture-making group that lets their camera lead them around much as some men follow their dicks…guilty as charged.

# 6523-26 / landscape • autumn ~ change is a-comin'

all photos (embiggenable)

JUST SOME PICTURES FROM my neighborhood. Stick season is coming and some white stuff has been comin’ and goin’ at higher elevations. Gotta get my winter backpacking gear together cuz I promised myself that I would- while I still can-spend a few days and nights in the back country this winter.

# 6520-22 / common places/things • autumn ~ take some Extra Strength Tylenol and call me in the morning

all photos (embiggenable)

A COMMENT FROM DENNIS ON my last entry:

“…what set you off this time? Just because it worked for you don't mean jack for anyone else. Falling Water is lovely but falling down…”

Cannot imagine what, in my last entry, caused Dennis to experience a “migraine inducing eyeroll”. That written, let me pass on my condolence. Hope you feel better. In any event, I thought I should respond to his “riptose” on 2 counts; re: Fallingwater (1 word, not 2), and, re: “don’t mean jack for anyone else”.

re: Fallingwater - fun fact, Fallingwater is not falling down. Nor was it in eminent danger of falling down. In 1995 it was determined that the concrete cantilevered balconies were insufficiently reinforced. What a surprise (sarcasm alert). Who could have guessed that a structure-an untested, never-before attempted, never-imagined construction technique, using materials available at that time-built 60 years prior might just need a bit of additional reinforcement? In any event, in 2002 additional reinforcement was installed leaving Fallingwater's interior and exterior appearance unchanged and the original construction engineering intact.

re: “don’t mean jack for anyone else” - I have no idea if the topics and/or ideas and opinions expressed on this blog have any meaning, applicability, or value to anyone else (other than M). And, I most emphatically make it known that, with my liberal and continued use of the acronym, “iMo”-note that M is both bold and italicized-I am not writing ex cathedra. So, Dennis, please accept my thanks for pointing out the obvious.

And, speaking of the obvious, I would never suggest that what works for me would necessarily work for anyone else cuz, ya know, statistically, half the population is below average.

# 6514-19 / common places • common things ~ free your mind instead

all photos (embiggenable)

“When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all. And though my lack of education hasn’t hurt me none, I can read the writing on the wall.” ~ Paul Simon from the song Kodachrome

THIS SONG LYRIC HAS ALWAYS STUCK WITH me when I think about the idea of going to school-college / university level-for the purpose of learning about how to make good pictures. An idea that, iMo. I believe to be the complete antithesis of how to achieve the goal of making good pictures. That’s cuz, hold onto your hats, I am certain, beyond any doubt, that, in fact, making good pictures cannot be taught. FULL STOP.

For me, this is not a recent conclusion; back in the early-ish day of my commercial photography career, a professor-the same one who brought John Pfahl to my studio for a visit- from RIT’s School of American Crafts / College of Art & Design would bring students from RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences to my studio on day trips. During those visits I considered it my civic duty to inform those students that, within 5 years of graduation, only 7% of grads would be making a living making photographs. And, to understand that, after learning how to operate a camera, their way around a darkroom (no computers in the photo world at that time), and how not to kill themselves setting up high-powered strobe banks, they would be better served, financially and aesthetically, to get out of school, get a job in some facet of the photography industry, buy ton of film, make a zillion pictures, and, consequently, learn how they see the world.

I am certain that those students were very impressed with my work and studio: nationally-known client work on the walls and in my portfolio. I am also certain that they most likely were more than a little perplexed by the fact, which I drove home quite emphatically, that I had not spent a day, not an hour, not a minute learning anything about photography in a school, workshop, or any other learning institution. Don’t know if anyone ever heeded my advice. But, the simple fact was/is that I figured it all out on my own initiative.

FYI, the only thing I learned from someone else was how to spool 35mm film onto a processing reel; that took all of 5 minutes although it did require quite a bit of practice to consistently get it right.

That written, I did read nearly anything I could get my hands on, photography wise. Primarily, that included popular photo magazines which, sooner than later, I moved away from to read mags that featured photographs, not gear. One notable exception to the magazine focus was a subscription to the Time Life Library of Photography. I ended the subscription after receiving 4 books: The Camera, The Print, Light and Film, and Color. The books were hardbound, beautifully printed, and fairly informative, and, mercifully free from any advice from “experts”.

All of that written, Paul Simon sings that his lack of education didn’t hurt him none. I would suggest that a lack of education ain’t hurt a lot of folks none (to include myself). Like, say, as a notable example, Frank Lloyd Wright: with just a little bit of civil engineering education-no degree-under his belt, he went on to be declared by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time". In 2000, one of his projects, Fallingwater (I’ve visited many times), was named "The Building of the 20th century" in a "Top-Ten" poll taken by members attending the AIA annual convention in Philadelphia.

In any event, I ain’t agin readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmatic, per se, as long as that educatin’ teaches one how to think. Ya know, so’s yinz can read the writtin’ on the wall.

# 6504-08 / common places • common things ~ in the eye of the beholder

all photos (embiggenable)

I HAVE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED A VERMONT based gallery-PhotoPlace [GALLERY] (link)-that conducts, per their website, “monthly, juried photographic exhibitions to photographers worldwide, each with a new topic and internationally recognized juror”. Their current juried exhibition’s theme is The Poetry of the Ordinary; a theme that is right up my alley.

Over the years I have submitted photos for many of their monthly exhibitions and am pleased to report that on 12-15 occasions (I have not kept count) my work has been accepted for the gallery exhibitions. Considering that there are usually 3-4K worldwide submissions per exhibtion, that is a reasonable accomplishment. In any event, I will be submitting work for the current call for entries which states:

As photographers, we have developed skill in seeing beneath the surface of our subjects, and often find in them the beauty, poignancy, and poetry that exist in ordinary moments. For this exhibition, we seek the simple poetic elegance of the ordinary.

As I wrote, that statement seems to be right up my alley. However….depending upon the juror, he/she might have a very different understanding on the word “ordinary”. For instance, in the 3 example photos on call for entries page, is the spreader in the mist/fog ordinary, or, is the runner with the broom in the smoke(?) ordinary? ….

…..to my and sensibilities, I think not. Inasmuch as the runner himself and the spreader itself are rather ordinary, the circumstances in which they are pictured is seems to be very much out of the ordinary. Of course, what I think doesn’t matter but someone-the juror? the gallery director?-thinks otherwise. And that situation- a differing definitions of what constitutes the ordinary-makes me think my pictures of the ordinary might not be what fits the bill.

Then there is, for me, the idea of “seeing beneath the surface”-an adage / concept that has been bandied about the medium seemingly forever. And, it is a concept about which I am very uncertain, re: what the hell does that mean? I am fairly certain it does not mean that one should elevate / pick up one’s subject to see what’s underneath it. Nor do I believe that it implies that one is making pictures with an x-ray device.

Wise comments aside, the phrase when used as a proposition means: aspects of it-one’s nominal photographic subject-which are hidden or not obvious. That is a meaning which I can embrace-with caveats-cuz in my photographs I try to capture and express something about what I picture that is not obvious to the casual observer-the “hidden”, aka: unseen in situ, but can be made “obvious” in a photograph, aka: form.

The primary caveat I have about making a photograph that is about something hidden or not obvious is that, in my case, I am not photographing something, the referent, which I or most anyone would consider to be, in and of itself, beautiful, poignant, or poetic. Rather, my intent to is to make a object, i.e. a photograph, that, in and of itself, may be considered to beautiful, poignant, or poetic.

Consider the referent in the photos in this entry. No one I can think of believes that, as an example, my kitchen trash can, stove, and floor are beautiful, poignant, or poetic in and of themselves. However, I do believe-please forgive my self-aggrandizing opinion of my work-that the photograph thereof and the form it presents is a beautiful photograph, in and of itself. Or, at the very least, visually interesting. Of course, I am also comfortable with the fact that other viewers may not agree.

All of that written, I can only hope that the juror of the exhibition will agree that one of pictures fits the bill.

# 6500-03 / common places-things ~ simulacrum , relativism, and dinkum oil

all photos (embiggenable)

THERE WAS A TIME MANY YEARS AGO, DECADES in fact, that, on my several iterations ago blog, I was a stanch defender of truth-def: that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality-in photos. What was tiring about discussing that idea was the never-ending, dancing on the head of pin contrarian advocates who wanted wanted to take a deep dive into the philosophical meaning of “truth”. And, as an adjunct position, they also threw in the questioning of the idea of “real”. All of which I found rather unproductive inasmuch as I was interested in discussing the characteristics / conventions / apparatus of the medium, not the meaning of life.

Inasmuch as we photographers are going thru the motions of making simulacrum-def: something that replaces reality with its representation-I believe that the idea of so-called “truth” in a photograph might better be described as representational / visual veracity. That is to write that, if a casual viewer-aka: a non-“serious” amateur picture maker, were to view a straight photograph of some thing-people, place, thing, event, et al-made from the real world and see the same thing in situ, he/she would have no problem recognizing it as being related, reasonably accurately, to that thing as it was depicted in the previously viewed photograph.

That written, if one accepts the idea that photography is unique amongst the visual arts in its unique / intrinsic ability to accurately / convincingly / truthfully (there’s that word again) visually depict a segment of the real, why not employ that characteristic of the medium to create art?

Easy answer; iMo, the most difficult challenge in making art, Photography Division, is doing so without relying on art sauce / cheap tricks to garnish the real with a false pretense. Ya know, like making a “fake” photograph. Say, consider a picture of fall foliage so screamingly over-saturated, color wise, as to be a complete distortion of the real.

Some might ask if it is possible for a photograph to be able to convey a moral / cultural / emotional truth. The answer to that question is simply, “Maybe.” or, most probably, “No.” That is, at least not a clearly unambiguous, universal truth. That’s cuz the question legitimately opens the door to the idea of relativism-the doctrine that truth and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute. For instance, there are those who saw horror and tragedy in the photo of people plunging to their death from the two towers while there were others who, viewing the same photo, saw a scene that incited great joy /celebration and a sense of the fulfillment of their dreams.

In any event, in my picture making I try to stick to the facts of life on this planet. Call it what you will but I currently think of it as the real dinkum oil.

# 6496-99 / common places-things ~ the treadmill keeps on moving

all photos (embiggenable)

BEEN BACK FROM RIST CAMP FOR A WEEK and it’s amazing how much catching up there is to do after being away from home for 5 weeks. Actually it was 6 weeks cuz there was a week at the Jersey Shore the week before Rist Camp.

In any event, there was one significant and unexpected catching up that arose last week; the message that popped up on my screen that said YOUR CURRENT VERSION OF PHOTOSHOP IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED. No big surprise cuz I knew it was coming sooner or later-I was hoping for later.

That written, I was also hoping there would be a version of PS-compatible with my OS-to which I could upgrade. But, no such luck cuz I can not upgrade the OS on my late-2012 MAC mini. So…it’s a new mini for me along with all the attendant set-up rigmarole. Ugh.

On the other hand, hardware wise, I am awaiting the delivery of my PRO MAX iPhone 16. I was not planning on an upgrade from my PRO MAX iPhone 14 but, while I was at our cell service provider store with the wife’s new PRO iPhone 15-she ordered the phone (at no cost with her trade in), which came with a free iPad, online (from our cell service provider) to set up activation, data/file transfer, add screen savers, et al, getting a new iPhone just seemed like the right thing to do. FYI, the $900USD trade in value on my PRO MAX 14 was an significant inducement to upgrade now instead of later.

That written, there are a few improvements / changes to the camera and its operation on the new iPhone. In particular, I appreciate the new 48mp RAW capability on the ultra wide lens cuz I shoot in the RAW mode whenever possible. Other than that improvement, most of the other “improvements” are, for the manner in which I use the iPhone, relatively minor. Although, there is the new Apple AI…..

# 6469-74 / rist camp • flora • folliage (autumn) common places-things ~ small is beautiful

all photos (embiggenable)

IN MY REGION OF THE ADIRONDACKS PEEK (pun) leaf peeper season is about a week away. While I am not immune to the sight of the forest swathed in a red / yellow rainbow of color, I am adverse to the making of pictures thereof. To wit, the making of “standard”, color saturated, landscape calendar art.

On the contrary, bogs and swamps are my favored autumnal picture making venues. That’s cuz the biodiversity found in these wetlands creates a much expanded color palette than is commonly found in the red and yellow dominated forest palette. Throw in a wide variety of shapes and textures and, to my eye and sensibilities, there are picture making opportunities aplenty.

Often times, on my way to a bog / swamp, along the roadside I encounter scenes of pre-peek color. That is, a bit of autumnal color mingled in a greater scene of late summer, green-dominated, color. To my eye and sensibilities, these scenes have a great degree of visual energy; ya know what I mean….the opportunity to make one of those exhausting-to-read (sarcasm alert) photographs wherein the eye tends to dance-instead of falling asleep-across the 2D surface of the print.

All of that written, I would encourage the pursuit of shunning the grand autumnal landscape scenes in order to find those much more intimate tableaux of autumnal splendor.