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OVER THE PAST 4 DAYS I MADE BUT 1 SINGLE PICTURE. That extraordinary feat of self-restraint was accomplished during our daughter’s 4 day wedding event. iMo, that single picture-1 single click of the iPhone “shutter”-was all that was needed to sum up the entire event.
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SO, AS I WAS SITTING AT MY WORKSTATION CONTEMPLATING topics for my next entry, I was struck by the reflection on the glossy surface of a Polaroid picture sitting on my desktop.
As a matter of fact, my eyes were nearly fixated on it, meditation style, when I realized that the reflection impeded my ability to discern the subject matter of the picture; which, quite obviously functioned as an impediment to discerning any meaning that might be found in the picture. All of which lead me to land on the idea of meaning to be had in a photograph as an entry topic…
…I believe I have previously made it clear that I do not believe the medium of photography and its apparatus are well equipped to convey meaning(s) other than the most simple of emotional reactions. That is to write that, while a picture might be able to incite a viewer to feelings (a reaction different from discerning meanings) of sadness, happiness, anger, confusion, agitation, restfulness, et al, what it can not do is control the life experience / art sensibilities / attitude that a person brings to the viewing of a picture.
And it is those things-let’s call them an individual’s pre-existing conditions-that determine what a viewer might see and feel when viewing a picture. What one viewers deduces, meaning-wise, from what he/she “sees” and feels when viewing any given picture might be quite different from what another viewer of the same picture might deduce, meaning-wise, from what he/she “sees” and feels. Which, of course, leads to the adage that “one person’s art is another person’s falderol” (or any variation thereof).
Hence, in an effort to avoid divergent feelings and thoughts, the detailed artist statement appears on the scene. An attempt wherein a picture maker tries to direct a viewer’s attention-is a picture really “worth” a thousand words?-to the intended meaning to be found in his/her pictures(s).
All of the above written, I made a picture of what pricked my eye-an incongruous visual element, aka: the reflection, in an otherwise “soft” environment (“softness” aided by the use of the iPhone PORTRAIT mode and the subdued light). In addition, what pricked my sensibilities was the fact that that visual element, when arranged in the center of the 2D visual field, was able to anchor / be the focal point of the entire photograph. A photograph which has visual energy aplenty, encouraging the eye to explore the bathed-in-warm-light desktop artifacts as contrasted against the cool-colored surrounding picture segments. However, to my eye and sensibilities, I am ultimately drawn back to that reflection.
Upon viewing the picture (much more so than when I was making the picture), I conjured up the idea that the reflection was an apt metaphor for the pre-existing conditions a viewer might bring to the viewing of a picture. Pre-existing conditions that might mask or make difficult the discernment of any meaning(s) the picture maker might have tried to imbed in his/her photograph.
While there might be some who identify that metaphor as a road sign to discerning the “true” meaning to be found in the photograph, but that conclusion would be a product driven by their pre-existing conditions cuz that “meaning” was not part of-or, at most, a teeny-tiny part thereof-of my picture making intention. And, more to my point, re: meaning in a photograph, if I did not create an artist statement that mentioned the metaphor / intended meaning, I doubt if anyone would have noticed the reflection as such.
At best, that idea was an after thought cuz, in practice and in fact, I made the picture cuz it tickled and stroked my visual senses and I knew that viewing-not thinking about-the final print would do the same.
As Lyle Lovett asked (for a different reason), “That doesn’t make me a shallow person does it?”
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HERE IN THE ADIRONDACKS SPRING HAS SPRUNG all over the place with great vigor . Yesterday’s high was 80 degrees with bright sun and blue skies. So, the wife and I, together with a good friend, headed out for a circuitous-down to the central Adirondacks and back-200 mile drive, ostensibly to pick up 3 cases of wine for our daughter’s wedding this coming weekend.
Along the way we sought out 3 raging, thunderous spring-melt falls and had a late lunch in Chef Darrell’s diner-his mouth-watering meatloaf for me-in Blue Mountain Lake. Naturally, I made some pictures along the way.
Today, while I was processing those pictures, I was thinking about the idea of “composition”. FYI, that’s a word that rarely enters my vocabulary in describing how I “arrange” things in the making of my pictures. Thinking about it, I believe that my deliberate disdain for that word and the picture making conventions it represents originates from my participation-as an consultant (my name is in the book’s acknowledgements) about the medium and it conventions-with Sally Eauclaire in her preparation for her landmark book, the new color photography.
Sally, to whom 100s of photographers submitted work, would, on a regular basis, bring work to my studio where we would spread it out on the studio floor. Then she and I would walk round the spread and she would asked me questions about various pictures. Questions along the lines of “how did the photographer achieve that look / result / effect?” She was not soliciting my aesthetic opinion. Rather, she had absolutely no experience, re: the medium and its apparatus.
In any event, one of the prominent things I took away from that experience was that, in the viewing of all that work from all of later considered masters of modern fine art color photography, I saw nothing in the photographs that evidenced any notion of conventional photographic composition. None. Nada. Not even a hint.
While those early color photographers were credited with many ground-breaking accomplishments, iMo, except for the traditional photo press / media who piled on declaring the work to be a “put-on…worse than amateur snapshots…these photographers can not be serious” and the like, little attention was paid to their notions, re: composition. It took someone-Sally Eauclaire-who was not bound by knowledge of conventional photographic composition technique to look at photographs from the perspective of the Fine Art World with its emphasis on the traditional elements of Art; line, shape, space, color, value, form.
In effect, those photographers stated, via their work, that composition, as it was formally recognized, was an aesthetic dead end. (you can quote me on that)
All of that written, I have written a mashup of my words together with words and phrases-borrowed from Eauclaire’s book-that reflect my notion of “composition”:
iMo, the best photographs are those made by photographers who perceive real objects and intervening spaces as interanimating segments of a total visual presentation; a discernment from which they create a delicately adjusted equilibrium in which a segment of the real world is co-opted for its visual possibilities, yet delineated with the utmost specificity. Their images, in printed form, exist simultaneously on a continuous 2-dimensional visual plane on which every space and object are interlocking pieces of a carefully constructed jigsaw puzzle and a portal through which a viewer can discern navigable space and recognizable subject matter.
Although, if I were to eschew all the art-speak, I suppose I could just quote Edward Weston:
“Now to consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk….Good composition is merely the strongest way of seeing.”
However, which ever way you wish to read / hear it, suffice it to write that there are no “rules” for good composition.
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IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I HAVE MADE color prints to a very exacting look and feel. So, I am extremely pleased that, after a little (very little) printer maintenance followed by number of calibration settings test prints, my 20 year old Epson 7800 Stylus Pro is banging out perfect prints one after another, no adjustments needed. The prints in question are for inclusion in an An Adirondack Survey folio-actually 2 identical folios-that will be submitted, along with a 55 picture photo book of the same name, to gallery and art institution directors.
Re: the photo book. The proof book has arrived and, no surprise, the 6-color printing is right on the money. A couple images required minor adjustments, 2 pictures are being swapped out for pictures that are variations of the same scenes, and I am adding 4-5 additional pictures to the book. I like the flow of the book as is so no changes there. Next up is the printing of a 12x12 final book.
Assuming that the finished book is A-OK-there is no reason to believe that it won’t be-it is off to the races.
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BEEN CONCENTRATING ON THE An Adirondack Survey project and realized that I had a number of recently-made kitchen sink pictures stacking up / not posted.
So, since I am at a point with the AAS project where all the variables are worked out and am waiting for the proof book to show up (scheduled for tomorrow), I thought I would take a break and get the kitchen sink pictures posted.
PS No matter what the circumstances might be, you can rest assured that I will not be posting on this blog any entries about gear, pool, my health, swimming, filing taxes, or any other non-photographic, kaffeeklatsch topics.
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DROVE TO NYC THIS WEEKEND TO SEE A Broadway play. Had no real intention to make pictures but, as it turned out, I made enough pictures to make a 20-picture POD book.
Stayed with extended family-the wife’s brother’s family-in Brooklyn. After the play met with more extended family-the wife’s older sister’s and older brother’s family members-for drinks and snacks at an Irish Pub in the NYC Theater District.
Had no real intention to make pictures but ,nevertheless, I made enough pictures to make a 20-picture POD book. And, it was while I was in the Times Square / Theater District, I discovered that I should return to NYC for 2-day photo project-photographing food carts. The picture making possibilities are, seemingly, endless. And, I get tingly all over just thinking about the dusk hour possibilities-colorful food carts together with about a billion neon lights + video billboards. Might even need some anti-seizure meds.
In any event, as is often the case, during this trip I did not make a single picture that included a family member. Although, there was one related harrowing event. After getting a passerby to agree to make a picture, the family members clustered together for a family picture-lower Manhattan skyline in the background. On a strongly-held anti-cliche picture making principle, I refused to participate-neither the making of or being pictured therein-but, after the picture was made, the SOBs bolted over to where I was hiding / sulking and had another picture made.
Rats. Foiled once again.
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THE AN ADIRONDACK SURVEY PROJECT IS MOVING right along. Picture editing has yielded a 165 photographs body of work. 50 of those pictures have been selected for use in a 12x12 book. 20 of those selections will be printed for inclusion in a presentation folio for submission (+ the book) to galleries and art institutions.
And, the ink is flowing. Printing-on my Epson wide-format (24 inch) printer-of the folio photographs is a work-in-progress. A reduced size-10x10-“proof” book is being printed. That book is being produced by the same POD book printing source using all the same specs that the “final” 12x12 book will employ. The proof book will give an opportunity to check on each photo for reproduction accuracy and to get a feel for the editing sequencing. If necessary, modifications-color, brightness, vibrancy, et al-to individual photos can be made prior to final printing. And, it is possible that a few photos might be edited out and substitutions made.
All part of the final fine tuning cuz it all has to feel just “right”.
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SPRING IS OFFICIALLY HERE AND I GLADLY WELCOME IT for 2 reasons; 1) I am sick of the rotating on-again, off-again winter we have been experiencing, and, 2) all of the dead autumn detritus mixed with early emerging spring growth is prime time for picture making.
The pictures in this entry were made last year during the very short window-for picture making-between emerging spring growth and full-on spring growth. Not only is the timing critical but, for my desired picture making result, so is the weather, or, more accurately, so is the light. That’s cuz soft, overcast light is required / mandatory for my intentions.
And then, there is the full-frame vs square-frame thing. For reasons not determined / understood, last year’s pictures were made utilizing the full-frame format. Apparently, I guess that, at that time, that is just the way I was seeing it. I like the result so this year it’s on with same show, framing wise.