civilized ku # 5177-78 / still life # 2 (redux) ~ the battlefield

the sweeper ~ in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • µ4/3

sweepings ~ in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • µ4/3

sweepings awaiting picturing ~ in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • µ4/3

Garry Winogrand stated:

Anything and all things are photographable. and Every photograph is a battle of form versus content.

Re: yesterday's entry, VANTAGE POINT / LEARNING HOW TO SEE, wherein I wrote about the field of visual energy, aka: form ... I believe that interesting / arresting form is what separates (very) good pictures from (merely) good pictures.

That is to write that interesting / arresting form is the characteristic which allows a print to become an object which, in and of itself, transcends that which it depicts. And, it interesting / arresting form which makes it possible to create very good pictures of any and all things.

civilized ku # 5175 ~ the advantage of a vantage point

in the kitchen / 12:35AM ~ in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • µ4/3

In his book, THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE, John Szarkowski, in discussing the idea of Vantage Point, wrote:

If the photographer could not move his subject, he could move his camera. To see the subject clearly-often to see it at all-he had to abandon a normal vantage point, and shoot his picture from above, or below, or from to close, or to far, or from the backside, inverting the order of things' importance, or with the nominal subject of his picture half hidden.
From his photographs, he learned that the appearance of the world was richer and less simple than his mind would have guessed.
He discovered that his pictures could reveal not only the clarity but the obscurity of things, and that these mysterious and evasive images could also, in their own terms, seem ordered and meaningful.

iMo, these are some of the absolute best words-when one fully understands their import-to make pictures by inasmuch as Szarkowski is not attempting to impart a formulaic methodology for the making of good pictures but rather to express how Vantage Point can influence the creation of visual characteristics and qualities which define a good picture.

It is my intention, over the course of the next few entries, to attempt to emunerate and clarify those visual characteristics and qualities which Szarkowski has chosen to mention in his Vantage Point writing.

still life # 6 (found) ~ sometime in the next few days

flowers, vase, portraits ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (click to embiggen)

As I am work away writing text for the photography ~ DISCURSIVE PROMISCUITY book, it has occurred to me that I should publish the writing, an essay at a time, here on the blog. The first essay is nearly finished so you can except to see it sometime in the next few days.

still life # 5 (made) + 4 different still life modus Operandi ~ variety is the spice of life

still life (click to embiggen)

still lifes / made ~ (click to embiggen)

Re: upcoming submissions to the juried exhibition, Still Life: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary.

After rooting around in my picture library -7363 pictures and counting - I have decided to submit 5 still life pictures, created with different visual signatures, rather than making 4 new sweepings pictures and submitting them as a body of work. The premise for 5 visually different pictures is, why put all my eggs in one picture basket?

FYI, re: the squares / squared image - (top left) still life with dramatic light and shadow halo effect, (top right) classic still life on white with soft light, (bottom left) still life from my series of flowers scanned on my flatbed scanner - no camera involved, (bottom right) a "found" still life albeit slighty arranged to suit my eye and sensibilities.

still life # 3 (made) / civilized ku # 4053 / ku # 1391 - f8 and be there

self portrait (click to embiggen)

soft Autumn light ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (click to embiggen)

Whiteface / early snow ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (click to embiggen)

f8 and be there is a well known and time honored picture making adage and this entry's pictures are fine examples of that adage. Both pictures - excluding the self portrait - were the result of being there happenstance.

The soft Autumn light picture was made immediately - I knew the light would be fading quickly - after seeing the scene from my kitchen window as I was rinsing my lunch bowl. The Whiteface / early snow scene was encountered on a drive to pick up Hugo to transport him to hockey practice.

A person would have to be blind and/or without a camera to miss seeing and making a picture of the Whiteface / early snow dramatic scene. Recognizing the soft Autumn light scene as picture making opportunity requires that a picture maker be aware of / seeing the picturing potential to be found in the quotidian (non-dramatic) scenes that are encountered every day.

Here in the US of A (maybe in Canada as well) the original most interesting man in the world - his personality is so magnetic he can't carry credit cards - advising us to, "Stay thirsty, my friends", so we will drink Dos Equis beer. While I may not be the most interesting picture maker in the world, I would nevertheless advise you to, "Keep yours eyes open, my friends", so you are able to make good pictures.