# 5783-87 / landscape (ku)•civilized ku ~ imitation is the sincerest form of missing imagination

October 12, 2021

Sunday afternoon on a porch ~ (embiggenable) iPhone — ***Sunday afternoon on a porch*** ~ (embiggenable) iPhone

along a country road ~ (embiggenable) iPhone — ***along a country road*** ~ (embiggenable) iPhone

THERE HAS LATELY BEEN SOME CHATTER AND NATTER, re: cliche, bouncing around on the interweb. Things like, what is a cliche?, how to avoid making cliche pictures, and the like. And, as is the usual case, the answer to such conversation provides a wealth of fodder for the idea of my Top insert number here Pieces of Photography Bad Advice and Sayings project. A prime example:

Photography is fundamentally a craft...[which] still requires learnin’.'Making pictures that look like' pictures that you admire is a landmark in that process for many, perhaps most, people. So I’d encourage newbies to make many such pictures and study them....Once you’re able to intentionally make that trite image of the Grand Canyon, the Eiffel Tower, or the Brooklyn Bridge you’ve achieved competence with the gadget. Now for the fun part.

To that nonsense I say, "Balderdash". The last thing one should do, for the purpose of making fine-art, learning to use a "gadget", or, finding one's vision, is to make "pictures that look like pictures that you admire". Rather, one might consider, as Brook Jensen suggested, to stop making pictures that "look like what you have been told is a good picture and start making pictures of what you see".

That written, re: "craft" - everyone who aspires to making good pictures, fine-art wise, needs to learn how to use a "gadget". iMo, the best manner in which to do so is to stand on the street in front of where you live-same spot again and again-and make pictures in the sun, in the rain, in the snow, in the fog, in the dark to include people walking, cars driving by, dogs chasing cats, garbage cans, discarded soda straws, or whatever else you might find / see in front of you.

And, most importantly, keep it simple...one camera, one lens, and adjust only fstop, shutter speed, focus, and ISO (as might be needed). DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, engage in any menu diving cuz the aforementioned gadget functions are all you need to "master" in order to start looking for one's own vision. iMo, menu diving is for "serious" amateurs who don't have, and quite probably will never have, their own unique vision.

In any event, the "learin'" process should only require a few weeks of one's time, 2-3 weeks at most. If it takes more than that amount of time, maybe consider selling your gadget and taking up The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

FYI, in my next entry I will address how, within 6 months of picking up a camera, I was making my living as a photo journalist. HINT It did not happen cuz I was making pictures that looked like what I was told was a good picture.

# 5780-82 / kitchen life•landscape (ku) ~ transmuting emperical data

October 7, 2021

IN A RECENT ENTRY IN WHICH I EXPRESSED THE IDEA OF writing a book, re: The Top insert # here Examples of Bad Photography Sayings / Advice, I used the phrase "purpose of making fine art" multiple times in order to clarify that my comments / options were directed to those seeking to make fine-art. In response to that usage, Markus Spring left a comment:

....This "purpose of making fine art" is definitely the most complex and difficult problem to tackle and it is much easier to define what it is not than to find a recipe how to do it.

His point is well taken. That is, if I understand the point to be what is fine art? A question which is a part of a subset to the seemingly never-ending or sufficiently answered question, what is art? Answers to those related questions span the gamut from lucid to lunatic, expressed with an economy of words or, conversely, verbose ramblings. In any event, whatever one's preference, answer wise, it is important to my book writing (still a possibility) that I introduce (in a preface) to my audience my particular art biases and beliefs, which, by association, imply what it is that I consider to be art / fine-art.

The preface would state something based upon the following:

My photography is an attempt to clarify life by illuminating reality, employing explicit description / factuality-without resorting to contrivance or glib formula-in the pursuit of creating a relationship between form and content that induces significant emotional sensations. That is, for my eye and sensibilities, in the making of a photograph I coopt the subjective possibilities of objective things as a metamorphistic device in which the mysteries in the visible can transmute emperical data in such a way that the unconscious seems to reveal itself through the real.

As for a "recipe" for the making of fine-art, Photography Division, iMo, fine-art is defined by the pursuit of character, not caricature; form, rather than adventurous novelty, and, aiding and abetting the collision of the world, the self, and art in the making of photographs. Or, something like that.

# 5779 / (in and) around the house ~ I am a formalist, always have been

October 5, 2021

IN THE CHAPTER, Color Photographic Formalism, FROM HER BOOK the new color photography, Sally Eauclaire pretty much nailed my picture making M.O.:

...the most resourceful photographic formalists regard the complexion of the given environment as potentially articulate aesthetic material. They consider the subject and its visual essence as indivisible….these formalists perceive real objects and intervening spaces as inter-animating segments of a total visual presentation....Each photograph represents a delicately adjusted equilibrium in which a section of the world is coopted for its visual possibilities, yet delineated with the utmost specificity. The resulting image exists simultaneously as a continuous visual plane on which every space and object are interlocking pieces of a carefully constructed jigsaw puzzle and a window through which the viewer can discern navigable space and and recognizable subject matter...The most sophisticated practitioners do not work with glib formulas, but combine various tactics in response to the particular demands of each image-making situation. Most formalists now embrace complicated arrangements wherein balance is more intuitively attained and strategy less obviously revealed.

In the same chapter, Eauclaire also wrote about the then-c.1980-issue evident / prevalent as expressed by viewers and critics of what she labeled as the new color photography:

Those receptive to the subtle, sequenced impact of a multilayered image are far outnumbered by the audience who believes a good photograph must be instantly accessible. When the subject seems missing altogether, the photographer may be accused of pulling the wool over the eyes of critics, curators, and the public.

All of the above written, I present these excerpts as part of my research for background, re: a potential book-Top insert # here Worst Sayings / Pieces of Photographic Advice., aka: "glib formulas". Thing is, if I am to do a book, it will be my intent to try to not only disabuse readers of the need for "rules" but also to give them, when they are standing naked and alone (rules wise), some ideas about picture making based solely upon the "strategy" of just seeing.

# 5776-78 / landscape (ku)•still life (flora) ~ representative of autumn color

October 5, 2021

CAN A PHOTOGRAPH BE CONSIDERED AS A METAPHOR? - the dictionary defines, in part, a metaphor as a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else. If so, consider this:

We believe that we know something about the things themselves when we speak of trees, colors, snow, and flowers; and yet we possess nothing but metaphors for things — metaphors which correspond in no way to the original entities. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

# 5774-75 / kitchen sink•kitchen life ~ don't follow leaders, watch the parkin' meters

October 1, 2021

OVER ON T.O.P. MICHAEL JOHNSTON HAS SETOUT TO DIVIDE HIS writing time-roughly equally-between his blog and an attempt to write a book. I wish him luck (seriously) but I am not sure that idea is going to work inasmuch as I believe that writing a book and writing for a blog are activities that each demand 100% dedication in order to be successful in either activity.

In any event, I mention the above cuz I have given thought over the years-instigated by the wife's sugestion to do so-to writing a book about photography. However, the unanswered question over that time has always been about the problem of selecting a specific photography topic to write about....topics such as how to..., art theory, history of the medium, my life experiences in making pictures, to name a few.

That written, one topic that has risen to top of the topics heap is the idea of The Top 10 Worst Pieces of Picture Making Advice. That's a likeable idea cuz one could have some fun with it. And, it is quite possible that a book on that topic has never before been written.

As an example, one such piece of bad advice that has recently been on my mind is the oft espoused adage, re: when starting out making pictures or looking for "inspiration", choose a referent that you care about and start making pictures thereof. To which I respond, "Hogwash", inasmuch as that advice is, for the purpose of making fine art, useless. Unless, of course, one desires to be little more than a documentarian. That is, making pictures wherein the pictured referent is the most important thing.

One problem with the aforementioned bad advice, iMo, is that-let me repeat, contrary to the purpose of making fine art-referent-biased pictures tend to lapse into cliche, referent or technique wise, and/or the application of art sauce in order to appeal the unwashed masses (fine art appreciation wise). Or, in other words, for the purpose of making fine art, the emphasis should not be on what you see, but rather on how you see it, aka: recognizing and utilizing one's own, unique vision.

Those 2 preceeding paragraphs written, I believe that I could expand them into a short, succinct essay, accompanied by picture examples which illustrate the point that most notablbe fine art picture makers have realized that they do not need to make pictures of what they care about in order to make visual art. Pictures that are to be appreciated primarily or solely for their imaginative, aesthetic, or thought provoking content.

The challenge for me is to determine if I could do that with 10-20 other pieces of a bad picture making advice.

# 5771-73 / landscape ~ a simple question, re: 11

September 30, 2021

AUTUMN FOLIAGE/COLOR IS UPON US. NOT QUITE PEAK BUT GETTING CLOSE. Along with the arrival of the color is the arrival of the so-called leaf peepers who, every man, woman, and child amongst them is armed with picture making device of one kind or another.

The collective result of all of this picture making will inevitably be, not unlike quitarist Nigel Tufnel (This Is Spinal Tap) who turned it (his amp) up to 11, fall color pictures with the saturation turned up-via apps, effects, and processing-to "11". Cuz, as you know, nothing exceeds like excess (especially in America).

Why is it that the beauty of the natural world as it actually exists is never enough for the massses? And, concurrent picture making wise, can the masses ever get enough of the "grand and glorious" of the natural world?

#5767-70 / landscape (rist camp)•kitchen sink (rist)•kitchen life•civilized ku ~ back to my regular routine

September 27, 2021

our last evening at Rist Camp ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone — ***our last evening at Rist Camp*** ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

at Rist Camp ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone — ***at Rist Camp*** ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

my kitchen ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone — ***my kitchen*** ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

my driveway ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone — ***my driveway*** ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

BACK HOME AGAIN. SITTING AT MY DESKTOP WORK STATION for the first time in 7 week. Lots of image files from recent travels to copy / organize.

However, my biggest task is ongoing work-started at Rist Camp-on an entry in which my intent is to articulate, ultimately for my own satisfaction (and for anyone else who might care to read), why I make pictures and how I see the world (which is the foundation on which my vision is based). This exercise might read something like an artist statement but I think of it as a life of picture making statement.

Don't know when this exercise will be completed since I am taking my time cuz I want to get it right. In the meantime, I will keep on posting entries on a more regular timeline now that I am back home.

# 5762-66 / civilized ku+weird civilized ku•rist camp ~ grasping at straws

September 21, 2021

from a Taxidermy exhibit at the Adirondack Museum ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone — ***from a Taxidermy exhibit at the Adirondack Museum*** ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

AS IS USUALLY THE CASE, AS OUR TIME AT Rist Camp is soon coming to end, Autumn color is heading toward peak color. By our departure at the end of this week color should be at or around 70-80%.

In any event, I recently came across the following call for submissions...

As an artist, I have always been intrigued with the invisible – seeking out connections between science, environment and human behavior. Yet the world has transformed exponentially. We are experiencing a change....where invisible threats have become illuminated within our global society. Through visual art, how does one explore, engage, or connect in the midst of such intensity and turmoil? Has science effected your perspective of the world, either physically or emotionally? Has your perception been altered? Do you feel you’ve gained new insight? Within loosely interpreted boundaries of Art + Science, I ask you to consider themes for this call that are a result of your shifting perspective, placing emphasis on the Heart of the Matter.

...a call which left me perplexed and struggling to decipher exactly-or even approximately-what kind of picture I might make (and the judges might like) that would illustrate "the invisible". I mean, how the hell can someone toil in a visual medium-that is, one connected to the "real" world-and make pictures of the invisible?

Which is not to write that it is not possible to make pictures of intangibles, aka: a concept. Considered the "concept" of love....I have never been able to touch love but I have felt a lover's touch-an act which can be pictured. Such a picture, when made with insight and sensitivity would stand a good chance of being perceived as an illustration / illumination of the the concept / idea of love. But, then again not always cuz, given the medium's amibguity, some-dependent upon a viewer's emotional, mental state and life experience-such a picture might be viewed as violation of personal space or, in cases, as pornography.

re: the medium's ambiguity - because the idea of what a picture might mean is primarily dependent upon what a viewer brings to the the viewing thereof, a picture is often accompanied with a caption / title. iMo, the simpler the caption / title the better, inasmuch as the medium is a visual art, not a literary art. And therein is my ptoblem with the aforementioned call for pictures...

It should be obvious to most who follow this blog that the call for pictures was issued from the within ranks of the Academic Lunatic Fringe school of picture making. A school of picture making from which, to my eye and sensibilities, I have rarely ever viewed a picture or body of work that is truly visually interesting. And, in fact, a picture that is not accompanied by a 1000 words-artpspeak + narcissistic pyschobabble-or more in an attempt to explain what the picture or body of work is about.

All of that written, I will not be answering the call for pictures. However, if anyone out there has any ideas about a suitible referent for the making of a picture about the "invisible", feel free to leave a comment.