# 6685-87 / landscape • common places and things ~ happy and pissed at the same time

August 22, 2023

***the view from the porch*** ~ (embiggenable)

SO, I’M EVER SO HAPPY TO BE BACK IN THE REAL WORLD as opposed to being in New Jersey. I consider New Jersey to be something of an aberration along the lines of:

I believe that there's an intelligence to the universe, with the exception of certain parts of New Jersey. ~ Woody Allen (as Miles Monroe in Sleeper)

That aside, I have arrived at this place with 50-60 INSTAX prints made at the Jersey Shore - fewer than I expected to make but more than I know what to do with. The solution to that situation might be found in editing.

While there is a very high number of good / interesting referent pictures, I do believe it is possible to narrow the field down to 16 (=/- a few) that can at least provide a solid hint at the feel of the event. 16 would a good number cuz 2 frames with a cluster of 8 pictures each would look good. Add a nearby bowl with the balance of the prints for easy browsing and it’s good to go.

Re: easy browsing - I can attest to the fact that people find it nearly impossible to resist the urge to browse when confronted with a pile of INSTAX prints. At the Shore, I would leave a pile of prints on a table at our house and within a few hours most of them had disappeared. They were apparently as tempting and tasty as a bowl full of candy.

On a more tragic note, I discovered that the version of PS that I have been using for years on my lap top is no longer supported by ADOBE, and, if I want to continue using a currently supported PS version I have to buy a new lap top. That’s cuz my long-in-the-tooth lap top air can not support an updated OS that will support the currently available PS versions.

This situation really pisses me off. I don’t want a bloated updated version of PS. My use of PS is centered around a handful of “simple” tools and capabilities. I don’t want no AI. I don’t want no video tools. And, “older” versions have always been more than fast enough for my needs.

In a nut shell, I can write that I really hate-yes, genuinely hate-software companies who constantly update software with “improvements”. “Improvements” designed to keep consumers on the ever-revolving treadmill of “improvements” so they can get into our coffers.

# 6406 / the new snapshot ~ playing games

January 17, 2023

“It rarely occurs to such a photographer” - (the lowly householder who desires only to have a camera around the house) “to take a picture of something, say a Venetian fountain, without a loved one standing directly in front of it and smiling into the lens…because of his very artlessness, and his very numbers, the nameless picture maker may in the end be the truest and most valuable recorder of our times. He never edits; he never editorializes; he just snaps away and sends the film off to be developed, all the while innocently freezing forever the plain people of his time in all their lumpishness, their humanity, and their universality.” ~ Jean Shepherd

BEEN AWAY FROM MY BLOG ENTRY MAKING station for a few days cuz I+wife were entertaining some out-of-town family and hanging around various Olympic venues-curling, speed-skating, ski jumping-watching the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games - 11 days, 2500 athletes from 600 universities and 50 countries competing in 12 winter sports.

We are, and will continue to be after our guests have left, planning to continue with watching the curling competition and the ice hockey semi and final rounds. Last evening we attending the men/woman’s ski jumping competition which was won by a Polish woman and Pakistani man respectively.

FYI, while all of the competitors are students, some are also World Cup / Olympic athletes so we are seeing some pretty damn good performances. Tickets for most events are $15US-$9US with the locals 40% discount. That’s a pretty good bang for the buck.

# 6350-52 / common places • common things ~ I'm a shooter

December 6, 2022

I'm a shooter

he's a shooter she's a shooter we're all a shooter
aren’t you happy to be a shooter too?

I AM BEGGINING TO COBBLE TOGETHER A FEW words, re: the introduction essay, for the Philosophy of Modern Pictures project / book. The above words-tip o’ hat to the early Dr. Pepper I’m a Pepper tv commercial jingle-are the leading candidate for the essay title.

The use of the word shooter derives from the aforementioned mentioned-a previous entry-interaction with a young hipster-body jewelry, “cool” hair style + color, et al-bartender in an upscale restaurant bar who asked me if I was a “shooter”. I was confused-was she asking if I wanted a shot of bourbon? was I packing heat? Noting my confusion, she pointed out that she had noticed my cap with the KODAK logo. Thus informed of that, it gave me license to answer that, “Yes. I’m a shooter.”

Apparently the younger generation thinks it cool to be a shooter. That being the case, for purposes of the book, it’s good enough for me.

Re: we’re all a shooter - OK. I get it. Not everyone is a shooter inasmuch as not everyone has a picture making device, However, with the fact that 1.7 trillion pictures are made / taken (whatever) a year and that there are 8 billion humans on the planet, the average number of pictures per human is 125 per year. And, this might be a bit of a surprise, 92.5% of pictures are made with a picture making device which can also be used to make a phone call. Only 7% are made with a “real” camera.

FYI, while the book will have some facts, figures, history, re: picture making, the emphasis will be on how, as the result of the ease of making “good” pictures-i.e. sharp, correctly exposed, referent in focus and the like-the boundaries of what can be pictured and how it can be pictured has expanded like never before.

# 6006-22 / a new adirondack vernacular ~ what went before comes around again

April 8, 2022

AFTER A WEEK OR MORE OF AGONIZING / STRESSING OVER THE idea of reinventing my picture making M.O. for the purpose of creating a new body of work about the place where I live, I came to question, having already created a body of work, the adirondack snapshot project, what exactly is the point of reinventing the wheel? My conclusion? Other than slathering some salve on an acute case of artist angst, there really is no valid point at all.

The adirondack snapshot project-which I will repackage under the title of a new adirondack vernacular-is comprised primarily of well over 200 pictures made over the the couple of decades. (although a number of pictures are culled from the late 1970s>2000). To that number, I can add up to 70-80 more pictures made over the past 2-3 years (made after my adirondack snapshot project solo exhibition). That written, I could potentially end up with 500+ new adirondack vernacular “snapshots”.

The new title, a new adirondack vernacular is co-opted from the book (published 20 years ago), Adirondack Vernacular - The photography of Henry M. Beech. A book written-with 250 photographs-by a Syracuse University professor. While the book is not a photography book , per se, inasmuch as the pictures are presented addendums to the text, it is an interesting take on the life, times and photographs of Henry M. Beech (1863-1943).

From the book:

Henry was a local, an insider to the world he photographed, a person intimate with the region’s people and geography.…[I]t was from that position that he photographed the Adirondacks. In addition to shooting as a local, he had little formal education and did not seem to be professionally trained in his craft. He lived far enough away from mainstream society that his work was not dominated by national styles and trends, and was unencumbered by art-world pretense. He was free to focus on different subject matters, add quirky elements to his pictures, experiment with form and composition, and do things with images that other photographers would not. The result is a vernacular documentary style that is unique, engrossing, and significant.

Believe me or not, even though I have had the book for a number of years-I believe I received it as a gift-this morning was the first time I read the previous excerpt. And, at the risk of engaging in self-aggrandisement, I was struck by the idea that I am, Adirondack picture making wise, cut from the same cloth as Beech. Especially so, in that he was in his Adirondack picture making prime for approximately 20 years (1905-1925). A time frame that approximates the period of the bulk of my adirondack snapshot / vernacular picture making.

Are my adirondack snapshot / vernacular unique, engaging, and significant?

Re: unique - I am unaware of any other picture maker who is creating and exhibiting Adirondack “snapshots”. Nor do I know of any picture maker who has a body of diverse work that reflects the everyday life-people, places / sights, and things-of living in the Adirondacks.

Re: engrossing - Judging by the reaction and comments I have received to solo exhibitions (here in the Adirondacks) of my work, viewers of my photo books, and comments from gallery directors, there is at least a better than average interest in the work.

Re: significant - To whom? The Art World? Locals? Adirondack tourists? Not for me to judge. Only time will tell. Although, that written, iMo, it is a significant body of work, if only in size and scope.