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IMO, THE CHALLENGE WHEN MAKING PHOTOGRAPHS WHILE TRAVELING is to make pictures that do not look like travel postcard pictures-deadpan pictures of ever so obvious tourist attractions and spots-yet, while staying true to your vision, still manage to capture an everyday-like sense of being there in the moment.
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the then wife and I 56 years ago in our Japanese abode ~ (embiggenable) Canon 7s w Canon 19mm f3.5 lens
SPENT THE DAY ORGANIZING AND PACKING FOR MY so-called annual week in hell, aka: a week at the South Jersey Shore. Don’t like it for number of reasons; fast becoming an enclave for the ultra-rich and their truly gross McMansions, heat and extreme humidity, and people crammed elbow-to-elbow on the beach. This trip I am sharing the place with 110 of the wife’s relatives (both sides of the family). For many, whiskey and weed will be the order of the day (and night). Me, I’ll play some golf and make a lot of pictures - I’m toting 36 10-packs of INSTAX instant print film in my kit.
RE; the last evening in my neighborhood picture in this entry-I can walk to this place-points up the difference between where I live-a place where people visit to escape the extreme summer heat-and the oppressively hot South Jersey Shore. That and the fact that, while I live in an actual park, it nearly impossible to find a place to park at the Jersey Shore.
In any event, I will most likely survive the week cuz I can take solace in the fact that at the end of the week we go directly to our Adirondack Mountain retreat, Rist Camp, for a five week stay.
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AT SOME POINT OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS I came across an entry on a blog-don’t remember which-regarding the notion of creativity. I did not like the article for a variety of reasons; the primary reason for that reaction was the fact that, iMo, it was not very creative.
That written, while the author did not dole out the usual drivel that infects the trash heap of how-to-be-creative advice books-use a different angle / POV, photograph in different light, shoot abstracts, try creative blur, etc.-he was selling the idea that creativity flows from challenge. That given a particular “problem” to “solve”-i.e., in the photo world, making interesting pictures-creativity will spring to life. That’s cuz , you know, creative juices will start to flow.
Now I am not writing that there is not a grain of truth in that idea but…if a problem solver does not have an imagination quotient-the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts in the mind without any immediate input of the senses-capable of getting outside of the “box”, there ain’t gonna be much tasty “juice” to be had.
I write that keeping in mind the words of Einstein that:
“I believe in intuitions and inspirations…I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination….imagination is more important than knowledge.”
In that statement, Einstein was not discounting his plentiful knowledge (based upon his study and experimentation, aka: knowledge). Rather, it would be safe to infer that, based upon Einstein’s life work, that in order for one’s imagination to take you to worthwhile places, you need a sturdy foundation of knowledge to build it upon.
Which leads me to my idea of creativity or, at the very least, the source of creativity…the proverbial phrase, you are what you eat.
To wit, while that phrase was originally written to be quite literal-In 1826, the French lawyer Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote in Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie:
"Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es." - Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.
-I have always used the phrase as a metaphor of sorts to suggest that what you “eat”-i.e., what things and ideas you surround yourself with*-influence, in fact, determine who you are and how you live your life. Therefore, re: in the world of art and art making, if one is surrounded by a culture of pablum and dreck, chances are that your imagination is limited by that input. Or, to use another common phrase, garbage in, garbage out.
That written, I also believe that not every person has the drive inspired by a native / natural / preternatural desire to probe / “investigate” the boundaries of conventional living and thinking. That is, an innate attraction to exploring new ideas and concepts (in any area of human endeavor). Call it curiosity if you prefer. Being safe, not sorry, is the order of the day in their world.
All of the preceding written, I believe the most creative act in the making of photographs is the decision / inclination toward what to photograph. That is to write, the answer to the question, what is it that you want to “eat”? However…
…once answered, that choice leads to yet another “problem” to be solved. The concept of …
It ain’t what you eat, it’s the way how you chew it. ~ Sleepy LaBeef (album title)
… which is a topic for another entry.
*Ok, ok. There’s also the DNA / genetic thing.
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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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AS PART OF MY PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION TO GALLERIES, re: roadside attractions, an artist statement is mandatory. Writing one is always a bit of challenge cuz, if it were allowed, I would write one that stated, I made these pictures cuz I photograph whatever pricks my eye and sensibilities and I like the way they turned out.
However, that would be laughed out of court as inadmissible. So, instead, I am writing, in part, something that reads like this…
…. my eye and sensibilities impel me to make photographs of seemingly haphazard confluences of variegated flora and detritus …. (that) evince a riotous visual energy; an amalgamation of texture, line, shape, color, and value …. intimate landscapes that manifest-both literally (these are pictures of the real world) and metaphorically (the concept behind the work)-the essence of the energy and forces at work in the lives of all living things ….
For me, the challenge in writing an artist statement is to avoid telling viewers how to look at / what to look for in my pictures. I would not worry about this as much if it were possible to not give viewers an opportunity to read an artist statement until after they have viewed the pictures.
That written, I do believe that artist statements are intended to be read by gallery directors so that they can be assured that the work was made by a “serious” artist, not by some guy with camera who is just having fun.
Be that as it may, the statement is still a work in progress. However, I do have a deadline for a submission that is due by next Tuesday.
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“Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn’t photogenic.” ~ Edward Weston
DURING THE PAST COUPLE DECADES I HAVE amassed in the neighborhood of 150+ pictures that were made within 20 yards of my car; my car which was pulled over to the side of the road. And, in almost all cases the pictures were made with my feet firmly planted on the edge of the road. Hence, from that picture making M.O. comes the title, roadside attractions.
This practice is the not result of my being lazy or lame. Point of fact, I have ventured far from the road-10-20 miles into the forest / wilderness on foot or in a canoe-spending up to 4-5 nights in the backcountry. Needless to write, I make lots of pictures on those treks.
That written, what pricks my eye and sensibilities along the roadside is the abundance of intimate landscapes brimming with the potential for the making of photographs with a high content of visual energy /complexity. Tangles, thickets, and clusters of bio-diverse, indigenous flora / detritus present a riotously complex visual symphony of color, line, shape, and texture that, when isolated and “organized” within my imposed frame, conspires to give the eye no place to rest.
FYI, years ago, when I began this M.O., my son, the cinemascapist, had labeled this picture making practice my Jackson Pollock picture making state of mind (and eye).
In any event, I am assembling a couple roadside attractions print portfolios, together with a photo book, for submission to galleries. See more roadside attractions pictures in the new gallery on my WORK page.
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RIGHT OUTA THE GATE, LET ME CRYSTAL CLEAR, re: the iPhone as a “perfect” picture making device. It is not. What it is is an amazingly good all-around picture making device. However, if the pursuit of technical so-called “perfection“ is your picture making goal, this device ain’t the one for you.
That written, the reason why I start this topic, re: why I like using the iPhone as a picture making device, with the fact that the iPhone camera module does not produce files with what is currently considered to be bleeding edge technical perfection is cuz that fact is at, or very near the top, on the list of reasons-what the hell, let’s call it Reason #1-why I like using this picture device.
To wit, ever since the dawn of my picture making life, it is quite accurate to write that, in my personal photographs-as-Art making life, I have never been in pursuit of pictures which exhibited “perfect” technical characteristics. That’s cuz, as a matter of course, I was-and still am-in pursuit of making pictures, on the technical level, that look like, as much as the medium and its apparatus allows, what the world looks like to the human eye.
Back in the day of analog, aka: film, picture making, I thought that, with the judicious selection of a color negative film type, photographs did a pretty damn good job of looking like what the world looked like. That’s cuz the human eye does not see the world in ultra high-def, saturated colors (unless the referent itself exhibited saturated color), or extreme dynamic range. Consequently, with my very first use of my very first digital camera, I set out, image file processing wise, to “soften” what I considered to be the “harsh” visual effects of digital picture making. And that pursuit continues to this day inasmuch as what, to my eye and sensibilities, appears to be ever increasingly “harsh” visual artifacts seems to be what the CCSoP crowd desires the most and what the camera makers are delivering to them in spades.
Reason #2 - While the iPhone does not deliver current state-of-the-art image files, its superior to that which any traditional camera maker offers AI-like it or hate it-does a remarkable job of delivering really good files in a variety of “difficult” picture making situations. Which not to write that most files do not need some degree of corrective surgery.
Reason #3 - the iPhone is the all-time leader in the convenient to have with you at times camera category. Not to mention, its ease of use and the fact that it’s virtually always at the ready. And, for the purist in me, it’s a 3 prime lens kit that I can hold in my hand or slip into a pocket.
Reason #4 - with the iPhone Pro Max, the viewing screen allow me to see not only an accurate view of my crop of a section of the real world but also how the arrangement of the visual elemts within the crop will look like on the flat, 2D field of a print.
Reason #5 - herein lies a guilty pleasure. I like the feeling I get-just like as if I were to be giving the finger to the CCSoP and gear loving crowd-every time I click the shutter. Or, to be more accurate, every time I touch the virtual shutter release “button” on the iPhone viewing screen.
ASIDE I have to wonder, does that make me a shallow person? END OF ASIDE
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OK. LET ME GET RIGHT TO THE POINT, re: my tit in a wringer wise - as I was engaged in this morning’s cumbobulation routine-coffee, morning sweet, newspaper, and cruising my regular rota of websites-I came across this:
“…the iPhone makes decent photographs for the Web and for texting to friends. It doesn't even do too badly for small prints…” ~ Mike Johnston
Johnston is a long-time diss-er of the iPhone as a picture making device. He believes it to be a device for “note-taking, immediate sharing, pretty colors”. “Serious” photography, not so much, if at all. OK. Fine. To each his own kettle of bias.
Re: Johnston’s bias: Johnston comes from the Camera Club School of Photography. That is, the critical mass of picture makers who believe that a picture is all about the depicted referent (re: the “right” kind of referent), with an occasional nod to “composition”, and, in the current picture making zeitgeist, that picture must be eye-bleedingly sharp, color saturated, with dynamic range to the max and made with a very “nice” gear.
While the preceding paragraph describes a top-tier characteristic of the CCSoP crowd, in this paragraph, is the characteristic that I believe to be the most defining propensity of the typical CCSoP picture viewer. As strange as it may sound / read, it is all about what your feet do when viewing a picture on a wall…it has been my experience, during gallery exhibitions of my pictures and that of others, that picture viewers fall into 2 categories - those whose feet propel them closer to a picture and those whose feet propel them backward from a picture.
The forward movers get closer in order to inspect a picture for its technical qualities, while the backward movers are more likely to be wanting a more complete overview of a picture in order to get a feel for what the picture is about. That is, That “something” that is beyond the depicted referent.
iMo, as simple as it might be, therein is the difference between the CCSoP crowd and the FASoP (Fine Art School of Photography) crowd. It illustrates the difference in what each crowd seeks / looks for in determining what is, iTo, a good photograph. Once, again let me write, to each their own. However…
…what gets my knickers in a twist, is the fact that Johnston, acting in his role as President of his camera club-preaching to the CCSoP faithful-actively dismisses the iPhone as a “serious” picture making device> a practice which, no matter how you choose to read it, must have the effect of discouraging those who are exploring the iPhone capabilities as a picture making device useful for more than just “note-taking, immediate sharing, pretty colors”.
Hint for those whose intention is to be part of, or be hovering around the edges of the FASoP. ANY picture making device that suits one’s vision is 100% perfect for the making of one’s pictures.
And, re: the iPhone and the absolute and misleading nonsense of “It doesn't even do too badly for small prints”. I print my iPhone made files at 24”x24”. Quite a number of those prints have hung on gallery walls-photo and Fine Art galleries-and homes. And, especially so in FA galleries, nobody gives / gave a crap about what device was used in their making. And, on few occasions when it was known that the pictures were made with an iPhone, the viewer thereof was quite simply amazed.