civilized ku # 5006-07 ~ the time has come to talk of many things

McQuaid Jesuit High School hockey game ~ Ft. Covington, NY (click to embiggen)

McQuaid Jesuit High School hockey game ~ Ft. Covington, NY (click to embiggen)

student art ~ Cardigan Mountain School, Canaan, New Hampshire (click to embiggen)

As I do when I am made aware of a new entry by John Linn on his blog, I check it out. Today's entry took me a bit by surprise.

The entry's title asked a simple yet very vexing question - What happened to America?

In his entry's text, John made plain that his "blog is not intended to be political" which was somewhat akin to offering an apology for his expression of distress re: the current states of affairs in the good ol' US of A. iMo, no apologies needed.

My response to John's entry is now that we have stepped through the looking glass and entered the alternative world of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, it is, as the Walrus said, "The time has come to talk of many things." While I, like John, don't intend my blog to go all political, I do believe that it is time for all good men (and women) to come to the aid of their country in whatever manner they can. So, on that note. today's entry ...

Over the past 5 days, I have been instigated to think of the idea of core values. The first instigator was a visit to the 2 New England junior (6-9 grades) prep schools, one of which Hugo (my grandson) will be attending this coming fall. Both schools have as their raison d'être for being is the instilling of core values - compassion, integrity, respect and courage - into the intellect and lives of their students.

The second instigator was a visit up to my neck of the woods by my high school's - McQuaid Jesuit College Prep School - hockey team (I was amazed that all of the kids on the team were named Jesuit). That school shares (amongst other Catholic values) the same dedication to the teaching and instilling of the core values of the NE prep schools.

That written, there is no simple easy answer to John Linn's question. However, I would suggest that, one level, what has happened to America is the slipping way of those specific core values in American society. However, trying to address that notion as anything other than a longterm fix for what ails us is akin to fiddling while Rome burns inasmuch as, while there is a battle over whose core values are "right" which must be engaged, the real issue, re: what happened to America, is the onset of genuine class warfare - haves vs. have-nots.

The solving of that core issue is a thorny problem. While, due to my core value education, I have genuine compassion and understanding of the plight of the have-nots, I have real difficulty trying to understand why they have chosen a leader and a political party, both of which are haves and hell-bent on protecting and preserving what they have (to the detriment of the have-nots), to lead them to the promised land.

Then again, #45's statement on the campaign trial...

"I love the poorly educated." ~ Nevada / Feb. 24, 2016
... is very instrumental in understanding why the have-nots are easily conned into following a have.

Or, as Pat Paulsen said during one of his faux campaigns for president:

"I read an article that said one in five Americans thinks Elvis is alive. I want to find those morons and get them registered to vote for me." ~ c. 1968

'Nuff written for now ....

civilized ku # 5005 ~ wherein I dance on the head of a pin

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

Over the past few days I have come upon 2 seemingly contradictory statements, re: photography ...

Photography is not the goal; it is the tool we use to reach the goal — some form of artistic expression that uses photography, but not about photography. ~ Brooks Jensen

and ...

For this exhibition I am most likely to select photographs that: .... show a sophisticated understanding of what photography has been and is. ~ one of a Juror's guidelines for juried exhibition submissions.

I came upon the first quote while following an online link and the second quote is from an invitation I received to submit pictures for considertion in a juried exhibition. And, I must admit that, when I came upon the Jensen statement, I had been pondering the juror's statement, re: what the hell it meant, what pictures I might submit relative to that guideline and frankly, did I want to submit any pictures at all considering that the idea of "what photography has been and is" has been the subject of endless speculation and opinions since the medium's inception right up to the current moment.

Given that the juror gives no hint at all, re: her idea of what photography has been and is and the fact the exhibition has no theme, trying to pick pictures to submit is, iMo, akin to buying a pig in a poke.

In light of my juror's statement picture selection dilemna, Jensen's statement gave me pause and cause to consider the idea that, if using the medium and its apparatus to create art is not "about photography", then what the hell is it about?

Sure, sure. As has been expressed over and over, it's all about the picture - but of course, the picture is a photograph. Or, on the other hand, it's all about the referent (that which is pictured) - but of course, using the medium of photography with the intent of creating art, the referent is often "just an excuse" or a "stand-in" employed in order to reference something else entirely.

Consider the picture in this entry. At face value it is obviously "about" a random assortment of items on one of my kitchen counters - referents with which I have no particular attachment other than their utility as - once pictured and presented on the 2D surface of a print - shapes, forms and colors to be arranged in a visually pleasing manner. Consequently, to those aware of such things, the picture can also be "about" an exercise in the visual arrangement of shapes, forms and colors (often called "composition" or my preferred nomenclature, "design").

However, neither of the aforementioned "abouts" were my primary interest in making the picture. First and foremost, it was my intent to picture the light - the thing which had prick my eye and sensibililities and, ultimately, its ability to transform common things into objects of uncommon beauty.

So, here's the thing. If picturing the primary ingredient in the making of a picture - the light - is not "about photography" AND about "what photography has been and is", I'll eat my shorts.

civilized ku # 5004 ~ here today, gone ...?

9 N North ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (click to embiggen)

Finally, a bit of snow to remind us that the season we are experiencing is actually winter. However, as is the case over the past few winters, the snow may quickly succumb to warmer temperatures and a bit of rain.

(very) civilized ku # 5000 ~ the dude

Hugo's prep school interview clothes `~ iPhone picture by the Cinemascapist

Headed out to Deerfield, Mass. to take Hugo to a prep school visit / interview / hockey game. An elite hockey prep middle school to which he will be applying.

The school is a hockey rival to the other hockey prep middle school to which Hugo is applying. Turns out that on Saturday the schools are playing each other so it seemed like a perfect time to start the interview, campus tour, application process.

ku # 1396-97 ~ sunset / sunrise

sunset fog rolling in ~ from Castle Rock / Blue Mountain Lake, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (click to embiggen)

Blue Mountain sunrise fog ~ from Castle Rock / Blue Mountain Lake, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (click to embiggen)

After making yesterday's entry I got to thinking about one of the times I hauled 60lbs of gear - sleeping bag, food, 8x10 view camera, film holders, heavy duty tripod - up a hill to make a picture. Although, truth be told, I did have an assistant with me.

civilized ku # 4099 ~ consider this

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

consider this

...photographers who carry 60 pounds of equipment up a hill to photograph a view are not suffering enough, although their whining causes enough suffering among their listeners. No, if they really expect us to respect their search for enlightenment and artistic expression, in [the] future they will drag the equipment up the hill by their genitals and take the view with a tripod leg stuck through their foot. ~ Bill Jay

Then consider this:

Why do most great pictures look uncontrived? Why do photographers bother with the deception, especially since it so often requires the hardest work of all? The answer is, I think, that the deception is necessary if the goal of art is to be reached: only pictures that look as if they had been easily made can convincingly suggest that beauty is commonplace. ~ Robert Adams

civilized ku # 4097 ~ beyond their own assholes

urinal with character ~ McSorley's Old Ale House / East Village, NYC (click to embiggen)

I am came across another fine example of artspeak blather / bullocks / gobbledygook which stated, in part:

...I have continued to explore metaphorically the complexity of the human psyche and its inner threads to further investigate my relationship with the multiple intersecting factors that constitute the female identity ...

After reading the above, I immediately thought of this excerpt from the science fiction book I am currently reading ...

Being a famous artist in the Culture meant at best it was accepted you must possess a certain gritty determination; at worst it was generally seen as pointing to a pitiably archaic form of insecurity and a rather childish desire to show off. ~ from EXCESSION by Iain M. Banks

... as well as my all time favorite quote from Bill Jay:

...it's been quite some time since I read an artist speak eloquently and clearly about the world beyond his/(her) own asshole.

My reasoning for the above commentary is simple; the ideas expressed in the Banks excerpt are very much part of the basis for my book project writing inasmuch as they eveidence 3 notions which I believe are critical to becoming a "successful" (more on this idea later) picture maker:

1. re: "gritty determination". Bill Jay has also stated that "If there is a single factor which separates the best photographers from the wannabes it is the quantity of images which they produce. They seem to be forever shooting." Nuff written (for now).
2. re: "a pitiably archaic form of insecurity" - to be avoided at all costs. Does artspeak bullocks / blather / gobbledygook and the pictures associated with it from the Academic Lunatic Fringe bespeak a form of insecurity? Perhaps, but in iMo, using self / egocentric pyscho analysis as the driving force for making pictures most often results in mediocre pictures at best - once again from BIll Jay; "Formal education [in photography] has a lot to answer for. We have legitimized, sanitized, academized the medium until we are left with issues not substance, critical stances not action."
3. re; : "a childish desire to show off" - yet another to-be-avoided-at-all-costs. If one wishes to become a "successful" picture maker one must be making pictures for oneself, not for garnering praise and adulation from others.

If this entry seems to be a bit Bill Jay quotes indulgent, I plead "guilty". That written, my book will contain many quotes from many different sources. However, in the case of Bill Jay, I will end with yet another of his statements; "I talk a lot about photography. It's cheap because my supply always exceeds demand".

FYI, the picture accompanying this entry speaks volumes regarding my feelings about the Academic Lunatic Fringe and their slavishly adherent spawns' inability to speak clearly about the world beyond their own assholes.