civilized ku # 5146 / diptych # 223 (the new snapshot) ~ working things out

early morning sunlight ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

Lake George / Raquette Lake ~ in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) • µ4/3

Work continues on the Adirondack Snapshot Project.

I have selected 278 pictures from my picture library. That number will be further reduced to 264 - 8 books with 33 pictures each, accompanied by 5"x5" prints of all 278 pictures.

With such a large quantity of pictures, it only makes sense to display them in a gallery or a gallery like setting. And, quite frankly, the strength of the work is primarily dependent upon on the very broad scope - in pictures and in time - of the pictures. I reallt believe that walking into a gallery space and seeing all 278 prints+8books at once really drives home the magnitude of the project.

That written, I see an exhibit in which the prints are displayed on photo ropes which run continuously along the walls of a gallery. That presentation could be either a run of 1 set of photo ropes or 2 sets, one above the other. The books would be present on book pedestals along the walls.

At home, I can easily display 1 book and the accompanying prints on the walls of my mini in-home gallery space. With the ease of the photo rope's magnetic mounting, the groups could be dispalyed on a rotating basis.

civilized ku # 5145 / diptych # 222 (the new snapshot # 199-200) ~ ugh

mantle ~ Pittsburgh, PA (embiggenable) • iPhone

same sculpture / 2 views ~ Natl Gallery of Canada - Ottawa, CA (embiggenable) • iPhone

I'm wallowing / caught in a mid-winter picture making doldrum. An endless succession of overcast days combined with an increasingly typical weather cycle of snow, then rain, then ice make for less than aesthetically inspiring picture making conditions.

So, I'm spending time catching up on some picture printing and continuing work on creating pictures for my Adirondack Snapshot Project). That work requires sorting through thousands of my pictures of Adirondack scenes / events / people / places / et al in order to identify somewhere between 200-300 pictures which will then be converted to my the new snapshot format / presentation style. The work is both enjoyable and tedious.

2018 ~ calender

Every year, for the wife, I make a calender for her as a Xmas gift. Here is this year's effort.

FYI, it's a Shutterfly 10x10 inch hardcover book with lay-flat pages. I make the calender by hand.

civilized ku # 5144 / the new snapshot # 198 ~ color

tabletop color ~ (embiggenable) • µ4/3

our new Mercedes ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

On The Online Photograher, Mike Johnston has recently started a fairly regular (2x a month?) feature called Baker's Dozen wherein he asks for picture submissions based upon a specific theme. As the name suggests, Johnston picks 13 pictures from those submitted for presentation on TOP.

Early this week Johnston aksed for the submission of color pictures which, in their making, demanded that they be made in color. I am considering a submission.

That written, I must write, in all honestly, that all of my pictures "demand" to be made in color simply because I am trying my best to picture and represent the world as it is and not as, in my words, a BW abstract picture of the world.

That written, iMo and conventionally writing, the only pictures that demand to be made in color are those which are about color. Or, those in which the color is an important element in the picture maker's visual intent (that would be me).

In my picture making, I have made many pictures about color which are strictly about color.. The most recent example is presented in this entry. Without question, my eye and sensibilities were pricked by the colors in the pictured-as-found scene. And, while many may be quick to point out that the picture is about fruits and flowers, to my eye and sensibilities, those items are just the visual referents which are used to illustrate the "real" referent of color.

FYI, the our new Mercedes picture is presented seemingly as a contrast to the tabletop color picture inasmuch as most would condsider that that picture does not demand the use of color and it would have worked just fine in BW. However, (once again) to my eye and sensibilitires, the 5 isolated spots of red and orange add a nice degree of visual energy which helps get the eye moving around the 2D field / surface of the picture.

Inasmuch as the our new Mercedes picture was meant a "just" a snapshot of our new car, presenting the picture in BW would have worked well enough. However, if we had purchased the red Mercedes .....

The New Snapshot # 197 / triptych # 6 ~ the (formerly) Steel City

Southside flats ~ Pittsburgh, PA (embiggenable) • iPhone

outdoor display / Strip District ~ Pittsburgh, PA (embiggenable) • iPhone

Pittsburgh's South Side (Flats) is a 30 block long (right across the river from center city) historic district - one of the longest Victorian main streets in the US.

People live, eat and drink there. With approximately 70 bars and taverns, the neighborhood is patroled by Pittsburgh Police public urination patrols. Amongst the many shops and and stores you can find fine dining, get a tattoo, buy Versace clothing or idle away some time at one of the many coffee shops - all locally owned and operated.

The South Side is a very diverse and rather funky place.

civilized ku # 5142 ~ it's all about visual energy and rhythm

soapdish ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

After the better part of 15 years spent struggling with the concept of what is a photograph?, I have arrived at some conclusions which, despite the gazillion words written and expressed on the subject since the very inception of the medium, are really quite simple ...

1. a photograph is a picture.
2. virtually all pictures, created with photography apparatus, are a cohort / representation of a referent found in the real world.
3. a photography-created picture is best experienced as a printed object.
4. the print is a thing in and of itself, independent of that which it depicts.
5. inasmuch as a photography-created printed picture is considered to be part of the visual arts, it should be addressed, first and foremost, as a visual experience.
6. while a photography-created printed picture can be appreciated for the depicted referent, the best photography-created printed pictures can also be appreciated for visually preceived qualities with which the picture has been constructed.
7. pictures which are created / constructed employing good visual qualities - visual energy (agitative or placid) and rhythm (cordant or discordant), regardless of the depicted referent, are those which have the best chance of being hung on a wall and appreciated over very extended period of time.
8. looking for meaning in a photography-created picture is an illusive pursuit inasmuch as there will be as many meanings as there are viewers.
9. nevertheless, inasmuch as interperative meaning is subjective (except for pure propaganda), a given photogaphy-created picture may incite a deep / powerful meaning for a given viewer.

So there you have it and it's not that complicated. Except, of course, for the "visual energy and rhythm" thing. The so-called rules of composition rarely, if ever, apply to the creation of visual energy and rhythm. Creating such qualities is more of a feeling / intuitive thing and I am not certain that it can be taught. Rather, I believe that in most cases it can be recognized in one's pictures and subsequently fostered in continued picture making.