# 5720-25 / flora•around the house ~ inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy

April 14, 2021

PICTURE MAKING WISE, I AM, WITHOUT A DOUBT, A DEVOTEE OF facts clearly described...

"There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described. I like to think of photographing as a two way act of respect. Respect for the medium, by letting it do what it does best, describe. And respect for the subject, by describing it as it is. A photograph must be responsible to both." ~ Garry Winogrand

...but, nevertheless, I believe that a clearly described fact, as described by a photograph, can, in the best of cases, introduce a fair amount of mystery. Even if the intial mystery is simply incited by nothing more than a feeling of, "it is a mystery to me why the picture maker made this photograph." However, once a viewer gets beyond that "mystery" (if she/he can), there remains the idea that...

"Photographs, which cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy... The very muteness of what is, hypothetically, comprehensible in photographs is what constitutes their attraction and provocativeness. ~ Susan Sontag

All of that written and getting back to "facts clearly described", I have always believed that the medium of photography and its apparatus are inexorably and intrintically linked to the real. That idea fits nicely into my concept of the real - I see it, therfore, it is. However, when I make a picture of "it", followed by the making of print of "it", then viewing that "it" in a photograph of "it", I sense a change going on. A change something along the lines of...

"Instead of just recording reality, photographs have become the norm for the way things appear to us, thereby changing the very idea of reality and of realism. ~ Susan Sontag

In any event, I do not want to go too far down this rabbit hole. So, just let me write that, to a certain extent, it is all a mystery to me.

# 5715-19 / civilized ku (gas stations) ~ going, going, gone

April 11, 2021

EVEN AS I CONTINUE TO ADD more gas station pictures to my collection I have still not decided to formally commit to the project. Dispite the lack of commitment, I have, nevertheless, given the project a tentative title, there used to be guys in coveralls with greasy hands. Although, it turns out, with some research, that there used to be gals in coveralls with greasy hands.

In any event, I believe that my hesitency to embrace this project is the fact that I do not have a clear-in-my-head project intent. That is to write, that, were I to be pressed to write an artist statement, re: this project, at this point it would be a rather rambling, un-focused statement. And, I most definitely want to have of body of work that evidences a consistent visual characteristic...which, at this time, is a somewhat deadpan picture making approach. An approach which, when coupled to my the new snapshot technique, seems to be a very valid visual picture making / presentation manner of picturing.

All of that written, it is quite possible that I am over-thinking the whole thing. Guess I'll just have to give it some more thought. And, keep making more gas station pictures.

FYI, I made the top-most picture in this entry as a quite possible cover picture for a quite possible photo book inasmuch as it does illustrate one of the themes of this maybe project. That is, the fact that "traditional" gas stations are disappearing due to the fact that corporate America has decided that "super"-10-12 pump-it-yourself gas pumps-gas stations accompanied by a "mini" mart-to include a made-to-order deli, seating booths, a very modest grocery selection, and every candy, junk food known to humankind and a slection of a zillion bottles of carbonated soda, water, and, of corse, beer, are what Americans want.

The picture in question has an abandoned and stripped bare former gas station in the foreground with a "super" gas station directly behind it across the street. Sorta a living and the dead picture.

# 5712-14 / kitchen sink•around the house ~ inside and out

April 9, 2021

EVEN THOUGH I HAVE BEEN OUT AND ABOUT picturing gas stations and getting used to carrying around an actual "real" camera, I have not neglected picture making with the iPhone camera module.

# 5707-11 / civilized ku (gas stations) ~ gas 'er up (or not)

April 8, 2021

OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS I HAVE been out and about searching for and, consequently, picturing "traditional" gas stations. By "traditional" I mean gas stations which were dedicated to pumping gas (by men in coveralls with greasy hands) and performing auto repairs and maintenance. However, very few (if any) of those meeting that definition still exist.

What does exist, especially so in rural areas like where I live, are many abandoned remnants of gas stations, still in use gas stations-some of which still sell gas-which perform maintenance and repair only-and older gas stations-built in the 50-60s-which have added some sort of quickie-mart / convenience store to the operation. Some architecturally unique / interesting gas stations have been acquired and converted into antique /specialty retail stores.

In any event, my recent driving about picture making has focused on picturing gas stations. A big part of that motivation is devoted to figuring out whether I want to pursue a gas station body of work. Cuz, the fact is that, for a number of reasons, I am not certain that I do wish to do so.

One reason for that hesitancy is that I am not that keen on creating a series of primarily "documentary" pictures. That is, pictures made just to document that something exists. Rather, I want to make pictures which conform to my unique manner of seeing, aka: my vision, which is not so much about what is pictured but more about form.

The thought has occurred to me that, perhaps, this project would best be served by being a subset of my the new snapshot series. BW pictures with a snapshot border might just be appropriate for this project (should I decide to undertake it)....the depicted referents are not dependent upon color to be interesting and the snapshot border supports the idea of another time. I am pretty certain that approach would not be viewed as merely attention-getting gimmickry.

That written, over the next couple weeks I will be out and about-with µ4/3 camera / 25mm f1.8 lens attached-looking for gas stations to picture.

# 5703-06 / around the house (sunlight)•civilized ku ~ that doesn't make me a shallow person, does it?

April 5, 2021

THERE CAME A TIME-ABOUT 12 YEARS PAST-THAT I purchased a "normal" lens-50mm equivalent-for my µ4/3 cameras. At that time, I had begun to desire soft backgrounds / foregrounds (aka: narrow DOF), relative to my point of focus, as opposed to the rather everything-in-focus characteristic of semi-wide>wide angle lenses when paired with a small(ish) sensor.

Truth be written, I never really committed to making pictures with that lens (25mm f1.8 M.Zuiko). It seemed that my picture making vision is inexorably linked to semi-wide lenses such as my much used 17mm f1.8 Zuiko (34mm equivalent). Although, I have comfortably transitioned to the 24mm equivalent lens of the iPhone.

In any event, over the past few days I have been making pictures with the 25mm Zuiko lens, a few of which are presented in this entry. It seems that my narrow DOF inclination has returned to the fore. An emergent condition that I would primarily attribute to my use of the Portrait feature of the iPhone. A feature which works really well 95% of the time, and, has the added bonus of being able to adjust the DOF (albeit background only) during the post-picture-making processing.

I am not certain where this is headed, picture making wise other than to write that I will be taking a µ4/3 body, with the 25mm M.Zuiko afixed, along with me when I leave the house. Even gonna give it a try with my idea of picturing old / "traditional" gas stations.

(embiggenable) • iPhone / narrow DOF simulated in processing (not the Portrait feature)

# 5701-02 / single woman ~ unbearable weight of conjecture and deconstruction

April 1, 2021

(embiggenable) • µ4/3 - from my single women body of work — (embiggenable) • µ4/3 - from my ***single women*** body of work

I HAVE BEEN FOREVER ANNOYED BY ATTEMPTS to turn photographs into something they are not. A good example of such an attempt can be seen HERE in an entry, What the Photo Doesn't Show, on Leicaphilia. The title of the video in that entry, WHAT THIS PHOTO DOESN"T SHOW, rather concisely illuminates my point, re: to turn photographs into something they are not.

In any event, on to the photo in question:

“Young Farmers”, or, “Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance” ~ August Sander - c. 1914

August Sander, born in Westerwald, Germany, made many pictures of the rural people in that region. His intention was:

..."to speak the truth in all honesty about our age and the people of our age...[I] hate nothing more than sugary photographs with tricks, poses and effects."

Regarding his ideas about making pictures, he stated..

..."The person is mobile, ... then I freeze one moment in his movement, a mere five-hundredth of a second of that person's life-time. That's a very meager or small extract from a life."

Re: my point - a picture, any picture, is, as Sander states, a very meager or small extract-a mere five-hundredth of a second-from a life. Given that fact, iMo, the only thing one can "know" from a photo, knowledge wise, is that which is discerned from viewing the precision of the depicted referent in a photo.

Here's what I "know" from viewing this photo...depicted are 3 young men, dressed like dandies in an enviroment for which such dress seems to be rather incongruous. It's a cloudy day. The young men's expressions do not tell me much about what's going on inasmuch as they range from: tough guy, supreme confidence, and, huh? say what? Other than those things and the supposition-cuz it could be well executed reenactment-that it is a vintage photo, that is all I know.

But, here's the thing (for me). That's all I need to know cuz this photo just flat out draws me in. To my eye and sensibilities, it is both factual and yet somewhat strangely mysterious. It raises questions to which it provides no answers. And, from a purely visual POV, I find it to be delightfully interesting.

That is also all I need to know cuz I am not looking at this photo as a history / geography lesson. I am viewing it as a piece of art. I am not hoping to learn something. Rather, I want to feel something.

I want to be visually delighted / interested / intrigued. I want art to raise questions, not to give me answers (propaganda)...in the case of photography, why was a particular referent selected by the picture maker? In the case of any form of art, do feel as though I am touching, at the very least, a fragment of the nature of beauty?

All of that written, in most cases, I have not the slightest interest in what a photograph doesn't show. That is simply because a photograph's unique characteristic is to show us something with a fair amount of specificity, something that has been extracted from a mere small moment of life.

If making pictures is result of a picture maker being in the moment, then it make sense to me that, when viewing a picture, the viewer should be in the moment. That is, at that moment the only thing that matters is what is in the picture, not what isn't.

FYI, I have included in this entry some pictures from my rather substantial single women body of work. That is cuz I felt there is some relevance to the topic at hand inasmuch as I could not offer any information about the women-all strangers-depicted other than what can be viewed in the photographs.

The women were pictured-in public places-without any knowledge-before or after the fact-that they were or had been pictured. I made the picture and went on my merry way. Which, BTW, was a pretty niffty trick inasmuch as all the pictures were made with a 34mm (eqivalent) lens.