civilized ku # 5090 / the new snapshot # 88-90 ~ taking a risk

hockey rink bathroom entrance ~ Canton, MA (embiggenable)

the genesis of my 2nd Great Aawakening (re: the medium of photography and its apparatus)

Now that I am back at my "real"computer I have begun to process pictures made with my "real" cameras during my recent travels.

The hockey rink bathroom entrance picture is one such picture. A picture which, as I was making it, got me a few what-the-hell-is-he-doing looks. Looks which one might expect when one is picturing the entrance to a bathroomin a hockey rink filled with kids. Sometimes you just have to take a risk to get the picture.

FYI, I have referred to my 2nd Great Awakening a couple times. Not wanting to leave my blog readers wondering, I am getting together my thoughts on the matter and will write about it within the next few days.

civilized ku # 5089 / the new snapshot (page 1-2) ~ the 2nd great awakening

Erica in window ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • iPhone camera module picture (embiggenable)

Jersey Shore snapshots (embiggenable)

Jersey Shore snapshots (embiggenable)

My time at the Jersey Shore was very productive, snapshot wise. I snapped away feeling just like an amateur snapshot picture maker while making approximately 50 pictures.

Before leaving for the shore, I played around making 24"x24" prints with 16 snapshots per page. I like the look inasmuch as the snapshots are relatively small which is in keeping with traditional printed snapshots (3 1/2" x 3 1/2"). At this point it is my intention to continue with this practice.

In addition to maintaining the traditional snapshot look, when the ganged snapshots are unified by a theme - people, places, events etc. - they also tend to have a narrative effect. As an example, the shore pictures in this entry could easily be titled, My vacation at the Jersey Shore.

My first test prints were organized by the month during which the snapshots were made which is its own kind of narrative, aka: Things I saw during the month of July. FYI, take note of the date stamp on the prints which was a common practice in the good ol' days of snapshot printing.

In case you are wondering, I am having a lot of fun with this project. In fact, I feel as though I am experiencing my 2nd Great Awakening, re: the photographic medium and its apparatus.

the new snapshot 94-97 ~ iconic stasis

From the essay, WHEN THE EARTH WAS SQUARE ~ 1960-1978, in the book, THE ART OF THE AMERICAN SNAPSHOT ~ 1888-1978:

The effect of the square format, neither portrait nor landscape, on habits of ordinary picture taking is impossible to assess, although its implicit resistance to storytelling makes it a singular choice for snapshots ... [T]he square shape supplants narrative flow with iconic stasis, and it tends to draw attention away from the picture to the object as such.

iMo, an interesting thought on the idea of the square shape as the perfect shape for snaphot pictures.

the new snapshot # 86-89 / civilized ku # 5086 ~ pictures made on my travels

hotel wall of water ~ Canton, MA (embiggenable)

Stone Harbor, NJ

Stone Harbor, NJ

Stone Harbor, NJ

Stone Harbor, NJ

Making lots of the new snapshot pictures during my travels. I am even enlisting various extended family members to help me create snapshot tableaux. That is, scenes / situations set up to mimic traditional family album snapshots. Fun, fun, fun.

the new snapshot # 82-85 ~ on the road again

Off to Walpole, MA for the weekend for a hockey tournament. From there to the Jersey Shore for life-in-hell week. Followed at the end of the week with a return to Marlborough, MA for another hockey tournament.

I will be publishing entries as I go.