civilized ku # 5335-48 ~ group nourishment

all pictures embiggenable and iPhone made

An article in yesterday's NYTimes caught my attention. The title, Art Is Where the Home Is subtitled, Two gallery shows make a case for the nourishing aspects of objects in artists’ lives. The article began with this:

Artists are picky people. The objects they live with — furniture, artifacts, ceramics, works by other artists — are usually carefully chosen, and they look it. They highlight an artist’s personal or aesthetic connections (or both), and clarify the nourishment objects can give us.

After reading the article I decided it was time to take stock of the objects in my home so I grabbed my iPhone and went to work. My survey, while not completely comprehensive, gives a good/accurate accounting of where my objects interest lie. Which, in a nutshell, could be described as small objects of a somewhat elclectic nature. Some of which have life-meaning for me, some of which are just weirdly cool.

Again, from the article:

The shows ... form a meditation on some of the ways artists sustain themselves and their art.

Re: the above excerpt. I'll be honest, I have never thought that my groupings (as I have now named them) have contributed to the way I sustain myself and my art. However, this article is making me think that I need to think about that idea. Or not.

In the overall scheme of things pyscho-analytical, the objects I have chosen to be part of my daily life undoubtedly have something to say about me. On the other hand, is that someting I need to care about? I mean, I have known for most of my life that I am somewhat of an outlier inasmuch as a part of me is rather mainstream but there is another part of me that is quite the opposite in many ways.

And, suffice it to say, I have always embraced the outlier part of me and it is that part of me which really differentiates me from the crowd. And, the outlier in me most certainly drives what pricks my eye and sensibilities and, consequently, drives the how and the what of my picture making.

my only large grouping

All of the above written, I do like my quirky objects. They do, in fact, bring a certain amount of joy to my daily life. Joy, of course, could accurately be described as an emotional and intellectual nourishment. So, much to the wife's chagrin (she thinks I have too much "stuff"), I will keep, cherish and keep on adding to my groupings.

civilized ku # 5333-34 (picture windows) ~ idle hands are the picture maker's workshop

morning light ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

morning light ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

gray Spring day ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

gray Spring day ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

There are times when my picture making gets caught in a loop. Over the past few days that loop has been cycling through the notion of looking out of windows. There is no particular reason for that that I can discern.

civilized ku # 5331-32 ~ like Mark Twain said

(embiggenable) • iPhone

on the phone ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

I've been thinking about a number of things, picture making wise, influenced by some the rambling on TOP - backup, storage, archives, et al. The one item that keeps coming back to my thinking space is the idea of prints.

On the walls of my house, there 68 (of my pictures) prints. On tables and in bookcases there are 25 POD photobooks + 3 "coffee table" hardbound books featuring my pictures. Not to mention, I am prepping 160 prints for my upcoming solo exhibition, my 6th solo exhition. So, suffice it to write, I am a firm believer in prints (of one kind or another).

That written, I have never been able to understand why someone would make pictures and not make prints. What would be the point?

Conventional wisdom has it that fewer picture makers are making prints. While that may be true of the legions of happy cell phone snappers, I don't believe that is true of the more "serious" picture makers. With the advent of good quality desktop printers, I believe that "serious" pictures are, most likely, making more prints than ever before. After all, good quality prints are much cheaper (after the cost of a printer) and, dare I write, easier to make than ever before.

FYI, the reason I write that it "may be true", re: making fewer prints, of the legion of cell phone snappers is that, with the advent of online POD print suppliers, it may be true that even they too are making more prints than ever before.

However, the wife (part of whose mission in life is to correct me when I'm wrong) has pointed out that, in the camera toting analog picture making past, "casual" picture makers all made prints, or more accurately, had prints made at the drugstore or similar place. And, I must admit, she has a point. However ....

.... today, more people than ever before have a "camera" in their possesion and on their person, albeit a cell phone. It is my belief that many of those people are also having prints made.

Case in point, every drugstore, chain mega-stores and other locations in or nearby my neck of the woods (I live in a forest preserve) has a walk up self-sevice kiosk for print making. And, few and far beteen are the nuber of times I have been in such a place (I never go to chain meg-stores) that there is not someone at the kiosk. And, of course, there is the (some might say) glut of online print making sources.

Does that prove that more prints made by casual picture makers are being made than ever before? I not making a bet with the wife (I'd hate to be proven wrong) on that proposition but ....

....suffice it to write, I do believe that the death of print making has been greatly exaggerated.

the new snapshot # 253 / book spreads ~ the element of simple enjoyment

War Museum ~ Ottawa, Canada (embiggenable) • µ4/3

iPhone book / covers and spine ~ (embiggenable)

iPhone book ~ (embiggenable)

Came across a great picture making quote from a very unlikely source, Hunter S. Thompson.

In a letter, Thompson was proposing an article to POP PHOTO magazine. The tentative title for the article was "The Case for the Chronic Snapshooter"". The motivation for the article arose from Thompson's reading of a POP PHOTO article, "Good & Bad Pictures" in which the author wrote that snapshooting is not, by definition, a low and ignorant art.

After reading the article, Thompson ...

...got out some of my prints and decided that not all of them were worthless. As a matter of fact there were some that gave me pleasure. And I had sold a good many, I’d enjoyed taking them, and some had even given other people pleasure....

...and here is where the good quote emerges...

When photography gets too technical as to intimidate people, the element of simple enjoyment is bound to suffer. Any man who can see what he wants to get on film will usually find some way to get it; and a man who thinks his equipment is going to see for him is not going to get much of anything .... The moral here is that anyone who wants to take pictures can afford adequate equipment and can, with very little effort, learn how to use it.

I find this quote/excerpt to be spot on, re: why people like to take pictures with a camera phone. That would include me inasmuch as I am enjoying a newfound freedom of, as KODAK once marketed its cameras, pushing the button (OK, OK. touching the digitally simulated button) and letting the A.I. (computational photography) do the rest. And, in doing the rest, the software driven device does a damn fine job of it for which no apologies are needed.

To be honest, the "perfectionist" in me can drive me do a little bit of adjustment work on a picture. However, even that "work" is most often performed on my iPhone, OR, if I want to do the work on a "big" screen, I can do it on my iPad.

And that blows my mind. If my desktop machine blows up tomorrow-I sincerely hope it doesn't-and my "real" camera gear falls out my canoe and sinks to the bottom the Bog River Flow, I would be happy for the rest of my picture making life with an iPhone and an iPad. In fact, I would be VERY happy because that tandem is-to use a phrase that is most often used disparaging-better than "good enough". Much much better than good enough.

FYI, the spreads from the iPhone book are different from one another inasmuch as the larger (10x10") book is a hardcover version from Shutterfly. The smaller (8x8") book is a soft cover version (printed on matte paper) from Parabo.

FYI # 2, the War Museum picture will most likely be my submission to Mike Johnston's Baker's Dozen call for In The Museum pictures.

civilized ku # 5328-30 (kitchen sink / ku-ish) ~ it's all relative

Spring snowstorm ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone (no effects applied) / the house’s rear porch, pillars, windows/doors are a mural painted on plywood

in the kitchen sink ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

in the kitchen sink ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

Been rather too busy to post-prepping for my upcoming Adirondack Snapshot Project solo exhibition. However, I have followed a recent post on TOP, re: cell phone picture making.

As I followed the comments, I become both amused and annoyed. Amused by the ignorance, re: cell phone picture making capabilities, and by the predjudice toward "real" cameras as the only device for "serious" picture making. Annoyed, as my amusement, re: the presceeding, gradually turned into annoyance. That written, I am pretty good at reading between the lines and what I read there is, iMo, very telling, re: the 2 main types of picture makers.

CAVEAT re: the 2 main types of picture makers. What follows could be considered as a gross simplification. Nevertheless ..... iMo, there are 2 types of picture makers (excluding pro photogs), "serious" amateur photographers and artists. The difference between the 2 types-independent of the kind of pictures they make-is found in their respective additudes toward their picture making equipment.END OF CAVEAT To wit ....

A. "Serious" amateur picture makers have a serious relationship with their gear. They search out and acquire / use-a never ending quest-the "best" of everything, picture making wise-sensors, cameras, lenses, processing software, color printing profiles, printer, et al. For the most part, they believe the "best" pictures can only be made with the "best" equipment inasmuch as the "best" pictures must exhibit both technical and technique virtuosity.

CAVEAT # 2 Lest anyone think I am casting aspersions on "serious" amateur picture makers, in my defense let me write that I am a firm believer in Julian's grandmother's adage that, "For every pot there's a lid." And, picture making has many pots.END OF CAVEAT

B. Artists-Medium of Photography and Its Apparatus* Division-tend to pick a camera (selected from any and all formats / types), a lens (yes, most artists use but a single lens) and a single preferred manner of printing their work. Then they forget all about it and go out and make pictures.

FYI, the 1 thing that the 2 types has in common is that they both choose the equipment that best suits their picture making intensions.

So, reading between the lines, my point is this .... "serious" amateur picture makers consider cell phone picture making to be an inferior system for the making of "serious" pictures, suitable only for making snapshots and visual record keeping. On the other hand, artists are open to any and all picture making systems in the pursuit of their picture making because, for them, it's all about the end result. That is, it's not about the gear, it's all about expressing their unique vision.

CAVEAT # 3 Have no doubt about it, I am not a fan of those pictures made by "serious" amateurs picture makers. That works tends to follow along the line of what Brooks Jensen labeled as making pictures like what one has been told are good pictures. He also opined that "real" photography begins when one stops making pictures like what one has been told are good pictures and begins making pictures of what ones sees.

* in this context, "apparatus" means, a complex structure within an organization or system.

Adk Snapshot Project # 1-7 ~ antiestablishmentarianism

all images embiggenable

Following up on yesterday's entry, re: why I am so excited-beyond the mere fact of being accepted-by this exhibition opportunity.

Obviously, being accepted to have a solo exhibition of my work is somewhat exciting as well as an affirmation that someone believes what I am doing is worth hanging on a wall(s) for the public to view ... Happy, happy. Joy, joy. However, I am equally excited about what was accepted. That is, my intent in creating the snapshot prints for this project was to kinda/sorta thumbing my nose at the "Art Establishment" by ....

1. displaying prints that are the modern day equivalent of dime store / drugstore prints.
1a. displaying a huge number of prints in a hodgepodge fashion that appear to have no common theme or organizing principle.
2. displaying work that is not of the limited edition variety.
2a. no high priced prints - viewers will be encouraged to "steal" a print or 2 from the loose prints in the jewelry boxes.
3. making art that doesn't look like "Art"....
3a.... i.e. pictures which appear to casually made rather than with "serious" intent
4. viewers will be directed to view the work as if they were looking at someone's vacation pictures rather than looking at them as they would art.

All of that written, I assume that the work was accepted because the juror (or jurors / commitee) at the Center for the Arts perceived that the work is, in fact; a "serious" undertaking, a cohesive body of work, has a cultural / historic relevance to the early 20th century Adirondack "postcard" photographers and is a unique and heretofore unseen manner of presentation of Adirondack pictures. I also assume that, in addition the aforementioned considerations, he/she/they believe the the body of work is, indeed, Art.

So, once again .... Happy, happy, Joy, joy.

Adirondack Snapshot Project ~ up against the wall

(embiggenable)

On and off over the past 4-5 months I have working on my Adirondack Snapshot Project. The work involves culling pictures-approximately 400 at this point-from my 4,000+ collection of pictures made in the Adirondacks. The pictures are then resized and placed-using Photoshop-on my custom-made snapshots border. Then, in each case, dating the picture in the traditional manner on the print border. My goal is to create 256 snapshots.

After the snapshot "conversion" is complete, sets of 20 free 5x5" prints and 1 8x8" soft cover photo book-32 picture pages-are ordered from Parabo. ASIDE re: free - Parabo offers free 20 4x4" picture sets ($8US for shipping). I pay $12US per set for a size upgrade to 5.5x5.5" prints, making my "free" print cost (shipping + upsize) $1US/print. The photo book cost is $18US. END ASIDE

In any event, a few months ago I received a call for submissions-from the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts-for solo-exhibition consideration. Submissions had to include samples of my work (see pictues above), an Artist Statement (read below) and a CV ....

The Adirondack Snapshot Project
Here, there and everywhere

My summer visits to the Adirondacks, or, as it was called in my family, The Woods, began in 1952 when I was 5 years old. My earliest memories are of sitting in back passenger-side window seat of my parent’s car watching the woods, waters and villages go by. Until the hotel closed, circa 1961-62, our destination was always the Arrowhead Hotel in Inlet on Fourth Lake. Post Arrowhead Hotel, a house rental in Old Forge was our Adirondack getaway. Those early years instilled in me an enduring appreciation and love of the Adirondacks.

Over the past 40 years, more so since my move to the Adirondack village of Au Sable Forks, I have been making pictures-over 4,000 pictures-of life in the the Adirondacks. During that time, I adopted an affinity toward, and a time-distant camaraderie with, the early 20th Century Adirondack village photographers of the so called postcard era. Photographers who made pictures of quotidian life as seen throughout their region of the Adirondacks. Although my picture making encompasses all of the Adirondacks lands and villages within the Blue Line, my pictured referents-commonplace Adirondack people, places and things-have a shared commonality with those of the early 20th Century Adirondack village photographers.

While a number of my pictures and individual bodies of work have been exhibited in regional art galleries, art centers and craft galleries, that work is but a tiny representation of my Adirondack work. My desire to exhibit a much larger representation of my work is problematic inasmuch as solo exhibitions are typically space-limited to 20 prints. A solution to that issue, instigated by my parent’s albums of snapshots made during our Adirondack visits, emerged in the form of The Adirondack Snapshot Project.

The 132 pictures in the Adirondack Snapshot Project have been culled from my 4,000+ Adirondack picture library. After selecting the pictures, I “converted” them into a snapshot format reminiscent of the snapshots found in my parents family albums. Pictures which were made with no artistic intent. They were simple records-snaps-of vacations and time spent in the Adirondacks. Over the years those records have become the instigators of memories-some remembered, others reawakened by viewing the snapshots. Consequently, they now possess a preciousness that transcends the intent of their making.

My intent in presenting this work in a snapshot format is to create a sense of pictures made without artistic pretense. That is, a visual presentation which is somewhat antithetical and a deterrent to the idea of viewing pictures with a “serious” demeanor and an eye toward discernment of meaning and artist intent. The snapshot aesthetic invites a more relaxed and intimate approach to viewing the work. An approach that will help to foment a sense of the work as revealed personal memories. Mementos which I expose to / share with strangers in an attempt to abet their remembrance of similar Adirondack experiences.

While this project was undertaken to create an interactive art experience, it is my desire that the viewers of the work will not approach this project as “serious” art. But rather as an exhibition of shared personal pictures which are a celebration of all things Adirondack.

NOTE: Dependent upon space alotted, the exhibition would consist of 4-5 27 5.5x5.5" (magnetic) photo rope groupings, 9 pictures/rope. Each grouping is accompanied by a 32 picture snapshot album which mirrors each grouping and a jewelry (or similar) box picture "find".

....yesterday, I received this response:

Congratulations, you have been selected to have an exhibition at the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts (Arts Center) in 2019. I will be contacting each artist individually to schedule their show ....

Laura Smith
Education and Gallery Coordinator
Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts

More in my next entry concerning why I am so excited-beyond the mere fact of being accepted-by this exhibition opportunity.

simulroid # 6 ~ spread 'em

(embiggenable) • iPhone / faux Polaroid

photobook spread ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone

photobook spread ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone / faux snapshot

photobook spread ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone / faux Polaroid (Polamatic camera app)

Having recently mentioned my penchant for making POD photo books, it occurred to me that I had yet to make a photo book the intent of which was to showcase my iPhone-made pictures. So....

.... I decided now's the time and opened up my 2,200+ picture-ASIDE I have been seriously (addictively?) engaged in making iPhone pictures for the past 2 years. Almost exclusively so for the past year. END OF ASIDE-iPhone Snapshot folder in Adobe Bridge and immediately came to the realization that a "best of" iPhone photo book was out of the question. The thought of the time involved in selecting 30 or so "winners" from that heap-o'-pictures was not an attractive proposition.

Consequently, I decided to make an "annual" compilation, albeit not a calender year. Since I had made, a few days ago, an iPhone picture which I wanted in the book, I went back a year (to last March) and started the selection process.

I winnowed the collection down to 82 pictures which are presented on 16 2 page spreads + front and back covers. The work is also divided into 3 categories - "straight" pictures, snapshot-converted pictures and simulated Polaroid pictures (made using the Polamatic app which, after making the picture, spits out-with a pitch-perfect Polaroid whirling sound effect-the image on screen where you watch it slowly "develop"). The files + a brief intro page will be off to the POD book maker-1 set to Shutterfly (hard cover) and 1 to Parabo (soft cover)-tomorrow.

While I awaited the finished books, I am devoting some time to writing a Joy of iPhone Picture Making essay together with a brief how-to / techinque addendum. Both of those will be included in the final edition of the photo book. Copies of that book will be offered for sale in a limited edition and will also be submitted to a few photo book publishers for a possible press-run edition.