ku # 1316 / diptych # 162 / triptych # 22 (ku # 1317-19) ~ the unbearable lightness of light

stand of trees ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
libations / tree fungus w pine cones ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
it's never quite the same ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

I suspect that people who, in their daily routine, normally would not pay too much attention to light would find it nearly impossible to ignore "the light" at a place like Rist Camp.

I have often written that, in my picture making, I rarely "chase the light". That more often than not, I only make pictures which feature "the light" when it chases me. Which does not mean that I don't appreciate "the light" when I see it. However, I will not always make a picture featuring "the light" when I see it. To the contrary, I often deliberately avoid making a picture of "the light" because I have absolutely no interest in making yet another cliché picture of it.

Re: "the light", George Eastman, the man who put a camera in the hand of any everyday person who wanted one and made picture making easy (you push the button, we do the rest) said:

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.

With that statement, it could be reasonably postulated that Eastman was advocating "chasing the light". On the other hand, no one knew more about the "mechanics" of light striking a light-sensitive surface than Eastman and his legion of research and development cadre. For him and them, knowing about light was their key to photography.

In any event, at Rist Camp "the light" is chasing me minute to minute, or so it seems.

FYI, George Eastman also said:

The world is moving, and a company that contents itself with present accomplishments soon falls behind.

George must be spinning like a top high-speed drill press in his grave.

civilized ku # 2972-3 / ku # 1316 ~ a night on the town

barVino / bar • bartender ~ North Creek, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Hudson River cairnine ~ North Creek, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
heading back to Rist Camp ~ North Creek, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Yesterday evening, after a day of lounging about, the wife and I decided that neither of us wanted to make dinner. So, by unanimous consent, we drove off to North Creek for a meal at barVino. That's always a sumptuous treat.

With the meal I had 2 glasses of Ommagang Rare Vos (see tap in bar/ bartender picture). An absolutely delightful Belgian-style (brewed in NY State) Amber Ale.

On the drive out of North Creek, we stopped so I could picture the Hudson River. Much to our surprise, there, in the river, was another of those previously discovered local cairnines - visible on a rock in the lower right quadrant of the picture. They're turning up everywhere.

Heading back to the car, I made a picture of the road, albeit just because I could.

ku # 1309-13 / diptych # 158 ~ can you hear what I hear? can you see what I see?

tidal mash ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
surf ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
same dune - different lenses / light ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen

In yesterday's entry I linked to an essay by JÖRG M. COLBERG in which he emphasized his desire to view pictures which create a "dialogue". That is, by his definition, "... the dialogue someone’s work has (or attempts to have) with everything else."

What I infer from that statement is that Colberg is looking to find a meaning which is implied / suggested beyond the obvious literal observation of a picture's referent - what Roland Barthes deemed as a picture's punctum: the wounding, personally touching detail which establishes a direct relationship with the object or person within it. OR, what I describe as a picture's illuminative quality (as opposed to its illustrative quality).

Much has been written about a picture's meaning, its illusiveness, its malleability, and, in the case of the academic lunatic fringe, its preeminence (meaning over visual) in the act of picture making. While I place absolutely no stock in the ALF's preoccupation / fetish, re: meaning, I certainly agree with notions of meaning to be found in a picture as illusive and malleable.

All of that written, I have a question .... it seems to be a significant part of the human condition to look / search for meaning (why are we here / what's the meaning of life, etc.). In light of that fact, it would appear that many bring that approach to the medium of photography. But the thought occurs to me that perhaps we are asking too much of the medium when it comes to the idea of meaning. Which thought does by no means that I believe meaning in pictures is not possible.

In fact, I still and always will believe that the best pictures are those which, in addition to their visual merits, ask questions and/or introduce the viewer to something (s)he finds challenging and/or thought provoking to at least some extent. How far one can take that idea, re: deliberately creating intended meaning in a picture (the WOW factor really doesn't qualify as meaning), is, IMO, open to very legitimate question (other than pure outright propaganda).

And, of course, no matter the picture maker's intent, meaning wise, the viewer can assign to a picture any meaning (or none at all) (s)he can conjure up inasmuch as what the viewer gets out of a picture is very dependent upon what that viewer brings to the picture viewing table. After all, stupid is as stupid does, and, interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.

FYI, in the same dune diptych the pictures were made from about the same vantage point but with different lenses. They were made approximately 45-60 minutes apart. The sky over the ocean at the beach can change rather quickly.

ku # 1308 / diptych # 155 / kitchen sink # 32 ~ back home and the sink is calling my name

dune ~ Stone harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
night ~ Stone harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
leaf and fly ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Back home from the Jersey Shore for a short stay. Thursday, it's off to Philadelphia for a hockey tournament and from there it's back to Rist Camp for our annual 5 week sojourn. So, instead of unpacking we're washing stuff and repacking it.

While at the Jersey Shore, I am usually out and abound late in the day when the heat has reached (for me) a tolerable temperature (playing golf is the only exception to the rule). Around the six o'clock hour the beach is practically deserted, usually the light is getting interesting, and the time is right for making beach pictures. Hence the dune picture in this entry.

Maybe next year I'll get up early and explore / picture the early morning light. I'm certain that that light will be interesting and the beach quite deserted as well. Although, getting up early after a party each night (the clan doesn't know when to call it quits) might be a bit of stretch. Then again, next year Hugo and I will getting our own little cottage so that we will be able to take breaks away from the maddening crowd.

triptych # 21 / pano / ku # 1307 / civilized ku # 2950 ~ the end is nigh

RGB swimming ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
Kelleher family migration to beach for clan picture ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
dune top ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
poolside moment ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen

It was Woody Allen who said (in the movie, Sleeper):

"I'm what you would call a teleological, existential atheist. I believe that there's an intelligence to the universe, with the exception of certain parts of New Jersey."

I have no doubt that I'm in one of those "certain parts of New Jersey" of which Allen was speaking. That's why I am so grateful that, in 12 hours, I'm outa here and on my way back to civilization where I'm fairly certain there will be at least a minimal amount of intelligence.

civilized ku # 2950-52 / diptych # 153 ~ life's a beach

traditional shore cottage ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
dunes / dunes + "improvementS" (when nature just isn't enough) ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
roadside farmer's stand ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
party ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen

Uncharacteristically, my time at the beach to date has been occupied by the wife's family stuff, aka: parties. With the"other side" of the family in attendance (once very 5 years), there are parties and impromptu gathering every day and 2:30-3:00AM is the standard end of nearly every day. Hence my delay in posting.

As is always the case (for me) at the Jersey Shore, the heat + humidity and the culture of creeping conspicuous consumption are inescapably oppressive. I can escape the heat / humidity issue in "air conditioned comfort" but the prevailing paradigm of tasteless conspicuous (and proud of it) consumption is not so easy to dismiss or avoid.

With each advancing year, the spread - some such as myself might label it as a plague / blight - of ostentatious (nothing exceeds like excess) McMansion architecture / monstrosities is destroying / replacing what was once a small seashore cottage village culture with that of typical of suburban sprawl. The MO is simple - buy a lot with small cottage, tear the cottage down and replace it with an aforementioned structure (most often 3 stories high) which is built right out to edges of the plot.

I just don't get it.

tourist picture / ku # 1306 / civilized ku # 2949 ~ the climate's getting better, a little warmer every day

canoes ~ Bog River Flow / Hitchens Pond - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Pattno & Sons ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
moon / boat - Lake Champlain ~ Peru, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Leaving in an hour to transport Hugo to Boston for a hockey tournament. At the tournament's completion on Sunday, we are traveling directly to the Jersey Shore for my annual week in hell (heat, humidity, creeping conspicuous consumption, and 8,000 people per sq. inch). Wish me luck.

I'm taking all of my camera ensemble - cameras, lenses, tripod, laptop, iPad, etc. - so I'll be posting entries, probably a lot of tourist pictures, every day.

civilized ku # 2948 / tourist picture / triptych # 20 / ku # 1305 ~ there, back again and in between

fire hydrant in the middle of nowhere ~ Plattsbugh, NY • click to embiggen
lawyer-in-training / lawyer ~ Plattsbugh, NY • click to embiggen
wild mushroom risotto, sirloin tips, duck wings / Latitude 44 Bistro ~ Plattsbugh, NY • click to embiggen
Lake Champlain ~ Peru, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Met the wife and the daughter for dinner yesterday evening.

On the way there, I stopped to make a picture - hydrant in the middle of nowhere - with the new 25mm f1.8 lens. Once there, in between the coming and the going, I made a picture of the wife and the daughter with the same lens. Purchased the lens for its shallow DOF possibilities. The remaining 3 in between pictures were made with my "normal" 20mm f1.7 lens. As was the back again moonscape on Lake Champlain picture.

All in all, a great evening ... great company, great dinner - the apple cider glazed duck wings with crumbled blue cheese was especially good, and great picture making opportunities.