BODIES OF WORK ~ PICTURE GALLERIES
BODIES OF WORK ~ BOOK LINKS
In Situ ~ la, la, how the life goes on • Life without the APA • Doors • Kitchen Sink • Rain • 2014 • Year in Review • Place To Sit • ART ~ conveys / transports / reflects • Decay & Disgust • Single Women • Picture Windows • Tangles ~ fields of visual energy (10 picture preview) • The Light + BW mini-gallery • Kitchen Life (gallery) • The Forks ~ there's no place like home (gallery)
Monday, December 14, 2015 at 09:25AM 
Ain't talkin', just walkin'
Friday, December 11, 2015 at 12:22PM 
That written, I may make a BW Noir as a counterpoint to the color version. On another subject, re: photo noir, I am wondering if a picture that intends to evoke the feelings associated with film noir requires the actual visual presence of a person. Or, is the suggestion of pessimism / danger, sans person, that intimates that the viewer of a noir picture is him/herself in danger enough? The conclusion I am coming to is that it can work either way.Even though, in all probability, most of my submissions to the Photo Noir exhibition judging will be BW pictures, in the book I am working on the pictures will be in color. The reason for that is simple ... inasmuch as my pictures of the dark / night are not made with the intention of evidencing bleak pessimism, and a lurking sense of danger (although, dependent upon the perspective of a viewer they might be interpreted in that sense), color works better than BW. Whereas BW works better than color, in most cases, in evincing the pessimism / danger feeling, picture wise, that the exhibition gallery director seems to be seeking.
Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 10:50AM 
Now that preliminary conversions are at hand, I have been contemplating the notion of color vs BW. The 2 noir pictures in this entry are presented in both color and BW because they represent the challenge of deciding between the color / BW formats inasmuch as, in the case of these particular pictures, I feel that both color and BW work equally well. Not every noir picture works both ways, so I have some deciding to do.I have completed preliminary BW conversions on 34 of the 42 pictures which deemed noir worthy. The conversion process was also an editing process inasmuch as I converted only those pictures which more emphatically conveyed the bleak pessimism, and a lurking sense of danger feeling of the noir film genre.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 10:11AM 
Film noir is distinguished by a unique aesthetic of low-key, contrasty light, strong shadows, unexpected camera angles, bleak pessimism, and a lurking sense of danger ... As Roger Ebert describes the style: “Locations that reek of the night, of shadows, of alleys, of the back doors of fancy places, of apartment buildings with a high turnover rate, of taxi drivers and bartenders who have seen it all.” Consequently, the challenge for me in making my submission selections for potential exhibition inclusion is to look anew at my pictures which "reek of night" and decide which ones could be viewed to meet the criteria of "bleak pessimism, and a lurking sense of danger". As in the case of my Celebration of Trees submissions, my first-blush feeling is that, for this exhibition, BW is the order of the day. Although, the jury is still deliberating that feeling. That written, of one thing I am certain - most, if not all, of the pictures I might select for submission will need adjustments in order to emphasis the "bleak pessimism, and a lurking sense of danger" effect that defines film / photo noir. Unless, of course, as I did for the Alternative Cameras: Pinhole to Plastic exhibition, I venture forth, cameras at the ready, to make noir pictures which are created specifically for this exhibition.If I am a sucker for any kind of light, it's the light to be had in late-day slightly-hazy urban settings. Although, the mixture of natural light and man-made light which is best pictured in the gloaming, or, if you will, during L’heure entre chien et loup runs as a very close second. Then again, it's most likely a tie.
In yesterday's entry I mentioned the upcoming Photo Noir exhibition at the PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, VT. On their website call for entries, they describe the idea of film / photo noir as ....
While I have pictured referents which evidence "low-key, contrasty light, strong shadows, unexpected camera angles .... [L]ocations that reek of the night, of shadows ....", I can accurately write that my picturing intentions in making those pictures was/is not to convey a sense of "bleak pessimism, and a lurking sense of danger". Most often my intent is to convey a sense of dark mystery. Although, I must admit that dark mystery conjures up, for many, a feeling of foreboding and unsettling anxiety.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 10:21AM 
In any event, yesterday, was the submission deadline for the In Celebration of Trees exhibition. My submissions are displayed in this entry. And, as you can see, they are all B&W pictures. While I had many color pictures of trees which would have been very suitable submissions, I found that some were very well suited to B&W conversion as I mentioned in a previous entry. So, B&W it is. While submitting my ICoT pictures, I came across a call for entries for the next exhibition, Photo Noir. I immediately thought that I had a few pictures which might be suitable for that exhibition so I went into my picture library and, lo and behold, I had 42 pictures that most certainly qualify as photo noir. Once again, I have "discovered" a hidden body of work within the 6,800+ finished / finals pictures in my photo library. Makes me wonder what I will "discover" next.For every exhibition the PhotoPlace Gallery publishes a POD exhibition catalog. This morning I received a link to a proof of the Alternative Cameras: Pinhole to Plastic catalog* for review of my info and I was pleasantly surprised to see my accepted entry on the intro spread - and on a regular catalog page as well - of the catalog. Nice.
Monday, December 7, 2015 at 10:55AM 
Perhaps my working title, urban flora, for this body of work needs to be amended to include some notion of blight. On a different but similar topic of blight, Pittsburgh is also a prime example, but not the only example, of what might be labeled electric blight. That is, the rat's nest of wires, meters and other electronic apparatus which is placed willy-nilly on the facade of homes and businesses without even a passing regard to order or unsightliness. And, once again, this phenomenon is most common in areas of the same depressed economic circumstances as urban blight, flora style.As evidenced by the picture - made in the small village of Keeseville, NY - of the unfettered growth of urban chaotic scrub in this entry, it should be obvious that kind of scrub growth is not limited to big urban areas. In fact, it would be far more accurate to write that urban scrub growth is quite common to areas marked by depressed economic circumstance or as a result thereof. Keeseville most definitely fits that description.
Friday, December 4, 2015 at 02:12PM 
Quite a few other referents other than urban flora pricked my eye and sensibilities while I was In Pittsburgh.
Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 11:33AM 
FYI, while I have already made a POD book, Signs / The Signifer & The Signified: information overload, I have yet to post, for your viewing pleasure and entertainment, the gallery on this blog. Will do so within the next week.During my recent visit to Pittsburgh, I was able to add a couple pictures to 2 existing bodies of work - picture windows and signs / information overload.