ku # 1350-56 ~ installment # 3

old stone abutment ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
birch cluster ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #7 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
stream side tangle #2 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
yellow birch leaves ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #8 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tree ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Quite obviously the medium of photography, its apparatus and its vernacular afford the picture maker with the means for the making of a wide range of artistic expression. However, as any long time follower of The Landscapist knows, I am a fervent and committed devotee of straight picture making, aka: the making of pictures which present an accurate and true - as much as the medium and its apparatus allow - representation of what is. On that idea, John Szarkowski wrote:

The first thing that photographer learned was that photography dealt with the actual; he had not only to accept this fact, but to treasure it; unless he did, photography would defeat him. He learned that the world itself is an artist of incomparable inventiveness, and that to recognize its best works and moments, to anticipate them, to clarify them and make them permanent, requires intelligence both acute and supple.

But he learned also that the factuality of his pictures, no matter how convincing and unarguable, was a different thing that the reality itself .... [T]he subject and the picture were not the same thing, although they would afterwards seem so. It was the photographer's problem to see not simply the reality before him but the still invisible picture, and to make his choices in terms of the latter.

In so writing, it seems to me that Szarkowski has provided me with a hint to the resolution of my conundrum of being more attracted to the picture of referent than to the referent itself. To wit ....

.... it has been opined that a picture maker, in his/her act of selection, makes a picture which draws attention to the selected referent and in doing so elevates / memorializes that referent as an thing worthy of attention. In many cases, simply making visible that which, while looked at, is seldom looked into.

But of course, the referent which the picture maker has deemed worthy of attention / memorializing, the thing itself, is not the same thing as the picture made of it. The picture is, in fact, a thing in and of itself, in many cases worthy of attention and consideration based upon the merits of its visual appearance and presentation - I am referring, of course, to the thing in and of itself known as a print (if you're not making prints, what's the point?).

Consequently, I have come to the realization that the attention, interest, appreciation and admiration I give to my pictures is related to the object (the print) in and of itself and to the object / referent from which it derives. That is so inasmuch as the beauty I have extracted / memorialized from the reality of the object depicted is made manifest / realized in its representation. The referent and its representation are inexorably linked and both are worthy of attention, interest, appreciation and admiration. Although, each for reasons unique to the things themselves.

ku # 1350 / triptych # / 26 / diptych # 176 / ~ a brief interlude

Canadian corn stalks ~ on the road to Montreal , QC • click to embiggen
dining & imbibing establishments ~ Lake Placid, NY / Old Montreal, QC • click to embiggen
light around the house ~Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

While I'm working on my next 1/5 second entry (for later today), I am posting this entry of back logged pictures made over the past week. The pictures in the triptych - dining & imbibing establishments - were made over a 24 hr. period last Wednesday / Thursday. L-R: our Anniversary dinner at Interlaken in Lake Placid / killing time in the bar at Auberge Du Vieux-Port, Old Montreal / dinner at Stash Cafe with my good friend from Philadelphia, Old Montreal.

civilized ku # 2994 / ku # 1344-49 ~ momentary patterns

2 barns ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
bridge rust #1 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
bridge rust #2 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
water, leaves, grasses ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
stream side tangle #5 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
fungus on birch ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #6 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

In yesterday's entry I wrote referred to part of Teju Cole's definition of photography: the selection, out of the flow of time, of a moment to be preserved. A process about which John Szarkowski wrote that, "Immobilizing these thin slices of time has been a continuing source of fascination for the photographer." Both of those words and ideas from differing authors speak directly and forcefully to me regarding my continuing source of fascination with picture making. However, Szarkowski went on the write about a concept with which I have been pondering / confronting regarding my picture making:

.... while pursuing this experiment he discovered something else: he discovered that there was a pleasure and a beauty in the fragmenting of time that had little to do what was happening. It had to do with with seeing the momentary patterns of lines and shapes that had been previously concealed within the flux of movement.

I have been pondering / confronting because I been troubled / confounded by the fact that in my picture making I am much more attracted to my pictures of various referents than I am by the referents themselves ("what was happening").

That is to write that if, as I believe, beauty and pleasure can be found in the mundane, the trivial or what some might label as the banal aspect of everyday life, why is it that that I do not, upon seeing "the momentary patterns of lines and shapes that had been previously concealed within the flux of movement", sit and ponder the reality of that which is right there in front of me?

Why is it that the picture I make of that reality holds my attention, interest, appreciation and admiration more than the thing itself? Or, so it seems.

To be certain, I live where I live by desire, intent and design. That fact is due to the fact that I truly and deeply love the place called the Adirondacks: an emotional trait instilled in me early in my childhood - as well as my love and appreciation of the nature world in general - as a result of the experience of summers spent in this place. So, it is fair to say that I picture this place because I appreciate and "admire" it. It is, by no stretch of the imagination, not merely a place which is a target rich environment for picture making.

As I continue to post more pictures from my 1/5 of a second experience, I will also continue to ponder and confront the relationship between my reality and the pictures I make of it.

ku # 1337-43 ~ 1/5 sec. in my life

40 MPH/ Curve ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #1 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #2 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #3 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #4 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
leaves on ground ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
decaying stump ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Over this weekend past I uncharacteristically went out and about with the sole intention of making pictures - as opposed to my normal M.O. of going out and about on some errand or another with my cameras and picturing whatever, if anything, that pricks my eye and sensibilities.

Also uncharacteristically I went out and about with the intention to make pictures of a specific nature (pun alert). My intent was to make pictures of fall detritus which is at peak season inasmuch as there will be nothing but bare trees in very short order. So off I went with a specific destination and intent in mind. Approximately 90 minutes and 40 pictures later - subsequently edited to 28 finals - I called it mission accomplished and headed home.

FYI, while picture making I followed Edward Weston's dictum that “Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn’t photogenic.” Although in my particular case, I didn't venture more 10 yards from the car.

While editing / processing the picture, it came to me that, while I was out in field for approximately 90 minutes, the actual time spent making pictures was about 1/5 of a second. I arrived at that figure by adding together all of the various shutter speed settings used in making the 28 finals. The reason, as best I can determine, for that somewhat arcane idea / exercise most likely was instigated by something I had read in the last week or so ....

.... When asked by someone at a dinner party to define photography, Teju Cole (photography critic / NY Times Magazine) said:

Photography is inescapably a memorial art. It selects, out of the flow of time, a moment to be preserved, with the moments before and after falling away like sheer cliffs.

Consequently, I am organizing my final pictures into a new body of work with the title 1/5 of a second of my life memorialized. FYI, over the next week I will be posting 5-6 pictures a day from my fall detritus picture making outing.

Update on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 04:47PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: John Linn wrote: "These pictures do not look like much until "embigened" and even then some don't do it for me... but some do."

my response: John - thanks very much for the feedback. Not all the pictures posted / to be posted are going to make the final cut for inclusion in my new body of work. Nevertheless, I am posting all 28 processed pictures from the outing as a sort of interim edit from the original 40 pictures made that day. After they are all posted, my intention is to make one last entry of the final edit.

In this entry there are 2, maybe 3, pictures that I don't think will make the final cut. My intention in posting these pictures as groups was to start "weak" and end "strong". However, I will let you - and anyone else who chooses to comment - be judge of the success of that intention.

diptych # 174-75 ~ end of the line

highway retainer wall ~ Keene, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Lake Champlain ~ Peru, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

I am approaching the end of the line, fall color picture wise. There are way more leaves on the ground than in the trees at this point so autumnal color is very much on the wane. However, the on-the-ground detritus of autumnal color is a thing that really pricks my eye and sensibilities. So, I'll be out and about looking for and picturing evidence of post autumnal color detritus and decay.

civilized ku # 2992-93 / ku # 1336 ~ cold beer / hot cider

pig ~ Wadhams, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
bonfire ~ Wadhams, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
approaching cloud bank ~ Wadhams, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

This weekend past The Cinemascapist, the wife and I attended the Juniper Hill Farm Fall Frolic in Wadhams (in the Adirondack PARK). Although, the event could have been more accurately called the Juniper Hill Farm Winter Preview Frolic inasmuch as it was COLD, COLD, COLD. And, truth be written, there wasn't much frolicking going on. Most were huddled around a large bonfire in an effort to ward off the frigid cold which was exacerbated by a strong cold wind.

That written, the food was great and most certainly a good time was had by all. I resisted the temptation to pour the delicious hot cider down my pants for warmth. And needless to write, drinking cold - very cold - beer didn't seem like a good thing to do (so I didn't).

The wife and I left just before dark. The Cinemascapist stayed on long into the night - the party moved to an unheated barn which was at least a shelter from the wind - and slept that night in his car.

diptych # 173 / ku # 1334-35 ~ A good photograph is never "about light"

Autumn trees with water ~ near Clintonville, NY / near Au Sable Forks, NY- in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Autumn red in field ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
grasses in the wind ~ Keeseville, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

In the interest of complete disclosure, I must admit that I do make pictures of Autumn color in sunlight. That admission aside, no matter what light one chooses to make pictures - sunlight, overcast light, in the gloaming, et al - of the Autumnal leaves display, I truly believe that the very good pictures which can be had with a variety of light conditions is proof positive of 2 of Brooks Jensen's notions - gleaned from his Things I've Learned About Photography - that ....

A good photograph is never "about light". Good photographs are about feelings.

and

There is no such thing as "good" or "bad" photographic light. There is just light.

Neither of these 2 statements should be construed as meaning that the kind / characteristic of light one uses in order to make a picture which conveys / illustrates an intended idea and fosters an intended feeling doesn't matter. Of course it does. However that is a whole different ball game than "chasing the light", the singular pursuit of a specific type of "good" light which becomes little more than a picture making fetish. However, that written, and for my eye and sensibilities, my picture making is not dependent upon a specific quality of light because I like to picture what is as it is when I see it.

ku # 1333 / triptych # 25 / 4-frame ku # 1334-36 ~ picture making luck

approaching snow squall ~ Wadhams, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
distant snow squall / 3 views ~ Jay, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
sequential views ~ Au Sable River / near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

This weekend past, we were treated to (depending on your POV) the winter to come in the form of quite a number of short inconsequential snow squalls. And on a personal note, I engaged in a first wright of winter passage inasmuch as I donned my long underwear for an outdoor event (and glad I did - see above approaching snow squall picture).

IMO, picture making wise, the change of seasons can offer splendid picture making opportunities. Very often there are very fleeting windows of inter-mingled seasonal weather which truly prick my eye and sensibilities. These picture making opportunities are also a vivid example of the adage f8 and be there inasmuch as, picture making wise, you snooze, you loose.

Or, to paraphrase Louis Pasteur, "In the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind picture maker." Which is one reason why I always go about with 3 cameras each with a different focal length prime lenses.