(mixed) ku # 484 ~ autumn is creeping in

Autumn is creeping in • click to embiggenThis AM, James responded to my response (on ku # 483) to one of his prior comments. He wrote, "... What is different for me about your more "natural" picturing is the feeling I get that you are exploring aspects of the forest ... that are not easily captured...and explore this region in ways that others tend to overlook. Or maybe what I am trying to say is, these are in no way "typical" of what I have come to expect from "nature photography" in this region ... not "grand scenic" or "marcos" ... but rather intimate and real the way you would experience them stumbling through the Adirondack forest ..."

James is an Adirondacker and is therefore familiar with more than just the 'roadside attractions'/picture postcard impressions that many visitors have of the area. I appreciate his insight into my pictures very much becasue I am trying to "explore this region in ways that others tend to overlook'. As I have stated many times, the 'details' of the Adirondacks, in all their natural "grit", are what I believe are the defining 'natural' characteristic of the park.

That said, I believe the old adage which states that the genius is in the details and I find it both amazing and depressing how many of my fellow humans are so wrapped up in the 'shock and awe' of life - I call it the SuperBowlHalftimeShow mentality - that they never see the genius. In fact, I believe it is the reigning American consumer culture of wretched excess, with its\ driving principle of fanning the flames of 'shock and awe' simply for economic gain, that is killing the 'thinking' genius and propagating an unthinking pavlovian response to the bell of unrestrained 'desire'.

In is my hope that my pictures are clogging at least a small part of the breach of brain drain that is so prevalent in our American culture.

ku # 483 ~ incredible # 2

Birch and erratic in the forest • click to embiggenWhat with a trip to Montreal, my work load and grand jury duty (a 3 month term, but only 12-14 days of actual jury-ing), I haven't had much time to think about things photography. However, as I stated in ku # 480, my intent was to return to the boulder field in the woods, and I have managed to do so, ever so briefly.

And it was on ku # 480 that James stated, "... I know it's not always as fashionable to appreciate strictly "natural" shots here...".

I did take note of this and have intented to respond so here goes - in the beginning, The Landscapist was almost all about strictly "natural" shots, although, truth be told, certainly not your average camera-club nature shots. Over time, my gaze has drifted more towards the 'social' landscape, but I still picture the strictly natural world with as great passion as I ever have, even if sometimes the strictly natural world is 'just' a stage or backdrop to some human 'intervention'.

That said, it is my hope that "strictly" natural shots will always be presented - by me and others - and appreciated here on The Landscapist.

civilized ku # 56 ~ satisfied customers

Sunday brunch in the Old City, Montreal • click to embiggenMontreal is a great city for a delightful getaway. For us, it's only an hour away - it speeds thing up if you know the back way across the border into Canada (and back again).

In any event, if the Montreal tourism folks need a couple pictures of well satisified visitors, here they are. Looks like everyone was getting exactly what they wanted, so to speak.

civilized ku # 55 ~ antithesis, or, oh, the tragedy

MAtthew's smiling but feeels like a turd • click to embiggenIn an tourism antithesis event (see urban ku # 102 ~ a tourism "nightmare", this past weekend the wife and I stayed ( a return visit) in a hotel. In fact, in Canada's #1 rated hotel - the Auberge du Vieux-Port in Montreal.

One of the reasons that we return to the Auberge du Vieux-Port is Matthew, the valet. The entire staff is excellent, but if this guy can't make you feel warm and welcome, no one can. He always seems to be there in the lobby, right outside of the elevator, full of greetings, banter and helpful information. His sense of humor and timing is exquisite and everything about him seems utterly genuine.

Upon arrival, he greets you at your car, unloads your stuff and gets you to your room. After that he parks your car. Upon departure, it works in reverse and therein is the tragedy. Due to a quirky series of circumstance surrounding a marthon nearby, Matthew delivered our (brand new) car for departure complete with a nasty gouge in the front bumper. Matthew was beside himself (if only my kids could at least appear as crest-fallen, remorseful and contrite as Matthew).

The hotel, of course, made everything right but Matthew seemed so out of sorts that we gave him a really big tip to help him snap out of it.

FYI ~ cinemascape fever

Global clippings • click to embiggenIt is interesting, to say the least, following the 'round the world hubbub about Aaron's Cinemascapes.

The opening for his NYC show should prove to very interesting since a couple of biggies on the NYC art scene have picked up on his work and are writing about it even before the show. All of this buzz has been mainly product of the web - it is simply amazing how it has spread like wildfire around the globe. Embiggen the 'clippings' thumbnail and note all the different languages.

Aaron's pictures certainly deserve the attention they are garnering, but the speed with which they have gained atention around the world is simply incredible.

ku # 482 ~ sort of an open ended question

Rail, rocks and cliff with mist • click to embiggenA few entries back, Robert wrote, "... Not sure (I never am) what your aim was here ..."

One of the 'aims' of my picturing is to make pictures that are ambiguous - pictures that (as stated in an essay about Walker Evans polaroids) don't explain themselves, don't narrate clearly, but are discursive in a more surreptitious way.

My manner of picturing, serendipitous and spontaneous, (again about Evans) 'demands an element of abandon that denies the possibility of intention, perfect shot, or definitive statement about the subjects ... [T]he images are without sentimentality, are uncompromising in their plain statement ...' My concern is 'for something besides style or "good" pictures', something more literal and simple.

If one takes the time to view my more complete body of work, I believe (for most) I have questioned what is assumed to characterize the idea of "good" photography. The pictures appear to be accidentally produced, confused and confusing, and do not appear to be motivated by any clear vision - which is exactly my intent. I am definitely driven by obsessive scrutiny and a disregard for photographic tradition.

I do not wish to link the experience of observing my pictures to the culturally conditioned oeuvre of "good" photography. I want to confront the viewer with a different experience - one that poses questions, not only about what constitutes "good" photography but also about the culturally conditioned way one scrutinizes the world around him/her self.

urban ku # 104 ~ golf in the kingdom

Like playing golf in Scotland without the airfare • click to embiggenIf I had to choose one golf course to play for the rest of my life, without a moment's hesitation it would be the Cedar River GC.

The course is an outstanding example of golf the way it used to be - a course built long before earth moving equipment shaped a course. The course simply follows the lay of the land and, in this case, the Cedar River (or the Cedar Burn, as the Scots would say). The river, a wild scenic gem, winds its way throughout the layout coming into play one way or another on nearly every hole - sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't.

And, just like Scottish links courses, there are plenty of blind shots, firm undulating fairways (with lots of brown grass - only the greens are watered) which can cause a beautifully placed shot to roll and roll and roll to a place you really don't want to be, elevated tees and greens, and, speaking of greens, beautifully maintained small-ish greens with lots of contours and devilishly placed pins - it was very entertaining to see the wife chip onto a green and then watch the ball roll off the other side and then, chip on again, only to have the ball roll right back to her feet (not once, but twice). Great fun (for me).

All of this delightful quirky character is wonderful but the icing on the cake is the course placement in an Adirondack-wild location. Because the layout is so follow-the-land natural, it feels (and is) like all-of-a-piece with its surroundings. It is a joy to behold and is simply what many a modern constructed course wishes it could be.

Re: back to photography - the current issues of View Camera features 2 interesting triptych panorama photographers - Bruce Myren and Ann Mitchell. Neither are making revolutionary pictures, but both are making very engaging ones.

urban ku # 103 ~ spider, and 1874 - 1940

Walking around a cemetery near Indian Lake • click to embiggenThe number of cemeteries in the Adirondacks is amazing. Every village and hamlet has at least one but there is also an increbible number of small cemeteries in the middle of no where - along roadsides and even sprinkled out in the wilderness. They are just plain interesting to explore.