civilized ku # 2880 ~ one's own worst (not best) critic

Easter Sunday light ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Due to some client project immediacy my last entry, now deleted and replaced by this one, went live by mistake long before it was complete. So, after reworking the picture, and adding the following text, here is what it was intended to be ....

About 2 moths ago Eric Fredine announced that he was "slowing the pace", re: posting pictures on his blog. That decision seemed to stem from the fact that he did not want to publish anything less than "first-rate" pictures of his making, a standard which, as ideals go, ain't a bad thing.

Of course, IMO, many of Eric's self-acclaimed second-raters could hardly be described as .... well .... second rate. But hey, self-imposed standards are there for a reason and hopefully they work for, not against, the self-imposer.

However, IMO, rating / critiquing one's own pictures is a risky business. I write that simply because there is a tendency to view our own pictures as would a photographer and, as far as I'm concerned, that is most definitely NOT a good thing. I am most decidedly in the same camp as Bruce Davidson when he stated :

I am not interested in showing my work to photographers any more, but to people outside the photo-clique.

Why is that so for me? Because my experience of showing my pictures - in books comprised of a specific body of work - to "average Dick and Janes" has been that those viewers tend to immediately get to the meat of the matter. That is, what the pictures are about / trying to communicate. They never let the things that photographers seem to care so much about - pick any or all technical and art sauce matters you care to choose - get in the way of experiencing the emotional / intellectual content of a picture when first viewing a picture.

The same holds true, re; average Dick and Hanes, at my various gallery exhibitions and I can always identify the photographer(s) in the crowd because they're the ones sticking their noses 3 inches from the surface of a print. Or, if not observed doing that, their conversation with me seems to always begin with, "What camera are you using?" or some other irrelevant observation / comment. To date, I have managed to avoided responding with, "It's not about the camera, moron, it's about the pictures."

When it comes to deciding which of the pictures in a given body of work is "first-rate" or "second-rate", I have pretty much given up on trying to pre-determine which picture, if any, will emerge from the body of work as a stand-alone / greatest-hit crowd favorite. That's because, in most cases, there are nearly as many favorites as there are viewers. And very often, if a favorite does emerge from the pack, it is not even close to the one I might think it should be.

Does this mean that I am crowd sourcing to determine which of my pictures is first-rate? No, not all. The crowd has their choice and, like them, I have mine.

All of that written, I must write that I really don't critique my pictures per se. Instead, I edit them. That is, in the process of making a book of a given body of work, I choose what I feel are the strongest (some slightly more so than others) pictures which illustrate and illuminate my intended / stated theme. Which, I guess, is a form of critiquing but that critique is more of group thing than an individual picture thing.

And guess what? Not every picture in a body of work can be first-rate. There will always be a few so called second-raters in the bunch. Although, the difference between the two is, hopefully, often razor thin and identifiable only by the maker of those pictures. And if he/she keeps that dirty little secret to themselves, very few, if any, will be the wiser.

I still, and always will, believe that a body of work is the strongest manner in which to express an idea, picture wise. In a manner of speaking, a single picture (first-rate, second-rate, it doesn't matter) is just a single word. A body of work is a complete sentence or even a paragraph. If one concentrates on the total picture (pun) / paragraph, the average Dick and Janes will choose their own favorite word or phrases ..... again from Bruce Davidson

Most of my pictures are compassionate, gentle and personal. They tend to let the viewer see for himself. They tend not to preach. And they tend not to pose as art.

what is a photograph? # 10-16 ~ on with the show

# 10 • click to embiggen
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# 16 • click to embiggen

As mentioned in the last entry, that voice in my head is urging me to make constructed / staged pictures. Also mentioned was to do so by continuing with an existing body of constructed / staged work such as my what is a photograph? series. So, here are a few in additions to that series.

That written, I haven't decided whether to work on an existing theme or to start something new. I just figured that by adding a few new pictures to this series, which is relatively easy to do, I could ease my head back into a made c/s picture frame of mind. To this point, the exercise has worked inasmuch as I have started to think, made c/s picture wise.

Part of that thinking has led me to wrestle with the idea of whether or not the what is a photograph? series is a work in progress, execution wise, or whether it is essentially good to go as is. A significant driver of that contemplation has to do with how, as mentioned, easy it is to make more of these images - I currently have 30 images. Of course, the ease with which I can make these images is the result of lot of time, effort and visual experimentation I invested at the start of this series so, once formatted, the ongoing effort is considerably easier, even though it does feel a bit like "cheating".

Thinging wise, one approach in the making of these images is that I decided that, unlike my earlier images wherein I limited myself to urban and non-urban landscape scenes as the primary pictures in these images (dictated by the fact that the construction site barrier was an urban landscape itself), I came to the conclusion that if I am to pose the what is a photograph? question in a more inclusive sense, I needed to include as many genres of picture making (at least of my picture making) as possible in the images. Hence, the appearance of still life and people pictures.

ASIDE: With these images, I am only posing a question - not suggesting an answer - and providing fodder for the inquisitive mind to ponder. END OF ASIDE

My made c/s thinking has also led me to a few vague-ish ideas for made c/s image making. Interesting enough, as an image making concept comes into my head, it is immediately accompanied by a few phrases, ala artist statement wise. Like the idea of picturing a normally considered "ugly" thing in a golden light environment in order to address the concept of referent + illumination = perception, or something like that.

And so it goes. It's on with the show whole hoping I don't break a leg.

kitchen sink # 25 ~ thinking and decisions

spoon ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

In yesterday's entry, I mentioned that I had started to think about, while assembling the doors body of work, how the exercise of assembling all that work into separate collections began to feel something like, for lack of better terminology, an act of closure or the end of an era. However,not that I am about to stop making pictures, but I most definitely felt - and then thought about that feeling - that I was summing up what it was I have been doing for the last decade and a half, picture making wise.

Now I am left with the task of identifying the components which instigated that feeling and subsequent rumination.

Without question there was the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment which derives from putting all those ducks in a row or, to use another adage, that I have managed to be successful at herding cats. It is only natural that at the end (or so I perceive it to be) of that endeavor I was left with the overarching feeling of "now what?"

There was also a feeling that all the separate bodies of work were "accidental". They were all the result of "unintended consequences" which stemmed from my unfocused, referent wise, M.O. of making pictures. That is to write, I picture whatever pricks my eye and sensibilities, regardless of whatever the referent might be. And, what captures my attention the most is the possibility of transforming elements of the "real" 3-dimensional world onto the 2-dimensional representational world of the printed picture. Doing so with attention to the rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values in order to, as Garry Winogrand stated, find out what something will look like photographed.

That picture making M.O. had left me, post assembling endeavor, a little adrift inasmuch as I have been making pictures outside of the typical body of work M.O. - that is, finely focused attention to just one referent or thematic idea. Although, I make no excuses for that because that is quite simply how I'm wired / how I see (literally). That M.O. could be considered to be Part A of the overarching "now what?" question.

And that led directly to another question needing to be answered - having identified 12 individual bodies of work, can I go forth and make pictures which are the result of deliberately seeking out picture making opportunities to fit into a specific body of work? That possibility gives rise to the thought that, while looking for one specific referent, I might, in all probability, miss quite a few other picture making possibilities, whatever they might be.

Consequently, I have answered that question with a resounding "no". With that answer I have closed the door on the "end of an era" feeling. I can not end the making of pictures in the most "natural" (for me) manner in which I know how. My fear is that my picture making will become "forced" and not the spontaneous act that it now is and has been for what seems like forever. So I will continue to make pictures according to the dictates of my person-specic M.O. and let the results fall into whatever collection seems suitable.

And then there is "now what?" needing an answer - after all of my thinking and decision making, I am still left with the feeling / idea that I should pursue a new body of work which is driven by a deliberate and focused attention to specific theme / idea. And furthermore, that that theme / idea be undertaken within the new(ish) picture making paradigm of constructed or staged imagery ala Photoshop.

As an example, see my life without the APA work or my nascent what is a photograph work. Images - I hesitate to call them pictures - which were assembled / constructed from many bits and pieces of some of my existent pictures. In most cases, specifically life without the APA, those finished images were assembled from up to 12-15 different picture sources.

At this time have no specific notion as to what the theme / idea for this work will be. Continuing with and expanding upon the life without the APA or what is a photograph are two possibilities. However, there is also a nagging voice in my head which is trying to convince me - warning to wife, don't faint - to have people / persons be the focus of the new work. You may have noticed that people / persons are almost nonexistent - with the exception of single woman - in my various bodies of work.

In any event, there is still some thinking to do and decisions to be made.

now for something completely different (or not)

covers • click to embiggen
quotes / statement • click to embiggen
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I believe this collection is the last of the found / scattered bodies of work.

While assembling this body of work, I started thinking about the entire collection of bodies of work and have arrived a decision which I will air out in tomorrow's entry. That decision is tentative and needs some fine tuning and, who knows, it may also come to nothing. Stay tuned.

the advantages to rummaging in your archives

rich email image • click to embiggen

As you should already know, over the past month or so I have been rummaging around in my picture archive. In part, I have been doing so in order to make sense of what I have been doing, picture making wise, over the past 15 years. That is, even though I know what I have been doing, I had a desire to see (literally) how it all fit together.

I believe I discovered an answer to that desire and it's reflected in the umbrella logo - life squared, as seen in above email image - I have developed for all of my work. This logo does not replace the names for my different bodies of work. It is simply the title under which they all reside.

That result aside, the other reason for rooting around in the archive was to find pictures for various of my known bodies of work, pictures which were scattered about (chronologically) throughout the archive. The result of that exercise is that I now have separate folders for each of my bodies of work into which will go all future additions to those various bodies of work.

The unexpected result of the search and compile endeavor was that a couple of unknown bodies of work emerged from the archive. Case in point is the places to sit work. While I was well aware of having made a fair number of pictures which included chairs / place to sit, I really hadn't consider that there was a cohesive body of work just waiting to emerge.

But here's the really good part - the first selects of pictures for that collection included chairs / place to sit from a wide variety of geographic locations. And that collection remains intact and will be added to over time. That written, in the process of finding / selecting pictures for that collection, I realized that another subset collection emerged comprised of Adirondack-only chairs and places to sit.

After assembling that collection, I came to the conclusion that that body of work would be of interest to regional galleries, art institutions, and publications. Consequently, I created a rich email (as seen above) and sent it out to the directors of regional galleries, art institutions and publications. As expected, there was interest and last week I received notice that, at their quarterly meeting this week, the Gallery Committee from the Lake Placid Center for the Arts wished to view the work for a possible solo exhibition in their Fine Arts Gallery.

Hence, really good part ~ PT.II. The committee prefers to view work and related information (artist statement, resume / bio, etc.) from online sources projected on a big screen. My choice was to created an entry on my blog like the linked places to sit entry above or to do something I have been wanting to do for a couple years but been putting off for one reason or another.

I chose the latter option which resulted in this.

The site meets my immediate need but I will be adding additional galleries of all of my various bodies of work. There will also be a Recent Work Gallery which might be of interest to those who don't like reading my various bloviations.

All of that written, I am please beyond measure that I undertook the archive rummaging endeavor. The advantages and rewards of doing it have been many. I would highly recommend this endeavor to any "serious" picture maker. You never know what the results might be and you don't even need to buy postage stamps to send out an email to places which might be interested in exhibiting your pictures - seriously, don't sell yourself short, let others be the judge of the possibilities of your work.

FYI, once you get the hang of the SquareSpace proprietary software, making and maintaining a site is really quite easy. And, the only cost is a relatively paltry $8.00USD/month. IMO, it's a good value and it is well worth the effort to organize and present your work.

diptych # 127 (kitchen sink) ~ one thing leads to another

side by side ~ in the sink • click to embiggen

Intending to make just one picture of the kitchen sink - the lipton tea bags and other garbage - I noticed the highlight on the stainless steel in the adjoining sink and couldn't pass it up, picture making wise.

diptych # 126 / civilized ku # 2872-79~ 2 fer 1 • an entry in 2 parts

so close yet so far apart ~ waterpark • golf course views - Jay Peak Resort / Jay, VT. • click to embiggen
tournament champion / player of the game medallions • click to embiggen
ice rink / iPhone picture ~ Jay Peak Resort, Jay, VT. • click to embiggen

Spent Friday- Sunday past at Jay Peak resort in Vermont. I wasn't there to ski, I was there for hockey.

During a day long snowfall, the view from our cottage was just right for quiet relaxation and contemplation. The view from the waterpark bar/balcony was anything but. I leave it up to you to deduce where, outside of the hockey arena, I spent most of my time.

FYI, the iPhone pano picture is of Hugo and his team waiting for the tournament championship game - their last game of the season and the last time they will all be together as a team. In more ways than one, it was very fitting that Hugo scored the first and last goal of the game and, consequently, of the season.

Now on to picture making business ....

window art / 4 squares in a row ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenWhen making pictures, I most often do not "work" a scene. That is, most often it is one and done, click-of-the-shutter wise. On those occasions when I work it, the variations I make are usually very minor changes in framing. All of which means that my normal M.O. is to go with my first impression and move on.

That written, last week I pictured the above window art as seen in a vacant store. My first impression (and picture) thereof is the tightly framed window and door as seen in the 3rd-from-the-left-picture. However, in this case, I continued to work the scene and made 2 additional wider view pictures.

After processing all 3 of the pictures, I had them grouped together on my screen in order to choose the "winner". It was at that point I experience a very unexpected result. Not only could I not pick a "winner", I arrived at a point where I could not visually separate one picture from another because, in a way I can not adequately explain, when grouped together in a straight line with a 4th framing variation, they seem to be visually all-of-a-piece. My eye can not find a place to land in the grouping. It keeps dancing back and forth, hither and yon across the collective field of view.

The only conclusion that I can arrive at for that reaction is to think that the combination of a relatively monochromatic referent surround together with the vibrant color of the referent(s) themselves creates a kind of eye-brain recognition puzzle that my senses can not stop trying to figure out.

And, surprise, surprise, I like the sense-ation very much. I like it enough to go forth and find more monochromatic / vibrant color, competing wise, scenes in order to see if I can replicate the same result. If successful, I will be off to the races, eye-brain recognition puzzle picture making wise.

Anyone else experiencing the same field of visual energy which I see in the grouping?

Vegetation and Detritus - early Adirondack work • book / gallery

covers • click to embiggen
quotes / statement • click to embiggen
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Once again, perusing my archive has yielded forth yet another body of work. Although, in this case, the work was not spread out over many years. In fact, it was all made during the first-second years after my first foray into the digital picture making domain, circa 2004.

At that time I was not ready to make the jump to a high-end dslr, such as they were at that time. It was obvious to me that it was going to take a while for things to stabilize, camera specs wise. For one thing, the megapixel race was kicking into high gear and changes seemed to be coming every 30 days. Consequently, I settled into a prosumer Canon Powershoot G series camera until I felt the time was right to move into the dslr arena.

In any event, these pictures were all made with a G series camera. And, yes, they were all made to be part of a specific body of work. So culling them out of the archive was not labor intensive inasmuch as my archive is arranged chronologically and these pictures were grouped in a relatively tight cluster.

Update on Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at 05:25PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Nisk S. wrote: "The Book Cover is on the wrong side. (Was that on purpose?)

my response: Brain flatulence when making file for web. Thankfully, not for book. Now corrected.