civilized ku # 62 ~ fiction?

Neighborhood bar - Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenThe literary critic and academic Frank Kermode has stated that "... fiction calls for conditional assent and fiction, if successful, makes sense of the here and now." - a notion with which I wholeheartedly concur.

Many photographers use the medium's 'reality effect' to great advantage when creating 'picture fictions'. Jeff Wall is an obvious example as is Aaron Hobson and his Cinemascapes. The 'staged' events come across as 'real'. In some cases they may seem improbable and even though we know that the pictures may have taken months of planning, there is no denying their apparent veracity. They have the look and feel of a HCB 'decisive moment'.

For me, part of the appeal of these 'fictions' is the fact that they use with the medium's reality effect to play with the idea of photographic truth. The obvious message is simply that you can't 'believe' everything you see, picture-wise. But a more subtle 'message' for me is that the pictured staged event is a true representation of that event. My brain bounces back and forth between what I know to be 'true' - it's a staged event - and the apparent, implied, conveyed or imagined 'truth' of the picture which, of course, is a fiction. When all is said and done, inevitably, I give myself over to the imagined truth and it is that 'reality' that I carry away with me.

I will go to my grave believing that photographs can be 'true'. One last example of that and I'll drop the subject - many who viewed my pictures of Maggie in the ICU found them to be disturbing and very upsetting. Some, knowing that they were online, refused to view them.

Now, even though many would claim that they are 'subjective' and 'not truth', most viewed them as exceedingly 'real' both literally and in what they conveyed or implied beyond the merely visual. The pictures were not particularly gory but their connoted meaning was too true for many to handle - the truth about human frailty, the truth about the fear of serious illness and disease, the truth about the specter of death, the truth about the loss of loved ones.

I didn't photograph any of those things. I pictured Maggie in the ICU. Even if one considers the pictures to incomplete or inadequate representations the real world, the 'reality effect' of the medium was able to convey 'truths' about the human condition - some truths so real to those who did view the pictures that they cried or turned away.

PS In an interesting aside, Maggie, who has no memory of the ICU - she was in a coma - was very fascinated by the pictures. They made the event 'real' for her. She now uses one the pictures for her MySpace page and she has taken to calling herself 'coma-girl'.

civilized ku # 61 ~ $57,000 worth of 'civilized'

A Burtynsky Quarry triptych • click to embiggenWhile we're on the subject of 'truth', I came across this from Pablo Picasso re: the act of putting pigment on canvas; "Something sacred, that's it. It's a word we should be able to use, but people would take it the wrong way. You ought to be able to say a painting is as it is, with its capacity to move us, because it is as though it were touched by God .... that is what's nearest to the truth."

Interesting words and thought from a Communist and a dedicated atheist.

IMO, it seems that the idea that photographs are not 'true' or contain no 'truth' is a fanciful invention of the academic art world - a dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin academic theory. A theory that actually seems designed to strip photography of one of its unique media-specific characteristics - its ability to create not only an 'accurate' description of the real world but also a snapshot of the 'truth' about it as well.

Before I go into this idea further, I would really like to hear some opinions on the subject for you. Please let me know some of your thoughts on the matter. If you don't have any, think about it and get some.

FYI - the price of this Burtynsky triptych is $57,000. 3 days after the shows opening, 2 had been sold (along with about 15 other individual prints - of about the same size as one of those pictured here - at $23,000 per). Ain't no starvin' artist here.

civilized ku # 60 ~ New York, New York pt. III

Hugo and the meat eaters • click to embiggenHugo never made it to his dad's exhibit. He was having too much fun with his girfriend who lives in Brooklyn. Who wants to go to a photo exhibit when you can end up sharing a bed with a girl? Not me.

On Friday, Hugo had a whirlwind tour of NYC - not his first - that included the American Museum of Natural History (which he really enjoyed), his first subway ride (5 of them), Times Square and a ferris wheel ride in the Toys R Us store, and a few good looks at the King Kong building - the Empire State building which he recognizes as the place where the airplanes shot King Kong.

He had a great time. A much better time, in fact, than a few of the hung-over adults dragging their sorry asses around behind him.

civilized ku # 59 ~ New York, New York pt. II

Aaron's opening night • click to embiggenNow the real game begins.

There is nothing like seeing a body of work all together on the wall(s). Even after be privy to Aaron's pictures right from the start, they really didn't hit me in the eye like a big pizza pie like they did when viewed together in a show.

An aside - IMO, if you are trying to find your voice/vision photography-wise, you must have a wall on which you can mount (tape, tack, whatever) a number of prints (of almost any size) - get as many on the wall as you can - in order to get a feel for how the 'speak' as a group.

Aaron's body of work speaks very well. While his individual images can be very interesting and engaging as 'stand-alones', their effect on the senses is magnified greatly when viewed as a whole. In a very real sense, for me, seeing the show was a 'new' look at his work. I was able to draw away from the personal connection I have to the artist and see it in a new light - something I had previously been unable to do.

I'll have much more on that topic in later post but the thing I wanted to mention today is note of encouragement to Aaron. Aaron is an impatient type - he wants everything now and I think he may have been a bit disappointed with the opening. In his head and heart I think he was hoping for a banner headline on the front page of the Sunday NY Times Art section that read something like, "NEW ART SENSATION! Gallery goers spend millions!! Ticket-tape parade planned for next week."

Needless to say, that didn't happen. What did happen was that a few more contacts were made and some more valuable feedback on the work was heard - things that, in due time, can prove to be very important. It's time (and his continued dedication to making pictures) that are the thing right now. He has accomplished extraordinary stuff in a very short period of time. It would not be inaccurate to say, an inordinate amount of stuff in a ridiculously short period of time.

Aaron's show will hang until the end of the year in a gallery that is geographically and figuratively on the very fringe of the epi-center of the Fine Art gallery world. Aaron's show is on display just a few blocks from shows of Edward Burtynsky and Andre Kertesz (more on both shows later). His pictures do not suffer by comparison - speaking metaphorically, he may not be in the same building, but he is in the same neighborhood with some mighty fine neighbors.

In addition to the aforementioned 'dedication', what Aaron needs to do is to keep the hustle going (the same one he used to get where he is now) and get out and meet the neighbors.

PS - on the subject of patience, Aaron should heed the words of his son Hugo who, on the drive to NYC with me, literally answered his own question - "Are we there yet?" - with this reply - "We'll be there when we get there." At which point, we just kept on trucking.

civilized ku # 58 ~ New York, New York

Free American donuts. Come and get 'em. They're fresh. They're American. They're free and they're yours. Or so the guy in the spacesuit was blarring through the megaphone. And, as it turned out, it was exactly as advertised. They tasted fresh. They were mostly likely 'American' and they were free.

This little number was cruising around the Chelsea gallery district. It was a gallery 'promo' - sort of a form of performance art I guess. We ate some donuts. We didn't go to the gallery.

PS it's well known that when I golf, I walk ... but ... if I could get my hands on one these jobs ...

civilized ku # 57 ~ non sequitor

Remains of the day before • click to embiggenI can't even begin to explain why, when I was retting-up the kitchen this AM and I opened the garbage for the 3rd or 4th time, my immediate and only thought was, 'where's the camera?'.

But it was, so here it is.

I suspect that it has something to do with being easily amused. Or, just maybe, it is somehow related to yesterday's picture. I don't know exactly other than, as they say on the popular photo forums, "I like the color(s).

Can anyone recommend a good analyst?

civilized ku # 57 ~ joyous in the ICU

Laughing to keep from crying • click to embiggenThroughout the darkest ICU days, I insisted that the rule in the ICU be, 'put on a happy face'. For the most part, this was not as difficult as it first might seem.

It was helpful that the 'big ones' were rather quickly being ruled out, but the support of the wife's family - many of whom lived less than 10 miles away, right across the river from Philadelphia - was beyond measure. Two of the wife's sisters were at the hospital within a hour of Maggie's arrival. They provided a running account of Maggie's status - by cell phone - during our 6 1/2 drive to Philadelphia. During Maggie's days in the ICU, there was always at least one and at times up to four family members there for support.

On Sunday (day 2), we were able to get a number of things from Maggie's dorm room - in the picture, you can see her IPod Nano, teddy bear, favorite pillow and pictures of friends on the wall. In addition to the wife, there is a cousin and an aunt, each holding one of Maggie's hands. The banter was about good times with Mags. The mood was joyous.

It must be said that the staff in the ICU was helpful in maintaining the joyous-ness. There were friendly and very 'tolerant' when it came to the 'rules'. We were in constant violation of the max number of visitors, cell phones (although banned) were overlooked, cameras (although banned) were never confiscated, 'outside' food and beverages (although banned) were overlooked, personal possessions of the patient - see above - (although banned) were allowed, and no one even mentioned the bottle of Makers Mark (hand-crafted Kentucky bourbon whiskey) on the floor in the brown paper bag.

So, although it was a very tense, stressful and trying time, we managed to keep in joyous in the ICU.

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.