viewmatic # 6 / civilized ku # 3064-66 ~ be prepared for anything

viewfinder fake fruit ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
very warm late day sun on fake fruit # 1 ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
very warm late day sun on fake fruit # 2 ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
very warm late day sun on fake fruit # 3 ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen

Another prime example of f8 and be there inasmuch as the window of opportunity for the making of these pictures was here and gone in matter of just 1-2 minutes. Just enough time to see it, grab a camera, frame it (x3) and click the shutter (x3).

FYI, I was able to beat the buzzer for 3 reasons, all of which fall under the banner of be prepared:

reason # 1 - I most always keep my eyes wide open and my mind alert for picture making possibilities cuz you can't make a picture of what you don't see. Like in hockey - 100% of the pucks you don't shoot don't go in the net. So, in hockey as well as picture making, the moral of the story is the same. Shoot, shoot, shoot and then shoot some more.

reason # 2 - I always have a camera close at hand. Actually, I almost always have 3 cameras at hand, each with a different focal length prime lens - 12mm (24mm/35mm equiv), 20mm (40mm/35mm equiv), and 45mm (90mm/35mm equiv). In most I-need-camera-quick cases, the camera with the 20mm lens is the one I grab.

reason # 3 - Since most of my picture making is accomplished with the same camera / prime lens combination, framing a referent is easy inasmuch as I tend to see stuff as framed, or, at least reasonably close to how I end up actually framing a referent in a picture. In a sense, it's an good example of familiarity breeds contempt content, or, if you prefer, content(s).

All of that written, what it all comes down to is rather simple. Keep your eyes open and know your camera/lens like the back of your hand in order to use the combination instinctually. That is to write, to use your tools with as little conscious thought as possible - thought that can get in the way of picturing the feeling of what you see.

At least that is how I see it.

diptych # 207 / civilized ku # 3062-63 ~ something to THINX about

subway station poster ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
late night subway riders ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
late night subway rider ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen

One never knows what one might encounter / see during a late night NYC subway ride ...

... late Tuesday evening, around midnight, while returning to Manhattan from Brooklyn (where Hugo and I had attended a Penguins / Islanders hockey game) on a nearly empty subway train / car, I encountered a scene of loneliness and (perhaps) desperation, and, somewhat surprisingly, some truly beautiful art. I feel no need to explain / expand upon what the late night subway riders diptych depicts. However, the art in question calls for a little more information.

Upon disembarking from the subway train in Manhattan, I came upon 10-12 large posters for THINX, a company which makes underwear for women with periods - a product which TIME magazine named to their list of the 25 Best Inventions of 2015. The posters were in a (2) word(s), stunningly beautiful. iMo, a prime of example of advertising art which rises to the level of Fine Art (for many reasons beyond just how they look). As a matter of fact, I am making an inquiry to the company about acquiring a copy of the pictured poster (or maybe the pink grapefruit one - see it in ADWEEK article link below) in order to frame it and hang it on a wall in my house (note to wife - Surprise! And, no, I'm not kidding).

Not surprisingly, when the posters were first introduced, they were deemed by the company which sells subway ad space to be "inappropriate" and they rejected the posters. However, the company's objection was eventually made mute by the NYC MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) when a spokesperson for the agency said simply, "Of course they will be approved." (you can read 2 short articles about the hullabaloo on ADWEEK and Slate).

See more THINX posters.

viewmatic # 5 ~ messing around with the doctor's office

doctor's exam room sink ~Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen

civilized ku # 3061 ~ remains

ice scrapper / flower petals ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

This picture depicts some of the remains of diptych # 203

diptych # 205-6 ~ pot is fun / whoa, that's heavy

the Hyde Collection - Art Museum ~ Glens Falls, NY • click to embiggen
from the Hyde Collection exhibits ~ Glens Falls, NY • click to embiggen

As part of last weekend's hockey trip, Hugo and I visited the Hyde Collection - Art Museum & Historic House in Glens Falls. The featured exhibition was a photography exhibition - 60 from the 60s.

60 from the 60s is a collection of 60 BW prints from 10 photographers' work made in the 1960s. The collection was selected from the George Eastman House archive. The featured artists are Harry Callahan, Benedict J. Fernandez, Hollis Frampton, Betty Hahn, Robert Heinecken, Mary Ellen Mark, Roger Mertin, Arnold Newman, Aaron Siskind, and Garry Winogrand.

It would seem - due to the fact that I found links to the exhibition which indicated several locations - that the exhibition is a traveling exhibition which is moving about the country. However, I can find no evidence of exhibition tour dates. If, by chance, it should show up anywhere in or near your vicinity, I would highly recommend seeing it.

FYI, the 2 prints pictured in the lower diptych in this entry were 2 of Hugo's favorites. The Norman Rockwell illustration - part of a small Rockwell exhibit at Hyde Collection - was labeled by Hugo as "whoa, that's heavy". The Benedict J. Fernandez POT IS FUN picture of Allen Ginsberg incited a sheepish smile from Hugo. In Hugo's opinion, it ranked right up there with a Mary Ellen Mark picture and an Arnold Newman portrait.

diptych # 204 ~ same but different

early morning /mid-afternoon ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

I might have had an evening (artificial light) variation on this still life but the wife put the dishes / utensils / et al in the dishwasher before I knew what she was doing. I've got to get me a roll of that crime-scene-do-not-cross tape. Or, maybe somebody makes photo-scene tape.

punctum baby (he/she's back) / family memories ~ life is just a snapshot

great aunt, grandma, grandpa • click to embiggen

I've been reading and thinking on my "personal meaning which 'escapes' language", re: the Punctum Baby picture. The readings - very selective chapters / essays from 2 books - provided 'clues' which facilitated my some of my thinkings. So, first, the clues:

1. In the normal rhetoric of the photographic portrait, facing the camera signifies solemnity, frankness, and disclosure of the subjects essence. - Susan Sontag ~ On Photography

2 ... even the most happy and innocent photographs - perhaps especially the most happy and innocent - function as kind of memento mori for the viewer's own death, reminding him or her that all things pass and fade; that life is just a snapshot. - Steve Edwards ~ PHOTOGRAPHY A Very Short Introduction

3 ... the photograph seems to testify that particular people existed or that things actually happened … photographs act as prompts or provocations for stories and reminiscences ... (which) spin off from these powerful points of association ... [T]he photographs that take on this role often articulate some shared experience or need.

Thoughts regarding clue # 1: facing the camera. There is no doubt in my mind that the direct facing-the-camera stare with eye contact, despite its diminutive size within the frame, is what first pricks my eye and sensibilities, personal meanings wise. I find it very arresting due to its I'm looking at you and you better not look away quality which also suggests (to me) a you're going to have deal with me, buddy feeling - "I can not nor will not be ignored."

All of which is delivered in a non-threatening and somewhat expectant manner that, at the very least, suggests some of the Punctum Baby's "frankness" and "essence" such as it might be at his/her early stage of awareness. The stare / eye contact / facial expression suggests to me that Punctum Baby is an open, inquisitive and inviting person - I would like to make his/her acquaintance.

Thoughts regarding clues # 2 / # 3: all things pass and fade / photographs act as prompts or provocations. I have linked my thoughts on clues #2/3 because those those thoughts flow from one to the other.

First, foremost and quite obviously, the moment pictured has passed (long ago) and, for all we know, it is possible that the Punctum Baby has passed away as well. And, other than the perceived idea about the Punctum Baby's essence' everything else about the picture is unknown / unknowable. Because of that, I am left with a sense of mystery and endless speculation which can never be unraveled regarding the story of Punctum Baby's life and fate.

While I could go on and speculate nearly endlessly, it is here where I came to a stop, re: trying to put into language that which I have come to believe should remain unknown. For, as Susan Sontag opined, "Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect on art." and I would much rather experience the feelings and reactions rather than dissecting them and, most likely, sucking the life out of them.

Ultimately, I think that a significant but not exclusive part of my feelings / reactions to the Punctum Baby picture all come down to the question of life with meaning. Did he / she have one? And, prompted by the picture, am I engaged in a life with meaning? Or, on the other hand, ... whatever.

BTWFYI, the old-timey pictures of my relatives do not come anywhere near to instigating the feelings / reactions I have to the Punctum Baby picture.

civilized ku # 3057-59 ~ recently seen and duly noted

hotel room / reflection on tv screen ~ Potsdam, NY • click to embiggen
cell phone against white ~ Brasher Falls, NY • click to embiggen
American Legion / Post 939 ~ Brushton, NY • click to embiggen

While attending a hockey tournament and moving about the extreme northern tier of New York State - the St. Lawrence River valley along the Canadian border - a few things pricked my eye and sensibilities.