ku # 487 ~ Form and Light
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 12:15PM 
A field in the (autumn) gloaming • click to embiggenIn his essay Beauty in Photography (in the book of the same name), the photographer and writer (about photography), Robert Adams, states that "... the proper goal of art is, as I now believe, Beauty and the Beauty that concerns me is that of Form. Beauty is, in my view, a synonym for the coherence and structure underlying life .... "
I definitely agree on both counts - I mention that just in case you haven't noticed my reference to beauty at the top of your browser window.
Adams goes on to ask/state; "Why is Form beautiful? Because I think it helps us meet our worst fear, the suspicion that life may be chaos and that therefore our suffering is without meaning." Now that's some pretty 'heavy' and 'heady' stuff, but, as the adage states, 'Beauty is more than skin deep.'
It is said that poets write for a single reason - to give witness to splendor. As Adams points out, splendor is a useful word for photographers 'because it implies light - light of overwhelming intensity.'
OK. I'm with him so far. So, if art's point is Beauty in the guise of Form, and Form is a peek at 'light of overwhelming intensity' in the guise of splendor, Adams concludes that, "The Form towards which art points is of an incontrovertible brilliance, but is also far too intense to examine directly. We are compelled to understand Form by its fragmentary reflection in the daily objects around us ..."
So, in keeping with yesterday's notion of 'one long quiet howl', I guess I'm just going to keep howling at the light.
Reader Comments (3)
I noticed that the lighting in these last 5 pics has been the typically gray light that accompanies cold, damp, fall days in the northcountry. I only point this out because days like these have been helpful to me recently in looking more deeply into form as opposed to just capturing something beautiful because the light was stunning or you enhanced the "fall colors" beyond what could be defined as "real"...a realization that has only come since exploring everyones comments on this site. When you can shoot and explore some sort of form under any conditions, I think you're starting to develop your personal "vision" for Beauty, or so I have come to think lately. The most moving photos for me from Mark's weekend of picturing are those that have almost no sky...or those with gray or otherwise "unacceptable" light/sky...the winding road, the barn, and the tree trunk are especially interesting to me in terms of form...also digging the red tree (including the one with the cabin), spindley growth, and hedges.
Last week, a newcomer to your sight, who i work with, said she was late for work b/c she linked in to look at the pix of Maggie from the hospital, and got caught up looking at everything. She showed one picture to her teenage daughter who said "Its just a tree, mom." (mentally insert proper tone of voice).
Well, yesterday, that same daughter came home with her digital camera, very excited to show mom her pictures she had taken. Guess what - they were of trees!
I only hope she does not develop them with velveta finish, or whatever its called.
I only hope she does not develop them with velveta finish, or whatever its called.
Then they'd look really cheesy.