urban ku # 81 ~ everyone's an artist
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 08:48AM 
A scenic in a scene • click to embiggenDuring her brief but meteorically brilliant tenure as guest host, Chantal wrote this about the 'seeing eye' - 'The act of ‘Seeing’ seems to be an innate ability to see Life fully: the good, the bad; wonder in the tiniest of things, splendor in the ordinary or even beauty in things others would find unsightly. Those who See understand that its more about looking with your eyes, its about knowing, and appreciation, and in that, there’s a desire to want to communicate what we see, how we perceive our world. For many, it’s a near spiritual experience.' - to which I can only add, "Yup."
Then, yesterday, in a private email, I received this regarding yesterday's totems picture - 'My first thought when I saw this photo was: "Did he really have the balls to ask this woman to stand there?" - and then I thought, "No, he didn't, this is just one of those strange detail things he found and snapped a picture of...."' - to which I can only add, "Yup."
For me, it is all about details, especially the everyday details of everyday life. The things that almost everyone 'sees' but doesn't pay any attention to. Part of what I am trying to accomplish is to bring attention to those seen-but-not-seen details because I fervently believe that the genius really is in the details.
Reader Comments (5)
I totally agree with your comments. I too enjoy making images that people pass off as boring, lifeless and needing more work to bring things to the high WOW factor. For what? To do what everyone and their half brother is doing? Sometimes I really cannot understand the visual lemmings and their mode of operation. Maybe at a young age they read Rowell, Shaw and various others and adopted the "scenic" photographism. I was drawn to Porter and to tell you the truth at first I thought his art was terrible. But then I looked more and deeper and realized most of it was in the details. He is not considered a "pretty picture maker" but some of his images as well as Hobson's are some of the most moving images of real life that I have seen. Well I hope some of my feelings are coming out as I try to cultivate my new way of seeing.
Mark,
Well, I guess I have to go back to my side of the "artistic" aisle on this one. And we had such a great string of philosophic agreement going!
"Genius in the details"? Sorry, I don't see it my friend. Using the image posted here, I can certainly agree that it's a slice of everday life. But sometimes "everyday life" is just that - it's something we see everyday; it is, in fact, boring, and in no way inspirational to anyone other than the photographer. An old green trailer sitting in front of an old barn is nothing more than what it is. If it has some special meaning for you (you used to own it or something), then the image has intrinsic value for you. But I can wander around rural Monroe County and find similar views of similar scenes. They are no more "special" than this one.
But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps someone can explain the emotional "insight" I'm supposed to get from viewing this.
I think the word "details" is important here. I'm wondering how many old parked trailers there are that are painted with what appears to be very fresh green paint AND a personalized adirondack type canoe/water landscape. Not too many I presume. I think about the "who" and the "why" when I look at this and believe it to be relatively atypical of the old-parked-travel-trailer genre. Looks also as if it might have been parked in an out-of-the-way spot that many people might not have even seen in the first place, if they weren't looking around, but I could be all wrong. I think a hippie painted it. :-)
"But sometimes "everyday life" is just that - it's something we see everyday; it is, in fact, boring, and in no way inspirational to anyone other than the photographer." -Paul Maxim
As an Urban Ku all alone I agree...As Urban Ku #81... no way.
http://viewthecommute.blogspot.com/2006_10_29_archive.html
The above link is to a now defunct project of mine. I photographed my daily 9 mile commute for 4 months. On their own the images may seem quite ordinary, actually very ordinary if you commute in a car. But I think (in my opinion) viewed in entirety on one wall in sequential steps they take on a different quality. How could one not help to want to see the next days drive or next nights drive?
Maybe it was a tree-hugger. It was painted to maybe blend into the surroundings while parked at the local KOA.