civilized ku # 73 ~ a real triptych
Friday, January 4, 2008 at 09:51AM 
A 'natural' triptych • click to embiggenAnother 'benefit' of my recent presentation to the SPS (in addition to yesterday's entry about megapixels) was the experience of looking at a large number - about 40 - of my pictures as prints as opposed to images on a monitor screen. It should go without saying that the difference in the total viewing experience is enormous.
Unless, a monitor / screen is your chosen medium of expression, there is absolutely no substitute for viewing a photograph in a print format. 'Print format' includes books, posters, photographic prints and, in the case of a few artists, large print transparencies on a light box.
A monitor is a very poor media for viewing photographs. First and foremost there is the very real issue of issues of color, contrast, brightness and size. At best, all you can view is an approximation of the real deal. I really have to laugh at the idea of critiquing a photograph on an online forum. Any and all comments regarding color, contrast, brightness, hue / saturation, shadow / highlight detail, sharpness, etc. is simply speculative and totally provisional.
As to issues of meaning, narrative, truth, etc. - the connoted in a photograph, 2 issues prevail.
First, there are the aforementioned issues of visual approximations - in as much as these things both effect and affect your complete perceptual apparatus to a considerable degree, your ability to discern the connoted is indeed impaired.
Second, and perhaps most important, is the simple fact that the web, in and of itself, is not suited to the act of contemplation. Any picture created with the intent of communicating intelligent ideas that are worthy of attention, appreciation and investigation requires contemplation. It demands repeated and prolonged viewings. It needs to be 'lived' with. Then, and only then, can a more complete and varied 'understanding' of the picture be had - that meaning and truth that resides beyond / beneath the 'surface' of the picture.
That is why my New Year's resolution is this - to have, by the end of 2008 (at the very latest), an 'actual', not 'virtual', photo gallery operational and open to the public (over 1 million people a year visit my area). A photo gallery, not just for my work, but for the work of others who are attempting to create pictures that communicate intelligent ideas that are worthy of attention, appreciation and investigation.
More on this tomorrow.
The group of pictures to the right are the only pictures I presented via projection during my 'lecture' at the SPS. The reason for this was similar to the above mentioned 'issues'. I knew from prior experience that what these 
'Lecture' presentation images • click to embiggenpictures would look like projected was anyone's guess. It would depend entirely on room light, projector quality, the screen calibration of the laptop that ran the projection program, etc, etc.
True to form, they looked like crap. That is why they ran as 'wallpaper' during my 'lecture. Nothing in my 'lecture' depended upon an accurate perception of the pictures. I did provide a separate group of prints of these 12 pictures for viewing after the presentation so that the audience could see what they really looked like.
FYI, the group contains my 'best' photograph ever. Anyone care to venture a guess as to which one it is?
Reader Comments (21)
One million visitors visit your area every year. So really would this gallery be limited to local images that help define the area that these visitors gravitate to?
Would visitors be enamored with images of slot canyons of the southwest,or Yosemite, or ocean vistas while vacationing to the Adirondacks?
I guess I just don't know enough about galleries. Are images more readily acceptable geographically if there seems to be no ties to a sense of place?
Sorry, just my questions that have come to mind while thinking about your idea.
Well for me, my favorites are the red burning bush and the flowers in the ditch. If I would hazard a guess, I would think it was the flowers in the ditch, by the side of the road.
Hey Jim - I'll get answering your questions in my next entry.
As for your guess, I'm keeping the cat in the bag for now so that others can vventure an opinion.
My guess would also be the red flowers on the far left second row. As soon as you look at it you are drawn to the center.
My favorite is the chair in the corner, love that shot.
My guess would have to by the small tree with the light pole and houses in the background.
My guess would be the same as Matt's.
BTW the guesses reveal more of what we like or of what you think are Mark's preferences?
Nope — your "best" picture was "inletseahaven" or was it "hedgesq", "johnbrooksq", "6150412-md", or "ipgolfsnnowsq"? One of those in any case. Or perhaps it was "5032273-md" or "3861457-lg" or "roadcurvesq". You've posted quite a few "bests".
Cheers,
Mike
"Best?" I too like the chair in the corner, and the Decay photo. BTW, what's happening w/ the Decay Series, now that everything is frozen solid outside? But I don't think I'm going to try to guess which one you think is best.
Jim,
Very appropriate questions when it comes to gallery prints. I've had prints in a small gallery near me for several years, occasionally selling one, but I get the distinct impression that until recently the owner is completely focused on local photography by local photographers. Not much interest in my print from the Escalante Canyon, or views of Italy, in a small shop at the foot of Shenandoah National Park. Visitors want to take home a print of something they've recently seen in the park. But this could be changing, because the shop seems to be slowly withering.
Mark,
I'm in complete agreement about the viewing of photographs. I've maintained the same thing about looking at web sites, and on screen. They're a dismal approximation, at best. I really can't get too involved with an image on screen. There's something too transitory about the nature of browsing - well, it's simply that - to really involve the intellect or emotions. It demands a cursory view so that you can zip off somewhere else and not miss the latest in hundreds of other spots. Maybe we're old farts, but I still prefer books and gallery prints.
My guess as to your favorite is going to be the image in the top left corner. I believe it is titled "Parking Lot Nightmare". I can tell you that it is probably my favorite from the bunch.
Mark, it's rather difficult to select a favorite, because the photos are different ku's as you call it. Sometimes it is almost reportage, sometimes an interior for a glossy, sometimes an abstraction. You do quite a lot of different things and that makes is hard to compare.
My favorite though is the one in the upper left corner, because it looks like a common everyday situation you captured, but there is a very creepy feeling in it.
It is hard for me to understand but I know people who are not interested in making prints. They feel that their work on the monitor is the end product. Just seems sad, very sad to me.
Trying to select your #1 is like trying to hit a target while blindfolded....kinda' have to pepper shots in several directions hoping to come near. Having said that, I would vote for #1, #3, and #12. At least, those are winners for me. But then I can only view them on a monitor, and considering your aforementioned criteria for "judging" prints, you are asking us to make a call on prints where the content is hard to read because of size. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Is there a point I'm missing here?
P'taker
Too easy . . . the "green" chair, so imviting.
I would say that the decaying food is the best picture in the group. I don't know if I would say that it is your "best picture ever". I'm sure you must have taken 10's of if not 100's of thousands of photos over your looooooooooong life. Not even the fabulous Blovious could recall them all. Also I'd rotate the decaying food 180% CCW if I were to hang it on my wall.
TcOhNeGeUkE
Mark,
Glad to hear you talk went well...I'm sure it was an enlightening experience for all.
Your "best" photograph is easily the ditchful of wildflowers.
The only one of these photos which comes anywhere near slavish adherence to the rule of thirds is the red fire hydrant with the blooming crab apple. Therefore, that must be your best. It also defies easy explaination (Why did you take that photo?), so it must be sublime, too.
My only hesitation is that Hugo is not in the pic, so how can it be your best?
Go away with yas, you crazy bunch! It's gotta be the green chair, I tell ya! Unless, unless you come up some soppy excuse like it's the last one you captured. Because, you know, the last image you captured is of course the best . . . until the next image! Please don't say something like that or I'll gag quicker than I would eating the food on the plate by the sink! Ha! Tim
I know it is the roadside flowers. I remember when you posted that on another site:)