civilized ku # 133 ~ selling cat shit to dogs
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at 08:34AM 
East Village restaurant ~ NYC • click to embiggenToday I was going to write about a great way to find/develop a unique / personal vision, something that many find very difficult to do. Especially so if you want a vision that involves not just the Art of selection but also the Art of concept.
But, before I was able to create that entry, Bill Gotz left a comment on yesterday's entry about "the tingle":
Oh yes, the "tingle". That's what I love about great pictures, the internal itch that says there is something here. Those are the pictures I want to be with, that connect on a deep level, the ones I want to try to figure out. I usually can't fully figure them out but I know they connect to me somehow. That' what keeps me coming back to them, thinking about them when I'm not with them .... What is that, I don't know. Maybe its the beginning of an understanding of the allegory. Or maybe it's the connection to a more emotional metaphor. Or maybe its liking a pretty picture.
The reason that Bill's comment struck me with a "tingle" is the fact that last evening I spent a fair amount of time on Bill's site looking at his triptych / panoramic pictures, especially those in his Roads & Signs: Farmscapes and Roads & Signs: Yellowstone and Grand Tetons portfolios and what I ended up with was a massive case of the "tingles".
However, despite the tingle I was not immediately able to "dig deeper" into the metaphor / allegory / meaning thing in his pictures. In his comment, Bill also mentioned that "I think my pictures are more the record of exploration than an attempt at metaphor", which is something I can identify with relative to my picture making - I don't start out or even end up looking for referents that will/can act as metaphors - more on this later under the heading of "finding a unique vision".
Bill also stated that "I guess I connect to a picture on more of a gut level than on an intellectual level. The allegorical figurings aren't what what get me, it's something that's pre-verbal", which, once again, I can identify with regarding my picture viewing. I don't start out looking for the metaphor / allegory / meaning thing in pictures.
What I do when first viewing a picture is to, quite simply, just look. No preconceptions, expectations, or other "baggage - I just want to look and see what happens. Of course, what I delight in is when that "tingle" thing strikes - most often, it strikes in an immediate fashion but even if it doesn't I'll usually hang around for a bit to see if I can see something that is more than meets the eye.
In any event, here's my point in all of this - IMO, the medium of photography is, despite the fact that I really treasure pictures that offer more than just the obvious (and try my damnedest to make them), first and foremost a visual medium / language. I write this knowing full well that that idea flies in the face of much of the prevailing dogma from the academic lunatic fringe (and a big segment of the Art world, Photography Division) regarding the "standards" by which a picture /body of work gains admittance to the Art world.
I am much more in agreement with this notion:
On semiologists and post-modern photo-deconstructors: Academic imperialists are marginalizing the practice of making photographs instead of celebrating its power and magic. It appears to me, as an exhibiting photographer and as a teacher, that I am again in a world where the word is king with photographs as mere courtiers. I believe this trend to be regressive because it undermines photography and most of those who practice it. - Paul Hill
And, because I agree with the preceding statement, I am also of a mind - regarding my acceptance (or not) into that Art world - with this sentiment as well:
You see, I'm not interested in mediocrity in photography. I'm not interested in selling cat shit to dogs. I just want to do my own thing. If people like my work, all the better. If they don't, too bad. - Ralph Gibson
gravitas et nugalis
I have realized, upon further review, that I might have left the impression that Bill Gotz' pictures don't have anything beyond the obvious going for them. If I did, I apologize - IMO, they have much to reflect upon beyond their visual appeal.
And, I would also like to make it clear that I believe that Bill's stuff is picture making that exemplifies the "power and magic" of the medium. In my wildest imagination, I can think of no circumstance where his pictures would "mere courtiers" to words. The work is, indeed, "king".
Reader Comments (3)
I can assure that Gravitas spent much time pouring over Bill's photography last night, because I kept being called in to look at things. Very nice work.
One of the things I am thankful for is that the Husband has this online community of people who care like he does how binary code looks.
Have a great thanksgiving!
Wow, thanks for the kind words.
Do singular images tingle? Or is it an effect that builds cumulatively. Often it feels I don't get what someone is trying to say until I see it a few times in different guises, expressing maybe the same idea in multiple images - projects, of course.
There are other pictures that shout what they are about from the rooftops, but I enjoy the building tingle more these days.