man & nature # 83/84 ~ I need a chuckle ... or two ... or three ... or ....

A cold and snowy Adirondack winter evening • click to embiggenDid you ever think about having your pictures psychoanalyzed?

Which, of course, would basically be the same as having yourself psychoanalyzed. But instead of sitting / reclining around in an analyst's office for hours on end, why not just convert all those hours spent picturing into psychoanalytical material - prints - and send them in for an in-depth reading? I mean, if as artists, we are tapping into our inner-selves and letting it all hang out in our prints, I don't see why a good psychoanalyst couldn't tell us a lot about our selves just by looking at our pictures.

For many personal reasons (which I will not get into at this time) I have been thinking about this idea recently. However, one non-personal thing that I have noticed, and you'd have to be either blind or totally isolated not to notice, is that there is a proverbial ton of pictures out there being made from a very personal POVs. And, if there is one monumental effect from the digital "revolution" photography-wise, it has to be the ease with which a picture can be made and, consequently, the number of people making pictures.

What I am struck by as I make way around the picture-making world on the internet is the sheer number of pictures being made with a my own very personal relationship to the world POV - a kind of photographic variation on Jame Thurber's My World and Welcome to It. Except, of course, Thurber's weapon of choice was humor whereas most of today's picture making observationists seem to be of the deadly serious variety.

Found in their observations, there is irony, cynicism, and cool detachment / observation aplenty. However, in my experience it seems that humor is in very short supply and, IMO, more's the pity. In my most fevered imaginings, I would dearly love to attend a gallery show opening (photography division) where everyone was standing around laughing and chuckling rather than just sipping wine and somberly contemplating the work at hand.

So, I have 2 questions - 1) is anyone out there aware of a picture maker whose stock in trade is humor, or, at the very least, a bit of levity? Hell, I'll even settle for some wry observations, as in, dryly humorous often with a touch of irony, and, 2) do you have a humorous picture or 2 that we could see?

Update on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 08:31AM by gravitas et nugalis

Thanks to all who offered links and suggestions for humorous pictures. I've started to check them out and will continue to do so. Thanks again.

Comments

[John]

Two words: Elliott Erwitt.

[Matt]

1) Yusuf Ozkizil: Has a tendency for juxtaposition

2) Sort of:
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~mk/photos/cat-taxes.jpg
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~mk/photos/humming-perch.jpg
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~mk/photos/mrs-name.jpg
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~mk/photos/poodle.jpg

-m

[Gordon Coale]

Ted Orland
http://www.tedorland.com/

[Frank Armstrong]

I have always thought irony and humor played a part in my images, but that would be more up to the viewer than me...maybe. If you check my blog for "signage" you might find a bit. And I found London a bit humorous: http://www.pbase.com/pitchertaker/london_2006
as well as a trip to my old stompin' grounds last spring: http://www.pbase.com/pitchertaker/old_texas_places_2008
AND somewhat the whole basis my my cemetery series is based on irony.
http://www.frankarmstrong.net/port2/portfolio2.htm

p'taker

[Kent Wiley]

I'm with Frank. Signs tend to be a source of humor, often in juxtaposition with something else. Here's one I have readily at hand, scroll down to "Have a Nice Day." For some reason, people around these parts think quick sand warnings are kinda funny, because here's another one.

[Joe Reifer]

Here's a link to the only print that sold at a show I did earlier this year. Any questions?

[Struan Gray]

Friedlander, Erwitt, Parr, Bresson

Less well known and/or contemporary are:

Yousef Oskil:
http://www.ozkizil.com/thesurrealline.shtml

Lars Tunbjörk:
http://www.agencevu.com/photographers/photographer.php?id=80

Cig Harvey:
http://www.cigharvey.com/pages/portfolio7.html

Tony Ray-Jones:
http://www.ssplprints.com/category.php?catid=545&ref=wiki&ad=sspl07

[Struan Gray]

Hmmm. I see that not only had Matt already mentioned Ozkizil, he spelled his name right too. Apologies.

I see a lot of humour in Abelard Morrel's still lives too, but I may just be wierd that way. Michiko Kon's still lives are fun, but not necessarily funny.

[Clifford Gwinn]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cliff2n/319756067/in/set-72157604064133912/

[aaron]

I often enjoy thumbing through this humorous collection of photos on flickr from a group called "sleeveface". A lot of them are rather creative, well done and humorous.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/sleeveface/

[Paul Morris]

My own humble submission...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2315/2071438886_cc621fd0a0.jpg

[Gordon McGregor]

Martin Parr - least I usually find his kitsch approach to the world quite funny. The problem with humor in photographs is that the audience is even more diverse than for most subjects. It seems hard to do well visually and there's such a range of tastes.