urban ku # 182 ~ décrépitude delicieux
Monday, April 14, 2008 at 09:03AM 
Montreal skyline # 1 • click to embiggenThe wife and I spent the weekend in Montreal with the avowed intent of indulging in the pleasures of the flesh with a touch of those of the mind and heart as well.
This was quite a sacrifice for me as on this weekend was: 1) a Hockey Night in Pittsburgh, and 2) The Masters. Normally such a combination has me glued to the tube (the plasma? the LCD?), even if the sky is failing. Nevertheless, we struck a fine balance and a good time was had by all.
Part of my good time was enhanced by a last minute pre-trip idea - one that could only have happened in this digital age - I decided, about 2 hours before our departure, that since we would be in a neighborhood (the Old City) with several art galleries, I should bring a portfolio of my photography to show around.
Now, I have several portfolios ready to go but not one of my recent Decay work. So, undeterred, I opened my Decay folder, selected 10 images, warmed up the printer, and less than 2 hours later I had a neatly trimmed set of 10 Decay prints with a cover / title sheet ready to go.
Try doing that in a wet darkroom.
This was my first attempt at printing a presentation of my Decay work. When I viewed the final prints as a set I was quite impressed. It was very apparent to me, in a manner that I had not fully realized before viewing the work as all of a piece, that a statement was emerging. It seems that, as a result of just following the urging of my inner un-thought known, I have "stumbled upon" something well worth pursuing in earnest.
This is not a big surprise for me. It has happened before and I am aware of this happening to others as well - artists just scratching an itch who end up finding what they didn't know they were looking for.
I mention this because I am also aware of quite a number of photographers who are struggling to find something to sink their photo-teeth into. IMO, their problem is simply that they are thinking about it too much. Instead, what they should be doing is clearing their head and then they should just do it. Pick up a camera with no preconceived intentions and just look around.
To paraphrase Brooks Jensen - forget about what you have been told is a good picture and simply start picturing what you "see". What Jensen failed to mention in his dictum is that it is very important to "forget" everything you "know" about pictures and picturing because then, and only then, can you hear what you feel. What you feel is the best "knowledge" that you can harness in the cause of making good pictures.
A question for you: Has anyone else out there "stumbled upon" what you didn't know you were looking for?
PS: As coincidence would have it, literally across the street from the back entrance to our hotel, there was a recently opened gallery - a branch of a very established gallery in Quebec (city). It specializes in Contemporary Art, to include photography. After a quick look at my portfolio, they requested that I submit a formal portfolio - to include a few exhibition sized prints (3×3 ft), bio, artist statement, etc.) - for a full review because they found it "very interesting".
gravitas et nugalis
Featured Comment: Stephen Connor wrote: "Well, you may have missed Hockey Night in Pittsburgh, but at least you got a shot of Molson's brewery - long a part of Hockey Night in Canada!"
my response: Actually, I didn't say that I missed Hockey Night in Pittsburgh. I said a "fine balance was struck" - that "balance" included walking out the hotel back entrance (again) and across the street 
Les 3 Brasseurs • click to embiggento the Les 3 Brasseurs micro brew pub - a place where good beer and big screen tvs are in ample supply.
The way I see it, the balance killed many birds with one stone - we got out of the hotel, the wife (and I) likes micro brew beers, I (and the wife) like watching the Pens, and, together, we were honoring the Canadian tradition of Canadian drinking beer (albeit Les 3 Brasseurs Amber by the pint, not Molson Canadian by the bottle) and watching a Canadian hockey team (lose) at night in Canada.
An aside: talk about hitting the Trifecta - staying in an utterly fantastic small luxury hotel, the Auberge du Vieux-Port (click on "Album" to see the place), walk out the rear entrance and a few steps to the left, a great Art gallery, or a few steps to the right, a great micro brewery. It's a little bit of heaven.
And, oh yeah, lest I forget - doing it all with the wife.
Reader Comments (11)
Well, you may have missed Hockey Night in Pittsburgh, but at least you got a shot of Molson's brewery - long a part of Hockey Night in Canada!
So will you stick to your belief of "affordable art" once your famous in the Quebec Province? Will we all be able to afford a 3' x 3' decay?
I posted this yesterday,,which is different but seeks a solution
Ray
http://raymondstarnaud.blogspot.com/
Horse Latitudes
seeking the premise
to be sacrificed to the Sargasso
Searching the horizon
My photos fall into two categories: people photos and landscapes. I've found with my landscape photography that generally I start taking pictures of things I find interesting and it's only after a while that I begin to see the theme of a project. This was true of my Altered Landscapes project (photos of the effect of the construction of a new highway on the landscape) and my newest as yet un-named project about the interaction of humans and landscape. My people photos have so far been different; I live in Mexico and many of these projects are based on fiestas, so I know ahead of time what the theme is going to be.
Mark, as someone who recently made the plunge, to answer your question: without a doubt, PLASMA. They tend to be more expensive, do present some glare/reflection problems during the day in a well lit room, but the picture is noticeably better. Look particularly at the Pioneer's. We got a 50" Elite and it's a true gem. And don't scrimp on the sound, either.
I've wandered around this issue several times in the last year. Trying to find some sort of project. Thinking that projects were the way past doing random greatest hits. Worrying that I didn't have a big enough 'idea' for a project.
Over time I've come to realise that the simpler the better.
Much as you are saying here, not over thinking or over conceptualising an idea. Just having an idea, then revisiting it until it stops scratching. It doesn't have to be about world peace. It doesn't have to be earth shattering. It could just be some fruit rotting on a plate.
I realised recently that I've been actually producing images that fit with a series idea I've had for a while. I wasn't actively looking to make photos to fit the series, indeed was figuring out how to do it but I've been shooting the stuff anyway.
Does the sub-conscious actually listen to the conscious without us knowing? Or am I finding images that fit, just because I'm aware of the possibility of a series?
Dear Kent:
It is very nice of you to comment on the blog, but the last thing on the planet that I want you telling my husband is "don't skimp on sound." He really should be looking for advice about how his photos should be cropped.
Cheers!
A correction to your correction - I didn't say Molson's was good, just that it was a big part of Hockey Night in Canada. I'd'a gone for the micro-brew, too. Much better beer.
To "the wife"
Oops! Didn't mean to add fuel to a family disagreement. The man asked a question - I offered my 2 cents. I don't think Gravitas has much interest in my optionions about how to crop his photographs.
"Oops! Didn't mean to add fuel to a family disagreement."
not so much that as adding fodder for an audiophile.