man & nature # 23 ~ a bit of a dilema
Monday, August 4, 2008 at 12:10PM 
Jersey Shore arbor • click to embiggenMy picturing at the Jersey Shore was an unmitigated success. While the ultimate test of that lies with those who view the pictures, I am very pleased with the results.
As I mention in the previous entry, I have nearly 70 "keepers" in the body of work which is tentatively titled Shore Light. I say "tentatively" because that moniker may be a little bit too close for comfort, re: Joel Meyerowitz's Cape Light. Although, it must be said that my pictures and his bear more than a passing kinship.
I am in no way trying to imitate Meyerowitz's Cape Light pictures. That said, it nearly impossible to visit and picture an ocean-side location and not be aware of the quality of the light and all of its variations. Meyerowitz used the phrase inside the light as part of the title of his Tuscany book and it is a very appropriate discription of the feeling one gets in places where the light has an unusual or very distinct quality. So, it should come as no surprise that the varying and distinct quality of shore light is, as with the Cape Light pictures, an integral part of my Shore Light pictures.
Like Meyerowitz, and as I have been practicing my entire picture making life, my intention with these pictures is, on the surface of things, an attempt to picture the place as it is. But in that sense, our pictures are different in as much as Meyerowitz captured the Cape at a time when it was still "authentic", relatively free of the ravages of modern wretched-excess development. I, on the other hand, have captured the Jersey Shore in the full-fledged throes of conspicuous consumption development - there is precious little "authenticity" left in Stone Harbor.
Nevertheless, our pictures are similar in that, as Meyerowitz has stated:
... it's always been to share the experience, as if I stood someplace and was stopped with a sense of wonder ... that's pure inspiration ... you're taking it all in ... It's like saying here, stand where I stood. I'm not going to tell you what to see. Just stand here and look at this.
Beyond the surface of things is something else. Again, as Meyerowitz has stated:
And if there's some passage to the viewer of the wonder of the unexpected moment, then that is making art or photography. Your sense of reality has been changed in that split second, which has now been crystallized into the moment of consciousness, and then that is captured somehow, and now you have a chance to look at it and trip out.
In any event, here's my dilema - As mentioned, I have more than 70 images (processed to date) from my recent picturing and another 20+ from last year's trip, which I believe, when viewed as a body of work, really does captures a very real sense of the place that is Stone Harbor, NJ. But, if I dole them out one a day for 90+ days, I will probably lose the room. It's vitally important that they be viewed as a body of work, not a series of one hit wonders.
So, the only solution I can think of is an online gallery / site devoted to just the Shore Light series. A "pure' gallery of just pictures with an opening Artist Statement. That and a book. Give me a little time and I'll have both for your viewing pleasure.
Reader Comments (3)
I thought you meant "shore light" as in Steven Shore light? Good thing you explained in this post.
Just a question, even though the images are a year apart, do you see a difference as far as your "making" of the images?
Wow, that's absolutely wonderful repetition!
As far as publishing is concerned: I vote for a book over a gallery. Make a book as PDF and publish it via a service like issuu.com