decay # 39 ~ it made the cut (and an explanation)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 01:42PM 
Celery root • click to embiggenLast week in this entry I mentioned the reasoning involved in the selection of the picture Without the APA for submission in an Arts organization sponsored juried show. Well, who knows exactly what the judge's thoughts on the picture were but suffice it to say that the picture was selected for the exhibition.
That said, here is an explanation, re: the use of "APA" in the picture's title - the APA is the Adirondack Park Agency, a much reviled state agency. The mission of the APA is to protect the public and private resources of the Park through the exercise of the powers and duties provided by law. It is also responsible for maintaining the protection of the forest preserve, and overseeing development proposals of the privately owned lands.
Shortly after its inception in 1971, the APA developed long-range land use plans for both public and private lands within the boundary of the Park - the State Land Master Plan, which was signed into law in 1972, followed by the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan in 1973. In effect, the APA is a large-scale zoning agency.
All proposals for development on private lands within the Adirondack Park must be reviewed and approved by the APA. All development must conform to the aforementioned master / land use plan and therein lies the rub - those who would pave paradise and put up a parking lot with a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot have been really pissed off ever since the APA (AKA - "big socialist government") "took away their rights".
In any event, Without the APA is the first picture in a series in which I am creating in-my-mind-only landscapes. Pictures that are composite images assembled from bits and pieces of my earlier cityscape pictures together with my landscape pictures of various Adirondack scenes.
BTW & FYI, for anyone within the sound of this blog, I will be at the exhibit opening reception - this Friday (9/24/10), 5-7PM - at The Lake Placid Center for the Arts.
decay
Reader Comments (2)
Ok, with the explanation the image makes perfect sense, meaning I get "it" - and now the components of the image suddenly fall in place.
On a side note: Of course political steering of the development in an ecological sensitive region is (meanwhile) seen quite different here in Germany, also the the connotation of a "big socialist government" taking away the rights of the individuals is (still) not that prevalent over here.
What interests me in the photographical context is, that I needed a textual explanation for this image - even the title didn't suffice - and this opens up the question, if, what type and how much content can be transported in a work of art.
Of course there are basic emotions, facts, moods that lend themselves to the implementation in a work of art, and it seems that the easy road would be to stick with the simple themes. I guess a lot of photography, many excellent reportages, but also those "pesky pretty pictures" go that way.
The other road would be to refine and perfection the visual language, taking in metaphors, extending the pure photography with other graphical elements, maybe for the price of loosing audience that does not grasp the image any more. The fine balance between readability and complexity at least in this image was not there for me unless I got to reading the text.
My thoughts, almost exactly!