ku # 806-10 ~ more autumn color #s 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 03:35PM 
A tree ~ ruralsouthern Quebec, CA • click to embiggen
Signs of autumn ~ rural southern Quebec, CA • click to embiggen
Signs of autumn ~ rural southern Quebec, CA • click to embiggen
Signs of autumn ~ rural southern Quebec, CA • click to embiggen
Signs of autumn ~ rural southern Quebec, CA • click to embiggenYesterday, during our drive to Montreal for dinner and a hockey game - see the following entry - we were traversing the southern Quebec countryside, an area that is comprised almost entirely of farmlands. We always pass through this area on our way to Montreal as a result of crossing the border by way of a very small border crossing that is located on a small country road. This little detour gets us away from the heavily traveled and often congested interstate crossing. And, as an added benefit, we get to see some very nice rural countryside.
My intention has always been to picture this area but it seems that we are always hustling along and I have never taken the time to stop and smell the roses ... or the dirt and manure. However, this time through, we had a little extra time so the wife sat patiently in the car while I dicked around making some pictures. One of these days I'm gonna head up there solely for the purpose of making pictures.
In any event, I would like to address a comment from Markus Spring on the decay # 39 ~ it made the cut entry (which addressed the picture, Without the APA, found in this entry):
... with the explanation the image makes perfect sense, meaning I get "it" - and now the components of the image suddenly fall in place ... [W]hat 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 .... [T]he fine balance between readability and complexity at least in this image was not there for me unless I got to reading the text.
First, let me say "Shame on me" for not introducing a new series / body of work without including at least a very abbreviated artist statement. Here on The Landscapist, I have repeatedly advocated for the value of the artist statement, a much maligned notion in much of the picture-making world - at least amongst the "amateur" segment where it is considered that a picture that "needs" words is a "failure".
IMO, if all one is interested in in his/her picture-making is making pictures that are the equivalent of rudimentary learning-to-read texts, like see Spot dick Jane, then perhaps words aren't "needed" to convey only the simplest of ideas. No words works well for most "amateurs" inasmuch as all they are interested in saying/conveying is "WOW".
However, a picture maker, who makes pictures that deal with more complex thoughts / ideas / notions / et al, often employs the artist statement to, at the very least, give picture viewers a clue to not only what it is that drives his/her desire to make pictures but also to what it is he/she is saying. Please take note of the word "clue" in the preceding sentence by which I did not mean an artist statement that tells the viewer what or how to think about his/her pictures.
Re: the artist statement, consider this from Brooks Jensen:
Lots of photographers will claim that a photograph that needs a caption is an inferior photograph. This is silly and denies the obvious fact that all photographs are made, seen and interpreted against a social background that influences their appreciation and understanding.
And therein lies my defense (rather lame, but applicable nevertheless) against my failure to provide the "explanation", re: Without the APA - no one/very few in my neck of the (Adirondack) woods would lack the "social background" to understand, if not appreciate, the Without the APA picture. Just the initialism "APA" is enough to set temperatures rising, tempers flaring, and tempests in a tea(bagger)pot steaming.
That said, in that defense lies the self-evident and obvious importance of the artist statement - not everyone who views my pictures are from my neck of the geographic woods, much less from my neck of the emotional / intellectual / political woods.
Reader Comments (3)
I can't remember where I got the following idea but it changed my mind about artist statements. The idea is this: if you (the artist) don't make the statement, then someone else will and consequently they will define your work for you! And who knows if they'll get it right.
Oh and knowing what APA stands for makes the picture more pointed for me.
Nice photos. No need for an artists statement here.