civilized ku # 2366 ~ I "do it my way", you should do it your way

Arnies ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggenOn the entry, civilized ku # 2362 ~ night light, Craig Tanner asked:

... If you really mean "whatever floats your boat" then why keep beating the "dead horse"? As an artist and human being what do you get out of or hope to get out of creating and publishing these types of essays?……And do you feel like they are an important companion to your photography?

Craig (and I really appreciate that you have come back to this blog after leaving it because of my cruelty to animals / desecrating a corpse, so to write), et al - first and foremost, I am, plain and simple, expressing my opinion on things, picture making wise. Doing so is the one of primary reasons I started and continue to publish this blog. It's as simple as that.

That written, I am not entirely certain to which "dead horse" Craig is referring. My assumption is the horse in question has as much to do with: a) the manner in which I express my opinions as it does with the fact that, b) a relatively small handful of my entries over the life of this blog - 2300+ entries - address my opinions and feelings, re: the pretty picture genre. If I'm wrong in my assumption, I hope Craig sets me straight on the matter.

re: point a) - expressing my opinions ... I do not shy away from the fact that my writing style can, at times, be rather .... ahh ... say we say, acerbic / caustic, which is the provocateur in me coming to the fore inasmuch as I do like to incite a subject-based word-riot now and again. And yes, I realize that writing style may be off-putting to some but, hey, I gotta be me.

However, that written, I also write while wearing my hat as a critic - I was a regional photo critic for the now-departed New Art Examiner*. In doing so, I state my opinion(s) as emphatically as I can. No mincing words or beating around the bush - shit is shit and Shinola is Shinola (as in the old adage, doesn't know shit from Shinola). And, to a certain extend, my attitude is, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Now,that written, let me be perfectly clear ... just because I think something is less than Shinola doesn't mean shit. There are those who think I'm full of the latter and I'm good with that idea. In fact, I would like to read, in the form of blog comments, their non-argumentum ad hominem, subject-based thoughts on the matter at hand.

re: point b) - the pretty picture genre .... On those occasional occasions when I express my opinion(s) about the pretty picture genre, I most often do so as a direct response to something I have read on another blog/website. In most cases, those essays/articles are extolling the virtues of the genre and why, if one is not following the rules and accepted picturing conventions of that genre, the resultant pictures are much less than Shinola.

Those essays/articles lay down the law, in no uncertain terms, about light, composition, et al and how they must be used if one wishes to make "art" rather than (and I quote) "mere photo documentation". In their own way, the authors of those essays/articles are kicking their own version of a "dead horse". And again, let me be perfectly clear ... good for them and I respect their right to do so.

However, when I write in response to what they have written - at times, referring to it directly, other times, not - I do, so not so much to refute their opinions, but rather to express a different opinion on the matter for those who desire to or are trying to break out of the pretty picture genre into a more personal manner of seeing and the making of pictures. Based upon general principles, my own experience, and feedback from this blog's followers, I believe it to be very beneficial for those individuals to know that others have walked down the same path and were able to reach a successful result in that quest. Once again, to quote Brooks Jensen:

For the first several years one struggles with the technical challenges, making sure and steady progress - a learning curve and growth process that is rewarding, stimulating and self-renewing. But, eventually every photographer who sticks with it long enough arrives at a technical plateau where production of a technically good photograph is relatively easy. It is here that real photography starts and most photographers quit.

IMO, "real photography" has little to do with slavishly following the rules and conventions of a particular genre, in effect becoming technically proficient at the craft of imitation. While quite a number of picture makers do quit at that stage of development, many others just carry on doing the same genre-dictated thing over and over and over again. Apparently, they never lose interest in beating that particular "dead horse". And BTW, in doing so, they are quite persistent in advancing the notion that their pictures are Shinola and the rest is just shit.

Again, good for them and they should keep right on doing whatever it is that floats their boat. However, that doesn't mean I have to like it or even respect it. Nor does it mean that I can not express my opinions about it and to do so in a manner that is as personal to me as is my picture making - you know, being an individual, both as a human being and as an artist.

Isn't that what it's all about? Being your own person, aka: a unique individual?.

*I was offered that opportunity as the result of a lengthy critique I wrote (for another publication) regarding a photo exhibition at a major art institution in which I took to task (extremely emphatically so) both the institution (for the lousy lighting job they did in hanging the show) and the director of that institution (for the totally ill-informed introduction he wrote about the exhibit in the exhibit catalog). The critique came to the attention of the folks at the New Art Examiner and they really liked my informed, pull-no-punches style. Hence, the out-of-the-blue phone call offering me the opportunity to write for them on regular basis.

Comments

[Craig Tanner]

Hey Mark,

For now just wanted to say thank you for the thoughtful and fast reply to my questions. I have more to say but it will have to wait until later in the weekend or the beginning of next week.... Craig