kitchen life # 52 (sink) ~ today, tomorrow and forever
Monday, June 2, 2014 at 03:47PM 
kitchen sink ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenIf it came to pass that a photgraphy deity / demon (depending upon one's point of view) were to fall from the sky and assume the throne /mantle of what's what in the medium of photography and then decree that all serious picture makers must limit their picturing to one single-themed body of work - friends and family snapshots excepted - I would not be especially displeased. After all, I am a man but I can change ... if I have to ... I guess*.
Failure to comply, the decree would also state, would result (to the offender) in the forfeiture of all serious gear which would be replaced by a single small aperture non-focusing film-based plastic toy camera and the loss of one eye.
An additional provision of the decree would stipulate that all of the results of the proscribed and approved picture making could only be displayed as printed works - on hard-copy substrates, in books and the like. All picture sharing sites and services would be shut down and all picture blogs / websites would be limited to lowres minuscule samples and information on where the work could be seen or acquired in printed form.
I, for one, would not be overly wrought by this paradigm. Despite having several bodies of work - 10 at last count, my choice of which one to continue would be fairly easy. With little doubt, it would be my kitchen life series. Although, the deity / demon, being a stickler for precise detail and definition, would most likely limit me to a very singular type of kitchen picture making.
If so, I would again make the easy choice of limiting my picture making to my kitchen sink because ....
1 my kitchen sink is very convenient and ...
2 both the light and the contents thereof are ever changing. Like snowflakes, as the saying goes, no two are ever the same - in the case of my kitchen sink, no 2 kitchen sink events are ever the same and ...
3 the events are never the same because, the contents and arrangements thereof, despite what some may think, are purely random. No effort on my part or that of the wife is ever made in putting stuff in the sink and ...
4 I love the unpredictable happenstance of what may or may not be a pleasing, to my eye and sensibilities, of placement and light and ...
5 most importantly I believe the kitchen sink pictures are truly beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful of any I have ever made.
That written, re: item 3: I do on occasion add or subtract an item or two to improve the picturing possibilities. Not very often, but, as in today's picture, I added the drain stopper as a visual balancing element. These pictures are, after all, still life pictures - pictures in which the hand of the maker is part of the picturing deal and the art world loves, one might even say "worships", seeing evidence of the hand of the maker. Although, the deity / demon might have more than little to decree, re: the art world as it exists today.
All of that written, if the deity / demon did actually fall from the sky, could you handle the resulting decree? If so, what would be your choice for a single body of work?
As always, comments sought and appreciated.
*The Possum Lodge Man's Prayer from the now discontinued Red Green Show - a very humorous and entertaining Canadian television show. The prayer is not to be confused with the Possum Lodge Oath - Quando omni flunkus, moritati. (when all else fails, play dead).
Reader Comments (2)
This was posted at 3:47 pm. I returned from a 5 day business trip about 8 hours later, and did a pretty sharp imitation of a demon when i saw the kitchen sink.
1. HA! To "the Wife"'s comment.
2. I'm sure "the Wife" may randomly put stuff into the sink, but I'm not so sure that the Landscapist can.
3. Design/balance is in your soul. My guess is that, on some level of consciousness, even when placing/putting/throwing things into the sink, that the "designer" can't help but to make it look good when said placing/putting/throwing is done.