ku # 1332 / diptych # 172 ~ representational by nature

old rail bed ~ heading toward Keeseville, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Autumnal nitty gritty ~ Keene, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Yesterday's entry was essentially built around a quote from the writings of James Agee. Today's entry is of the same genesis with a kicker from Bernice Abbott. I have always appreciated and taken to heart in my picture making the idea expressed by James Agee in this quote:

.... in the immediate world, everything is to be discerned, for him who can discern it, and centrally and simply, without either dissection into science, or digestion into art, but with the whole of consciousness, seeking to perceive it as it stands: so that the aspect of a street in sunlight can roar in the heart of itself as a symphony, perhaps as no symphony can: and all of consciousness is shifted from the imagined, the revisive, to the effort to perceive simply the cruel radiance of what is.

Interesting enough, this Agee sentiment is very often found on the web (primarily on photo sites) with the section "for him who can discern it, and centrally and simply, without either dissection into science, or digestion into art" redacted. I would assume that most picture makers consider themselves to be making art so, therefore, they seem to think that Agee is disparaging art in that segment of his quote.

If so, I completely disagree.

In his writings on picture making, Agee has essentially argued for his preference for straight picture making. That is, the making of pictures without artistic pretense, effects, and affectations. Pictures which do not exhibit elements of revisive acts of the imagination but rather those which are straight forward picturing acts which accurately represent a referent as it stands. An act that Agree believed could be most realized by the use of a camera. Or, as Bernice Abbott wrote:

If a medium is representational by nature of the realistic image formed by a lens, I see no reason why we should stand on our heads to distort that function. On the contrary, we should take hold of that very quality, make use of it, and explore it to the fullest. - Berenice Abbott

That written, and getting back to the Agee quote, I suspect that many are confused / troubled by the phrase "...the cruel radiance of what is." How does one reconcile cruel - willfully causing pain or suffering - to the that of radiance - a quality of brightness and happiness / a warm, soft light that shines from something? How is it possible for "brightness and happiness" to be "cruel"? Or, was Agee using the word radiance to signify the idea of radiant - sending out light; shining or glowing brightly?

Without trying to parse this phrase to the point of incomprehensible gibberish, I would suggest that Agee was was using the word cruel to refer to the difficult and demanding task of confronting the real world as it stands. That is, the difficulty of doing so without resorting to comforting and revisive rationalizations and imaginings which disengage one from the actuality of what is.

Radiance, good or bad (it is possible for someone to radiate hatred for example), is cruel inasmuch as it gives no quarter. It is in its essence, exactly what it is, nothing more, nothing less*. The fact of the matter, IMO, is simple. The radiance emanating from what is is cruel in the sense that it demands, for him who can discern it, that it be dealt with head on, forthwith and clear headed.

An aside: Given Agee's writing skill, which was considerable, I also believe his use of the word "radiance" was quite apt (and intentionally so) inasmuch as he was writing in this instance about the medium of photography. I think no coincidence that radiance - the emission of light - is linked to that of the medium which depends entirely upon light. End of aside

In any event, for the most part I like experiencing virtually all things in and of the world head on. That is, experiencing them for what they are (albeit my perception of what they are), not for what I wish them to be. That is why I picture referents - in as much as the medium and its apparatus allow - as they stand.

*human perception and interpretation of what one thinks it is is another (unavoidable) matter all together.

Comments

[Jim Roelofs]

My heart skipped a beat reading this instalment, Mark.

I say to people (who'll listen) that if we want the natural world to survive, we need to stop demanding it complies to our wishes and begin to demand we comply with its wishes.

Sincerest regards, JR