civilized ku # 151 ~ dashing through the ...

The business end of a one horse open sleigh • click to embiggen

A one horse open sleigh • click to embiggenThere were no fields or snow to dash through in south Jersey but we did have a one horse open sleigh (on wheels).

Despite the absence of snow and fields, the bells were jingling all the way, especially when the horse broke into a trot. And, make no doubt about, spirits were bright and everyone was laughing all the way. Now, if only the horse had not had that odor-rific bag of crap strapped to his rear ....

picture window # 20 ~ buy this book

The Cinemascapist looking out of a picture window • click to embiggenPlaying Santa Claus to myself, I purchased a new book of photography while I was in south Jersey.

Whenever I am in a "big" city / suburban sprawl area, I generally like to find a bookstore (is there anything other than a Borders / Barnes & Noble out there?) and browse the photography section, both books and periodicals. Although I must say that, lately, all the periodical racks offer is almost exclusively made up of gear / how-to / pretty picture crap.

The book sections are marginally better and occasionally one can find an unexpected and unheard of surprise lurking amongst the shelves full of How To Master Landscape Photography dreck and drivel. One such delightful discovery is now in my collection - River of No Return ~ Photography by Laura McPhee. Check out the "Book Tease" HERE.

I had never heard of Laura McPhee prior to stumbling upon this book. When I saw the spine of the book on the shelf I was immediately drawn to the name McPhee (which stood alone without her first name) because one of my all-time favorite authors is John McPhee, who, as it turns out, is her father. Her mother is Pryde Brown - a wedding / portrait / event photographer in Princeton, NJ.

So much for introductions and on to the book. As I mentioned, I picked the book up because of the name McPhee and, even though upon viewing the cover I discovered it was not John McPhee, I flipped through the book and saw enough interesting-at-first-glance pictures to pique my interest. After spending a few more minutes with it, the book went into my basket simply because my quick look at the pictures imparted a sense that the photographer was giving me a real look at a place that went beyond the regular landscape genré.

Another purely visual sense led me to want the book - the feeling that the pictures were made using a large format camera and color negative film. Later reading confirmed this suspicion to be the case - indeed, an 8×10 view camera and color negative film are Laura McPhee's tools of choice. An aside - if you haven't had the pleasure of viewing prints made from LF color negatives you should go any distance / make any effort to do so because you'll never realize that, no matter how much the digital gearheads rave about their state-of-the-art equipment, it can not hold a candle to the color and tonal subtlety of 8×10 color negative film.

That said, I have not been disappointed in this book. As a matter of fact, I would rank it very high (if not at the top) of my list of must-haves for the serious picture maker. I would do so because this book is:

1) a magnificently "complete" look at a place - McPhee mixes photo genrés - traditional landscape, portraiture, and a form of documentary and of still life - to great story-telling effect. It most definitely reads as an all-of-a-piece, sum-is-greater-than-its-parts work in and of itself -

This book of seventy-two images is itself a work of art: It accumulates meanings through echo, repetition, statement and counter-statement, digression, and return ... on the second or third time through it began to dawn on me what Laira McPhee was up to, to see that River of No return is organized like a long poem or a piece of music, that it is, as well as a stunning look at an actual place, a meditation on rivers, nature, history, the history of landscape photography of the American West and of the idea of the American West. And - while I'm piling theme upon theme - the nature of fact and the nature of myth, and how we hold the world in our hands. ~ from the Foreword by Robert Hass

Most certainly the book has quite a number of stand-alone greatest-hits type pictures, but if you have ever wondered what a cohesive body of work looks like, a body of work which demonstrates the relative "weakness" of single stand-alone pictures, this book is for you. On that criteria alone, this book is well worth the modest price of admission.

2) beyond the aforementioned, the other reason to rank this book high on the must-have list is because of the writing that accompanies the pictures - not as captions or stories, but in the form of an introduction, an essay, and an interview with McPhee (each by different writers).

What all these words convey are ideas and notions, thoughts and conversations, about meaning and process. Not only of the work itself but also, by extrapolation, a kind of working thesis on picturing making as Art (of any kind). In a very real sense, for the thinking person, there is enough of real substance here to chew on that one could almost consider it a bargain basement, $37.42 tuition fee for a MFA degree in photography.

All the writing is the product of the much dreaded photography academia (as are the pictures themselves - McPhee is a professor of photography at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design). What is amazing to me is the almost total absence of any vestige of the web of verbal and theoretical delirium that is so often spun by the academic lunatic fringe. The writings and interview are eminently readable and understandable.

IMO, this book is very highly recommended.

civilized ku # 150 ~ one time one night in America

Toppled pin and a shaft of sunlight • click to embiggenI had a hard time reading the local newspaper - the Philadelphia Inquirer - during our recent trip to south Jersey. To be frank, the news was very depressing - a murderous weekend with 5 deaths (2 victims were deemed to have been "in the wrong place at the wrong time") and 3 critically wounded, a house fire that killed 8 (including 3 children) low-income immigrants, business failures and closings, budget cuts that would close public libraries ... and the list of like-themed stories went on and on.

Unfortunately, stories like these are the daily fodder for newspapers all over this "great" land although, I must admit that here in the north country of New York State our newspapers are generally free of such stuff. I don't mean totally free but rather that much of the really nasty stuff of daily life in America's big cities and towns is noticeably less prevalent in our neck of the woods. That is especially so when it comes to violent crime against people.

That may be due in large part to the numbers game - a lot fewer people = a lot less crime - but a few years back, when we had a murder in a nearby county, the court had to bring in a temporary DA from the NYC area to prosecute it because no one in the area had any real experience with murder cases in that particular county (and many others around it).

In any event, during our trip, I was thinking to myself about how relatively safe and secure our life is here in the north country. So, you can imagine my surprise when, upon our return home and entering our house, I was greeted by coma-girl's best friend who asked, "Have you heard the town rumors?" It seems that rumors were flying about the murder-suicide which had occurred just down the street (our town is so small that everything is "just down the street") that very morning.

To say that the village was in a state of shock and confusion is a big understatement. Things like that just don't happen here. The couple involved (he killed her in her sleep and then killed himself) were long-time residents of exceedingly good standing in the community. They were involved in quite a number of local community activities (the food shelf, Xmas gift drive, etc.) as well as being foster parents to a number of children over the years. The couple have been described as "as close and loving, the type of people who would help anyone in need".

The husband, who retired a year ago from a prison job, called the State Police after killing his wife in order to tell them what he had done and was about to do (kill himself). He mentioned that he was calling to spare anyone the shock and trauma of having to unwittingly come upon the grisly scene - it seems that he was being his polite and caring self right to the end - and to "explain" why he was doing the act. He told dispatchers that he and his wife "had been distraught over personal family matters".

And there, as far as any public account goes, the matter rests.

However, as the wife and I have been informed (from someone on hand at the State Police station when the husband called), the distressing "personal family matters" that apparently triggered the event had their roots in a failure of the "American Dream" - the wife was having significant health problems and the medical bills were driving them to financial despair.

I can't begin to tell you how proud I am to be an American. A citizen of the richest country in the world that "rewards" and "honors" so many of its hardworking people with a life of fractured dreams and promises. A country in which the political class and so many of its citizens banter and squabble endlessly about "socialism" and "private sector" and "free market" as if it were a parlor game that has no effect on real people with real lives - especially so when it comes to the health and physical/mental well-being of so many of its citizens.

I am so proud to be counted amongst a so-called "Christian" citizenry who seems to care only for themselves and so little for "the least of these my brethren". A citizenry who cares little, as demonstrated by their collective actions, about anything other than being a contestant in the He Who Dies With The Most Toys Wins reality show.

Ah, yes - the real America. You betcha. Hey, just raise the flag and pass the ammunition.

One more light goes out in America:

A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America

People having so much faith
Die too soon while all the rest come late
We write a song that no one sings
On a cold black stone
Where a lasting peace will finally bring

The sunlight plays upon my windowpane
I wake up to a world that's still the same
My father said to be strong
And that a good man could never do wrong
In a dream I had last night in America

• ~ from the song One Night in America

picture window # 19 ~ the long view

Noel and narcissus • click to embiggenAnother year has come and gone. As the holidays come to a close and another Gregorian-calender year begins, I would like to wish all of you a happy new year.

I can't help but think that 2009 is going to be a very interesting year.

civilized ku # 149 ~ color me warm

Mom drinks, the Eagles win, all is right with the world • click to embiggenThis past Sunday evening in south Jersey a bunch of the wife's siblings and in-laws (or outlaws as we are sometimes referred to) took mom out for a drink. The bar / restaurant (managed by one of mom's grandchildren) was stoked up with Philadelphia Eagles fever as they (the Eagles) laid a licking on the Dallas Cowboys and thereby, against all odds, squeaked into the playoffs. All was right with the world.

Photography-wise, I was snapping away with ISO 400 @ 1/6 sec. and with the WB set for daylight which, of course, renders the scene's color "inaccurately". I do so because, for most artificially lit interior scenes, the warm color rendering helps preserve the feeling / ambiance of most places.

Although, I must admit to post-processing the color results - first in my RAW conversion and then fiddling / fine tuning in PS - to a point about halfway between daylight (5200K) and tungsten (3200K). That point does vary depending upon the light source color temperature in as much as when the light source is pure tungsten (3200K) I process the WB to a point closer to the "correct" setting in order to avoid too much "warmth".

In any event, it's safe to say that, when it comes to indoor color, I have no cast-in-stone color standard. I just work it until it looks and feels right.

civilized ku # 148 ~ is it real or is it Memorex?

Hugo pictures Lily and Lily returns the favor • click to embiggenOn our holiday trip to New Jersey, Hugo made a paradigm-changing discovery about pictures. To be precise, moving pictures and, in particular, moving pictures as viewed on a television screen but, nevertheless, certainly one that is applicable to still pictures as well.

As mentioned, we (8 of us) interrupted our journey to south Jersey with a 4 hour stop in Newark, NJ to see a professional hockey game - the Pittsburgh Penguins vs the New Jersey Devils. It was a significant event for Hugo for 3 reasons - 2 eagerly anticipated reasons and 1 totally unexpected. The first 2 reasons were, simply enough; 1) his first in-person NHL hockey game, and, 2) his "date" with Lily at that hockey game. Both reasons were eagerly anticipated, especially the date part (have I mentioned that he is 4 going on 16?).

Unanticipated reason #3 came as a big surprise to me and to Hugo - Hugo has viewed countless Penguins games on television. He is well aware of players and stars like Sid-the-Kid and the Candy Man. His personal favorite is former Penguin Gary Roberts. We don't know why that is, it just is.

So, when we arrived in the arena, the teams were still on the ice for their pre-game warmups. While the wife was standing in line for refreshments, I took Hugo into the arena to see the whole deal - lots of people, the jumbotron, lighting effects and all of the general hoopla that is a pro-sporting event here in the good ole US of A.

As he was taking it all in, I pointed out Sid-the-Kid and the Candy Man down on the ice, whereupon he looked and looked and looked some more at them, especially so at Sid-the-Kid. His gaze was intense and I could almost hear the gears and bells and whistles sounding in his head. After a few minutes of looking and thinking, he turned to me and said,

"I didn't know Sid-the-Kid was real.", and, a little later, "I didn't even know Roberts was real."

Just like that, his view of the world changed in an instant. And, just like that, my view of what's the most important thing that he can learn for his future life - that is his ability, in a media saturated world, to distinguish real from the imagined - also changed in an instant. Sure, sure, reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic are much needed tools for survival but, if you really think about it, when it comes to distinguishing between need and desire in a media world saturated with pictures (both moving and still) that are solely intended to seduce and excite the lust to consume, a basic understanding of what's real and what's fanciful is a very important skill to have.

A skill that most people seem to have ignored or never have possessed in the first place.

That is why, Hugo and I are about to embark upon a concentrated program of both picturing and picture viewing. Nothing real "heavy", just what seems to come naturally to him - he does seem to genuinely like to both make and look at pictures. and that's a language that I would very much like him to learn right along side the language of the written word that he is currently starting to learn.

Not to mention, I really like how kids see their world.
Hugo and Lily • click to embiggenIt is definitely quite different from the way adults see their world. IMO, that is is especially true when they picture each other. I believe that is so because when picturing each other, they relate to each other kid-to-kid as opposed to when an adult pictures them and they relate kid-to-adult.

I submit as evidence of my kid-to-kid vs kid-to-adult theory, the pictures that accompany this entry - the 2 kid-to-kid pictures above and my kid-to-adult picture on the left. IMO and to my eye and sensibilities, there is a sense of ease and directness as well as a far less posed quality that is very apparent in the kid-to-kid pictures than that which is captured in the kid-to-adult picture.

Call me crazy, but I am acutely aware - from viewing the pictures - of the fact that Lily and Hugo were sharing a very different picture making dynamic with each other from that which they were together sharing with me. Each gave to the other as part of the picturing act something that was quite different from that which they gave to me.

Both Hugo and Lily engaged in chimping after they made their respective pictures but neither have seen a print of their efforts. I will be especially eager to watch Hugo view his picture of Lily when he visits on New Year's day.

I really wonder what it is he will judge to be real.

civilized ku # 147 ~ back from the land of make-believe

Hugo gets a haircut at Fun Kuts Kids ~ Merchantville, NJ • click to embiggenNew Jersey just might be the absolute best example of what is wrong with America.

And, IMO, first on the list of wrongness is the unchecked suburban sprawl that has consumed so much of the state's rural landscape. One need only traverse the state - north to south (or vice-versa) - on the rolling parking lot called the NJ Turnpike to see firsthand what the hand of unregulated growth and development has wrought.

If this is what people consider to be living the American Dream, they can count me out. Way out. In my case, 300 miles out.

civilized ku # 145 ~ a swell time

Xmas dinner at The Lake Placid Lodge • click to embiggen
Tree trimming • click to embiggenAfter an absolutely wonderful Xmas eve of dinner and tree trimming at our house with Hugo and his mom and dad, followed by an equally fun Xmas morning and breakfast with the same crowd, the wife and I spent an afternoon of rest, relaxation, and recreation followed by dinner at The Lake Placid Lodge.

Tomorrow it's off to South Jersey with the same crowd for the big wife-family Xmas party with a 3 hour stop along the way in Newark, NJ to see the Pittsburgh Penguins play the New Jersey Devils.