BODIES OF WORK ~ PICTURE GALLERIES
BODIES OF WORK ~ BOOK LINKS
In Situ ~ la, la, how the life goes on • Life without the APA • Doors • Kitchen Sink • Rain • 2014 • Year in Review • Place To Sit • ART ~ conveys / transports / reflects • Decay & Disgust • Single Women • Picture Windows • Tangles ~ fields of visual energy (10 picture preview) • The Light + BW mini-gallery • Kitchen Life (gallery) • The Forks ~ there's no place like home (gallery)
Friday, March 18, 2016 at 08:19AM 
Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 10:16AM 
According to a NY Times LENS blog article, Shore is highly invested in Instagram and he shoots regularly, using Instagram like a sketchbook, posting one picture daily, always something made within the past week.
Shore's involvement with Instagram is such that he, along a few others, founded a new publishing venture - a quarterly periodical, Documentum - wherein they turn digital into analog. The first edition - limited to 1000 copies (I have ordered mine) - was accompanied by an exhibition at an Atlanta art gallery where prints made of Instagram pictures "sold like hotcakes".
For the record, Documentum is "a guest-curated periodical archiving and examining cultural phenomena" so it might be safe to assume that it won't always be devoted to publishing Instagram pictures. However, if you wish to see the current crop of Instagram pictures as selected by the folks at Documentum, they can be viewed at documentum.tv.
Re: what's it all mean? - I'll have some thoughts on that question within the next couple days.Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 10:36AM 
60 from the 60s is a collection of 60 BW prints from 10 photographers' work made in the 1960s. The collection was selected from the George Eastman House archive. The featured artists are Harry Callahan, Benedict J. Fernandez, Hollis Frampton, Betty Hahn, Robert Heinecken, Mary Ellen Mark, Roger Mertin, Arnold Newman, Aaron Siskind, and Garry Winogrand.
It would seem - due to the fact that I found links to the exhibition which indicated several locations - that the exhibition is a traveling exhibition which is moving about the country. However, I can find no evidence of exhibition tour dates. If, by chance, it should show up anywhere in or near your vicinity, I would highly recommend seeing it.
FYI, the 2 prints pictured in the lower diptych in this entry were 2 of Hugo's favorites. The Norman Rockwell illustration - part of a small Rockwell exhibit at Hyde Collection - was labeled by Hugo as "whoa, that's heavy". The Benedict J. Fernandez POT IS FUN picture of Allen Ginsberg incited a sheepish smile from Hugo. In Hugo's opinion, it ranked right up there with a Mary Ellen Mark picture and an Arnold Newman portrait.Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 05:59PM 
Friday, February 19, 2016 at 11:21AM 
As an aid to help clarify my approach to finding the words which come close to defining / explaining my reaction, personal meaning wise, to the punctum baby picture, I am re-reading the book ,READING PHOTOGRAPHS ~ UNDERSTANDING THE AESTHETICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY which was published in 1978 and which I read for the first time a long time ago.
FYI, the book is a collection of 9 essays (on average, only 2 pages each) covering 9 topics - such as, Time, Organization of space, Symbol and Light - all illustrated with a number of pictures relative to the topic. The book is an easy and somewhat informative read.
However, as I read it I am starting to think that I what I really need to do is to re-read a few chapters in Susan Sontag's book, On Photography. So, I guess I'll throw that book into my suitcase.Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 09:45AM 
Part I will deal with the craft to be seen in the print, itself. Craft, whether intention or the result of dumb unthinking luck, which is rather striking. Addressing this aspect of the picture has not been particularly difficult. Although, in fact, the craft does play a significant part in how the picture affects me.
Part II will deal with the picture's emotional / mental impact and affect on my feelings and sensibilities. My understanding of that impact - both how and the why - is where I struggle. That is to write, having the ability to connect to (understand) and to put into words what could be described as my complete fascination with the picture and why I consider it to be the most beautiful and intriguing picture I have ever seen. Or least, one of the most beautiful and intriguing pictures I have ever seen.Friday, February 12, 2016 at 09:26AM 
After the movie and while still at the theater, I encountered 2 picture making opportunities but was dismayed that I did not have a camera with me - I never bring a camera into a theater so they were all out in the car.
While standing at the first picturing possibility and lamenting the no-camera situation, I realized that I did have a picture making device on my person - my new iPhone 6s Plus. Since I hadn't really had a "serious" picture making opportunity with the device, I figured this was a good time to give it a go.
The results are quite good. Good enough that, in a pinch and with the right circumstance (decent light being the prime requirement), the device is capable of making very serviceable image files. So, while I primarily limited my picture making self, with my antiquated iPhone 4, to making pictures which would be manipulated with a photo app, this device will suffice in those rare situations when I am without a camera.
That written, I will be using the device for picture making while in Ireland and Scotland. Not as my primary picture maker but for a very specific self-assigned picture making project - that is, a series of selfies (selfie stick and all) made at various locations and situations on the trip. FYI, I am still pondering a number of ideas which will add a twist to the "traditional" selfie picture genre.Friday, February 5, 2016 at 09:59AM 
The major new survey of contemporary photography considers the work of 80–100 photographers through eleven thematic chapters on subjects such as street photography, portraiture, landscape photography and documentary. It traces the development of photography as an art form in each of these genres individually and also looks at the ties and links between them. What is revealed is a complex story with numerous tangents. Mark Durden's narrative, combined with rich illustrative content and an easily accessible design, guides a clear path through this story, showcasing the work of great individual photographers while also being able to place this into the larger narrative of the medium's development.
Writing a book about contemporary photography is a bit of a thankless task since the moment it’s published, there already is something else that is not included in the book. But completeness cannot be the goal of such books. Inevitably, something will be missing, for whatever reason. There will probably also be categories, resulting in debates whether artist XYZ should not have in fact been placed elsewhere, or whether some category might be missing.
The task thus is to present photography in such a way that any reader will be able to move forward after having engaged with the book. S/he might disagree with some of the choices, but s/he will know why, and – crucially – s/he will have a much easier time engaging with the medium on her or his own. Photography Today succeeds brilliantly doing just that.
In any event, this book is highly recommended for anyone who has a more than a casual relationship with picture making / the medium and its apparatus. I picked my copy up during my recent visit to Montreal. The book can be had in the $40-50.00USD range. A veritable bargain when judged against the $59.00USD cost of the lens shade for my recently acquired 12mm Zuiko lens.
*the word "apparatus" in this context should understood to mean "photo strategies", not gear / equipment.