diptych # 129 / what is photograph? # 17-18 ~ beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and their kitchen)

what is # 17 • click to embiggen
what is # 18 • click to embiggen
water drop selfie / dried food ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

As the picture making beat goes on in my kitchen, I am still left pondering what's next? as well as what is a photograph? (both the body of work and the question itself). And, in the what's next? category, my desire to concentrate on constructed / made pictures may be being resolved in my kitchen.

Witness the individual pictures in today's diptych image. While they both qualify as still life pictures, one is, in fact, a found still life, the other is a construct/made still life. In either case, I must admit that I really like making still life pictures. That written, my real preference is for making construct/made still life pictures such as the dried food picture in the diptych.

Unlike the water drop selfie picture, which was just staring up at me fully formed from the kitchen sink, every element in the dried food picture was hand selected and deliberately placed / arranged within the confines of the picture's frame. There is absolutely nothing "found" about it. And, it was essentially 2 weeks in the making inasmuch as food tidbits were added - now and again as they became available - and allowed to age / dry.

Despite the exacting control exercised in the making of dried food, IMO, the water drop selfie is an equally strong / interesting still life picture. It simply doesn't suffer in any way from the fact that little, except the act of seeing, was involved in its making. To my eye and sensibilities, the arrangement of the objects, shapes, and colors within my carefully chosen / placed frame are quite exquisite. In fact, the way I see it, they are made more so by their serendipitous and unthinking placement which was quite independent of any picture making ambitions.

So, in terms of what's next?, making still life pictures, both found and construct/made, will be an area of picture making concentration. Not to the exclusion of adding to my other bodies of work, but with a deliberate effort to work within the still life genre. The only question which remains relative to this picture making pursuit is whether or not the pictures will all be made in my kitchen.

kitchen sink # 25 ~ thinking and decisions

spoon ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

In yesterday's entry, I mentioned that I had started to think about, while assembling the doors body of work, how the exercise of assembling all that work into separate collections began to feel something like, for lack of better terminology, an act of closure or the end of an era. However,not that I am about to stop making pictures, but I most definitely felt - and then thought about that feeling - that I was summing up what it was I have been doing for the last decade and a half, picture making wise.

Now I am left with the task of identifying the components which instigated that feeling and subsequent rumination.

Without question there was the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment which derives from putting all those ducks in a row or, to use another adage, that I have managed to be successful at herding cats. It is only natural that at the end (or so I perceive it to be) of that endeavor I was left with the overarching feeling of "now what?"

There was also a feeling that all the separate bodies of work were "accidental". They were all the result of "unintended consequences" which stemmed from my unfocused, referent wise, M.O. of making pictures. That is to write, I picture whatever pricks my eye and sensibilities, regardless of whatever the referent might be. And, what captures my attention the most is the possibility of transforming elements of the "real" 3-dimensional world onto the 2-dimensional representational world of the printed picture. Doing so with attention to the rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values in order to, as Garry Winogrand stated, find out what something will look like photographed.

That picture making M.O. had left me, post assembling endeavor, a little adrift inasmuch as I have been making pictures outside of the typical body of work M.O. - that is, finely focused attention to just one referent or thematic idea. Although, I make no excuses for that because that is quite simply how I'm wired / how I see (literally). That M.O. could be considered to be Part A of the overarching "now what?" question.

And that led directly to another question needing to be answered - having identified 12 individual bodies of work, can I go forth and make pictures which are the result of deliberately seeking out picture making opportunities to fit into a specific body of work? That possibility gives rise to the thought that, while looking for one specific referent, I might, in all probability, miss quite a few other picture making possibilities, whatever they might be.

Consequently, I have answered that question with a resounding "no". With that answer I have closed the door on the "end of an era" feeling. I can not end the making of pictures in the most "natural" (for me) manner in which I know how. My fear is that my picture making will become "forced" and not the spontaneous act that it now is and has been for what seems like forever. So I will continue to make pictures according to the dictates of my person-specic M.O. and let the results fall into whatever collection seems suitable.

And then there is "now what?" needing an answer - after all of my thinking and decision making, I am still left with the feeling / idea that I should pursue a new body of work which is driven by a deliberate and focused attention to specific theme / idea. And furthermore, that that theme / idea be undertaken within the new(ish) picture making paradigm of constructed or staged imagery ala Photoshop.

As an example, see my life without the APA work or my nascent what is a photograph work. Images - I hesitate to call them pictures - which were assembled / constructed from many bits and pieces of some of my existent pictures. In most cases, specifically life without the APA, those finished images were assembled from up to 12-15 different picture sources.

At this time have no specific notion as to what the theme / idea for this work will be. Continuing with and expanding upon the life without the APA or what is a photograph are two possibilities. However, there is also a nagging voice in my head which is trying to convince me - warning to wife, don't faint - to have people / persons be the focus of the new work. You may have noticed that people / persons are almost nonexistent - with the exception of single woman - in my various bodies of work.

In any event, there is still some thinking to do and decisions to be made.

diptych # 127 (kitchen sink) ~ one thing leads to another

side by side ~ in the sink • click to embiggen

Intending to make just one picture of the kitchen sink - the lipton tea bags and other garbage - I noticed the highlight on the stainless steel in the adjoining sink and couldn't pass it up, picture making wise.

kitchen sink ~ the book / gallery

covers • click to embiggen
quote / statement • click to embiggen
spread 1 • click to embiggen
spread 2 • click to embiggen
spread 3 • click to embiggen
spread 4 • click to embiggen
spread 5 • click to embiggen
spread 6 • click to embiggen
spread 7 • click to embiggen
spread 8 • click to embiggen
spread 9 • click to embiggen

The kitchen sink body of work is an outgrowth of my kitchen life body of work. In the act of making pictures for the kitchen life series, over time it became apparent that my kitchen sink needed separate attention inasmuch as it presented a very specific referent as opposed to picturing things which depict the generalized idea of life in the kitchen.

Making pictures for the kitchen sink series is a slow go. Even though I am constantly on the lookout for (to my eye and sensibilities) visually interesting arrangements in the sink, picturing opportunities are few and far between due to the fact that the arrangements are found as is / serendipitous / the result of happenstance and not made / constructed. Consequently, there can be long periods during which nothing pricks my eye and sensibilities and, therefore, no kitchen sink picture making.

I have given thought to making arrangements in the sink but have come to the conclusion that doing so would negative the entire point of the endeavor. That is, to recognize the random and serendipitous beauty to be found in the quotidian world.

diptych # 124 ~ as it should be

bathroom sink / kitchen sink ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

In his comment on the recent entry, civilized ku # 2869 ~ nothing if not wordy, Paul Bradforth wrote (in part):

.... I think my main grouch was that you, Mark, spend so much time talking about the finer points of what 'pictures' or 'art' is, while producing, at the same time, so much nice still-life work that I often think you lower the tone of it all with your proselytizing.

First, a caveat: I appreciate Paul's comment and input. I take no offense whatsoever and hope he (or others) continue to comment, pro or con, regarding any of the goings on here on The Landscapist. Expressing diverse opinions and ideas of what picture making is all about is, IMO, a good thing. A very good thing.

Second, a definition:

proselytizing: to convert or attempt to convert as a proselyte; recruit.

Third, my response to Paul's comment (not a retort but merely an explanation): Over the years, using words other than "proselytizing", some have accused me of speaking writing ex cathedra* regarding the medium and its apparatus ("talking about the finer points of what 'pictures' or 'art' is"). Amongst other things, I am fairly certain those comments stem from the fact that I have been demonstratively forthright in expressing my criticisms and opinions of some pictures and picture making ideas and conventions.

While it is not my intention to demean those who make those pictures or hold near and dear those picture making ideas and conventions, I am also certain (and take full responsibility for) that some take personal umbrage as the result of the expressing of my criticisms and opinions.

Given that I believe that cognitive criticism (as in, critique) is both valid and valuable, the operative word in the preceding paragraph is "opinion" inasmuch as I have never been proselytistic in my writings. That is, I have no desire to "convert" anyone to anything, picture things wise. I am merely expressing my opinions as I think out loud (so to write) as much for my own benefit - perhaps more so - as I do for others who may be tuning in.

Some appreciate, learn from, and come to their own conclusions based on my writings. Other think it's a steaming pile of elephant dung. And that's as it should be inasmuch as I'm not trying to please anyone other than myself.

Some visit for the pictures and in doing so appreciate, learn from, and come to their own conclusions, pro or con, about them. And that is as it should be inasmuch as I make pictures for myself according to the dictates of my eye and sensibilities.

All of that written, one thing visitors will never read from me is how they should do it or how they should think, picture making wise, or what kind of pictures they should like. And, as I have recently passed 3/4 million page views, I am assuming that, one way or another, someone somewhere is getting something out of it.

*from the seat of authority; with authority: used especially of those pronouncements of the pope that are considered infallible.

kitchen sink # 24 ~ genre purity

in the kitchen sink ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
flora / scanner photography • click to embiggen
still life for Duquesne Light ad ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen

First, a definition:

genre - a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like.

Second, an anecdote: There are many in the picture making world who abide by strict definitions of various picture making genres - landscape, portrait, street, still life, flora, fauna, wildlife, avain and the like - and they do not abide with any infringement or derivation from those definitions. As an example, on a couple of nature photography forums / sites on which I formerly posted pictures, each category / genre had strict guidelines for what could be posted on each genre category.

I primarily posted pictures on the Landscape forum where the pictures had to be of the nature world without any signs of humankind - no trails, paths, wakes in water, entrails in sky or structures of any kind or similar infringements on the purity of the landscape genre. Any landscape pictures with evidence of any of non-qualifing non-natural elements had to be posted in the Man and Nature forum. And so it went in other genre galleries. No birds in the Wildlife forum, only in Avian forum. Etc., etc., etc.

Each forum had an administrator / moderator (or two) who was charged with keeping things pure. I managed to cause quite a kerfuffle on the Flora forum when I began to post pictures of flowers which I made on a scanner (see above flower picture), aka: scanner photography. The proverbial shit it the fan in a big way. The flora nazis came out in force and comments ranged from the simple "that's not photography" to "the pictures are an insult to true flora photographers who go out into the field with all their gear (scrims, diffusers, reflectors, wind breaks, strobes, etc.) and their expertise."

On the back-channel discourse - moderator forum (not visible to public - the flora moderators, who had devolved into the photography equivalent of the soup nazi, became so incensed that the flora forum would include scanner pictures that they left the site to form their own "pure" flora site.

In any event, on the subject of the still life genre, photography division, the traditional (some might say "pure") definition of that genre has been pictures which depict an arrangement, preferably arranged by the picture maker, of inanimate objects. In my commercial picture making career, still life was a large part of my picturing making activity (see above Duquesne Light picture) to include products and food. And, yes indeed, I arranged all of the inanimate objects and my skill in doing so was highly regarded and highly compensated.

So, when I received a notice for submissions to the Art of Still Life juried exhibition, I submitted a traditional still life picture. That picture was one part found - the bowl with edible items - and one part made - I placed the bowl on a selected tray and determined the light used in making the picture. As mentioned previously, it was juried into the exhibition.

However, due to the number of submissions and eventual selections of pictures which were outside of the traditional definition of the still life genre - dresser top tableau, discarded roadside objects, and the like - a qualifier phrase, Marvelous Things, was added to the exhibition title. I was surprised by this development but was in no way dismayed.

In preparation for this entry, I looked around the web for still life pictures and, lo and behold, I discovered many examples of pictures labeled as still life that were considerably beyond the tradition definition thereof (see one example HERE).

Much of my current still life work is of found (see above kitchen sink picture) visually pleasing arrangements of inanimate objects as opposed to made arrangements. Nevertheless, virtually all of those pictures evidence the look of traditional made arrangement still life pictures. In some, I have moved an object into a more harmonious placement within the arrangement but, despite that intervention, the arrangements are truly found. Consequently, I have no issue with calling the pictures still life pictures in the traditional / pure definition of the genre.

All of that written, I am not a still life nazi, purity wise. And, I truly don't understand the fuss about purity of genre that so many hold so close to their picture making bosom.

kitchen life # 66 (kitchen sink) ~ President's Day tribute with ginger, bacon, and grapes

Presidents of the United States ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Unlike my other kitchen life / kitchen sink pictures, all of which are found still life arrangements, this picture is a constructed still life arrangement made for the purpose of celebrating President's Day here in the US of A. On the subject of still life pictures, a recent entry on Eric Fredine's blog, Constructive Discussion, Eric wrote:

I’ve never been drawn to still life. But the exhibition Marvelous Things: The Art of Still Life curated by Aline Smithson (author/publisher of LensScratch) expanded my concept of still life. I realized still life encompassed a broad range of objects and could be a found scene.

I found both the idea of still life as defined by the Marvelous Things exhibition and its influence on Eric's thinking to be thought provoking inasmuch as I have always had, as a life long practitioner of the making still life pictures (commercial and fine art), a different idea regarding what the pictorial boundaries of the genre are.

However, today being a holiday on which my house has been occupied* (for 4 days) by 12 visiting relatives from NJ and NYC, I will postpone delving into that subject until tomorrow.

*For some reason or another, my thoughts on this President's Day are drawn to President George Washington and his dealings with the invading Hessian horde.

kitchen sink ~ the book / gallery

covers and spine• click to embiggen
quote page and statement page• click to embiggen
spread 1• click to embiggen
spread 2• click to embiggen
spread 3• click to embiggen
spread 4• click to embiggen
spread 5• click to embiggen
spread 6• click to embiggen
spread 7• click to embiggen
spread 8• click to embiggen
spread 9• click to embiggen

The time has come to make a kitchen sink book. Inasmuch as I only picture the kitchen sink when a serendipitous still life arrangement pricks my eye and sensibilities - as opposed to constructing a still life arrangement - it took a while for me to have enough pictures of the kitchen sink to make a book and a companion folio.

While there most certainly is a similarity between this book and the kitchen life book, IMO, kitchen sink is a distinctly different body of work. It has a very specific thematic referent as opposed to the general life still life arrangements as found and pictured around my kitchen.

As always, comments and opinions are both welcome and appreciated.