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This blog is intended to showcase my pictures or those of other photographers who have moved beyond the pretty picture and for whom photography is more than entertainment - photography that aims at being true, not at being beautiful because what is true is most often beautiful..

>>>> Comments, commentary and lively discussions, re: my writings or any topic germane to the medium and its apparatus, are vigorously encouraged.

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BODIES OF WORK ~ PICTURE GALLERIES

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    ADK PLACES TO SIT / LIFE WITHOUT THE APA / RAIN / THE FORKS / EARLY WORK / TANGLES

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In Situ ~ la, la, how the life goes onLife without the APADoorsKitchen SinkRain2014 • Year in ReviewPlace To SitART ~ conveys / transports / reflectsDecay & DisgustSingle WomenPicture WindowsTangles ~ fields of visual energy (10 picture preview) • The Light + BW mini-galleryKitchen Life (gallery) • The Forks ~ there's no place like home (gallery)


Entries in selection (6)

Monday
Dec012014

diptych (selection) # 17-18 ~ reality

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under a bridge # 1 ~ Strip District / Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
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under a bridge # 2 ~ Strip District / Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Paraphrasing Richard Avedon:

The pictures have a reality for me that the people pictured referents don’t. It is through the photographs that I know them. ~ Richard Avedon

Thursday
Nov202014

diptych (selection) # 8-13 ~ fabricating camera angles

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bridge and bramble ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
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late Autumn color ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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Vermont view ~ Lewis, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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steeple ~ Pittsford, NY • click to embiggen
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shed / vine ~ Whalenberg, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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motorcycle / house ~ Glens Falls, NY • click to embiggen

There is a lot of talk about camera angles; but the only valid angles in existence are the angles of the geometry of composition and not the ones fabricated by the photographer who falls flat on his stomach or performs other antics to procure his effects. - Henri Cartier-Bresson

I am continuing along the merry road of my diptych (selection)* project, which is essentially a multiple choice exercise in the "... recognition, in real life, of a rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values" (Henri Cartier-Bresson) - as is all of my picture making. That written, as I make my multiple choice selections, I am also holding true to my continuing picture making habit of not fabricating angles by means of physical gymnastics.

That is to write, 92.5-94.9% of all of my picture making has been performed by lifting a camera to my eye while standing fully upright.

The primary reason for that habit is really quite simple - I picture what I see and, for the most part, I see, picture making wise, standing upright. The other 5.1-7.5% of the time, picture making wise, I make pictures at eye level, albeit that that level might be while sitting or horizontally reclining.

In any event, it is safe and accurate to write that, when a referent pricks my eye and sensibilities, I picture it in the exact same body posture I was in when I first noticed it.

*FYI For those who haven't read it, the work-in-progress Artist Statement is HERE

Thursday
Nov132014

civilized ku # 2826 / diptych (selection) # 7 ~ because the individual is different

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stonework / St. Joseph's Oratory ~ Montreal, Quebec, CA • click to embiggen
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fence and leaves ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
I am in total agreement with Harry Callahan's notion of:

The photographs that excite me are photographs that say something in a new manner; not for the sake of being different, but ones that are different because the individual is different and the individual expresses himself. I realize that we all do express ourselves, but those who express that which is always being done are those whose thinking is almost in every way in accord with everyone else. Expression on this basis has become dull to those who wish to think for themselves. ~ Harry Callahan

In my experience, the art - photography, painting / illustration, sculpture, film, literature, et al - that excites me is that which is created by those who think for themselves and whose thinking is, in many ways, NOT in accord with everyone else. Consequently, many years ago, I lost any and all interest in art, especially photography, which is little more than an imitative rehash / expression of that which came before. That type of expression is, indeed for me and many others, dull, dull, dull.

Robert Adams most definitely had it right when he wrote that The failure of classicism .... is the cliché, the ten thousandth camera-club imitation of a picture by Ansel Adams. That type of picture cliché (and many others) are the result of, plain and simple, people making pictures without thinking for themselves. All they seem to be capable of is, as Brooks Jensen wrote, making pictures of "what they have been told is a good picture", aka: thinking in accord with everyone else, rather than "photographing what they see", aka: thinking / seeing for themselves.

And, FYI, much in line with Adams' ten-thousandth camera-club imitation cliché, it was Brooks Jensen who wrote:

We are fast approaching critical mass on photographs of nudes on a sand dune, sand dunes with no nudes, Yosemite, weathered barns, the church at Taos, New Mexico, lacy waterfalls, fields of cut hay in the afternoon sun, abandoned houses, crashing waves, sunsets in color, and reflected peaks in a mountain lake.

In any event and all of that written, much has been thought / written / talked about the notion of creativity, not just in the arts but in any human endeavor. Many believe one either has it or one doesn't, what many refer to as a gift or a god-given ability. Others believe if you work hard enough at developing it, it will come. In my particular case, I have always come down on the side of the former rather than the latter but ...

... in either case, thinking for yourself is a critical component of creativity. In fact, I would venture the opinion that creativity and thinking for yourself are essentially synonymous concepts or, at the very least, so intertwined as to be nearly inseparable.

Hence, even if you are gifted with creativity, you still need to think for yourself in order to effectively channel and use your gift. If you are not so gifted, thinking for yourself, aka: thinking outside of the box, is about the only way I know of to develop and foster a reasonable and functionable facsimile of the so-called gift of creativity.

So, when I have been asked for advise regarding developing one's own personal vision, picture making wise, my response has been to suggest that thinking for one's self is a form of creativity which inexorably leads to a form of personal vision. Following the crowd will lead one only to imitation, which is, essentially, the death of one's imagination.

Think (for yourself) about it.

Tuesday
Nov112014

diptych (selection) # 5-6 ~ a right answer with some right questions

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Sailly Avenue ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
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store window ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
On the entry in which I introduced my nascent body of work, diptych (selection), John Linn commented:

This is an interesting idea, letting the viewer choose the framing, but it seems to eliminate (or reduce) the judgment and control of the picturemaker. Or is the picturemaker saying, they are both good... or I have not decided? And regardless of what the viewer chooses, both versions are still there ... The two framings do make a bigger difference than would be expected (at least by me).

My thanks to John for taking the time to comment, especially so inasmuch as he came to grasp some, but not all, of the questions / points that I hope my diptych (selection) work will pose for viewers.

That written, I don't pretend to have answers to any of John's questions or any others that may arise with the viewing of these diptychs. However, I will write that the judgement / control of the picture maker (aka: me) is not compromised in any way - each individual picture has been created by the picture maker using all of the judgement / control, re: selection and framing, at his disposal. The result is two different looks - two of a myriad of choices - at the same referent.

Is one choice better than the other? That's up to the viewer to decide, however, my intention is not to set up a competition between the two results. Rather, it is to present the two views together as a singular / synergistic look at the same referent. Which, when viewed by a thoughtful observer, will result in a number of questions / ideas / thoughts about the medium and its apparatus.

Tuesday
Nov042014

diptych (selection) # 2-4 ~ the right answer

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halloween door ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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halloween door # 2 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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table with fall centerpiece ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
With this entry I am introducing a new body of work / series (see the following entry for diptcyh (selection) # 1), tentatively titled selection and a tentative artist statement to accompany the work:

It has been suggested by many that making a picture is primarily, first and foremost, an act of selection by the picture maker. That act is a two-part endeavor, an act regarding the choice of referent and, concomitantly, an act regarding what to include / exclude in the creation of the frame. These two primary and essential picture making components hold true no matter the choice of tools or the choice regarding where to stand when making a picture.

Given the same referent, no two picture makers will create the same answer to the act of selection inasmuch as the multifaceted act of selection is always a uniquely personal act. As such, the act of selection constitutes a vital element in the development and refinement of a personal vision. It is, in fact, how one sees in a picture making sense.

For some, myself included, the act of selection is serendipitous regarding the choice of referent and intuitive regarding the notion of inclusion / exclusion. Which is to write, I picture those everyday things, whatever they might be, which capture my attention. In doing so, I create the frame by feel rather than by rule. For as it was stated by Edward Weston, "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk."

One of the facets of this new body of work which excites and pleases me is the fact that I can continue to picture whatever catches my eye as opposed to sticking to one related thematic referent as is customary in an individual body of work. And given that I always go out and about with 2 camera bodies - one with a moderate wide angle lens, the other with a moderate telephoto lens - I will make the two pictures (of the same referent) in a given diptych, one with the wide angle, one with the telephoto. Both pictures will be made from the same angle of view but at differing distances.

In addition, given that it has been opined that a good picture creates more questions than answers, I will leave it up to the viewer to determine which of the two pictures in a given diptych is the right answer (for them), re: the act of selection.

Friday
Oct312014

diptych (selection) # 1 / civilized ku # 2823 ~ a+b+c

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driveway with leaves and foliage ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
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breakwall ~ Essex, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
To my eye and sensibility, the best pictures (made within the medium of photography and its apparatus) - the ones which capture and hold my attention and interest - are those which are: a) a document / representation / depiction of the real in a truthful / factual manner; b) in which the depicted referent steps outside of the boundaries / confines of conventional referent matter; and c) does so in such a manner as to create, independent of the depicted referent and the "rules" of convention photographic composition*, a visually interesting structure of the elements - shapes, form, color, tonality - as viewed on the 2D surface of the photographic print ....

.... all of which is to write, beautiful prints - as objects in and of themselves - of referents which are often seen but to which very few are paying attention.

In any event, Ansel Adams, when asked which to save first from a burning house - the wife or the negatives?, responded ...

My wife - she could help me get the negs out!

I'm with Sir Ansel on that one.

* what Stephen Shore refers to as "art sauce".