single woman # 27 / triptych # 17 ~ context and conceits

single woman ~ Toronto, CA • click to embiggen
La Tour CN Tower ~ Toronto, CA • click to embiggenJust as the Lone Ranger was repeatedly asked in the recent Lone Ranger movie - "What's with the mask?" - I have often been asked - "What's with the black border?" Here are a few thoughts from others on the subject (borders) followed by my thoughts on the same:

Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

To quote out of context is the essence of the photographer's craft .... The central act of photography, the art of choosing and eliminating forces a concentration on the picture's edge - the line that separates in from out - and on the shapes that are created by it .... The line of decision is the picture's edge .... The photographer edits the meanings and patterns of the world through an imaginary frame. The frame is the beginning of his picture's geometry. It is to the photographer as the cushion is to the billiard table. ~ John Szarkowski - THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE

I use a black border for a number of reasons:

1. back in the day of film picture making, it was not uncommon for picture makers to print with a negative holder which had been modified to allow a part of the unexposed edge of the film to be printed. One of the most oft cited reasons for this was to demonstrate that the picture maker in question didn't need no stinking easel blades to crop his/her pictures. No siree! "Cropping" was performed in-camera at the moment the picture was made. Post-picturing cropping during printing was only for amateurs and incompetent boobs. I am not a boob. Hence, black borders.

2. while any observer should know / recognize when viewing a picture, the edges of the picture are where the picture ends. They should should also know / recognize that the picture maker has consciously decided where to put an end to his/her picture information. However, some observers are boobs and I use a black border to make my picture ending decisions very unavoidably obvious. And, for the other picture viewing boobs who are much concerned with art about art / photography about photography, I hope the black border gives them some comfort and joy when viewing my pictures.

3. in a tip of the hat to John Szarkowski and his "as the cushion is to the billiard table" analogy, I must admit that I have always used black borders for just that analogical reason - most of my square pictures evidence a center-weighted form of design. However, I have always quite deliberately ignored the notion that a picture should have only one principal idea, topic, or center of interest to which the viewer's eyes are attracted. No siree, not for me! IMO, that idea is a good one only for simple-minded boobs who are not, re: the acts of picture making or picture viewing, very good at visual multi-tasking. So, since I am not a simple-minded boob, I tend to pack my pictures with a fair amount of visual information - aka: visual energy - which most often is floating / hovering around my central and centered primary visual referent. And it is here where my black border comes into play - as the viewer's eye is moving about the visual field, drawn by various shapes, colors, forms, collateral referents, etc. - aka: design strategies - the eye inevitably bangs into one of my billiard cushions and ricochets - visually speaking, a glancing (blovius 1 / jimmi nuffin 0) rebound - back toward the central referent. Black border mission accomplished.

3a. the glancing rebound effect is also a get your ass, visually wise, back where it belongs. That is to write, within the edges of my vision where the stuff I have selected that want you to see can be found. Sure, there's a whole world beyond the black border, but that's why I make a lot of pictures of other stuff. However, the time for viewing them is later. The time for viewing this picture is now. Pay attention.

4. when I first began making digital medium pictures, I was not very impressed with the idea that digital-based picture making was changing the medium and its apparatus (aka: conventions - not gear). How pictures were/are being made, gear and technique wise, has certainly changed but the bottom line is still the same - a good picture is a good picture no matter how it was/is made. Additionally, a good picture is a good picture inasmuch as the brains behind the operation are what matters most and that aspect of the medium and is apparatus has not changed a whit. Consequently, part of reason for using a black border in my digital-based picture making is to reference the history of the medium and its apparatus (see reason # 1) to make that point. Hence, the other question, black border related, I hear quite often (although never from the medium and its apparatus history deficient boobs)- "Are you still using film?" - which, to my way of thinking, confirms my belief, re: picture making, that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

5. for a long time I have been in the habit of employing black borders and like all habits, good or bad, it has taken on a life of its own to the point where my pictures seem unfinished / naked without it. Consequently, all of the preceding reasons, rationalizations, and conceits aside, I just flat out like the way my pictures look with a black border.

civilized ku # 2689 / single women # 26 / picture windows # 62 / kitchen life # 49 ~ another useless artist

Another Useless Artist ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
single women ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen

picture windows ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen

kitchen life ~ Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggenEven though I continue to be very productive picture making wise - 100+ new pictures in the last 30 days - I am feeling more than just a bit un-focused / aimless or, perhaps more accurately, plain and simple just flat out restless.

As evidenced by today's picture entries, in just the last week I have made additions to several of my bodies of work, including more which are not included here. And, it's worth noting that I am rather pleased with the work I have been adding to my various picture projects. I am even contemplating the start of yet another separate body of work which would begin completely from scratch.

Consequently, I can write with both conviction and certainty that I am not suffering from a picture maker's mental block, a deficiency of picture making motivation, or feelings of picture making inadequacy. No, not at all. After careful rumination and contemplation, there is no doubt in my mind that my current restless picture-related mental state does not stem from any of those picture making maladies.

Rather, I am quite certain that the bee in my bonnet, thorn in my side, idée fixe or monomania is instigated by the fact that I have not exhibited - gallery or art institution wise - any of my pictures for the better part of a year. Quite frankly, I don't find exhibition opportunities scarce or hard to come by. That is to write, when I set my mind to seeking them out. However, the truth of the matter is that I have been a slacker of sorts in that department.

I believe the reason for that situation is simple - most of my recent exhibits have been in not-for-profit art organization / institution galleries. Galleries which have funding which is not dependent upon selling something. Consequently, gallery goers who frequent those venues, generally speaking, are most interested in looking at rather than looking to acquire art.

Privately owned for-profit galleries are an entirely different matter. In order to exist, they need to sell something and in the process, make a profit. When the owner / director of such a place makes a decision to exhibit an artist, they do so with making a profit in mind - will the artwork appeal to and subsequently sell to their clientele? Which, in very real manner, makes getting one's work into a private gallery a real challenge.

Not only does an artist have to make interesting art but he/she must then find a gallery owner / director receptive to the work and who has a clientele receptive to the work and is willing to part with $$$$ to acquire it. Trying to win that trifecta is indeed a very daunting challenge.

All of that written, I want to exhibit my work in more privately owned galleries. That desire is fueled by my wish to sell pictures, but .... I want to sell pictures, not for the $$$$ (although I won't turn it down), but for the satisfaction of knowing there those who appreciate my work and are willing to part with something of value ($$$) to acquire something they consider to be of value, aka; one (or more) of my pictures.

So, it's time to make a plan*, get off my butt and implement that plan, and then sell some pictures.

*The biggest challenge I face in making a plan is to decide which of my bodies of work do I develop my plan around.

diptych # 35 ( picture window # 50 / single women # 26) ~ the beat goes on

picture window / single women ~ Chelsea, NYC / Hoboken, NJ • click to embiggenSometimes some projects just seem to slide on by without much attention. I really don't know whether that's because: a) I have too many projects going on, b) I can't bring myself to focus on just one body of work, c) the world at large just offers up to many diverse picturing referents, or, d) fear of commitment.

Whatever the cause - and I suspect that it's an unholy combination of all of the above multiple choice answers - while I was in NYC and environs, I did manage to add to 2 of my longstanding bodies of work, picture windows and single women.

single women # 25 ~ feet up / eyes down

Reading ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen

single women # 24 ~ my intentions made more clear

Bartender ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenA couple weeks ago, in response to my single women ~ ready to go / I like to watch entry, Sven W (no link provided) stated that he thought the body of work was "More of a mixed bag this lot -- some strong images and some not so strong." I requested that he give me/us a more detailed explanation, re: his comment, and he did so. You can read his complete response HERE.

As I read it, it seems that Sven was bothered by 2 main points: 1) "Some images are too ambiguous for me, to the point where I'm wondering what they are about.", and 2) "...this woman is at her work ... I was expecting women in a social type of situation."

My response: I appreciate that Sven has told it like he sees it and that's exactly as it should be. And, as I stated in my request for an expanded critique, my request was not a setup for an opportunity to "defend" my work nor to "refute" or contest his critique in order to change his perception / opinion regarding the body of work. So, in that spirit, ....

Let me address point # 2 first - Sven had an expectation that the body of work would focus on women in social situations, which was never my intention or stated intention. The intention of my single women picturing is and has been to pictorially isolate (to single out) a single woman, that is to state one woman, who attracts my eye and attention in whatever situation they might be found.

None of the pictured women are alone. In virtually every instance, they are part of a larger gathering / crowd of people. Whether my subjects / referents are amongst an arena full of people, sitting at a desk at work or in a pub, shopping at a mall, or wherever, I have singled them out for special attention. As far as I am concerned the venue / location is immaterial inasmuch as ones' eye and attention can be directed toward a single woman no matter where one might be.

Re: point # 1: "ambiguity" and "wondering what they are about" - It could be stated that most of my "art" pictures are rather ambiguous, in part because I am more interested in raising questions rather than in providing any easy answers. In that regard my single women pictures are no different from, say, my picture window or life in my kitchen pictures. In all cases, I am pointing the camera's gaze toward something I think merits attention, from myself and, hopefully, from others.

Concerning "what they are about", first and foremost, on one level, the pictures are about looking at women, one woman at a time - here's a person who caught my eye and attention and you can look at her too. Nothing more, nothing less. Make of it / them what you may.

However, on another level, the pictures have something to say about how, on a daily basis, people look at other people (the voyeur in all of us) - most generally with fleeting / furtive glances, avoiding eye contact. Looking at the surface of things (in this case, a person) and imagining what it's about with little or no depth beyond what one sees.

And, of course, in the case of making pictures of these women, they are even more about "surface" impressions (on the surface of a print) which lack any depth. So there's also that art-speak thing going for them, meaning wise.

All of that said, I have intentionally avoided including an Artist Statement with any of my recently edited bodies of work. In part, because I haven't finalized them and because I am interested in reading / hearing reactions to the pictures without any verbal input from me.

single women ~ ready to go / I like to watch

All pictures ~ • click to embiggen5 down, 4 to go.

Update on Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 03:26PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Sven W (no link provided) wrote: "More of a mixed bag this lot -- some strong images and some not so strong."

my response: Sven, as always, your comments are always appreciated .... however .... this comment is neither here nor there, re: my understanding of what you find "strong" and what you find "not so strong". I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to write just a bit about a few pictures that you find "strong", a few others that you find "not so strong" and, most appreciated, the reasoning that define your choices.

This is not a set up for me to try to convince you to change your opinions. I would just really like to know, in a bit of detail, what you (or anyone else out there) think - beyond "like" / "dislike" - about those pictures. As I have stated, it would be greatly appreciated.

single woman # 23 ~ outside

Polka dot blouse ~ Binghamton, NY • click to embiggenDuring our recent visit to Binghamton, the wife and I met the kids for a beer at a local college hangout> I was a really nice day so we took our beers out onto a small deck which, unfortunately for us and as it turned out, was where the smokers hang out.

So much for fresh air.

single woman # 22 ~ guarding my cameras

Sleeping ~ Westmont, NJ • click to embiggen

I am not interested in showing my work to photographers any more, but to people outside the photo-clique. My pictures are not escapes from reality, but a contemplation of reality, so that I can experience life in a deeper way. ~ Bruce Davidson

I am of a like mind because, in my experience, no one sees pictures as a representation / contemplation of reality better than a non-photographer observer. Which is not to state that picture makers can not do so, but, in fact, most "serious" amateur picture makers (and some "pros") can't get by the particulars of craft / gear/ technique when viewing pictures - for them, the mechanics of the medium just seem to obscure the message(s) thereof.