still life # 9 ~ get onboard, the train's a-comin'

Bowl of fruit and produce lit by lamp • click to embiggenOK, let's get down to business, re: folios / let's swap.

The recent scorched-earth economic landscape that we all find ourselves inhabiting has been particularly hard on those things that might be labeled as frivolous - a new cellphone every 3 days, a really big flat-panel tv in every room, expensive "designer" clothing, and so on. One other major casualty that many might consider to be "frivolous" has been the art world, Big and small.

The word is that in that market revenues are down 70-80%. Galleries, new and old, large and small, are closing their doors. Some believe that the once vibrant Chelsea Art District is about to be given over to "junkies and whores". Maybe. Maybe not.

But, there is no denying the fact that sales have fallen off the bottom of the chart and that definitely includes the stuff in the Photography Division of that world. My friend Michael Gordon who derives at least some portion of his living from galleries sales - albeit it in the "lower" rungs of that system (which to say, not in the NYC/Big City scheme of things) - mentioned in our recent get-together that he had lost a couple galleries that sold his work. I assumed in the context of our discussion that he meant that those galleries had closed.

In any event, it is against that background and my long-time position that one of the medium's inherent characteristics that distinguish it from other genres is its ability to create an endless number of "originals" - a fact that should / could make it possible for prints to be priced within the reach of a modestly endowed ($$$$-wise) "collector". Alas and chagrin, this characteristic has rarely been explored by anyone other than the street-fair crowd but it does seem that the current state of the art market has lead some to at least start considering new ideas or the possibilities thereof.

Hence and to wit, my idea of the folio sales / exchange proposition. IMO, the web is the perfect place to start this endeavor because of its low startup and overhead costs. And, quite obviously, it is also possible to reach a very large audience on the web in relatively short order and, once again, at relatively low cost. All of these costs and issues are not a big deal.

The BIG DEAL is getting enough participants to get the whole shebang rolling and this where I could use your help - my free folio prints offer still stands and it could be expanded to include more recipients, and, while I still want to get this up and running ASAP, I am also willing to extent the timeframe for the free prints in order to accommodate those who are interested but not quite prepared to act so quickly.

I could also use your help in getting the word out about this endeavor - links on blogs / websites / mentions on photo forums and the like would be greatly appreciated. This truly is a situation where "the more the merrier" is the operative rule.

I am absolutely convinced that time has arrived for something new, re: the cost of collecting photographs. I don't think that the "old" gallery system will disappear (although it will be greatly reduced in numbers). Photographs will eventually and most likely still sell again for mucho $$$$ (again, in significantly reduced numbers). A "new" system will not wipe out the "old" one - IMO, they can peacefully and profitably co-exist in a symbiotic relationship.

My intent for The Landscapist for the immediate future is to devote a great deal of time, effort, and entry space on this endeavor. So, once again, I ask - how about it?

still life # 8 ~ it's hot and humid

A little strange • click to embiggen A couple good quotes to think about on a hot humid day here in the Adirondacks.

A Ming vase can be well-designed and well-made and is beautiful for that reason alone. I don't think this can be true for photography. Unless there is something a little incomplete and a little strange, it will simply look like a copy of something pretty. We won't take an interest in it. ~ John Loengard

Buying a Nikon doesn't make you a photographer. It makes you a Nikon owner. ~ Anonymous

still lfe # 7 ~ less is more

Natural grace • click to embiggenThe wife left these 2 flowers on my office floor as possible fodder for my decay series.

They have indeed been pictured and added to that series. However, I was struck by the simple and pure grace of the stems and wanted to picture just that essence and character. So, I pictured them in as simple and pure a manner as possible.

Just as the referent is simple, the connoted is as well - nothing "heavy", just the beauty of nature with a little bit about the nature of beauty thrown in for consideration.

nfscd # 5 - POD?

Duquesne Light contractor services ad • click to embiggenHas anyone besides Jim Jirka made any progress on a photo book? And, while I'm asking - Jim, would you like to share your progress with the audience via link to ShareInk?

I hope the initial enthusiasm for the idea hasn't petered out. I assume that the silence on the matter is because you're all working your butts to the bone making books.

Come on gang. Share your stuff. Let us see what only you know.

nfscd # 4 - jonesing

Rebuilding the rust belt • click to embiggenYou have probably noticed that I have been posting a number of 'blasts from the past' (aka, 'nfscd'). There are a number of reasons for this.

First and foremost, as I have mentioned, I have had to address the issue of 'sorting' all kinds of stuff as part of my office move. In the process, I have (once again) found how amazingly difficult it is to get rid of some stuff that's been hanging around for eons. Stuff that seems of little significance to others but, nevertheless, seems to have some kind of hold over me. Most probably that hold involves memories but don't discount the fact that I hang on to some things just because I like the way they look.

Another reason is simply because, of late, there seems to have been little interest in discussing Art. Maybe there has been interest in 'reading' (my page loads and visits are inching upward) what I have written on the subject, but there has been little response in the way of comments.

So, I have decided to keep it 'light' for a while. I refuse to indulge in pixel peeping, gear talk, and techno babble, as many other blogs do, in order to generate more comments. Who amongst you wants read comments about Canon vs Nikon vs Pentax vs Olympus, noise numbers, pixel counts, etc., especially when those comments are based on little more than personal likes and dislikes. Boring.

In any event, today's picture is an illustration for a magazine article about 'rebuilding the rust belt'. It's a Polaroid image transfer, hand-colored with Marshall oils and pencils, on Arches (ARCHES - Le choix des artistes depuis 1492) watercolor paper.

Polaroid image transfers (and emulsion transfers) are, of course, about to become a 'lost art'. I'm really having a hard time accepting the fact that an entire genre with so many creative possibilities is about to disappear, especially one that was so handmade intensive. I fully embrace digital and all of its creative possibilities but I am really jonesing to get involved in a photo process that requires touching something other than on/off buttons and a keyboard.

And, maybe that's related to memory as well. I would think that, if you've never done any handmade photography - wet darkroom, alternate processes, peeling apart polaroids, etc. - and therefore have no memory of it, you certainly can't miss it. You would also probably have no desire to do so.

What a pity.

still life # 6 ~ a medley

A medley of decay • click to embiggenAs I continue my still life and decay investigation / exploration, 2 'discoverys' have emerged from the proceedings.

1) Even if I try, I can't get way from visually complex 'compositions'.

2) Since my IKEA clip frame discovery, I have been making a picture, on average, every other day. Nothing new there, but what is new is that I am printing, clip framing, and wall mounting each new picture (and a few older ones) as I go. The realization that I have come to from this exercise is quite an epiphany - I used to think that the print was the thing but I have now come to realize that the print framed and mounted on a wall is an even better thing.

I photographed still life # 6 at around 8:45 this AM. By 10 AM it was framed and wall mounted.

What I am learning from this exercise is that if photography is the art of selecting what to picture (and how to picture it) and thus raising the referent to a higher level of 'importance', putting a framed picture on a wall helps greatly with the next level of 'selection'. Putting a picture on the wall elevates it once again to yet another level of 'importance'.

At this level of attention engendering 'importance', it becomes easier, at least for me, to relate to and 'judge' its ability to 'communicate' in a way that no screen viewing or even print in a portfolio can match.

Get framing people.

still life # 5 ~

Lime and slimey mushrooms • click to embiggenMy fascination with still life photography has many underpinnings, but 2 in particular stand out - 1) the relationship of shapes and forms, light and shadow, and 2) the ability to control those relationships.

In the contemporary era of photographs that present 'posed' people and 'staged' scenes as slices of 'reality', the idea of a 'made' photograph seems neither new nor daring. Although, 'made' photographs have existed since medium's earliest days, one could also venture that, currently, they are being 'made' with a vengeance. One could also venture that prior to this era of 'made'-picture frenzy, still life photography was the predominant genre of choice for 'made' pictures.

I have been making still life pictures for just shy of 40 years. My commercial photo life was comprised of approximately 60% still life photography although almost entirely so for the first 5-6 years (until my skill and talent for photographing people, especially women, emerged, thus launching a sub-career in fashion / people photography - the other 40%).

In any event, I have recently been engaged in which came first, the chicken or the egg ruminations about my skill and ability to control (in 'made' pictures) or recognize (in 'found' pictures) relationships of shapes and forms, light and shadow. I have realized that the 2 seemingly different talents / skills - to control, to recognize - are definitely one and the same.

Although, the fact that they are, on the one hand, one and the same does not negate the fact that, on the other hand, they each required a somewhat separate nurture and development. What I am now trying to recognize is whether or not my initial nurture and development of my still life sensibilities aided in the nurture and development of my subsequent 'found' picture sensibilities.

At my current state of rumination, I am inclined to think that the discipline(s) required of still life photography helped me in developing an overarching 'vision' that has been 'applied' to all of my subsequent picturing endeavors.

So, what I'm thinking is this - anyone else out there who has played with 'made' still life pictures?

If not, anyone out there who would like to play and post in a Still Life Gallery?

Update on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 11:47AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment:Steve Durbin wrote: "I also love still lifes, but in practice I'm almost always drawn outside to photograph. I absolutely agree that working with still life arrangements can have a big impact, whether deliberate or unconscious, on other photographing. I once posted on the subject, but more or less forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder about the connection."

Steve, thanks for the link.

Yo, all, I recommend the read and the accompanying comments. It's over on Art & Perception, a site that I visit (but not often enough).

still life # 2-3 ~ wherein I just can't help myself

Dead dry flowers, tomato and cherries • click to embiggenAs I mentioned once before, my commercial still life roots keep coming back to haunt me - that and my fascination with things as they loose their luster.

WARNING: wherein, in a horrific fit of self-contradiction, I write about painting and how it effects my photography.

Still life-wise, my attention has been drawn to 17th century Dutch painting - not so much the paintings themselves but more towards the cultural underpinnings of the Dutch painters and the appreciative Dutch 'general public'. It has been opined by those who should know (art historians) that two of the philosophical bases from which the Dutch artists worked were: that God's work is evident in the world itself; that, although things in this world are mortal and transitory, no facet of God's creation is too insubstantial to be noticed, valued, or represented.

Caveat: The Dutch Calvinist idea of God and my my idea of God differ considerably.

It has also been recognized that the Dutch projected much national pride in their Art as evidenced by works that glorified their bourgeois culture, their appreciation for material goods, and their enjoyment of the sensual pleasures of life. Despite this preoccupation with the material world, or, more likely because of it (and their Calvinist beliefs), they were aware of the consequences of wrong behavior. Paintings, even those representing everyday objects and events, often provide reminders about the brevity of life and the need for moderation and temperance in one's conduct.

All of that said, I am not setting out to imitate 17th century Dutch still life painting, but I am stuck by the many similarities in the underpinnings of my contemporary photography and those of the 17th century Dutch. I have presented all this in the spirit of the more you know, the more you can know.

OK. Now you can shoot me.