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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

  • my new GALLERIES WEBSITE
    ADK PLACES TO SIT / LIFE WITHOUT THE APA / RAIN / THE FORKS / EARLY WORK / TANGLES

BODIES OF WORK ~ BOOK LINKS

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 from December 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010

Monday
Dec272010

civilized ku # 805 ~ testing the new iPad

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Tree with dried leaves ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
I'm sitting here in a in a hotel restaurant - in suburban south Jersey, the day after the big storm - waiting for my pancakes and egg. The place is crawling with stranded air-travelers, many of whom are speaking in foreign tongues. Since the Nor'easter has "paralyzed" the northeast, many of them will be here (in the hotel) a bit longer than I will be.

That's because our "little" intrepid Suzuki SX4 (iAWD) is parked outside, awaiting our driving pleasure, after transporting me, the wife, and Hugo to our actual destination - this hotel. Yesterday, we drove into the teeth of the storm about 120 miles north of here and proceeded to spend the next 5 hours negotiating our way through all kinds of vehicular mayhem and wreckage. Quite obviously, there were a whole bunch of people out on the roads who had no business being there.

In any event, here I sit, typing away on our new iPad, waiting for the Apple store to open so I can test drive (and maybe purchase) a Mac Air for use as my portable picture making assistant.

And, no, we didn't drive all this way just to go to the Apple store. Last evening was the wife's family Xmas party.

Wednesday
Dec222010

civilized ku # 804 ~ just in case you were sleep walking

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Emergency Exit / Borders Bookstore ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Intense yellow with a dash of red.

Tuesday
Dec212010

civilized ku # 803 ~ who knows? anything could happen

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Tahawus (Masonic) Lodge No. 790 ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Over the past year, a NYC-based Dance organization has acquired the long-abandoned masonic building eyesore on Main Street here in Au Sable Forks. Thanks to a Main Street Revitalization Grant, some renovation and cleanup has been completed on the building although, relatively speaking, what has been done is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to what needs to be done in order to make this project viable.

There is a proposed Windows of Change gallery for the storefront space which, quite frankly, is rather small / cramped to say the least. Their idea for that space is for a (yet another) gallery that will feature works by local and visiting artists. Yawn .....

That said, I plan to meet with the owners and propose something completely different ....

Tuesday
Dec212010

ku # 831-34 ~ random thoughts 

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Birch with new fallen snow near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

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Snowy tangle # 1 near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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Snowy tangle + field near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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Snowy tangle # 2 near Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
For the most part, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day is, for me, an a kind of intellectual dead zone. My mind tends to be occupied by things that don't require a lot of critical thinking. Not that getting the wife the perfect Xmas gift isn't critical, it's just that, between family / social commitments and other holiday considerations, time seems to fly by with little or no time for anything, thought wise, that requires a bit of contemplative downtime.

That said, I have been struck with some random thoughts, picture making wise, over the past couple weeks. But, under the holiday circumstances, instead of bloviating about them, over the next week couple weeks, I'll just put them out there for future consideration.

And, please, never forget that your consideration and feedback are a vital part of the dialogue.

Tuesday
Dec212010

civilized ku # 802 ~ Happy Holidays to you and yours

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Lamp shade • click to embiggen
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Our Xmas card • click to embiggen
A random thought, relative to Snowy tangle # 2 (in the previous entry) and to a previous entry about "abstract" pictures, is summed up rather neatly by this thought from Sir Ansel (circa 1932) ...

In a strict sense photography can never be abstract, for the camera is incapable of synthetic integration.

I'm totally in agreement with this notion but it's important to note that Adams' was opining about the camera's capabilities, not those of the picture maker who, for better or for worse, has plenty of "synthetic integration" tools and techniques at his/her command - especially so in the post-picture making digital domain.

Tuesday
Dec212010

civilized ku # 801 ~ random thoughts / on seeing

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Hollywood Xmas decorations ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
I am certain that there has been some disappointment on the part of some Landscapist followers relative to the on seeing series of entries - a series that is in equal measure far from refinement and far from finished.

That said and to give you an idea of the struggle involved in fully articulating my process of seeing, consider the words of Sir Ansel ...

... it is increasingly clear to me that my art relates more and more to a sublimation of my closeness to the natural world, it's events, light itself, and the positive... it is a personal expression based on observation and reaction, that I am not able to define except in terms of the work itself.

The only caveat I would offer to that notion is that my "sublimation of my closeness" is to the world in general as opposed to Sir Ansel's closeness to the natural world.

Like Sir Ansel, my personal picture making expressions, as I have stated many times, are based upon "observation and reaction" - seeing and picturing. And, again as I have stated many times, the less picture making thought involved in that process, the better. Unfortunately, it's very challenging to define that process - a process that is so embedded in my subconscious that it almost seems to be beyond defining.

Rest assured, if you care at all, that I will continue to try to construct a more cogent definition or at least a more refined description of that process.

Tuesday
Dec212010

civilized ku # 800 ~ random thoughts / on seeing

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Fireplace mantle • click to embiggen

...with most of my photographs, the subject appears as a found object, something discovered, not arranged by me. I usually have an immediate recognition of the potential image, and I have found that too much concern about matters such as conventional composition may take the edge off the first inclusive reaction. ~ Ansel Adams

More evidence for the idea of "keeping it simple", picture making wise, in order to better connect with your referent, that "first inclusive reaction", and the "immediate recognition of the potential image". As the saying goes, "just do it".

Wednesday
Dec152010

civilized ku # 799 ~ bah! humbug!

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Signs of the season ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Call me a curmudgeon or a hidebound traditionalist, but am I the only on who gets annoyed with Canon's current tv commercials?

Sure, tv commercials (and advertising in general) are not the best source for fact-based information. In fact, next to the Republican Party and their Fox News echo chamber (or is it the other way around - it so hard to tell), tv commercials / advertising is probably one the worst places for good factual information. In many cases, distortion, exaggeration, and downright deception are standard tools of that trade.

However, that said, Canon's attempt, for their own marketing purposes, to redefine photography is rather incredulous. Their line - moving photography beyond the still - is simply ridiculous ....

Photography is the still picture. Videography / cinematography is "beyond" the still, aka: moving pictures. Each discipline is distinctly different, both in the images they produce, how those images are viewed and understood, and how they are made (most definitely, the mindset / skillset employed). Canon's claim that "The boundaries between motion and still photography no longer exist" is pure unadulterated marketing-driven BS.

Yes, we could quibble over various word/phrase-parsing interpretations of Canon's sloganeering, but, medium-warping considerations aside, what really really pisses me off is the fact that I don't want video capabilities in my still camera. I have absolutely no interest in having, much less paying for, camera capabilities that are beyond the still. If I have the desire to make motion pictures, I'll buy a motion picture camera, aka: video camera.

That said, I understand the idea behind putting video capabilities into "amateur" cameras for the casual picture maker. And I also understand why many photojournalists - who, in new-speak, are now "content creators" - might like to have an all-in-one tool. However, it's hard for me to imagine that there are not enough still picture makers (to make it profitable) out there who would like to have their Canon / Nikon / Pentax / Olympus / et al camera be a "pure-and-simple" still picture making camera.

Am I nuts? a hidebound traditionalist? or, just a curmudgeon (aka: old fart)?