ku # 544 ~ say what?

Cold, icy West Branch of the Au Sable River • click to embiggenI must admit that while viewing Tom Gallione's pictures, especially the aforementioned Noon series, I was nearly overwhelmed with the need to go out and make some "pure" ku pictures. So, on my way into and return from Lake Placid to pick up my new $1,000 (read below) eyeglasses. I was actively on the lookout for picture making possibilities - something that is not my usual MO.

I must say that it felt extremely odd and almost "wrong" to be looking for picture making opportunities so intently. It seemed rather "forced" and "unnatural". In fact, afterword, I wondered what I might have missed and not seen by looking so intently.

However, on the way home, I was seeing much better than on the way in to Lake Placid - I was wearing my new zillion dollar eyewear after all. FYI, I must state that I am not a thousand dollar eyeglasses person at heart.

However, I now own such a pair due to a "perfect storm" set of circumstances. In a bit of a mad rush to take advantage of a reimbursement program from the wife's firm, I needed to buy a new pair of glasses (which, BTW, I actually needed) by year's end. To that end, I made an appointment for an eye exam at a family owned and run optometrist / eyewear place in Lake Placid.

A bit of a "trendy" place in fact but a place at which I knew I could get a short-notice appointment. Also a place at which I knew I would be paying a bit of a premium in but, what the heck, it wasn't coming out of my pocket, right? Well, surprise, surprise.

After the eye exam, where I discovered that my prescription had actually changed for the better, I picked out a pair of low cost ($250) frames - that is, 'low cost" in this establishment where frames were as expensive as $600-$700.

Next step was to order the lens and I was pitched rather vigorously regarding new "digital" lenses which promised a much bigger "sweet spot" for distance correction with the progressive lens that I needed (progressive lenses = seamless progression bifocals). This was an exciting prospect for me since I had never really been comfortable with my last (and first) set of progressive lenses, the sweet spot was way to small resulting in a lot of head turning since the peripheral vision was very limited - this was particularly bad for me whenever I wanted to ogle a babe while the wife was on hand.

Once I was assured that I didn't need batteries for the "digital" lenses, I decided, sure, why not? A few measurements later, I was presented with the bill ... $970.00!!!! Say what? I nearly wet the bed. Calling upon a reserve of inner strength that I did not know I possessed, I managed to maintain an outward appearance of calm and dignity and casually (outward appearance wise) asked if I could see the cost breakdown. The "digital" lenses were the main culprit - $580.00 alone.

As I sat there trying to recover and reconcile my economic senses, the one thought that kept running through my head was that the last lens that I purchased for my Olympus cost only marginally more than that. How in the hell could a pair eyeglass lenses cost that much? I mean, come on now, think about it - 2 pieces of plastic versus 10 glass elements with 2 aspherical glass lens elements, multi-coating, auto-focusing, weather-sealed close-tolerance construction, and, by comparison to eyewear lenses, extremely limited production.

How the hell can a pair of eyewear lenses cost so much - even considering the $140 premium cost for the "digital" lenses? Am I missing something?

Update on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 03:18PM by gravitas et nugalis

Trés chic, sont ils non? • click to embiggenAs per request here they are.

What else can one say except, "mais oui!"

FYI, the title of this picture is, New eyewear with juice press, wine aerator, and napkins on the kitchen table # 1

God help me if there's a # 2.

Update on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 06:15PM by gravitas et nugalis

Truth be told, I got them because I thought they were a kind of Lennon / Costello hybrid but what the hell, I'll go with the Stieglitz connection. And, FYI, the wife thinks that they are the perfect compliment to accent my beady eyes.

decay # 26 ~ opinions are like ass holes, everybody's got one

Lemons, tangelo, knife, and candle holder • click to embiggenIn an email response to yesterday's entry, Tom Gallione asked:

I'm wondering if you would ever consider anything like a portfolio review?

It's a bit of coincidence that Tom asked that question because earlier yesterday I discovered that Tim Atherton and his blog, photo-muse are back online after a protracted absence. One of his recent entries was a kind of cross between a New Year's resolution list and a New Year's wish list and in it he wrote:

Less portfolio reviews and competitions where photographers pay through the nose for the chance to win a 10 minute exhibition or book for the lucky few, while the photorati are busy expanding their egos. They stifle so much imagination and creativity while only nurturing whatever is this months great new thing (which is usually last years great new thing) and which is quickly tomorrows fish and chip wrapper.

Now, I must admit that my feelings about portfolio reviews fall somewhere in the vicinity of Tim Atherton's take on them, although, to be fair and honest, I have never actually had a portfolio review. I have been asked to give and have given portfolio reviews, but, I have never felt the need to have one for myself.

The reasons for feeling so are many but prominent amongst them are 2 in particular -

1) The simple fact is that a portfolio review is just the opinion of a single person and any review is more often than not apt to be a demonstration of that reviewer's personal bias about your pictures. Now, I'm not necessarily suggesting that their opinion of your work is not any better or more valuable that that of your mother but, then again, maybe it isn't. And, unless your mother is a scum sucking mercenary, her review is apt to be a whole lot less expensive than a "pro" review.

But, what if you have 2 reviews of the same work from 2 different reviewers? One says that the work really reaches / touches them and the other says that it leaves them cold. What then ... a game of Eeni, Meeni, Miny, Mo?

2) Even if the 2 reviewers give you lucid and meaningful reasons why they do/don't like your work, what then? Do you fine-tune what is suppose to be your vision to accommodate their tastes?

How many cooks does it take to spoil the broth? Or, as Ricky Nelson crooned in his song Garden Party:

But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself

Unless your desire is to make commercial art, where the point is to please the client, IMO, the point of making Art is to be yourself, follow your own muse, and not chase after the tail of someone else.

All of that said, I am not saying that no one would/could benefit from a portfolio review. I guess it all depends on where your head is at and what it is that you might be looking to get out of a review.

And, for all I know, Tom Gallione may have benefited mightily from a portfolio review. I can't say but what I can say is that his work has matured immensely since the last time I viewed it. IMO, it is well worth spending the time to check it out via the above link. While doing so, make special note of his Noon (What I Saw While They Ate Lunch) series - a true delight.

PS - anyone out there had a portfolio review? If so, was it of any value?

civilized ku # 152 ~ rooftop parking

Prudential Center rooftop parking ~ Newark, NJ • click to embiggenFollowing up on the buy this book entry of a few days ago, I thought I would mention what I got out of my $37.42 MFA tuition fee. That is, what I got other than the visual, intellectual, and emotional pleasure and incitement I derived from the pictures themselves.

As many here may know, my ku body of work - and all of its related derivatives (civilized, man & nature, urban, et al), even when pared down to those pictures made within the borders of the Adirondack Park, currently contains nearly 1,000 pictures. The number is so large that it almost defies editing but, of course, the number is so large it requires editing.

That said, the most difficult problem that I have faced when it comes to editing the work is establishing the criteria for editing. That is to say, what exactly the organizing principle would be for editing.

After printing out a huge number of prints from the work, I came to several conclusions in as much as it became obvious that I could create a number of categories / sub-bodies of work organized by subject - trees, rocks, water, structures, and so on - or by POV - close, middle distance, or "grand" scenic. Or, I could easily do it by season or even by geographic locale within the park.

There were quite a number of possibilities which only added another level of difficulties involved in the decision process. The more I thought about it, the more I become edit-incapacitated. My brain seized up.

Although, about a year ago (almost to the day) I did come up with an idea that I labeled Discursive Promiscuity. On hindsight and after viewing McPhee's book it has occurred to me that I should have quit thinking about it while I was ahead.

My problem was/is that I was too concerned with concept. Or, at the very least, too concerned with defining the concept before the egg was hatched, so to speak. It seems that I was making a huge mistake in trying to precisely and definitively define the concept for the viewers of my pictures as opposed to letting them sort it out for themselves by just viewing the work.

I was just plain trying too hard to be Art-istic.

That's more than just a bit strange for me, a real disconnect, in as much as I picture without any thought of being Art-istic whatsoever. I really do just try to go with the unthought known flow when I am out and about picturing. And, after the fact of picturing, I edit my shoot in pretty much the same manner. I process and print by "feel" as opposed to making selections based on any overarching Art-istic criteria.

However, up until now - and again I must emphasize the influence of McPhee's River of No Return and especially the accompanying writings - I have not been able to edit my work along the lines of seeing the work holistically - that is to say, concerned with wholes rather than analysis or separation into parts.

Actually, I need to add a level of clarity to that sentence - I have not been able to edit my ku work along the lines of seeing the work holistically. My ku body of work is, as I recognized over a year ago, far too discursive and promiscuous to have a simple editing methodology - trying to force things into a hierarchy of categorization for the purpose of defining a concept is absolutely not the way to go.

I realize now that it must be - as Robert Hass wrote about McPhee's work - "organized like a long poem or a piece of music". That my Adirondack-based ku is "a stunning look at an actual place" and is a "meditation" on a discursive and somewhat promiscuous look at that place, which, in fact, is the concept.

But, here's the thing - I think that I subconsciously knew all along the way that I was making music or a long poem. However, what I have been lacking is a firmly held belief that my music/poem was something that others might want to see and find worth considering. And, perhaps even more important, my (self-paralyzing) attempt to pre-define concept and meaning was most likely little more than an "excuse" to excuse myself from submitting myself (and, obviously, my work) to the possible pain of rejection.

That said, here's one the things from the writings in McPhee's book - from the essay by Joanne Lukitsh - that freed my mind up relative to the intrinsic value of my ku work (whether others "get it" or not):

Landscapes, as environmental theorist and historian John Brinckerhoff Jackson has long argued, are never natural, because they depict human meanings in the environment. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the scale of human transformation of the global environment is so great that these changes exceed any single mode of knowledge, or unique visionary insight. Yet the need for imaginatively understanding the interdependence of human and natural forces has concomitantly never been greater. One way of encouraging this understanding has been to recognize the importance of place, to learn how the network of history, property, culture, and personalities meshes with local material conditions and ecosystems. - underlined emphasis mine

I knew that. And that's why, even if it was an unthought known, I've been composing my music/poem for the past 5 years.

civilized ku # 151 ~ dashing through the ...

The business end of a one horse open sleigh • click to embiggen

A one horse open sleigh • click to embiggenThere were no fields or snow to dash through in south Jersey but we did have a one horse open sleigh (on wheels).

Despite the absence of snow and fields, the bells were jingling all the way, especially when the horse broke into a trot. And, make no doubt about, spirits were bright and everyone was laughing all the way. Now, if only the horse had not had that odor-rific bag of crap strapped to his rear ....

picture window # 20 ~ buy this book

The Cinemascapist looking out of a picture window • click to embiggenPlaying Santa Claus to myself, I purchased a new book of photography while I was in south Jersey.

Whenever I am in a "big" city / suburban sprawl area, I generally like to find a bookstore (is there anything other than a Borders / Barnes & Noble out there?) and browse the photography section, both books and periodicals. Although I must say that, lately, all the periodical racks offer is almost exclusively made up of gear / how-to / pretty picture crap.

The book sections are marginally better and occasionally one can find an unexpected and unheard of surprise lurking amongst the shelves full of How To Master Landscape Photography dreck and drivel. One such delightful discovery is now in my collection - River of No Return ~ Photography by Laura McPhee. Check out the "Book Tease" HERE.

I had never heard of Laura McPhee prior to stumbling upon this book. When I saw the spine of the book on the shelf I was immediately drawn to the name McPhee (which stood alone without her first name) because one of my all-time favorite authors is John McPhee, who, as it turns out, is her father. Her mother is Pryde Brown - a wedding / portrait / event photographer in Princeton, NJ.

So much for introductions and on to the book. As I mentioned, I picked the book up because of the name McPhee and, even though upon viewing the cover I discovered it was not John McPhee, I flipped through the book and saw enough interesting-at-first-glance pictures to pique my interest. After spending a few more minutes with it, the book went into my basket simply because my quick look at the pictures imparted a sense that the photographer was giving me a real look at a place that went beyond the regular landscape genré.

Another purely visual sense led me to want the book - the feeling that the pictures were made using a large format camera and color negative film. Later reading confirmed this suspicion to be the case - indeed, an 8×10 view camera and color negative film are Laura McPhee's tools of choice. An aside - if you haven't had the pleasure of viewing prints made from LF color negatives you should go any distance / make any effort to do so because you'll never realize that, no matter how much the digital gearheads rave about their state-of-the-art equipment, it can not hold a candle to the color and tonal subtlety of 8×10 color negative film.

That said, I have not been disappointed in this book. As a matter of fact, I would rank it very high (if not at the top) of my list of must-haves for the serious picture maker. I would do so because this book is:

1) a magnificently "complete" look at a place - McPhee mixes photo genrés - traditional landscape, portraiture, and a form of documentary and of still life - to great story-telling effect. It most definitely reads as an all-of-a-piece, sum-is-greater-than-its-parts work in and of itself -

This book of seventy-two images is itself a work of art: It accumulates meanings through echo, repetition, statement and counter-statement, digression, and return ... on the second or third time through it began to dawn on me what Laira McPhee was up to, to see that River of No return is organized like a long poem or a piece of music, that it is, as well as a stunning look at an actual place, a meditation on rivers, nature, history, the history of landscape photography of the American West and of the idea of the American West. And - while I'm piling theme upon theme - the nature of fact and the nature of myth, and how we hold the world in our hands. ~ from the Foreword by Robert Hass

Most certainly the book has quite a number of stand-alone greatest-hits type pictures, but if you have ever wondered what a cohesive body of work looks like, a body of work which demonstrates the relative "weakness" of single stand-alone pictures, this book is for you. On that criteria alone, this book is well worth the modest price of admission.

2) beyond the aforementioned, the other reason to rank this book high on the must-have list is because of the writing that accompanies the pictures - not as captions or stories, but in the form of an introduction, an essay, and an interview with McPhee (each by different writers).

What all these words convey are ideas and notions, thoughts and conversations, about meaning and process. Not only of the work itself but also, by extrapolation, a kind of working thesis on picturing making as Art (of any kind). In a very real sense, for the thinking person, there is enough of real substance here to chew on that one could almost consider it a bargain basement, $37.42 tuition fee for a MFA degree in photography.

All the writing is the product of the much dreaded photography academia (as are the pictures themselves - McPhee is a professor of photography at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design). What is amazing to me is the almost total absence of any vestige of the web of verbal and theoretical delirium that is so often spun by the academic lunatic fringe. The writings and interview are eminently readable and understandable.

IMO, this book is very highly recommended.

civilized ku # 150 ~ one time one night in America

Toppled pin and a shaft of sunlight • click to embiggenI had a hard time reading the local newspaper - the Philadelphia Inquirer - during our recent trip to south Jersey. To be frank, the news was very depressing - a murderous weekend with 5 deaths (2 victims were deemed to have been "in the wrong place at the wrong time") and 3 critically wounded, a house fire that killed 8 (including 3 children) low-income immigrants, business failures and closings, budget cuts that would close public libraries ... and the list of like-themed stories went on and on.

Unfortunately, stories like these are the daily fodder for newspapers all over this "great" land although, I must admit that here in the north country of New York State our newspapers are generally free of such stuff. I don't mean totally free but rather that much of the really nasty stuff of daily life in America's big cities and towns is noticeably less prevalent in our neck of the woods. That is especially so when it comes to violent crime against people.

That may be due in large part to the numbers game - a lot fewer people = a lot less crime - but a few years back, when we had a murder in a nearby county, the court had to bring in a temporary DA from the NYC area to prosecute it because no one in the area had any real experience with murder cases in that particular county (and many others around it).

In any event, during our trip, I was thinking to myself about how relatively safe and secure our life is here in the north country. So, you can imagine my surprise when, upon our return home and entering our house, I was greeted by coma-girl's best friend who asked, "Have you heard the town rumors?" It seems that rumors were flying about the murder-suicide which had occurred just down the street (our town is so small that everything is "just down the street") that very morning.

To say that the village was in a state of shock and confusion is a big understatement. Things like that just don't happen here. The couple involved (he killed her in her sleep and then killed himself) were long-time residents of exceedingly good standing in the community. They were involved in quite a number of local community activities (the food shelf, Xmas gift drive, etc.) as well as being foster parents to a number of children over the years. The couple have been described as "as close and loving, the type of people who would help anyone in need".

The husband, who retired a year ago from a prison job, called the State Police after killing his wife in order to tell them what he had done and was about to do (kill himself). He mentioned that he was calling to spare anyone the shock and trauma of having to unwittingly come upon the grisly scene - it seems that he was being his polite and caring self right to the end - and to "explain" why he was doing the act. He told dispatchers that he and his wife "had been distraught over personal family matters".

And there, as far as any public account goes, the matter rests.

However, as the wife and I have been informed (from someone on hand at the State Police station when the husband called), the distressing "personal family matters" that apparently triggered the event had their roots in a failure of the "American Dream" - the wife was having significant health problems and the medical bills were driving them to financial despair.

I can't begin to tell you how proud I am to be an American. A citizen of the richest country in the world that "rewards" and "honors" so many of its hardworking people with a life of fractured dreams and promises. A country in which the political class and so many of its citizens banter and squabble endlessly about "socialism" and "private sector" and "free market" as if it were a parlor game that has no effect on real people with real lives - especially so when it comes to the health and physical/mental well-being of so many of its citizens.

I am so proud to be counted amongst a so-called "Christian" citizenry who seems to care only for themselves and so little for "the least of these my brethren". A citizenry who cares little, as demonstrated by their collective actions, about anything other than being a contestant in the He Who Dies With The Most Toys Wins reality show.

Ah, yes - the real America. You betcha. Hey, just raise the flag and pass the ammunition.

One more light goes out in America:

A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America

People having so much faith
Die too soon while all the rest come late
We write a song that no one sings
On a cold black stone
Where a lasting peace will finally bring

The sunlight plays upon my windowpane
I wake up to a world that's still the same
My father said to be strong
And that a good man could never do wrong
In a dream I had last night in America

• ~ from the song One Night in America