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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 March 1, 2014 - March 31, 2014

Saturday
Mar292014

civlized ku # 2686 ~ arrivederci (per la presente)

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Giuliano on the 120m Olympic ski jump ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
My time as a tour guide and picture making opinionator / racontour for the Italian guy - truly a very swell fellow - are over. Giuliano left yesterday for NYC* where he met up with my good friend, Robert, who while he is tending to a good friend in Queens, has graciously let Giuliano stay in his NYC apartment for the few days he will be in NYC.

I bid Giuliano arrivederci, per la presente, since I be with him again as I will be heading on Monday to NYC to: 1)visit my good friend, 2)visit picture galleries in Chelsea with Guiliano, 3)strange as it might seem, take Giuliano to an excellent Italian restaurant, and last, but by no means lest, 4)to see this film (you can read the review, The Nanny as Sphinx, Weaving Enigmatic Magic on the Sly ~ 'Finding Vivian Maier' Explores a Mysterious Photographer here). The film was just released and I doubt it will be shown in my area any time soon, if ever.

*Giuliano left for NYC on a train. An experience which contrasted, for the worse (much worse), with his train experience in Italy where he can board a high-speed bullet train and get somewhere fast and easy. Here in the good ol' USofA, we don't cotton much to public / mass transportation. In our little corner of the country, Guiliano (as was I) was stunned to learn, when we arrived at the train station (a tiny little room in the basement of the grand building which formerly was the train station) that one can not purchase a ticket for the train

There was a sign indicating an 800 number to call to purchase a ticket which, on the face of it, didn't seem like a problem ... except .... the ticket purchase automated voice system had great difficulty understanding Giuliano's excellent English because of his Italian accent. So much so that he said "the hell with it" and decided to board the train without a reservation number.

I didn't think that was the best of ideas, so I called the wife and she got on the computer and did the transaction, forwarding the reservation number by texting it to me. I could have done the same with my cell phone but if I had experienced anything near the difficulty Giulano had, I would have hurled my phone into nearby Lake Champlain.

Giuliano was also amused and puzzled by the fact that, once the southbound train from Montreal to NYC crosses into the the good ol' USofA, there but one, count'em, one track on the line all the way to Albany. Inasmuch as freight trains have the ride-of-way on the single track, a passenger train must be shunted to a siding where it might sit for 45-60 minutes while waiting for the freight train to pass. Needless to state, passenger trains on this line do not have a very good track record (take that Jimmi Nuffin) of on-time arrivals.

What a joke. Except, it's not a joke - it's a national disgrace.

Wednesday
Mar262014

civilized ku # 2685 ~ Italian connection

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blue vase ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
I have quite a backlog of pictures to post but I have been spending all of my time (and enjoying it) with the Italian guy - showing him around the Adirondacks, talking about picture making, and looking through some of my photo book library collection - not just my photo books but those of "famous" fine art picture makers.

I'm thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. Makes me realize how much I miss not being around other picture makers (the 'serious' type) on a more regular basis.

Monday
Mar242014

civilized ku # 2678-84 ~ there and back again

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camera strap with candle ~ New Haven, Connecticut • click to embiggen
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wedding ~ New Haven, Connecticut • click to embiggen
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wedding picturing ~ New Haven, Connecticut • click to embiggen
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organ ~ New Haven, Connecticut • click to embiggen
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organist ~ New Haven, Connecticut • click to embiggen
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wedding reception wall ~ New Haven, Connecticut • click to embiggen
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wedding reception dance ~ New Haven, Connecticut • click to embiggen
After barely recovering from our 1400 mile road trip to Washington, DC, it was off to New Haven, Connecticut for a wedding. And, being a glutton for driving punishment, I invited one of the wedding guests from Italy, Giuliano - the groom is from Italy - up to our house for a visit. So tomorrow it's off to Albany to pick him up.

Giuliano is a young man on a mission to jump start a career in picture making. He approached me at the wedding reception and we had a long chat, starting with his questions about my cameras. During the conversation, he mentioned that he was not returning to Italy for a few weeks so he could spend time in NYC checking out the photo scene (before moving on to Texas where he is meeting up with his girlfriend - a member of a dance troupe performing in Texas) and it wasn't long before, he realized that he could not pass up the opportunity to spend some time with The Landscapist and The Cinemascapist.

FYI, the camera strap with candle picture: I have often heard from some the words, "It looks like your camera shutter went off by mistake", spoken while viewing some of my pictures. Although, most times, those words are followed by, "I like it. Don't know why, but I like it."

However, in this particular case, the shutter release was indeed inadvertently activated. A sort of cellphone-butt-dialing picturing equivalent. Nevertheless, I like it. Don't why, but I like it. And, the auto focus placed the focus exactly where I would have placed it had I actually been in control of the picture making event.

Wednesday
Mar192014

civilized ku # 2677 ~ wisdom and A Letter To A Royal Academy

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Beer is proof ~ Capitol HIll District / Washington, DC • click to embiggen
As seen while walking in the Capitol Hill District - more wisdom from the man who advised us to Fart Proudly.

Thursday
Mar132014

civilized ku # 2674-76 ~ almost home

on our travels • NO click to embiggenI've been missing in action, blog wise, for the past week while moving about the East Coast.

Even though I was fully equipped to blog-on-the-road - new Macbook Air and all - the way it turned out it seems that the only time I wasn't on the move was when I had collapsed on a bed after a day of non-stop moving. FYI, I'm still on the road and find myself sitting poolside - hence a bit of time to post an entry - watching Hugo and Jace (his hockey line mate) swim while the wife is attending a conference/seminar. We're only 2 hours from home so I'll get to sleep in my own bed tonight.

While Washington, DC was our primary destination - we visited the Capitol Bldg. / Congress, the White House, a number of Museums, dinner with our Congressman at the Democratic Club, and also attended a Pittsburgh Penguin / Washington Capitals hockey game - amongst other stops, we also visited Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

Along the way I managed to make a fair number of pictures, some of which I will be presenting here on the blog. Many of the pictures I made were of the memory-snapshot variety but I always strive to make pictures of my travels which give a sense of place without being generic postcard travel pictures. I believe I have succeeded on this trip but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Saturday
Mar082014

civilized ku # 2673 ~ more hockey

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Hugo ~ Saranac Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen

Thursday
Mar062014

civilized ku # 2672 ~ monkey do, monkey see, monkey do

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vase and shadow ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
The Monkey Typewriter Theory Hypothesis Theorem* says that if a certain number (large, often considered infinite, depending on who's saying it and what number they can think of randomly) number of monkeys were given typewriters and a really long time, they could write the works of some random famous writer such as Shakespeare, Dickens, et al. However, as a group of mathematicians have deduced, the time frame required for a bunch of monkeys randomly banging away on an equal bunch of keyboards to produce the works of a random famous writer is longer than the anticipated existence of the universe. Hence the theorem's stated outcome has a probability of essentially ZERO.

*What was once called the Monkey Typewriter Theory is now considered to be a theorem because; 1) it is not a theory because it is not an explanation for a body of evidence with predictive power, 2) it is not a hypothesis because it is only an almost untestable statement, and 3) it is a theorem because it is a deduction from other simpler logical statements/truths.

FYI, 2 random thoughts, as found on the internet, for your consideration, re: the Monkey Typewriter Theorem:

from a monkey: Gugjvhfu'ohƒkih;ohout98u[9u8yplfhw;khfuhpip2out[olkuefhl uehf2u3[r49uo[rhkuahedkqwhioj23oej[o34roi354ithoi ho3ihhelpimtrappedinathoughtexperiment0o'jihug ygouf7idd65d65y5diy5dyidipojklugy6r86754354qwadxhblk\p ==-8096rtrdghokp0i09yu

from a random comment as modified by me:
Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and twitter+facebook is nothing like Shakespeare.

What in the name of all that's picture making does the MTT have to do with the price of picture making stuff, you might wonder?

Well, as I am prepping pictures for a new book, re: my kitchen sink pictures, I was drawn to the idea of random chance. As in, I don't arrange any of the referential material found in my kitchen sink, I just picture it as I find/see it. That written, of the tens of thousands of times - I've lived with this particular kitchen sink for 4,927 days and counting - I have stood in front of the sink, my eye and sensibilities have been pricked to the point of fetching a camera and making a picture on less than 30 occasions.

Therefore, I have come up with my very own Monkey Picture Making Theory, To wit, it requires only a couple of monkeys randomly putting things in a kitchen sink over a period of ten years or so to create a few arrangements which, in turn, gives rise to a few pictures akin to those made by a famous picture maker (Irving Penn, Edward Weston, Jan Groover, et al).

Of course, in my MPMT - which, quite obviously, has been tested and proven correct - the monkeys are imaginary. Although, the wife and I could conceivably be considered to be the monkeys inasmuch as we're the ones putting the stuff in the sink. And, we both like bananas.

Anyone out there have any other proof, vis a vis your own picture making experience, which supports my Monkey Picture Making Theory?

Monday
Mar032014

civilized ku # 2669-71 / kitchen life # 48 ~ oh woe is me

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Blue Moon Cafe ~ Saranac Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
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art gallery door / entrance ~ Saranac Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
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vase, dried petals + candy cups ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
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frying pan reflection ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
In the past on a number of occasions, I have written in defense of the artist statement. On the other hand, I have also written about my distaste, re: the academic lunatic fringe to include their artspeak fetish which exhibits itself in so many BFA/MFA artist statements.

Since those various writings, nothing to change my mind on the subjects has reared its head. However, recently there has been a surfeit of BFA/MFA fine art picture maker's artist statements - ones which read more like exercises in self-psychoanalytic therapy - that are starting to grate on my nerves. To paraphrase a sentence from a movie review, their (the picture makers in question) picturing endeavors track like therapeutic journeys (follow your dream of self-actualization) instead of transcendent excursions (just dream!).

In defense of artist statements I have, vehemently at times, rejected the dumbass idea that a picture which needs words is a failure. You know, a picture is worth a thousand words, but ... don't ever actually put any of those words down on paper cuz if you do, well, you know, then the picture is a failure.

However, IMO, if a picture is worth some number of words, then I want to hear/read them. And that holds true whether the words are about the picture maker's a priori motivations and/or intentions or the postmortem words of a critic re: the work itself. In both cases, even though I will have formed my own word thoughts by viewing the work, the words of the picture maker and a critic can and often does expand my appreciation and understanding of the work in question.

That written, it is my considered opinion that an artist statement should be both concise (employing an economy of artspeak-free words) and address the picture making process more than it does the psychologic analytical mental state of the picture maker.

To wit, if I am viewing a body of work comprised of hauntingly beautiful environmental pictures of elderly women, I would appreciate knowing that the picture maker is haunted by memories of his/her now deceased grandmother who raised him from his/her infant years after his/her birth parents fled the country after embezzling millions of dollars from a local charity, never to be seen again. However, while it might be true that such a picture maker has quite a number of personal issues to work through and even though making pictures may be one way to do so, I would nevertheless much prefer that she/he keep that stuff between her/him and a real therapist.

The motivation for the picture making endeavor is useful information in many ways, but the rest of the deep soul introspection, IMO, does little at best if anything to expand my appreciation for the work and is just a high-falutin' example of reality tv-like pandering to emotional voyeurism at the worst.