I'm back

The Cinemascapist at the Collette Blanchard Gallery ~ NYC • click to embiggenAaron's opening was very well attended. It drew a very interesting crowd and he sold some prints that night (as well as some pre-opening sales made by the gallery). This opening took place almost exactly one year after his first NYC show and I must say that both his work and his presentation of it have evolved considerably. I guess that's why he's had a few repeat collectors buying his work.

In any event, the gallery owner/director believes that she can sell at least 1/2 of the prints available in the show - that would be 30 sales (10 prints, editions of 6). Now that would be quite something.

Update on Monday, November 17, 2008 at 10:39AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Matt asked: "How do you catch a collector's interest enough to keep them coming back for more?"

my response: On one hand, that's simple enough to do - just make interesting pictures and have really good gallery representation.

On the other hand, the really complicated and difficult part is to just make interesting pictures and have really good gallery representation.

I'm not attempting to be amusing because it's true - it does seem "easy" once you've made interesting pictures and have really good gallery representation but either and/or both of those prerequisites are not so easily accomplished.

That said, I'll be making an entry this week about the inside look I've had over the last year into the NYC Art/gallery world.

Featured Comment: Martin Doonan asked: "What is the print nearest left?"

It's this one - incident at the flume

man & nature # 75 ~ infrastructure

XC ski trail underpass ~ Mt. Van Hovenberg • click to embiggen

man & nature # 74 ~ an apostate visual artist

2 trees, 400 miles / 24 hours apart • click to embiggen2 quick items and then I'm out of here to NYC.

1.) Mary Dennis wrote: "I wanted to add that I'm a little surprised to hear that the focusing, schlepping and chutzpah part of photography doesn't come naturally to you ... I always had the impression that you were old hat at this kind of thing.

my response: I'm old hat at schlepping my commercial photo portfolio although those days are behind me for the most part. But, the fact that I am "old hat" at doing it doesn't mean that I like it, not to mention that schlepping commercial work is a whole different kettle of fish than doing so in the Art world.

The commercial world has nearly endless possibilities, not so the Art world - by "Art world" I mean the "high-end" gallery world. A world that, thanks to Aaron, I have a point of entry into. Nevertheless ... ugh.

2.) The consensus from the SURVEY is that one of the primary reasons most keep coming back to The Landscapist is because it is one of only a few blog-places where gear and techno topics don't rule the day. Fortunately for me, there are just enough of you out there who are interested in the medium of photography beyond that of the toys involved - just enough to keep me going.

But, I'm curious. Why do you think that is? Why aren't more picture makers interested (for their own benefit / curiosity, not mine) in the some of the topics discussed here? Could it have something to do with this? -

Unfortunately, art in America has become an elitist preserve. This is partly the fault of a critical establishment which abandoned the enduring search for a common language - the language of love and loss and sorrow and remembrance - and began to speak, almost exclusively, in a specialized and opaque language that few can understand. I mean, who dares to define the ironies of postmodernism? Who cares? I know of very few writers, historians, theologians or scientists, who offer the slightest nod to the so-called "art world" - which now defines itself by a handful of art stars (exciting, savvy, marketable) who, unlike their literary counterparts (Dylan, DeLillo), speak primarily to a small New York audience. This audience hungers for an acceptable avant-garde they can take for granted, an "edginess" that shocks for a moment or two. Outside of this extroverted realm in which celebrity has been converted into meaning, in which the quiet, free-standing work of art is given little respect, apostate visual artists find themselves longing for an absent American discourse. - John Rosenthal

Which brings me back to item # 1. I am mostly likely an "apostate visual artist" in that I am not certain that my pictures conform to the "specialized and opaque language that few can understand" art world of New York. IMO, I and my work tend towards that "absent American discourse" that Rosenthal writes about.

And, it is those considerations that make schlepping my work in the Art world so daunting.

full moon ku # 1

Under a full moon • click to embiggenI'm just trying to figure out what a night picture made with the light of a full moon should look like.

FYI ~ an open invitation

Incident at the flumeFor those of you in the NYC area who might be interested, tomorrow, Thursday - Nov. 13th, is the opening of Aaron-The-Cinemascapist's new exhibit. The opening is from 6-8pm at The Collette Blanchard Gallery - 26 Clinton Street, NYC. That's just south off of E. Houston St. (between 269 and 299 E. Houston).

Both Aaron and I would love to meet with any of you who might be so inclined to pay a visit. We hope that some of you might be able to stop by.

FYI ~ a change

You may have noticed one of the changes I have made here on The Landscapist - a category named picture, no words.

My intent with this is to post pictures (at this point, my pictures - but that could change) without words - other than a caption - in order to put a bit more emphasis on the idea that it's all about the pictures.

My hope with this is to stimulate discussion / conversation about pictures in and of themselves rather than the usual discussion / conversation about the medium of photography.

Where this goes is anyone's guess but many of you who have responded to the survey have mentioned that The Landscapist is one of the few blogs / sites on which the medium of photography is discussed beyond the realm of the technique / technical - a trait that many of you find of value in figuring out, for yourself, things photographic.

IMO, opinion there is much to be learned - for me and for you - from conversation / discussion about the results of all that figuring.

Let's give it go.

man & nature # 73 ~ color in the clouds

Red barn converted to a home with a view of the slides on Mt. Colden • click to embiggen

man & nature # 72 ~ grasshopper

Ski trail with Indian Pass in the distance ~ Keene, NY • click to embiggenYesterday afternoon I ventured out to go moose spotting.

Over the last 5 years or so moose have returned to the Adirondacks. Their population has grown fairly quickly to a currently estimated number of 400-500. Since there is no top-predator for moose, namely the wolf, here in the Adirondacks, their number is expected to reach 2,000+ within the next 5 years.

As is to be expected, the return of the moose has been much too tempting for some moronic "top predators" with guns. The NYS DEC has recently charged 2 men, 1 from my home town, with killing a moose in the nearby town of Keene (where today's picture was made). It appears that moose have moved into that area in great numbers - many sightings are made there on a daily basis.

One can only hope that the Criminal Court in Keene will throw the book at 'em - up $2,000 in fines and 1 year in jail. IMO, they should also lose their license to hunt and their guns for an extended period of time. These jerks need to serve as an example that this kind of behavior simply will not be tolerated.

PS - my bet is that they will use the Sarah Palin made me do it defense.

That said, as I was making the 18 mile drive to Keene, I was pondering the idea of how I might choose to picture a moose. Since I have absolutely no desire to make a moose "portrait", I figured that I would picture it as just part of its environment. In any event, it was a moot point in as much as I returned home without spotting a moose. I had to console myself with making some pictures of other things and scenes (like the one presented here).

My interest is not so much to picture a moose as it is just to see one in the wild. Their return after a 160 years or more of absence is something that touches me in a rather profound manner. Amongst many considerations, it is a powerful indication of the natural world's ability to rebound, to repair itself, to right the wrongs inflicted upon it by humankind - something that we here in the US of A must commit ourselves to with a great deal of vigor.

What I found instructive about the idea of picturing a moose is the fact that I am not certain that I could make a picture of one that conveyed my feelings about their return. Maybe this is just because most fauna pictures that I have seen leave me rather unaffected - Nick Brandt's pictures being one notable exception.

All I know at this point is that I don't much care, one way or another, whether I ever picture a moose or not. This notion runs contrary to what I feel about most of the pictures I make - in most cases, I am much more "contemplative", "thoughtful", and "involved" with my pictures of people, places, and things than I am of them when I am actually experiencing (and picturing) them.

And, let be emphatic about it, I do not think/feel that the act of picturing is "getting in the way" of the actual experience. Not at all. Rather, I think/feel about it like this:

What we hope for from the artist is help in discovering the significance of a place. In this sense we would choose in most respects for thirty minutes with Edward Hopper’s painting Sunday Morning to thirty minutes on the street that was his subject; with Hopper’s vision we see more. ~ Robert Adams

BUT, I must admit that, over the past few years, I have been experiencing visions in my head of grasshopper-me sitting, legs folded in Zen-like contemplation (replete with robes, beads, and maybe some incense and soft sitar music off in the distance), in all of the spots from which I have been picturing - truly and deeply experiencing the moment. I feel that I am having these visions because I sense that I am missing something in real-time.

Do I have a character "deficiency"? Am I too "cool and distant" in the face of real life? Is my picturing activity an attempt to compensate for this personal "failing"? Am I trying to "connect" with real life with my pictures in manner that I can not attain "in the flesh"?

Truth be told, I simply don't have the answers to these questions.

What about you? How/ what do you feel about your relationship with the pictures you create?