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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

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    ADK PLACES TO SIT / LIFE WITHOUT THE APA / RAIN / THE FORKS / EARLY WORK / TANGLES

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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 November 1, 2010 - November 30, 2010

Tuesday
Nov302010

civilized ku # 789 ~ unintelligence / on seeing

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A water world of sorts ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen

The unintelligence of present-day photographers, that is of so-called pictorial photographers, lies in the fact that they have not discovered the basic qualities of their medium. ~ Paul Strand

As noted in civilized ku # 781, Paul Strand also stated that ...

The photographer’s problem is to see clearly the limitations and at the same time the potential qualities of his medium ...

Now, it should be noted that anyone can do any thing he/she chooses to do with the medium and its apparatus. And, by virtue of the modern digital domain, there are easily "mastered" cheap tricks aplenty with which, when used, one can pretend to be "creative". But, really, how much creativity does it take to, as an example, move the Hue / Saturation slider to "11"?

That said, it should also be noted that many of the cheap-trick pretenders - like, say, so-called / self-described artistic nature photographers - do, in fact, make some visually pleasing Decorative Art. The fact that most of that Art is very formulaic and concerned primarily with the surface of things (albeit an excessively distorted representative thereof) makes much of that Art eminently forgettable. On the whole it tends to disappear into the fog of so many one-dimensional crowd pleasing look-a-like pictures.

If the forgoing sounds like a put-down of Decorative Art, it should be stated that, in the Fine Art world, it most definitely is. In my Art world, Decorative Art has a valued place but, make no mistake about it, that "place" is, IMO, a step or two below Fine Art.

In the Fine Art world, pure snobbery aside, Decorative Art is demeaned, diminished, or dismissed because ...

A decisive turning point in artists' protracted struggle over status occurred with the establishment of the Academie Royal de Peinture et de Sculpture (Paris, 1648) and then the Royal Academy (London, 1768). The painter-theorists who directed these institutions established "rules" and precedents that were designed to assert the intellectual (emp. mine) content of their work and raise the standing of their art ...

The value and rank of every art is in proportion to the mental labour employed in it, or the mental pleasure produced by it. As this principle is observed or neglected, our profession becomes either a liberal art, or a mechanical trade. In the hands of one man it makes the highest pretensions, as it is addressed to the noblest facilties: in those of another it is reduced to a mere matter of ornament. ~ an excerpt from PHOTOGRAPY - A Very Short Introduction by Steve Edwards

This rule / precedent was a prime motivator in the emergence of Pictorialism in the medium's early years - a time when the nascent medium was laboring under the dismissive cloud of being a "mechanical" endeavor. Consequently, many early practitioners resorted to emulating, by the use of then readily available "cheap tricks", the painting and etching of the times - in essence, photography as art simply because it looked like paintings. That and the fact that the hand, not the mind, of the artist was everywhere evident and obtrusive. All of which was a wonderfully fine example of missing the point, photography wise.

IMO, and that of the Fine Art world (in general), if a picture does not produce "mental pleasure" in equal or greater measure than that of the visual pleasure it produces, it is "reduced to a mere matter of ornament". But, on the other hand, IMO, and most definitely not that of much of the Fine Art world (photography wise), if a picture is all "mental" and lacking in any visual pleasure is tips too much in the opposite extreme - an intellectual exercise that lacks wall appeal.

All of that said, IMO, the best pictures are made by those who have learned about and understand the medium and its apparatus, its strengths and limitations, and who adopt and adapt that knowledge into making pictures that both illustrate and illuminate in equal measure.

And therein is the medium's real challenge - that which Strand called the "photographer's problem": a "problem" the solving of which is ill-suited to the "unintelligence" of present-day pictorial-ist photographers.

Saturday
Nov272010

civilized ku # 788 ~ may I quote you on that?

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Bush and tree in the rain ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Way back in 1159 it was noted that Bernard of Chartres used to say that ...

... we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.

In the not so distant past, "chuck" asked:

Do YOU actually have anything new to say? do you just quote people who really broke ground?

And, it should also be noted that quite recently Sven W stated:

You've quoted a few times from Robert Adams which has prompted me to buy his book "Beauty in Photography.

Not that I need to explain myself, quote wise, because, after all, it's my blog and I can damn well do whatever I please and "chuck" and others like him (anonymous / spineless internet flamers) can either take it or leave it. However, that said, let me make things clear regarding my quote quotient ...

I enjoy reading about the medium of photography because, as noted previously, I believe that one of the best routes to take in pursuit of understanding the medium, its limits and possibilities, and adopting / adapting the same into your own picture making is by considering the ideas found in words without pictures. And, in many cases, considering the words of picture makers who, as "chuck" phrased it, "really broke ground".

During the pursuit of that reading pleasure, I always come across quite a number of quote-worthy expressions from the pens and minds of many of the medium's greats, both past and present. After years of discovering and harvesting these little gems, I have yet to be bored or find it a waste of time. In fact, I never fail to find this pursuit less than informative, at times challenging, and very often inspiring.

So, in an attempt to share what I have "discovered", I often sprinkle entries here on The Landscapist with quotes. The idea / motivation behind this proclivity is to incite both thought and perhaps discussion about the ideas expressed in the quotes - all in the name of standing on the shoulder of giants.

Thursday
Nov252010

civilized ku # 785-87 ~ the bird is in the oven ...

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Sweet potatoes, stove, big bird • click to embiggen
... all 27 pounds of it.

Normally, we get a 12-15lb. bird, but this year the farm up the hill, Asgaard Farm (from which we get the tastiest fresh slaughtered chickens, not to mention fresh eggs, and various fresh cheeses), decided to raise and offer fresh turkeys - like the chickens, free-range / no chemicals / no drugs added. So, we pre-reserved a +/- 15lb. bird.

However, long story short, after the harvest the smallest bird was a 20lb bird. After that, it was first come, first served and by the time I arrived the smallest bird was the aforementioned 27lb. bird.

So, unlike Ralphie's old man whose fresh-out-of-the-oven turkey was stolen by the "Sonsabitches ... Bumpusses!" hounds, we can look forward to a lot of turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey gravy, turkey hash, turkey a la king, or gallons of turkey soup.

And, to all those who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving.

Wednesday
Nov242010

decay # 41 ~ payment plan

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Fungi • click to embiggen
Somewhat by chance, during my last trip to Montreal, I meet and saw the paintings of Claude Le Blanc. The wife and I found him and some of his SENTIERS work to be very captivating.

That said, what really caught my attention was something I have never seen before. On the little cards that accompanied his work (listing title and cost), was a fascinating idea - in addition to the cost of the painting, there were listed 2 payment options: 6 and 12 month payment plans.

Imagine that, art on the payment plan. What a great idea.

Several of his paintings that we really liked were in the $2K range (give or take a bit) and truth be told, we have never purchased (outright) a piece of art in that price range. However, when considering art in that range, it becomes a lot more palatable to the pocketbook when thought of in terms of, say, $200/month x 12 months.

Tuesday
Nov232010

ku # 830 ~ Autumn color # 55 

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Reflection ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
I am curious regarding your thoughts on the notion of abstract pictures.

Quite obviously, there is such a thing as abstract painting. On the other hand, there is considerable consent that there is also such a thing as abstract photography. Me, on the other hand ... I'm not so sure that a reality based medium is in any way capable of making "abstract" pictures.

Much of this so-called abstract photography is, in fact, made by employing the tenets and techniques of straight photography - pointing a camera at a real-world referent and making a relatively straight forward print of the created image. No "special effects" needed or employed. Most often, the pictured referent is presented with an emphasis on patterns, textures, and the like although high marks are given for a pictured referent that is rendered in a way (without "special effects") so as to be relatively unidentifiable.

You know the kind of picture I'm referring to - as an example, the ever ubiquitous pictures of patterns in ice. Now, there is absolutely nothing "wrong" with picturing such things, nothing at all, but, IMO, the pictures are not abstract pictures. They are, in fact, (like in the best of such pictures) completely straight pictures of abstract patterns as found and observed in the natural / real world.

My question is .... does this straightforward act of making a picture of a real-world referent, sans special effects, really qualify as an abstract picture? Or, is the term "abstract photography" just a lame label used by the terminally unimaginative as a means of saying, "It's art. Really it is. It really is art. You know, just like painting."

Tuesday
Nov232010

ku # 829 ~ Autumn color # 54 

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Dead tree ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
I am also curious regarding your thoughts on the notion of when a picture, albeit made by photographic means / processes, is no longer a photograph?

Or, do you believe that, if a picture is made by photographic means / processes, it is always a photograph?

Monday
Nov222010

civilized ku # 783 ~ a real life still life

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Lingerie chest top • click to embiggen
Relative to the still life idea / exercise in the still life # 14 entry, it is worth mentioning that many of the surfaces in our house are, IMO, nothing more than a platform for still life arrangements of one thing or another.

Monday
Nov222010

civilized ku # 782 ~ new life

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Former RR station ~ Chazy, NY • click to embiggen