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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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Entries from October 1, 2010 - October 31, 2010

Saturday
Oct302010

civilized ku # 752 ~ art reflects

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Reflections ~ Old Montreal - Montreal, CA• click to embiggen
I spent the weekend in Montreal - I'm still there but leaving shortly - working on my art refelcts series. To date the series has receive some very positive response so I am pursuing it in earnest and this weekend's picture making has been quite productive.

Later today I will post a few results from this weekend's picture making along with entertaining the idea of "dissecting" one or more of my pictures.

FYI, The picture which accompanies this entry has been posted here previously. I re-posted it as a reminder of what I write, re: the art reflects series.

Friday
Oct292010

civilized ku # 751 ~ Autumn color # 60 / on seeing

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Kitchen chairs ~ Long Lake, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
As I move on to notions and ideas about how to make pictures of what you see, it is imperative to restate that, IMO, even though how a picture is "composed" is rather important, there are no rules of composition. And, furthermore, to repeat Edward Weston's dictum .... To compose a subject well means no more than to see and present it in the strongest manner possible.

Now, I am certain, beyond all doubt, that there are many who don't have a clue as to how to "compose in the strongest manner possible". I would go one step further and state that, for that matter, most don't even have a clue about what "the strongest manner possible" even means. And, in fact, many of those who not only know what it means but also how to do it, don't have a clue about to how explain how they do it.

That said, the best "explanation" of the process of composing in the strongest manner possible that I have come across is that offered by Henry Wessel:

You're suddenly seeing the coherence and the interconnectedness of everything, left to right, top to bottom, front to back. It's all connected, and, somehow, it's all in balance. And that's, of course, when you go, 'Yes!'.

Quite obviously, some of the key words in Wessel's statement are, "coherence", "interconnectedness", "balance", and (here's the kicker) "somehow". Yep, as fuzzy as it may sound, "somehow" it all comes together. Except that I don't think that the somehow of how all it comes together is really all that fuzzy ...

I think that the mechanics of how it all comes together is quite universal in the picture making world - while making pictures and looking through the camera's eye, a picture maker takes a step or two to the right, a step or two to the left, a step or two forward, a step or two backward, stands up straighter, slouches a little lower, or, for that matter, any combination of the preceding. Then, when it all "feels" right, you go, "yes", and then you press the shutter release.

IMO, to be perfectly clear - and this not too fine a point to understand - the real fuzzy part of Wessel's statement is in the word "balance" - one person's "balance" is another person's koyaanisqatsi. And, when it comes to making pictures that are good/interesting, the word balance is relative inasmuch as balance is attained when the balance helps sell the idea, noted and connoted, that is the picture maker's intent.

Have no doubt about it, intent is everything. Intent is the engine that drives the picturing endeavor. Intent determines not only what one pictures but also how one pictures. If a picture maker's intent is to sell "serenity/simplicity" then you can be reasonably certain that what and how he/she pictures will be quite different from what and how a picture maker intent on selling "chaos/complexity" goes about his/her picture making business. The "balance" exhibited in their respective pictures will undoubtedly be different.

Knowing, understanding, developing, and pursuing one's intent is what helps "composition" become (as Weston stated) "a personal thing, to be developed along with technique, as a personal way of seeing" (my emphasis).

Friday
Oct292010

civilized ku # 750 ~ Creepy beets for halloween

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Beets ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Thursday
Oct282010

civilized ku # 749 ~ Autumn color # 59 

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Point Park ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Thursday
Oct282010

civilized ku # 748 ~ Autumn color # 58 / on seeing

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Apartment No. 5 Long lake, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
A few weeks back, in the entry, civilized ku # 728, there was a link to a blog entry on Kept Light - Photography by A. Cemal Ekin. In response, A. Cemal Ekin has left a comment here on The Landscapist, re: his brief thoughts on seeing:

"Seeing", I believe, is not a static thing. It not only changes, or should change over time, but also gets affected by our experiences. I will also suggest that photographic seeing may very well differ from seeing in painting or sculpting. In sculpting, the sculpture is in the stone the artist removes the unnecessary parts, "subtraction". In painting the painter "synthesizes" the finished work by adding content. Where a photographer "selects" what to photograph, a process akin to analysis.

In the process of "seeing" one needs to refer to ones "database" of mental images, mental photographs. It is the connection of a detail, a gesture, a faint smile, to a mental image that generates the "seen" photograph. At the bottom of all this is a "prepared mind" equipped with some level of knowledge of photography, photographic tradition, the characteristics of the medium, some level of understanding the concept of art, and aesthetic sensibilities. One cannot see by looking harder but by learning about the issues I mentioned above.
(italic emphasis is mine)

Thursday
Oct282010

civilized ku # 747 ~ Autumn color # 57 

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Pumpkins galore ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Wednesday
Oct272010

civilized ku # 746 ~ Autumn color # 56 / on seeing

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Halloween yard ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
In a long comment on the recent entry civilized ku # 744, Swen W (no link provided) mentioned the notion of composition or, more accurately, the actual word "compositional" at least 6 times. I mention this point, not to fault Sven W but rather to make mention of the fact that I have avoided addressing the idea of composition as linked to / a component of the act of seeing. That is because, as stated in ku # 826, make no mistake about it, seeing and making good/interesting pictures of what you see are 2 distinctly different skills.

Up to this point the discussion has been primarily concern with developing / enhancing one's ability to see (as opposed to just looking) the at the world around one's self - to develop a sense of "feel" about what you look at, what some have called the "hidden life of things".

Simply stated, IMO, looking + feeling = seeing.

That said, let's move on to making good/interesting pictures of what you see ... On that score, it seems to me that the single element most concerning those who want to make good/interesting pictures of what they see (or, of what they are looking at without feeling) is some notion about the idea of "composition". This preoccupation with "composition" is entirely misplaced and, ultimately, counterproductive to the act of making good/interesting pictures.

Consider the words of 2 picture makers who's pictures are considered to be exquisitely "composed":

Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk. - Edward Weston

The so-called rules of photographic composition are, in my opinion, invalid, irrelevant and immaterial - Ansel Adams

IMO, both statements are spot on the money. If one is involved in trying "master" composition, one is embarked upon a fool's picture making errand because ...

When subject matter is forced to fit into preconceived patterns, there can be no freshness of vision. Following rules of composition can only lead to a tedious repetition of pictorial cliches ... To compose a subject well means no more than to see and present it in the strongest manner possible- Edward Weston

I would phrase that notion of "the strongest manner possible" in a slightly different manner:

There are no rules of composition. Period. End of sentence.

The act of composing a picture is entirely dependent upon the inherent character and qualities of the pictured referent together with how one wishes to convey one's feelings about it.

Now I am fairly certain that my composition dictum, and those of Weston and Adams, are sure to drive the compositionally obsessed to distraction. At least that would be so for those who are unable to let go of all of the rules and begin the not-inconsequential effort to learn, not only how to see, but also to put the feelings that result from that act into their pictures.

Anything that excites me, for any reason, I will photograph: not searching for unusual subject matter but making the commonplace unusual, nor indulging in extraordinary technique to attract attention. Work only when desire to the point of necessity impels – then do it honestly. Then so called “composition” becomes a personal thing, to be developed along with technique, as a personal way of seeing. - Edward Weston

All of that said, it should not be inferred in any way that I do not think that how well (strongly) a picture is composed is not one of the important / necessary qualities that a picture must possess in order to be a good/interesting picture.

More on that idea in tomorrow's on seeing entry.

Wednesday
Oct272010

civilized ku # 746 ~ Autumn color # 55

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Porch and dock ~ The Hedges / Blue Mt. Lake, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen