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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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Entries from September 1, 2007 - September 30, 2007

Thursday
Sep272007

urban ku # 110 ~ exactly

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Foggy morning wiith fence, wire and telephone poleclick to embiggen
In an email, Chuck Avery wrote; "That was an interesting exchange about a traditionalist versus activist photographic approach to the ecological questions in front of us. I don't think anybody is fooling themselves thinking that they are going to change the world. But if we can all do our small part to raise consciousness and awareness, then maybe we have done our job."

Exactly.

PS I'm posting this on Thursday evening because on Friday have to go see Tiger Woods.

Thursday
Sep272007

urban ku # 108 ~ consider this

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Elk with rack in repose on a foggy morningclick to embiggen
Stephen Shore, in an interview on Conscientious, talks about how the expense of shooting with an 8×10 camera - currently about $22.00 per exposure for film, processing and a contact sheet - made him "... decide what I really wanted to photograph and how I wanted to structure the picture ... This was a powerful learning experience. I began to learn what I really wanted."

When asked about digital picturing, he said, "I see digital as a two-sided phenomenon. The fact that pictures are free can lead to greater spontaneity. As I watch people photograph (with film), I often see a hesitation, an inhibition, in their process. I don't see this as much with digital. There seems to be a greater freedom and lack of restraint ... The other side of this lack of restraint is greater indiscriminancy. Here's a tautology: as one considers one's pictures less, one produces fewer truly considered pictures."

So, I have a question for you (all of you - come on, chime in. Don't be shy). How 'considered' are your pictures? Do you shoot lots and then edit? or, Do you tend to 'get it right' with a minimum of fuss and fidget?

If you are a consider-er (and I assume everybody considers something), what you do you consider most? What to picture? How to picture?

I am curious about this because, I have always been one who 'considers'.

Wednesday
Sep262007

Chuck Avery ~ Landscapes of Progress

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Chuck Avery sent pictures back in July and, as I mentioned, I totally overlooked them ( along with some others). So, better late than never is the order of the day.

Chuck and I share both a similar 'how we came to photography' stories and a similar approach to how we approach our subjects. Like me, Chuck started out in architecture but for one reason or another, became disillusioned with it and then, again like me, turned to photography. There are other interesting parallels in our lives but I won't get into that because it all starts to sound a bit 'creepy'.

Photography-wise, we tend to approach our subjects in as similar manner - he states on his website that, "...Instead of taking a dogmatic approach with this project by condemning urban sprawl, I would rather inspire awareness of the process and help to pose questions ..." I appreciate the fact that Chuck is picturing in a somewhat objective 'bear-witness' manner - using the medium's 'reality effect' to 'inspire awareness' about a subject to which he is drawn. He then has the artistic confidence to 'pose questions' about his subject rather than imposing answers - hopefully inciting discourse and thought. I also find his pictures to be visually stimulating. My eye enjoys working the visual landscapes that he presents - they have a quite and engaging visual beauty, albeit a 'horrifying' one, of which I never seem to tire.

Some might (correctly) pose that Chuck is doing nothing 'new', that his pictures are very 'derivative' of the New Topography school. While this certainly has an element of truth, what I most appreciate about his pictures is that they are linked to a sense of place - his place - and his concern for his place. His pictures do however transcend the merely 'local'. The 'connoted' subject they address is indeed a global one.

All in all, I find Chuck's pictures to be both illustrative and illuminating. Would that there were legions of Chuck Averys doing the 'same' thing (rather than the ubiquitous pretty landscape crap) The planet just might be a better place.

You can see more of Chuck Avery's pictures on his website. The pictures presented here are from his Landscapes of Progress gallery, but don't stop there, check out all of his galleries.

Tuesday
Sep252007

urban ku # 107 ~ the Luigi syndrone

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The Luigi Syndrome strikes againclick to embiggen
The dictionary defines 'syndrome' as a predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, action, etc., that tends to occur under certain circumstances.

On road trips of late (the last year or so), I seem to be repeatedly encountering a very specific 'certain circumstance' - used Fiats on used car lots - that trigger an instantaneous Pavlovian 'predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, which, for me, is to fall under the spell of the dreaded Luigi Syndrome. For me that is characterized by a lust for old Fiats. A lust akin to failing for a woman whom you know will break your heart, leave you high and dry and drain your bank account along the way. As Bob Dylan sings, "... some lazy slut has charmed away my brains ..." (Rollin' and Tumblin' ~ from the Modern Times CD).

So far, I have been able to resist the urge (with a great deal of 'help' from the long-suffering wife). But if this keeps up ...

FYI, we're back home, Maggie's going to classes and no one has a clue about what went wrong.

Monday
Sep242007

FYI

I'm back in Philadelphia again. Maggie is going to classes today and if all goes well, the wife and I are heading back home this evening. It seems that everything is returning to 'normal'.

I did some email folder cleanup on Saturday and discovered that I had completely missed a number of photo submissions going back as far as June. Don't know how I managed that but I will be posting some of those this week.

BTW, have I mentioned how much I dislike driving the Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway?

FYI #2, Tim Atherton, over on photo-muse has some great reading suggestions today. Check them out - and, btw, Tim's blog really is one of the best out there on the subject of photography, emphasis on "it's about the pictures, dummy" (past and present) - highly recommended.

Friday
Sep212007

ku # 486 ~

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It's been dryclick to embiggen
If not entirely clear and vibrant, the forecast for Maggie is very good. She continues to improve and maybe, just maybe, she will be released later today. Several doctors still have to sign off on it but the probability is high.

There is still no diagnosis, only speculation that it was a viral infection of some kind. The neurologist continues to run tests looking for all kinds of exotic stuff but nothing shows up. My speculation is that it's the same viral thing that I had - including 3 days of bedridden high fever semi-delirium - that laid me low for the better part of 2 weeks in early August. It just hit Maggie harder or she had a much lower tolerance for it. But, no one knows anything for sure.

So, just like today's picture, things are getting brighter even though it's still quite hazy.

Thursday
Sep202007

civilized ku # 57 ~ joyous in the ICU

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Laughing to keep from cryingclick to embiggen
Throughout the darkest ICU days, I insisted that the rule in the ICU be, 'put on a happy face'. For the most part, this was not as difficult as it first might seem.

It was helpful that the 'big ones' were rather quickly being ruled out, but the support of the wife's family - many of whom lived less than 10 miles away, right across the river from Philadelphia - was beyond measure. Two of the wife's sisters were at the hospital within a hour of Maggie's arrival. They provided a running account of Maggie's status - by cell phone - during our 6 1/2 drive to Philadelphia. During Maggie's days in the ICU, there was always at least one and at times up to four family members there for support.

On Sunday (day 2), we were able to get a number of things from Maggie's dorm room - in the picture, you can see her IPod Nano, teddy bear, favorite pillow and pictures of friends on the wall. In addition to the wife, there is a cousin and an aunt, each holding one of Maggie's hands. The banter was about good times with Mags. The mood was joyous.

It must be said that the staff in the ICU was helpful in maintaining the joyous-ness. There were friendly and very 'tolerant' when it came to the 'rules'. We were in constant violation of the max number of visitors, cell phones (although banned) were overlooked, cameras (although banned) were never confiscated, 'outside' food and beverages (although banned) were overlooked, personal possessions of the patient - see above - (although banned) were allowed, and no one even mentioned the bottle of Makers Mark (hand-crafted Kentucky bourbon whiskey) on the floor in the brown paper bag.

So, although it was a very tense, stressful and trying time, we managed to keep in joyous in the ICU.

Wednesday
Sep192007

urban ku # 106 ~ update on reality, truth in pictures and Maggie.

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Dashing through the nightclick to embiggen
Maggie's resting and recuperating nicely in her hospital room. No tubes. No antibiotics. No sedation. Weak as hell, but she's eating like a horse. And, no, despite ongoing tests, the answer is - we still don't know.

Me, after a dash through the night (to avoid any daylight/commuter traffic on the Jersey Turnpike/Parkway), I'm back home tending to some business. Maggie's surrounded by extended family and we've purchased train tickets for her boyfriend and best friend so they can be there as well. They are on the train as I write. Things are looking good.

Yesterday, Aaron wrote - "Not being able to get down there and share some good vibes for her in person, I am overwhelmed by these photos in a way I don't like .... (I have) conflicting emotions on whether I should have looked at these or not ..." - interesting emotions/reaction coming from the guy who is giving the world his emotion/reaction-inducing Cinemascapes.

I knew when I was making these pictures that they would pack a wallop, especially for those who know and are close to Maggie - many of whom are not able to be by her side. In part, that was my intent - to make it 'real'. If one has not experienced anything like this personally, then it all tends to be rather 'abstract'. As I wrote yesterday, the wife and I, the extended family and friends knew all of the words involved with this event. Now, those words have added meaning and a sense of 'real-ness' attached to them.

Yesterday's pictures are why I get a little bent out of shape when photography discussions about truth and the real in pictures wander a little too much into the 'abstract'.