civilized ku # 673 ~ getting to know

Red door at night ~ Philadelphia, PA • click to embiggen

In the past decade a new generation of photographers has directed the documentary approach toward more personal ends. Their aim has been not to reform life, but to know it. ~ John Szarkowski</font

civilized ku # 672 ~ goop and rust

Pond scum / rusty drain ~ Pennsauken Golf Course - Pennsauken, NJ • click to embiggen

A good photograph is never "about light". Good photographs are about feelings. ~ Brooks Jensen

I agree. Although, I might disagree if, by "feelings", Jensen does not mean emotional and intellectual feelings.

civilized ku # 671 ~ ceiling mural ...

Italian restaurant ceiling ~ Philadelphia, PA • click to embiggen... and faux marble in one of the noisy-ist and most over-lit restaurants I've ever been in.

civilized ku # 670 ~ pretty as a picture

A pretty picture • click to embiggenDuring the trip back from Philadelphia, the wife and I stopped at fundraising event where some hack picture maker had donated this pretty picture for the silent auction. The picture maker was, no doubt, trying to pander to the masses and their never-ending lust for prettiness and sentimental dreck.

civilized ku # 669 ~ bereft of discernment / understanding

Schooners ~ Shumway Marina on the Genesee River - Rochester, NY • click to embiggenOn Friday's entry, civilized ku # 663 - fried crap on a stick, I presented a few statements from others on the notion of light, AKA - the light. Today, I give you a few counterpoints by others:

Before I became a picture editor, I assumed that “good photographers” took “good pictures” because they had a special eye. What I found was that good photographers take good pictures because they take great pains to have good subjects in front of their cameras .... It is not important if photographs are “good.” It’s important that they are interesting. What makes a photograph interesting? I’ll count the ways: It can be our first look at something. It can be entertaining. It can evoke deep emotions. It can be amusing or thrilling or intriguing. It can be proof of something. It can jog memories or raise questions. It can be beautiful. It can convey authority. Most often, it informs. And, it can surprise. ~ John Loengard

and (for the gazillionth time on this site):

There is no such thing as "good" or "bad" photographic light. There is just light. ~ Brooks Jensen

It is also worth mentioning that, on civilized ku # 663 - fried crap on a stick, stu newberry (no link provided) opined that:

I detect a buncha' bullshit on your part regarding light and subject matter.

stu apparently came to this dubious conclusion, at least in part, based on the fact that I made these pictures and this pictures. Pictures which, according to stu's eye and sensibilities, are all about "the light" and that I made those pictures with the intent that the depicted object(s) is nothing and that I felt that the subject is less important than "the light" - neither of which were my intent nor my feelings, re: the light and/or the subject/object depicted.

In fact, I have never made a picture that is purely about the light. If I were interested in chasing just "the light", I would most likely just carry around an 18% gray cube (and a small piece of white seamless on which to place it) in order to put it in "the light" and then snap away.

That said, Sven W (on the same entry) was much more discerning, re: my comments, when he opined that the quoted comments thereon

... gives an insight to the mindset of the pretty picture crowd - the subject is a vehicle or starting point for the main game, which is pretty colours and light effects.

ku # 804 ~ and the beat goes on

A red twig ~ in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenWhat more is there to say?

civilized ku # 664-67 ~ sturm & drang

Stormy sky / view from the 5th tee ~ Lake Placid Resort & GC, Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
walk to the 3rd tee • click to embiggen
view from the 3rd tee • click to embiggen
looking back from the 3rd tee • click to embiggenSomehow, someway I got neither wet nor killed by lightning during this round of golf.

civilized ku # 663 ~ fried crap on a stick

Plants ~ George Eastman House / International Museum of Photography and Film - Rochester, NY • click to embiggen

Light glorifies everything. It transforms and ennobles the most commonplace and ordinary subjects. The object is nothing; light is everything. ~ Leonard Misonne

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography. ~ George Eastman

Think first about light. A photograph is only as good as the light you use. The subject is less important than the light that illuminates this subject. ~ some twit (who shall remain nameless) giving advice about "Fine Art Composition"

IMO, about the only thing right in the above statements is that of George Eastman when he stated that Light makes photography - but only if he meant that you need light to make a picture. Other than that light is just light. Period.

Especially wrong is the utter, complete, and pure unadulterated BS nonsensical notion that The subject is less important than the light / The object is nothing.