The Days of Future Past

"I love deadlines. I like the 'whooshing' noise they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams

Wait a minute, was that December that just blew by?!?!

Here we are finally coming out of the far side of the careening rush of the holiday season. Like many people,  I frequently find myself wondering how we continue to lose ourselves in the maddening crush of the season rather than take the other direction and just slow down a bit and reflect on our personal take on the Solstice and/or whatever spiritual take we might have on it. One of the victims of this year's running about has been my photography. There is just too little free time to get out to personal shoots or even process images. I've certainly let my blog updates take a bit of a back seat to more pressing matters. Still, even with all the rushing about, it is a natural time to find a moment to look back over the passing year and consider the ground covered, lessons (hopefully) learned and also to consider the rapidly approaching future.

The news isn't all bad, happily enough. It looks like we had a banner year for Holiday season sales which has contributed in some part to the running about - but that's a good thing and hopefully a sign that the economy is starting to warm up again. We will have both kids home for Christmas, which is a very good thing! I've made some new friends over at the Islip Arts Council and won an award for my Maple Red print at the recently concluded Seatuck Environmental Association Photography Show, which is sponsored by the Council. The reception was very well attended and my prints received a lot of attention, particularly from Council members. I am looking forward to doing a lot more work with this group. As this post does not discuss some photographic concept in my usual manner, I will share the three images that were accepted into the Seatuck show, starting with the award winner, "Maple Red":

(click on image to enlarge)         Maple Red

On the bad news side, another gallery has closed. Studio East Gallery, owned and operated by my friend Terry Falquero closed their doors after a three  year run. We had the reception for the current mixed media show a few weeks ago and it was a bittersweet event, knowing it was the last show for this quirky little gallery. I will miss our monthly show receptions and friendly, interesting discussions with the other artists. I may actually have to consider joining one of the local art groups at some point. 

It is already time to start considering next summer's show schedule. We want to show in the Westhampton Spring show, for instance, which will be a new one for us. We are considering a return to Sag Harbor as well, as they seem to have wised up and allowed tent setups on the park grass instead of the roadway. I want to find a show venue in the Stony Brook area as well, which is an odd void in our show network. I think we will still limit ourselves to showing on Long Island for the coming year. The logistics of traveling out of state are just too much for what amounts to a weekend event for us, at least for the immediate future. Next on the promotional front is the ongoing search for open artist calls for shows and publications. I've two submissions in the works as this is being written, so hopefully they will come to fruition.

(Click image to enlarge)                Inner Light

One of the year's outstanding moments was my portfolio review with Sean Kernan. This, in fact, may have been the most important moment of the year for my development as a photographer. We had a really interesting, if all too brief, discussion about my work which ended with Mr. Kernan's entirely unexpected statement that "Anything that I could show or teach you, you are already doing. You are on your own. Let's see what you can do!" 

I really did not see that train coming, as the saying goes.

(Click image to enlarge)               Windswept II

Bearing in mind that I have never taken a photography class, or even an art class for that matter, excepting the usual 8th grade thing we all take, Mr. Kernan's pronouncment came as a surprisingly profound shock. It is one thing to study on your own, comforted by the fact that you always have the option to reach out to those teachers and resources to get a helping hand or hints of direction. It is quite another to inadvertently discover you've passed an important benchmark without even realizing it. I'm still sorting this out in my own head and it will be interesting to see how this newfound realization affects my work.

So, here is to hoping all of you have an interesting and happily challenging new year. Get out there and let's see what you can do!

On Personal Growth and Learning

"Don't ever take an art class. It will ruin you."

These words were spoken to me over thirty-five years ago by a gentleman who had just purchased one of my paintings. Obviously, the statement stuck in my head. Why have I remembered this comment after all these years?

I think the first part of the answer is the sheer surprise I experienced at the comment. At the time my greatest desire was to get into one of the established art schools and here was a person who loved my work enough to spend money on it telling me to do exactly the opposite. I recall asking him why he would say that and his response was something along the lines of "they will make you just like everyone else. It will destroy your originality."

Ah! Even then I could see the sense in the statement. I've since followed that dictum and never have attended an art class of any kind, not even one on photography. Another question remains however: how is one to advance as an artist without the guidance of peers (or superiors) in some form? In my case, having a deep, inherent curiousity provides a natural drive to educate myself about those things that interest me - which is pretty much everything. In the case of the arts, I avail myself of all the information that exists on the internet, in our public libraries and magazine publications. There is an enormous amount of information within reach out there if one is willing to commit the time to search it out and then really study it.

Note that I did not refer to this process as 'work'. If the act of applying yourself to study and learning seems like work, it is strong evidence of a lack of passion for what you are doing. For me, this is not work. Rather, it is more like breathing, something I am driven to do. My wife will occasionally chastise me for bringing along some bit of technical reading material when we go on a vacation trip as she says I should take the opportunity to relax. What I've had to explain on more than one occasion over the years is that burying myself in that sort of research is how I relax! Learning really is like breathing to me, especially so when it is a subject in which I have a fervent interest. I can actually get a bit fidgety if I can't get to a bit of research on something that has lit a fire in me.

The technical aspects of photography aside, one of the most important resources available to us is the work of those artists we admire. I can spend literal hours poring over the work of the likes of Stieglitz and Steichen and others. I was browsing through a rather dingy, dusty, unkempt, dark rabbit hole of a bookstore recently and found gold in the form of two out-of-print books - The National Museum of Art Calloway Edition of 1983 'Alfred Stieglitz' and 'A Life in Photography', Edward Steichen's autobiography. Bookstore nirvana! The opportunity to study the work of these masters in such high quality printings at my leisure is invaluable. I do not limit myself to the masters of photography either. I began my art career as a painter, after all. I have a beautiful copy of Andrew Wyeth's autobiography as well and have many hours invested in this one book. It is from Wyeth that I learned something of the importance of what is included in an image and what is left out. Wyeth's work opened the door for me to a whole new consideration of how to approach composition and the contribution texture can make to an image.

I have many ideas from Wyeth's tempera paintings that I want to incorporate into my photography, but this is not easily done. The two mediums have fundamental differences in material and process that I have as yet been unable to bridge successfully. The excitement lies in continuing to try! Another example of a painter that has had a strong influence on me, especially in my early in my studies, is Maxfield Parrish. Parrish's landscape paintings, his main focus in his later years, are a wonder to me. His exceptional mastery of the ancient master's technique of glazing with oil paints (think Rembrandt) represents the high point of the technique and it is brought to its full modern potential in his landscapes. I have one photograph where the Parrish influence is clearly evident, 'Dream Swing'.

(click on image to enlarge)    Dream Swing

It seems to me that the influence of Stieglitz and Steichen on my recent work is fairly obvious. The current Cityscape series of limited edition architectural prints do not seek to copy their work, but to incorporate some of their ideas within modern subjects. Here I am trying to expand on certain aspects of the Photo Secessionists style by minimizing the softening effects of that period and blend it with the sharper, highly detailed and graphic nature of the silver gelatin prints from the '30's. The results are really intriguing and have received very strong positive reactions from viewers. The resulting images are unique in both look and subject, but deeply rooted in the the previous accomplishments of my silent mentors.

(click on image to enlarge)   The Morgan in Winter

For people like me, the process never stops, nor do we want it to. It isn't just some holistic sort of self-improvement thing. Rather, it is a basic function of our character, the desire to understand the world and universe around us. In that process we usually do improve ourselves, if for no other reason than we operate from a greater and more accurate understanding of our environment. The sheer scope of the unknown assures us, happily I might add, that we cannot possibly run out of things to learn! In this way, that delicious, childlike sense of wonder and awe can last a lifetime!

Steichen

As my experience and education regarding photography continues to grow, I make a point of learning, at least broadly, the history of this amazing medium. I've always been one to hold to the maxim that if you want to fully understand something, you need to understand its history as much as its current status. This applies to photography as much as any subject. We are fortunate in the case of photography in that it is a very recent technological development and therefore well documented. As with all human endeavors, it is the human element that lies at the center of what photography is and was. This is why I've spent much of the last year studying the early masters of photography as an artistic medium.

A few moments ago, I completed Edward Steichen's incredible autobiography "A Life In Photography". I have been engrossed and moved by this man's story and the parts he played in various aspects of our recent history. I am forced to sit for a while and contemplate his story and why it affects me so.

Part of the matter, and possibly the most superficial although still important, is Steichen's direct participation in such a broad range of historical events. A brief overview:

- He taught himself photography as a young boy when the medium was still barely more than a fledgling technology and was right at the forefront of its development and ultimate acceptance as an art form.

- His relationships as a young man with some of the world's most amazing artists and influential men, in particular Auguste Rodin and Alfred Stieglitz.

- His personal contributions to photography, including aerial photography for the Allies in WWI.

- His development of portraiture as an art form while photographing many of recent histories iconic figures.

- Inventing and re-inventing the concept of fashion photography.

- Creating the first independent photographic unit within the US Navy for the purposes of documenting WWII - he was in his late 60's at the start of the war!

- Serving as the Photographic director of arts in the Museum of Modern Art after the war, assembling some 40 world class photographic exhibitions over 15 years, culminating in the matchless and world renowned 'Family of Man' exhibit, still being shown when he authored his autobiography at the age of 84.

The descriptive title 'Great Man' is one I apply very rarely. I freely apply it to Edward Steichen. Here was a man possessed of an aggressively seeking mind matched with real talent and vision. As recently as two years ago I did not know he had existed. How can it be that people of Steichen's quality are relatively unknown in our society while characters like 'The Situation' and Charlie Sheen fill the headlines during their 15 minutes of fame and are idolized by a sizable chunk of our population, only to be replaced by the next flashy, meaningless splash? As if that weren't bad enough, all this goes on while people of real ability and commitment are rarely known outside of a narrow circle of familiars. It points to something deeply broken within our society.

This small blog entry cannot do Steichen or his contributions any real justice, but I highly recommend reading up on him in detail, especially so if you have any degree of interest in photography. I will offer a couple of small examples that may, hopefully, pique your interest enough to get you to educate yourself regarding this great man. To this end, I am going to break from my usual practice of displaying and discussing my own photographic work and display that of another artist.

The first is an example of his early work from 1902 in Paris and representative of his relationship with the great sculptor, Rodin. Steichen met the older and already established great sculptor during one of his visits to Paris as a young man, still interested as much in painting as photography. Over a period of about a year, the two developed a close friendship that ultimately led to Rodin granting permission to Steichen to photograph him and his work. One of the resulting images is also one of the great, masterful portraits even to this day.

(click on image to enlarge)           'La Penseur'

Here, in this stark, simple photograph, Steichen manages to capture the utter essence of one of the world's greatest sculptors, two of his works forming the backdrop of the portrait. One of the things that I really like about this image is that it represents an intersection of talent of two of my most admired and favorite artists. I've pored over this photograph for hours and even had the pleasure of examining the original in the Metropolitan Museum of Art recently. It is one of my absolute favorite works of art.

Portraits were how Steichen made an early living in New York City and also established himself as a photographer of considerable talent. Over the years, he was employed in photographing many of the powerful and celebrated personalities of the time and exhibited a consistent ability to bring out the subject's personality. There are many, many examples of this talent, but one the most interesting to me is Steichen's photograph of the famous actress Greta Garbo, taken in 1928 and seen below. Steichen was forced to rush through the shoot in an environment where the actress' public image was rigidly controlled by managers and  the shoot also interfered with the active, tightly organized filming schedule. He was unhappy with the results as the shoot progressed, but the right moment arrived when the director shouted over that it was time to get back to filming. Steichen had the camera ready and recognized the delicate and brief moment when Greta Garbo's true personality flashed to the surface as she turned and glared at the director.

(click on image to enlarge)                   'Greta Garbo'

Here, preparation and talent combine to deliver on a moment that existed in front of the camera for the briefest of instants and the subject's personality comes right to the forefront.

The last example is another one of Steichen's earlier works, dating to 1901. It is a self portrait, done by Steichen as an experiment. It is also one of my favorites examples of his work. The print is heavily manipulated by Steichen, as much painting as photograph, as he used his considerable creative talents from both mediums and combined them on the master plate to create a subtle yet powerful image.

(click on image to enlarge)                                'Self Portrait'

In order to understand and better work within the photographic medium, it is necessary to understand its history and roots in all its creative variety. Edward Steichen embodies very nearly the entire history of photography in a single package, not only by being present during the early days of the medium making itself known as an art form, not only by participating personally in its history and development, but by actually being one of the creative spirits to make that history, and then guide its progress through nearly a century of growth and development. A unique and great man indeed.

Sidewalk Processing

Technology manifests itself in some interesting and often unexpected ways. For example, you can now do photo processing on the go. I don't mean in the sense of having your notebook computer in the field with you, ready to process your latest and greatest DSLR image. I'm talking one handed, in the street right on your phone as you take the shot. Crazy.

In my prior blog post I went on about having fun with some of the new iPhone camera apps. Well, frankly, I underestimated just how much fun these little programs could be, particularly the odd little Hipstamatic app. It's actually gotten to the point where I haven't taken my little Leica out since I bought the Hipstamatic app and started using it. I even find myself using it alongside my big DSLR 'just for kicks' when doing a serious photo shoot. This happened just this past Sunday during a pre-dawn shoot on a fairly inaccessible bit of beach near my home. I was doing long 15 to 30 second exposures of an abandoned and badly deteriorated bulkhead just off the shoreline in the bay. Behind me was a very large expanse of salt marsh. The DSLR was firmly ensconced on my tripod as I worked through a series of exposures on specific parts of the bulkhead. Suddenly I heard a honking of geese behind me and turning, spotted a large flock coming across the marsh in my direction. I took a quick glance at the DSLR, tripod, long telephoto and all and quickly realized there was no way I was breaking the setup down and getting the camera on target in the very few seconds available. So I went for the iPhone mounted on my belt clip and keyed up the Hipstamatic app just as the geese came in range. I panned and caught six frames as they went buy. True to form, the app captured some nice atmospheric images of the flock of geese in flight over the bay.

(click on image to enlarge)         Geese in Flight
One of the drivers here, as mentioned in the earlier post, is the serendipitous nature of the results that the software delivers. Each image is a surprise and my curiousity simply gets the best of me. I'm pretty sure of the image that will come out of the DSLR, after all, that is what having all that control is about. I can never be certain of what the iPhone camera will deliver via the Hipstamatic app. The result is that after I finish my main shots with the pro gear, I find myself pulling out the iPhone to see what it delivers - click, click, click. Oh, cool!

(click on image to enlarge)          Life in Motion - Jamaica Station

As seen in the story above, one of the great advantages of the iPhone camera is that it lives right on my belt clip. It is always right there, a quick reach and snap and I'm taking pictures. I put the app icon right on the main screen for quick access and on a couple of occasions have had the app loaded and ready to go on power-up. I can go from belt clip to shooting in just a few seconds. Even the Leica requires that I remove my pack, pull the camera out and then remove the lens cap, then switch the camera on, all before composing the image and all of which takes considerably longer than the iPhone. The result is that the iPhone gets used more and more because it is so easy and accessible.

The only down side is that the quality of the image files is extremely limited. A so-so camera coupled with heavy jpeg compression will only get you so far. I would love to see, at minimum, RAW capability added to the iPhone to avoid the biggest issue, and maybe a much better camera on future iterations of the iPhone, which excels on so many other fronts.

But I digress.

I have discovered that all the iPhone camera apps save the image files in the Camera Roll directory. Easy enough. I have also discovered that the Camera Genius app can access any jpeg file in the Camera Roll directory. This means I can use the Camera Genius App to edit/process any jpeg taken with any of the other camera apps on the iPhone, including the Hipstamatic. Just to see if it would work, I even emailed myself a large jpeg image and saved it on the iPhone. The Camera Genius even worked in this larger file, although it was no rocket. This opens yet more creative possibilities! If a Hipstamatic image is a bit 'off' for one reason or another, say contrast, I just open it up in Camera Genius and adjust it accordingly.

(click on image to enlarge)           Gotham Perspective
I have found myself walking down the sidewalk, snapping a quick shot with Hipstamatic, checking it out and deciding that "the 'Lomography' preset in Camera Genius is just what the image needs to really be cool, and that standard border treatment is getting pretty old hat - one of the borders from Camera Genius would really spruce this up a bit." I'm doing the processing while walking to work and I've done this on several occasions already. But I've become deeply concerned.

I'm worried that somewhere on a Manhattan sidewalk there is a sign post with my name on it. I can really see myself so wrapped up in an image that I walk right into a post or, worse, out into Manhattan traffic. This, as they say, could be very bad for one's health. I think I'm in trouble here. Has anyone trademarked the 'Roadkill Photography' name yet?

­Don't forget to Have Fun!

Occasionally even the dedicated photographer has to be reminded that we are supposed to be having fun. It is all to easy to get sucked up into the supposed 'seriousness' of the process of capturing the best possible photograph that we can forget why we first got involved in the medium. While I do not wish to lessen the importance of those efforts, it is equally important to remember that it is all too easy to start taking yourself too seriously.

I was recently reminded of this when I discovered a photo app for my iPhone. I've perused the Apple App Store often, looking for interesting applications for the iPhone camera. Most fall into the 'serious' category and as I have far more powerful software on my main desktop, I tend to eschew these smaller dedicated programs. One exception is the Camera Genius app. This is a surprisingly capable little program. The feature I like most is the ability to separate and adjust the exposure and focus areas right on the touch screen. Very neat trick that. Just slide the exposure point to the area you want to meter and the focus box to the main point of interest and click. Very nice job designing that, guys. In addition are a series of effects and adjustment presets to add interest to the finished image. Another little detail I like is that the edited image is always saved as a new file and the original remains untouched. Well done. If you only buy one photo app, this one should get a hard look.

The program that really peaked my interest, however, was entirely unexpected. The app is called Hipstamatic. If you are old enough (no comments please!) to remember the really cheap, plastic, crappy Instamatic110 cameras of the 70's, you will relate to this program very quickly. The 110's used a little snap in film cartridge and made the family vacation snapshot all but ubiquitous. They were very inexpensive and very accessible and everyone seemed to have one. Most of those old family photos were very likely taken with one of these cameras or a similar model. We can all revisit these old memories because of them. So, in the end, the job that these cheap little plastic cameras did proves to be priceless.

The makers of the Hipstamatic app claim their little camera program emulates a small, cheap plastic camera marketed unsuccessfully in the early 80's. The original Hipstamatic camera is apparently apocryphal however, and the 'history' presented on the web page just clever marketing. While perhaps a bit disappointing in this respect, it detracts nothing from the functionality of the little camera program. It actually emulates the Instamatic, but it doesn't take much of a leap to imagine certain trademarking complications in using the Instamatic name.

(click on image to enlarge)               'You gonna share those chips or what?'

It really intrigues me that the poor quality of the photos from the Hipstamatic, as can be seen in the photo above, is what makes them so interesting. Bad color processing with terrible clarity and focus somehow combine to occasionally produce an odd and ultimately fun form of art. The iPhone app makes all this accessible to a generation that had never seen or heard of those lousy old cameras. I think this is a very good thing. We sometimes become so involved in the drive for perfection in a photograph, that we can sometimes miss the essence. There is a fun irony in that, by intentionally ruining the high quality capability of the hardware, the essence of the image can be captured instead of the technical detail, seemingly by accident.

Let's repeat that: 'Seemingly by accident'. I suspect that the fun lies right in that aspect of this entire idea. The Hipstamatic takes all the usual photographic choices away from us. It is a simple 'box' (OK, it actually an iPhone but you get the idea) with two buttons, shutter and flash. That's it. Period. Shut up and take the shot. Wow! The 'viewfinder' doesn't even show the whole scene or even center it accurately. This opens up a whole new world to the photographer. With such simplicity being the only option, you are forced to focus strictly on composition and the moment. As even the viewfinder is really badly limited and much guesswork is involved, you just point and shoot and hope for the best. How much fun is that! The resulting image is almost always a surprise – not always good mind you, but always a surprise.

(click on image to enlarge)               'And then she said...'

In one of those curious serendipities of life, the evening after I first purchased and downloaded the Hipstamatic app, I happened to stumble onto the Zeitgeist video production on Sally Mann and her unique photography on Youtube. In one of the opening scenes of this fascinating video, Ms. Mann is preparing one of her collodion glass plates and explains that she hopes that the plate is flawed, but flawed just enough to make the image interesting. This is the space that the Hipstamatic operates in. By intentionally distorting the otherwise decent quality of the iPhone camera, something truly interesting happens. The drift away from recording precisely accurate image detail towards a technically inferior image results in something more likely to engage one's imagination! We become engaged in a captured moment that would otherwise be rather ho-hum. As Mr. Spock would say: 'Fascinating!"

(click on image to enlarge)               'Santa's Summer Job'

My exploration into this world has only just begun. My new journey is literally barely 48 hours old as I write this. As with all new explorations, the vital quality of FUN is fully enjoined as we engage with the new concepts we discover and dance with. The creative sparks fly all around we experiment! I love this part of photography and life. Absolutely love it!

Looking for Humanity

I have long had an idea for a photo series that would study the relationship of man to his natural environment. This concept is an extension of my study of the human mind and consciousness, all related to my efforts and study to understand what it means to be 'human'. The photo project is waiting for me to come to some sort of creative conclusion as to precisely what I want to express and also how to convey that message through the photographic medium. My Street Photography Series is the beginning of this process.

It must go much farther than the restrictive environment of man existing - for better or worse - within the self-constructed cocoon of concrete, glass and steel that urban street photography captures, however. Much of the Western world has developed an unfortunate - and potentially fatal - idea that man exists separately, above and independently from what we consider the 'natural' environment. The urban environment is the perfect construct of this reality. Too many of us consider the natural world - those parts that remain mostly unaffected by man's presence and mechanizations - as an alien thing. A thing to be avoided, at minimum, and preferably subjugated and cleaned up a bit at best. The real truth is that, even buried deep within our most impressive skyscrapers, we never exist completely apart from the external environment. We can temporarily alter parts of it to suit ourselves and our unfortunately misplaced and misdirected egos, but in spite of our best attempts the entropy inherent within the broader system always, inevitably catches up with us. This process is actively manifesting itself all around us even now, although most don't have a deep enough understanding of natural processes to recognize what is happening. Worse, many of those who do have an inkling, but an interest in maintaining the status quo, work to promote obfuscation and/or denial.

One of the purposes of art is to open channels of communication not otherwise available to us. By sidestepping the more accustomed verbal channels of interaction and encouraging the viewer to pause and be exposed to a new perspective, art can sometimes deliver a message that might be otherwise missed or never considered.

A friend of mine, Shane Steinkamp, has spent a good portion of his life trying to come to terms with this not always subtle reality. Among my broad group of friends, he is one who can speak clearly and at length to the general concepts touched upon in the paragraphs above. He has also been experimenting with photography and video as a way to convey some of what he has learned. He is, unsurprisingly, a naturist who eschews the artificial shell represented by clothing and prefers to shed that shell whenever a practical opportunity to do so presents itself. During a recent canoe trip with friends, he took a series of photographs which mark a new level of success for himself in the photographic medium, but also served to help clarify where I want to go with at least a part of my project. Of the photographs he posted for us to see, two were standouts in-so-far as what he was trying to accomplish. The two photographs posted below were taken by Shane and then processed by me.

I immediately saw the potential in these two images and decided to see if I could help them along a bit to better communicate what I saw in them and what I thought would better reflect Shane's intent. The first image is of Shane balanced on a fallen tree in a remote section of the Mississippi's Black Creek. I am really attracted to the dynamic of this shot. The composition is spot on, with the shattered trunk anchoring and dominating the lower right and the flat diagonal of the fallen tree leading to and literally - as well as visually - supporting the obvious focus of interest, Shane himself. A case could be made that the figures presence is too small within the frame, but for this image to work as intended it requires the broad angle of view of that long, fallen tree trunk and the resulting void around the image only enhances the sense of place. The pose speaks directly to raw exposure and joy in this scene. The original is in color, but the photograph, to my eye, is far stronger in black and white as the conversion both removes the distracting element of color and forces the focus onto the parts of the image that are most relevant.

(click on image to enlarge)            Release

The next image is actually my favorite of the pair and speaks more directly, if more subtly, to what we are trying to convey with these photographs. Shane set up for a long exposure and then positioned himself in Black Creek for the shot. The result was this photograph:

(click on image to enlarge)          Water Spirits

As with 'Release', the composition is excellent. The presence of the main subject is again a bit small within the frame, but the sense of place is critical and, accordingly, requires an enhanced place in the subject's background to effectively convey the moment. One of the most important aspects of this image is the tension in the subject which is communicated to the viewer within the subtleness of body language. This is not the quiet, immobile, zen-like moment it appears to be at first glance. Note the curve in the subjects back and the expression on his face. His eyes are closed, but he is not relaxed. He is forced to lean into the slow but steady current as the water flows by, implacable and unrelenting.

These are parts of the message we need to deliver. The photograph 'Water Spirit' speaks directly to the metaphorical description of mankind's increasingly precarious position. It requires attention and careful balance to maintain ourselves in an ever moving and changing environment. Failure to achieve this balance will ultimately result in our being swept away with nary a trace.

Static

"Her eyes were a shade of gray between onyx and miscalculation." - Harlan Ellison

The panoply of writers that I admire comprise a rather eclectic group, ranging in subject from philosophy through science and nature through psychology and even speculative science fiction to hit a few high points. Mr. Ellison holds a special place in my heart as the writer who possesses a searing ability to not only convey the dark side of human nature, but to dwell in and caress it in a way unique to himself. The above quote is from his short story "On The Downhill Side", published in the collection "Deathbird Stories".

I read this story recently, part of a long overdue revisit to Mr. Ellison's work. As much as I admire the writing and the story itself, the quoted sentence above stands on its own in a way that grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

"between onyx and miscalculation."

On the surface of it, the conjunction of the words has no meaning. Yet, something deep inside is blasted by the phrase. A connection was made and I keep going back to the sentence and re-reading it, trying to identify the reason it hit. I actually highlighted it in my Kindle reader so it would be easier to find.

Here lies the reason that fixed print media, whether word or image, will never go away. Other media cannot be studied, examined, visited and revisited the same way: in quiet, leisurely privacy and contemplation. Yes, you can watch the same bit of video or listen to the same bit of music over and over again, but you are held captive to the pace of the media. At the very least, having to hit rewind and replay to cycle back through moving dynamic media certainly breaks the contemplative reverie.

The printed word and image, whether paper or digital, has that more important, timeless quality of allowing the viewer to set the pace of the meeting. I can slowly roll the words over in my mind at will, caressing them along with the implied, imagined meanings. Photography and other printed arts are the same in that they have the static quality that allows leisurely, focused contemplation. One of the elements which I try to bring into my photographic prints is the ability to not only survive this type of close, thoughtful examination, but to actively encourage it. It is necessary that the viewer be able to project themselves into the image, to make that direct connection to it. This quality, if properly achieved, is a fundamental characteristic of successful art, including photography.

The image below is very simple. There are very few visual elements within it, minimalism being something I really prefer if the subject allows: a bit of dune, the walkway winding away and fading in the fog. That's it. Yet, these simple elements draw the viewer directly into the image. Where is it? Where does it lead? Where am I going...

(click on image to enlarge)         Destination Unknown

Imagination is a critical part of this process. We are all metaphorical creatures in the sense that we cannot think or communicate without the use of metaphor, although most of us do so without realizing it. Yet, who of us has not gazed into the eyes of another with whom we have an emotional connection and not been transported?

"Her eyes were a shade of gray between onyx and miscalculation."

It is in the familiarity of the emotion and the vagueness inherent in metaphorical communication that we find our room for personal interpretation. Our individual connection is found somewhere in that opening. The sentence makes no literal sense and yet we connect to the individual components in a way that bridges the irrationality of it. In the end, we do understand its meaning, but at a visceral, emotional level, not a literal one.

Photography can work on this way, but it is much more difficult than with most other visual arts. The photographer must take a bit of reality and distill the scene or image within the camera in such a way that the literal distractions are minimized, allowing the potential for the metaphorical connection to come to the surface. The ability of the viewer to study the image in their own space and time, to contemplate the emotion inherent in the elements of the photographers work, is often a necessary component of the process. This is where the value of the physical print comes into its own. Hung on the wall, the viewer can revisit it at there own pace and leisure.

(click on image to enlarge)                Invitation

The nature of photography, based in the reality of physical objects and light, requires the photographer see the metaphorical potential of a subject in real time. When we are in this groove, we are moving through an imaginary reality, examining the material reality for these metaphorical constructs even as we move through them. The image above was taken right from the sidewalk, looking into the unlit restaurant. The carefully prepared table right up against the window sill and the rest of the space in dark shadow, except for the window at the far end of the room. I felt the space as I walked by and connected with it instantly. There was a curious energy and potential in this most mundane of scenes that could be brought out if the camera was used with sensitivity and care for the metaphor that it silently communicated.

Do these images work on this level? Only the viewer can say, as we are all different with varying likes, interests, sensitivities and degrees of ability to communicate in this mode. I've seen people make the connection with these two prints, enough so that several have been sold already, so I know that some do make that metaphorical leap of imagination with them.

Let's close with an architectural image:

(click on image to enlarge)    The Shining Light of Reason

The title is a rather broad hint at my intent with this one. Take some time and contemplate it. Does it connect with you? If so, why and how? The static nature of the image allows you to come back and reconsider it or even rekindle the emotion it might ignite within you. This is the gift of photography to the world of the arts.