Poetry Reading

 

No Longer Paradise

A poetry reading is when the poet has the opportunity to engage an audience and put flesh on the bones of their work, to breath life into the written word and to provide a specific rhythm and feeling to the work.

Until recently, the thought of discussing what I am trying to do with my series Bad Trip – Sad Trip was very intimidating. Yes, I am writting a blog, but I feel that this is very different. Anyhow, having put together the first draft of my “artistic statement” has been kinda uplifting, having a basic ability to articulate what I am trying to do. Thus I took a big step in participating in a photographic “poety reading”, actually showing and discussing four my Bad Trip – Sad Trip prints to a small group of photograpers in a group we have in Southern California called the Photograhers Exchange.

I think it is safe to say that showing the four prints from this series created a strong response, more than any other images shared during the evening. Overall I would say that it was a very encouraging experience for me as the dialog was very interesting. The print with what I thought had the greatest impact was very well received. The couple of prints that have a softer “voice” may have created the most discussion. It is my opinion if you were to attend a poetry reading and it was completed in single monotone, it would get very boring. Thus the need for modulation in tone and candance, for soft transitions to a stronger impact The same for listening to any band or song. The same also with this series. Not all of my images are going to be high impact; some are going to need a longer visit, to be thought about and consider the way the image is talking to you.

Honestly, I am not going to change any of my images as a result of this discussion, I think that the images are still right on, but I did felt the encouragement to “stay the course”. and that was great….

Best regards, Doug

Limited Edition Prints

No image with this post today, as I am traveling for my day job…

But nevertheless, I have been thinking about this whole issue of Limited Edition prints for photographers, versus Open Edition prints. Does one or the other really make sense? Having made my first Limited Edition print back in the 1980’s, it’s was not a good experience for me. More about that in a moment.

Before discussing the technology aspect of Limited Edition prints, I am very well aware of the economics driven by the galleries. That it is if something is rare, not infinite, then the value will increase. But the collary to that is there has to be “demand” because no matter how few there are, if no one wants it, the value will be very low.

So as an artist, why would I consider either of these? Okay, the argument for Limited Edition prints with today’s technology. In the past the limited editions were made by etching or true lithographic stones. As a result of the the edition being made (pulled), the stone or plate started to wear.  As the plates began to wear, the resulting images began to change and not appear as the artist’s original intent. Thus the desire to have an early number in a Limited Edition print, as the plate was pristine and the image was exactly as the artist intended.

Fast forward to digital inkjet printing. A print today is exactly like the one yesterday and will be like the one tomorrow, right? Yes and no. If I look at a really short time span like a month or so, the process looks very stable. But what are the potential variables that can change that would effect a print today that might make it look different in a year? The answer is to look back and see the rapid changes in the inkjet printing process, my current “printing process”. The changes include the number of available “black” inks (now three on the Epson), the ink droplette size (more refinement), the K3 ink itself (incresed durability/longevity), ablitity to eliminate tonal shifts (maintain color neutrality). Now add in new printing papers or the obsolescence of a paper or changes in how a paper is made. Add to this the controls available today in the software options, creating my images in 16 bit versus 8 bit. Or the source of my image, be it a scanned negative or digital capture, when it was not too long ago there were 2 Mp JPEGs and that was it.

Thus I can argue, that if I were to make a Limited Edition of X prints, that they would be unique to this peroid in time. I am very sure that if I had made a Limited Edition series with the available digital printing materials in 2000, that what I can do today could make that same image look very different. So my cavet for a Limited Edition photoraphic print is to print the entire edition at the same time. If I were to choose to print on demand, I may end of having the Edition with too many variables. I print now with an Epson 4800 and for some reason, it were to become totally toasted, more than likely, I would be probably buying the Epson 3800 for a replacement. From what I understand about the 3800 is that it has a different ink particle size than the 4800, thus effectively creating a slightly different print.

So what was my past experience that causes me concerns? In the mid-80’s I made a Limited Edition of my favorite image at the time. Because of the cost of silver then, the graded papers were not very flexible for push/pull development. Long story short, I made a custom print development formulation to achieve a grade 2-1/2 and then made 25 each 16×20 silver geletin prints. But this was a complicated printing with a lot of dodging and burning, and at the end of the day I had only 5 prints that were acceptable. Thus my final Edition was 5. I now know of where only one of these prints is (matted and framed hanging in my living room). Also in the spirit of a Limited Edition, I destroyed the negative; literally cut it up or what an etcher would call “canceling the plate”.

My problem is that now I wish I had that negative, because of what I feel that I could do now with that same image in Photoshop and print on the Epson. I think that I made a great print in my wet darkroom, but if my current experience holds, I could have made an excellent print today. So do I want to limit my future creative opportunities by my current technologies? That is one of my questions…..

Best regards, Doug

Cover Bands

 

Arizona Monsoon

Over the weekend while listening to a lot of music, I started to notice how many great bands have in their bio that they had been formed and started playing as “cover bands”, meaning they played the songs that other bands recorded. Not much is said about who they covered, but probably some indication when they talk about who were their influences. Then occasionally we hear a song that goes big on the charts from a new band covering an older song with their own twist.

For photographers, creating an image that has been previously made before, either subject or style is called creating a cliche, an overused expression or idea. In order to learn the art and craft of our medium, I do think that making similar work is a good thing. We can learn a lot in just trying to get that similar image in the use of camera, lens, exposure, post-image manipuation, the use of light in the compostion, etc. I just can not recall any great photographers getting a lot of excitement for making an exact duplicate image of someone else’s work (if you could), but with their own twist, e.g. Adam’s Half Dome as an example.

My image for this post, Arizona Monsoon, made in the early 70’s was very much in the popular style of the time and a bit of a cliche. It is a grand landscape image, made with a dark red filter to really darken the sky and pop the contrast of the storm cloud edges, then burning & dodging the print to create a stronger emphsis on the image mood. This was my first successfully pre-visualized image that I had created and was the reason that I felt that investing in medium format equipment was not going to be a waste of resources. It was a pivotal image in my artistic development and I may not have progressed much without creating it. But it is not where I am today, but this was my cliche that started me in the right direction. And I have to say, cliche or not, I still like it……

Best regards, Doug

Evolving Project

 

For the Three Children

While in the progress of writing my statement for my project Bad Trip – Sad Trip, a very sad event just occurred at my Freeway exit, when three very young children were accidently killed. I did not know the family but they lived a couple of minutes down the road in an adjacent unincorporated town. The funeral was this Saturday, the day before Mothers Day. It is very hard for me to fully understand the grief and sorrow that they are going through. The closest I can come is to try to understand how I would feel if I lost my two grandchildren in similar circumstances.

And I can not help but think that is effecting me and how I work on this project….

Best regards, Doug

Sleight of Hand

 

Hope

From my many years of printing, the mantra for “straight” landscape photography, was that when (not if) you make some tonal or other adjustments to the image, they should not be noticed or seen. That the image had to look natural, and did not suggest manipulation. Thus the more skilled you were in the wet-darkroom with dogging and burning, the effects of your slight of hand not being apparent, the more you were considered a “Master” printer. Okay, so now I can see a trap that I ended up falling into, having one less “creative” printing option.

This was not so apparent to me and how I was printing as to when I began studying the images by Brandt in his book On This Earth. Brandt had his printer do some really heavy edge burning, which was very noticeable (to me as photographer printer). But it seems to work, as his book is not a documentary of the animals of Africa as they are portrait images. Also, the heavy burning in of the images are fairly consistent through the entire series of images (see yesterdays post regarding Printing for a Purpose). At one time I would have dismissed this body of work, but instead after leafing thought the book, I came back to buy it. And I have started changing how I evaluate my images and have started incorporating stronger image manipulations with my project, Bad Trip – Sad Trip.

 Best regards, Doug

Printing with a Purpose

 

Alex

I continue with my artistic statment for Bad Trip Sad Trip and found myself re-reading the Editorial of the same title by Brooks Jensen from last February’s issue of LensWork. I believe that what he discusses has held true for this project. I have chosen a specific image preparation and printing style for this body of work that is fairly consistant throughout the series. So part of my ability to write a statement should then come back to why did I make these specific choices, eh?

First, I like monotone image as expressed as a black and white. It does allow me more freedom and fexiblity to choose and create the tonal relationships between adjacent parts of the image. In my transition to digital, I have also found that I like a warm toned image to my “black and whites”. With toning, perhaps I call them “brown and whites”? Regardless, one thing that is unique to this project is that I have decided to use a more pronounced tone, a stronger sepia hue that seems to work better with these images.

So why not create this project in color, or a more traditional “neutral” black & white, or a differenct hue althougher, such as a blue which could infer “saddness”? My immediate reation to my own question is that this is not a documentary project and an image with a warmer hue will make a potentially difficult subject more accesible. hmmmmm. Okay enough insights for now as I now need to ponder this some more….

Best regards, Doug

Artistic Validation

 

Tired Bones

When I create something, be it a photographic image or an acrylic painting, I do appreciate the feedback from others that the artwork meant something to them, which I would call artistic validation. I think of it as a metaphor for making a connection with someone.

Before, I made landscape photographs for others and others seemed to like them, altough you are not sure of the complement of “Wow, that looks like an Ansel Adams photograph”. To be honest, in the mid- 70’s I was thrilled at the complement because it indicated that I had reached a level of technical and “creative” achievement that in fact I was chasing. Well, its not my goal anymore, although I am fortunate that having that technical image capturing background, it does make achieving what I want to do today less hap-hazard.

It may now be more of tired cliche, but I do feel that the images that I make today are more about me and for me. Somethimes I think that it has been a long time coming, but I am who I am today, and while I wish that I was absolutley brillant yesterday (or any day!), I can not change the past but appreciate it and continue to move on. That being said, I still appreciate the feedback that someone now connects in their own way with what I thought was significant. I like the honest emtional response, even though I know not eveyone may “get it”, but an honest response nvertheless, because I learn something about them that I may not have known before.

So back to artistic validation, which is in a way what this blog is seeking to do, diffinently what my web site is trying to achieve, why I meet with friends, family, other photogaphers to share my images and why I submit images to juried art exhibits and seek other exhibition opportunities. If I did not to make a connection and potential validation, why would I show my work? Keep it in a drawer if you do not want your work to be seen.

Thus I was very happy to have the image “Tired Bones“ accepted in the Photo Series 2007 juried photography exhibit at the Irvine Fine Art Center (Irvine, CA). This is an important image to me and it is great to get the feedback from others, that at some level, it has connected with them. It is a validation that keeps me trying, to go out and take chances, to work on what works for me and to take the next step of showing new images to others. Like it or not, I think that like other creative and talented individuals, I also tend to self-doubt my work.  Without some little reasurances, as we do perform without a net, we can go out on that ”limb” and take chances.

Best regards, Doug

Bad Trip – Sad Trip

Fading Memories

The working title to my project is “Bad Trip – Sad Trip”, a project title that changes a little each day. While I was in Shanghai last month, I was trying to have a “chop” or stamp made for this project title. It does not translate easily, and as close as we could get was “Sad Journey”. That works too and very much one in the same.

I am considering this project for submission to a gallery and they need an artist statement for this body of work. This is the hard part, writing about what this project is. When I started this project, it was more of a documentation series. But as I have spend time interacting with these momorials and returning a number of times over the years, you become more familiar with the circumstances, more about who was involved and who was left behind. And I see the effects of time and the context of these within the environment. And the connection and emotions I have become altered.

Thus this series has changed and is now a different project that I had ever planned. So how do I write about that? The mother of the 17 year old boy who was killed by a hit and run driver, who approached me while I was working with his memorial, her emotions still raw, but she seemed appreciative of what I was trying to accomplish. It was difficult to explain to her at the time what I was trying to do, and it still is. I have started a draft and I will continue writing. If I can’t get the words down, perhaps I’ll consider submitting next year.

Best regards, Doug

Lecia M8 vs Canon XTi

 

NYCity Ground Zero

There seems to be some internet Angst with a few reviews (example see blog: The Online Photographer) of the Lecia M8 and comparison with the Canon Rebel XTi. For the record, I have a Canon Rebel XTi and a “Lecia”, more about that in a moment.

As to my background for this review, I look at camera equipment from a strong utilitarian perspective, probably from my many years as an engineer develping new medical products for use by hospitals. Usually no fancy marketing extras for these medical devices and they have to do exactly what they need to do.

It has been my experience that what the Lecia camera does best, is not be seen while alowing the photographer to unobstrusively capture the “decisive moment”. The camera had to have very reliable mechanics, good glass and image resolution and fast focus and compositioning. Usually shooting without tripod (keeping with the unobstrusivenesses), pushing the speed of HP4 or Tri-X, and in available light (not only good glass, but “fast” glass). Best known for “street photography”.

When I carry my Canon XTi with the 17-40mm lens (or especially the 70-200mm), it is hard to be “un-noticed”, it is very apparent to all of those around me that I am a “photographer” and I am very aware that eveyone else is very aware. So, if you want to be noticed, carry an all black camera with a big black lens and strange lens shade. It can shout “look at me!”. But don’t look for the subtle decisive moment as you watch life passing by. For the photogarphs that I do create, the XTi is a wonderful camera system.

When I want to move about relatively unnoticed and transparent, I carry my “Lecia”, which has Canon G2 for a name plate. For the record, I do not have a Lecia M8, but I have seen one on the shelf at a camera store. It does not look like a camera that you can carry and use unnoticed. But my little rangefinder digi-cam is wonderful. Everyone has one and I look like almost everyone else, even a little touristy, but seen and non-seen, transparent and almost invisible. The great “decisive moment” guy used to wear a suit just so that he would blend in with the crowd (no black outfit or camera vest and two or more cameras hanging off). The G2 shoots little 4Mp RAW images that make really fine images on 8-1/2 x 11 paper (remember, Lecia images made with HP4 were usually printed on 8×10’s, the de facto standard back then).

What I was hoping that Canon was going to do with G series; a faster zoom (e.g. f1.4?) and better L glass. A camera that was much easier to focus, either manual (guess-a-matic) or auto with more focusing points. Instead we get more pixels and no RAW and still f2.8. Bummer. The zoom lens does zoom kinda slow, but it had a good range of equivalent focal lengths; approx 35 – 85mm, the classic range of the M3 and M4’s. But remember, the old Lecia’s were not perfect either, but absolutely perfect for the intended use. So I do not have a need to repace the G2 and it really is a temendous deal when compared to the real Lecia M8.

The NYCity image in this post was created with the Canon G2.

Best regards, Doug

12/03/07 Update; When Canon announced the G7 10 Mp camera about the same time as the Canon XTi, also a 10 Mp camera, the G7 did not come with RAW, a deal killer for me.  Since then, Photoshop CS3 can do some things added things with JPEG image files, but better than that, Canon just introduced the G9, a 12 Mp camera with RAW capbabilities.  Recent reviews gives this a “best in class” for a digi-cam with its small sensor size.  If I wanted to be ‘transparent’ taking “decisive moments” photographs on the street, this would be the camera that I would seriously consider buying.

A Series becomes a Project

Randy

Looking back, I have always been thinking in terms of groups of photograhs, mostly thematic landscape groups. Occasionally I will fnd that I am interested in a particluar group of images that have a stronger unifying “glue” and then I begin to group these together as a series. Then I read the artilce (seems like most have) by Brooks Jenson on artitistic “projects”, but a different way of thinking about a series. A way that made a difference in the number of series that I was casually collecting. Considering how long that I have been cataloging my various series, it was time to overhaul my process.

So, last year I decided to re-vamp my serial collections and see which had enought merit to develop into a serious project. As a result, I quickly had three projects in progress and a list of potentials. Concurrently, I still make the singular landscape images, for which I have not decided if these merit the classification of a project, but for now, no matter.

My three projects are on-going at the moment, but I have realized that one has become my lead project, of which the image Randy, above, is from. This project (also on my website as Project 1) has over 25 images and a working title that seems to get changed each week. And it has been changing as well in how I treat it. It is part documentary, part landscape, alot of presonal interpatation, and much different than my other singular images. There is risk with diverting off my main photographic path, but there is also potential growth and development that is part of the reward for the risk. Part of my current problem is what to do with these images? Honestly, I do not see people wanting to buy these images, so they are not for sale. But I enjoy this project so I continue on…..

 Best reagards, Doug