Welcome to Milano: Fashion Week! by Douglas Stockdale

In a bit of a marathon today, I finished posting my photo project Milan Fashion Week. I just hope that I really don’t need to explain that it may be a social-cultural satire, but you can never tell.

Another aspect of this project is how it is shared, sans formal gallery, nor a self-published book that few, if any will ultimately purchase. Constructing and designing a blog that allows the project to unfold is about a democratic and open distribution. This is also about what we do with a completed project, that provides some underlying structure and accessibility.

The implications are that if this is a better means of sharing access to a project, then I have some work cut out to restructure my prior projects. But first things first, which is to determine how well this particular experiment works.

Best regards, Douglas

A good friend of mine, Larry Vogel, has started a new blog this last weekend, called The New Renaissance Man. Although Larry is primarily a photographer, represented by the Susan Spiritus Gallery here in SoCal, he is muti-talented to the point of considering himself a new Renaissance Man.

His blogging intentions are stated here:

This blog is dedicated to the original Renaissance Man, Leonardo da Vinci. It is open to a new Renaissance Generation who explore the world as Creative Seekers. If you have ever been called creative, or perhaps you have been described as a “Renaissance Man”, you are in the right place to share and explore your creativity!

Creativity is an elusive quality, so we can use all of the help we can get.

Please check it out, and let Larry know that I suggested that you stop by;- )

Best regards, Doug

Reflections from the project Insomnia: Hotel Noirphotography copyright of Douglas Stockdale

I have been reading and assessing a lot of photographic books recently to publish on The Photo Book, and to a lesser extent, photographic reviews at galleries, but still looking a ton of images on the Internet. One aspect of these reviews that I bring with me, probably unstated, but there nevertheless, is my personal background and experiences in photography.

Case in point, my photographic “training” has been heavily derived from experience, that is that I do not have a BFA in art or photography. That could be a strength or it could be a weakness, nevertheless, it is. As a result I have not taken formal classes on art criticism or photography criticism. Now I am reading the related texts on the subject and it is providing me with more insights on the process of reviewing and assessing art and photographs, but it also helps me understand where I am at and why I probably understand certain types of photographs better than others.

But it also helps me understand more about what my book reviews are about and who my audience probably is. As I do not have a post graduate academic degree, e.g. Ph.D. in art history, my writings are not academic in nature, e.g. convoluted with academic theories and jargon as to be unfathomable to most photographers. So my audience is not probably going to be the academics and the related academic world. Nice, eh?

Now I realize that having only John Szarkowski’s book The Photographers Eye to help guide me, as well as the types of photographs I had made in the 70’s & 80’s, pretty well had locked me into a Modernist viewpoint. Thus my understanding of Post-Modernismas it applied to photography was very limited and narrow. Which in retrospect was kinda weird, because as a painter, I leaned towards Abstract Expressionistic work. Yeah, I don’t quite get it either, but again, it is what it is. Perhaps why I am so comfortable with the development of current photographic project, Insomnia, which I now think is Post-Modernistic.

So taking my photographic book reviews seriously has led me to purchase addition books on art and photographic criticism as well as critical theory, such as Terry Barrett’s Criticizing Photographs and a collection of writings edited by Ashley La Grange, Basic Critical Theory for Photographers. Thus my Aha! and realization regarding the fact that I photographicly developed as a Modernist, but tempered with some aspects of Post-Modernism.

It allows me to better understand my book review process. I like to live with a book for a while before I publish my assessment. That duration can be a couple of weeks to a couple of months, or more, depending on how comfortable I am with my thoughts and feelings about the book. First I complete a quick read of just the photographs, making some equally quick notes, sort of a first impression. Then I read the introductions and artistic statements, making more notes. Afterwards I will keep coming back to the book to refine my thoughts and impressions and then start drafting my review.

I also try not to read other reviews about this particular book until I have essentially finished mine, and most times, I prefer to wait until I publish my review. And I don’t usually contact the photographer during the book’s assessment period.

So for those who are familiar with the kinds of photographic criticism, I hope will probably agree with my own self-assessment that I lean towards Exploratory Aesthetic Criticism (per Ralph Smith) and Applied Criticism(per Andy Grundberg). In plain speak, that means that 1.)I try to understand the books aesthetic aspects as completely as possible to ensure that the readers will experience what can be seen in a book and 2.) what I write is practical, immediate and directed at the work (book).

So as you might imagine, some of this new knowledge is going to roll over into my reviews, but I will do the best I can to continue to ensure that my reviews are practical, immediate and directed at the book itself.

Best regards, Doug

Hutong ReDevelopment #7, 2007 copyright of Douglas Stockdale

Catching up on my reading and I found that I had received some really nice comments by Miguel Garcia-Guzman on his blog, Exposure Compensation regarding my Un-Critical Mass submission, Re:Development.  I really like his description of my work and to quote Miguel: “Doug’s work highlights a beautiful sense of space, patterns and relationships”. Thank you Miguel!

I still have some self-doubts about the small stories that I created for this series, using the triptych photographs. Especially when the response has been so strong for many of the Singular Images that are the building blocks for the stories. Well, perhaps stories is too large of a concept for the individual triptych’s, perhaps the story is when the 40 triptychs are seen together.

Each of the triptych should be seen as a small poem, perhaps similar to the Japanese Haiku, which when translated to English, are viewed as three lines to equate to the haiku’s three metrical phrases.

And I really do like the triptychs! And I also enjoy some of the singular images that constitute the triptychs, but when they are placed in the context of each other, become visually stronger for me. Especially when some of the images are perhaps a little too conceptual, such as Hutong ReDevelopment #7, (above) which deals with the traces of a Hutong. A haunting and subtle poem about what was and now is not.

And I still wonder, are there those who are in JiaXing that walk these now desolate areas, feel a similar saddness that I experienced?

Best regards, Doug

“Watering Hole” copyright of Amy Stein

I had an opportunity to review a local exhibit that inculded the work of Amy Stein and a couple of other photographers. In my role as the editor of the The Photo Exchange, I am more of a reporter versus a true reviewer. Perhaps that will evolve over time.

But here in this place, you get to read my thoughts about the photograpers and exhibit. You unlucky devils;- )

There were three photographers who stood out in this exhibit, but clearly Stein was head and shoulders over the others. I was not aware of which photographers were chosen for the exhibit and on the way over, I had hoped that Watering Hole was one of them. It is becoming an icon image of Stein’s and I had not had the opportunity to see it in print yet.

Interestingly, I had a reviewed a photograph earlier today that included a child with the face somewhat obsecured as in Watering Hole. Sometimes it is a matter of inches in the composition that can make a difference. For those who are not aware, Stein’s photographs are ‘created’, e.g. constructed. The photograph was not made by chance, but to be part of a story.

Unlike the work by Crewdson, she is not heavy handed with overly lite and binging in the dramatic effects. She is a different kind of story director. The photographs work well on their own. You think that this is actually happening and then you realize, oh-oh, the photographer is on the same side of the fence as the bear! Extremly engaging.

Also in this exhibit are the dark, moody and criptic photographs by Susan Burnstine. Burnstine has created little poems while Stein has created short stories. For Burnstein, I have to get in a mood to get into her work, while with Stein, I can easily free associate and easily become engaged. And as the two photographers have a similar themed photograph hanging next to each other, it makes it all that much easier to compare the two.

At the moment, I am the found photograph photograrpher, a sense of discovery of seeing what is there. But I like the idea of creating photograph projects, as a story, and it was a delight to see Stein’s work where the creation process is not so heavy handed and obvious. Wonderful food for thought;- )

Best regards, Doug

Yuck, another overcast day, with the exception of about 15 minutes. You would think I was back in Michigan. And now the weather forecast for the end of next week is for bright and sunny days. hooey! By that time, I will be into some serious editing or else this book will not finish by the end of the month.

The film scanner went into sloooow mode again after brisking scanning the first three negatives this morning. So after three aborts and it is still running slooooow, I gave up. grrrrr. So it is working its way through negative number ten. hmmmmdeedum and twiddle my fingers.

But so far, I do like what I see. I think that this will work out fine. I am also noticing a couple of folks who made their SoFoBoMo deadline talk about continuing to tweak their project for a phase II edition. I suppose that’s okay, in as I am planning the softcover book for my SoFoBoMo completion and then working on the hard cover Limitied Edition version in conjunction with a Limited Edition folio after.

Speaking of softcover books, the printing proof for my softbound version of In Passing did not show up today. Bummer, as I was looking forward to reviewing that and allowing it to go to print. So maybe early next week, eh?

And speaking of books, while wearing my other Managing Editor hat for The Photo Exchange, today I did a phone interview with Jonathan Brown, the owner of Leadapron, a fine art book store, with an expertise in fine art photography, located in Los Angeles. You can find the interview here. As it always happens, after the interview, I think of another half dozen questions I could have asked. But that’s okay, there will be other opportunities;- )

Best regards, Doug

While I sort my stuff out after a day at the Palm Springs Photo Festival, I will leave you with a question that was posed to me from Tim Wride, (Independent curator, Director of No Strings Foundation, recently the Curator of photography at the Los Angeles Musuem of Art),  one of my portfolio reviewers, Does the same photograph in a different size mean the same the same thing?

Tim’s preable were questions as to what size that I had visuallized or anticipated to print my photographs. After the question he posed above, he did say that he was questioning if all the photographs going really printed big now, indeed were being shown at their best size, or if you really printed a big print (thing feet, not inches), does it change the context and meaning of the photographic image?

So while you ponder, let me get some other things done that need tending to,

Best regards, Doug

By the way (BTW), this image was selected by Tim as the most interesting of those from the portfolio that I was having reviewed, and where he thought I should use to continue the work on my series.

One of the responses to the question, “what makes a Contemporary Landscape Photography?”, was the need for it to be viewed as ’objective’. I think that objectivity is what we want from a judge, to be detached from the proceedings and ensure no bias. Which is a good thing for the courts, but I am not so sure about photography. So this idea has been something that I have been wrestling with more so for the last couple of days.

I suspose the corralory to being objective is to have a photograph which is suggestive, such as an advertisement or a propaganda piece or highly editiorial with a very stong option or expecent message, eh? But have not these same suggestive photographs become over time become to be seen as contemporary photographs, such as Louis Hines, perhaps not at the time that they were published?

Maybe what is meant, is that today, a Contemporary (Landsape) Photograph should appear objective. Perhaps that’s what the photographic buyers have been told by the gallery owners as what is a good buy today. Look for detachment, that would imply that the photographer had figured out a way to appear objective, thus they are creative and smart. Hopefully that does not appear toooo sarcaustic;- )

Oddly, for one of my series that I was working on in China prior to this discussion, was called “I’m Just Looking” (Wo Zhi Kankan) for which it was my intent to photography just what I was looking at. And I had a stamp of the Mandarin charaters for this series made for me while I was in Shanghai one weekend to use inconjunction with the series that I expeced to produce. I guess for me, to say that I am just looking is about as objective as I think I can get.

Because I bring with me all that is me. I can only see and look with my eyes and all of my cultural, educational, experience influenced background and just see those things that are occuring with that perception. Why I photograph what I photograph is because what I see at that moment interests me. For what ever that reason may be, simple or terribly complex. So I stop and make the photograph.

Okay, probably a lot more about this whole thing latter, eh? BTW, the prior post on this subject seemed to get a lot of interest, but only a few commented. I would like you all to add your thoughts please.

Best regards, Doug

BTW this is photograph of a Chinese “launary”. While I was looking in Hongqiao;- )

Best regards, Doug

First, don’t expect me to define what Contemporary Landscape Photography is in this post;- )

But when I saw the question asked by Miguel on Exposure Compensation  (note: I just added the link, I know, bad blogger, bad blogger) regarding what constitutes Contemporary Great Portrait Photography, it started that kernel of thinking as to how does that same question (and maybe answers) for Contemporary Landscape Photography?

Potentially without getting bogged down in the subsets of Natural, Rural, Urban Landscape photography. But then again, perhaps within these subsets, there may be some differences, eh? Right now I don’t know, or perhaps better to say, I am not sure.

So how to answer that question, which is now my question and I am open to ideas. So, what do you think??

Best regards, Doug

I recently published and started distributing my first Edition Folio, Foundations, as a retrospective collection of my landscape photographs from 1975 to 1985. I want to reflect on what I have learned during the development of this Editioned Folio.

First was my intent for what I wanted to accomplish by completing the Edition Folio of prints. I have a body of natural landscape photographic work that I had completed between 1975 to 1985 that were singular images. At that time that I made these, I did not work on any specific themes or subjects per se other than my strong interest in making natural landscape images and working with the black & white photographic medium. After my interview with Brooks Jensen last November, I realized that a Folio, also called a portfolio, would be an ideal way to assemble and create a unfied body of work that would represent my photographs from this period of time.

Much like the portfolios of Adams, Caponigro and other photographers. I have not felt like this earlier body of work needed to go into print as a book, as my landscape photographs did not bring anything really new to the world. They were my collection of wonderful landscape photographs and they represented my early developmental period for me, both technically and creatively. So that was my intent, to create a collection of Singular Images from a specific period of time, which I have explained in more detail in the Folio Introduction, which you can find here.

The Folio structure essential came from the Brooks Jensen Folio design, best discribed by him here and my short take is here. I really liked the idea of the loose prints inside a soft Folio cover, rather than having the prints mounted and matted. It seemed that the loose prints would have more flexiblity for handling and use by a collector. And I did not have to worry about the binding, mounting and matting options and the whole collection would be smaller to carry, hold and store. Nice.

I did implement some changes to Brooks concept, first being the heavier and more durable archival folio cover that I purchased from Light Impressions. I was having some issues with the lighter folio cover that Brooks designed and I was concerned about the durability of this cover design over time. I spent time developing the die cut design for my own cover, but then the die cost and minimum order quantities started making the more expensive Light Impressions archival folio cover a lot more economical for the small quantities I wanted to work with, e.g. 10 to 15 at a time.

Second, I designed one page in Word as a pictorial index, which are thumbnails of the images, that I then printed on the reverse side of the Cover page. Since I wanted to keep all of the Folio contents as archival as possible, I used a double-sided 190 gm Moab Entrada, Bright White, a archival rag medium. A little more expensive ‘paper’, but it provides a very nice appearance for the image index.

The Folio is Editioned, and again, using Brooks idea on Editioning versus Limitied Edtions, which he explains here, and my short take is here. Bottom line for me in making this decision; what is possible tomorrow may be much better than what we have today. My digital prints from film that are in my folio are much, much better than what I could achieve in my earlier wet darkroom. And when I purchased my Epson 4800 printer over a couple of years ago, the matte rag medium was the best in class and the newer ‘near photographic’ F luster medium was not available yet. Thus I had dedicated my Epson printer to the matter papers, but today I would want a printer that could instantaneously switch between matte and gloss/luster, like the Canon and HP printers can. Likewise, what I can do now with Photoshop CS3 is amazing compared to the limitations of the previous Photoshop 7 and even earlier when I worked with the very first Photoshop in the 90’s. So what does the future hold? I don’t know, but if it is like anything that has developed over the last five years, it could be pretty exciting. And why not take advantage of those improvements to perhaps create even better images and more exciting prints? Thus I have chosen to go the route of Editioning.

Regarding Editioning, I have chosen a first Printing of 10 Folios and one Artist Proof to begin with. I will retain the Artist Proof (A/P) as my reference as I continue to reprint this Folio, as well as using it to show perspective buyers or reviewers. I felt that 10 was a good number to start and as I had only a few buyers on my waiting list for this Folio and I would still have a small inventory of Folios after I completed the shippments.

As to the production of the Folio, it turned out pretty much what I suspected. The only glich was the slow rate of printing the 308 gm Hahnemuhle Photo Rag. Since I was using cut sheets and when I tried to make multiple consecutive prints on the Epson 4800, the medium would mis-feed. So I had to resort to printing one sheet per command. That made the Folio printing go a lot slooooower. Grrrr. So next time, I will look at going with roll stock, which should resolve the feeding issue and reduce the cost per print.

The archive Folio covers from Light Impressions were nicely constructed and nice to hold and use. The prints are very accessible and easy to handle with this folio cover. The 12 loose prints, with tissue interweaving along with the Cover sheet, Introduction, Colophon and the Certificate of Authencity are just about right quantity for this Folio cover, with just a little room to spare. I found that I could increase the quantity of loose prints to 15 with the 308 gm PhotoRag, and perhaps up to 20 prints if I were to downsize the prints to a 190 gm PhotoRag.

Bottom line, I like this Edition Folio a lot for what I intended it for. It does the job very well and provides an excellent presentation and should be great for archival storage and handling. The cost is reasonable and the process of completing it is not overly complex and entirely within my control. And I can forsee many occasions to use this Edition Folio design in the future for the other series that I have in progress. Very nice!

Best regards, Doug