part 1 of classic essays on photography
-in regards to the 'birth' of photography many details are listed about Niepce, Daguerre & Talbot their experiments, chemistry mishaps, exposure times ex. Beyond the technical aspects of their research their is also a sense of purpose and investigation into what the 'image' or 'photo' means and speculation on what 'level' it could evolve.
As a traveler at heart I also found Talbot's story of his trip to lake Como an experience that i relate to in a couple ways. First as an avid travel photographer,and as a child who was so influenced by N.Geo mag and many other adventure photos. Second I have for many years enjoyed drawing and painting but I have always felt a more direct connection to photography and the moving image, no matter how many hours i spent on a painting or how many sketches i made i never had the feeling of completion or satisfaction that i get from making a photo whether its film, digital or more recently video. I guess for me its like when i look at that blank sheet of paper or canvas and i feel like i have to poor energy into it like some
Dr. Frankenstein bring the thing to life, but with photography i find its more of a give/take relationship i get to view the world through a lens and find my 'punctums' and capture them for all time (or until my hard drive dies). Well I'm ready for some lunch so i will stop for now, but i will have more later on the Baudelaire essay.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Friday, January 30, 2009
work, work, work...new camera new ideas
I just got my canon vixia hv 30 !!! I am so exited!! i have lots of work to do... i plan to re-shoot ecdysis tomorrow morning ...in the cold snow... also i am going to try this idea i have been kicking around... to film myself in crane pose moving to hulk ... and hold it as long as possible ... mind experience vs. body's experience...
On another note: I've been thinking of starting a documentary project documenting low income housing projects. With my main focus on moving images, i feel a sort of nostalgia for photography...and for me it feels like a "coming home" project in 3 ways..
1. I think i will treat this as a site specific medium choice...meaning that i will try to tune into each location and use film, digital, or b/w ...depending on what the location requires...
2. My first memory's of life are in a low income project complex... and i spent all my childhood (life) in low income housing...so it is a place i feel comfortable
3. street / documentary photography has always been a great passion of mine... i love the spontaneity of it, and all the challenges
On another note: I've been thinking of starting a documentary project documenting low income housing projects. With my main focus on moving images, i feel a sort of nostalgia for photography...and for me it feels like a "coming home" project in 3 ways..
1. I think i will treat this as a site specific medium choice...meaning that i will try to tune into each location and use film, digital, or b/w ...depending on what the location requires...
2. My first memory's of life are in a low income project complex... and i spent all my childhood (life) in low income housing...so it is a place i feel comfortable
3. street / documentary photography has always been a great passion of mine... i love the spontaneity of it, and all the challenges
Monday, January 19, 2009
Zen of creativity
So I am reading the Zen of Creativity Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori who is a photographer, and a Buddhist monk. He starts this book by talking about his time in the 70's studying with Minor White ( White is a well known Buddhist photographer who was one of the founding members of SPE society for photographic education)
The first assignment White gave Loori was this
" venture into the landscape without expectations. Let your subject find you, when you approach it, you will feel resonance, a sense of recognition. If, when you move away, the resonance fades, or if it gets stronger as you approach you you'll know you have found your subject. Sit with your subject and wait for your presence to be acknowledged. Don't try to make a photograph, but let your intuition indicate the right moment to release the shutter. If after you've made an exposure, you feel a sense of completion, bow and let go of the subject and your connection to it. Otherwise, continue photographing until you feel the process is complete."
So after reading this i of course went straight out and tried to do as White said... it was much more difficult to not just break out the camera and start shooting while walking down Shaffer. It was not until this experiment that i realized that one of the side effects of having my nice digital camera (that i saved for 2 years to afford)...was this... i just shoot and shoot... i have no real reason to take 4000 shots in an hour other than the fact that i can. It is so easy to keep shooting when you are working digitally, because its FREE yeah i am an old school photographer who would only work in film if i won the lottery or some rich relative died and left me lots of $$ but in the end i use digital as a tool to make art when money is tight.
but alas i have gotten of subject, the point is it wasn't until i tried to not take pictures and really tried to see what was around me that i realized that i was not truly in the moment i was looking for things to shoot, not letting the world find me. So now i have a refined creative process where i sit and meditate for at least 15 mins before i go out, and when i do go out with my camera i try to not get it out until i am sure that their is a photograph for me to take. Meaning no more walking around with my camera around my neck looking for the shot. I just walk and enjoy the world my neighborhood and my life, and sometimes i don't take one photo and that is one of the hardest things in my life... being patient
The first assignment White gave Loori was this
" venture into the landscape without expectations. Let your subject find you, when you approach it, you will feel resonance, a sense of recognition. If, when you move away, the resonance fades, or if it gets stronger as you approach you you'll know you have found your subject. Sit with your subject and wait for your presence to be acknowledged. Don't try to make a photograph, but let your intuition indicate the right moment to release the shutter. If after you've made an exposure, you feel a sense of completion, bow and let go of the subject and your connection to it. Otherwise, continue photographing until you feel the process is complete."
So after reading this i of course went straight out and tried to do as White said... it was much more difficult to not just break out the camera and start shooting while walking down Shaffer. It was not until this experiment that i realized that one of the side effects of having my nice digital camera (that i saved for 2 years to afford)...was this... i just shoot and shoot... i have no real reason to take 4000 shots in an hour other than the fact that i can. It is so easy to keep shooting when you are working digitally, because its FREE yeah i am an old school photographer who would only work in film if i won the lottery or some rich relative died and left me lots of $$ but in the end i use digital as a tool to make art when money is tight.
but alas i have gotten of subject, the point is it wasn't until i tried to not take pictures and really tried to see what was around me that i realized that i was not truly in the moment i was looking for things to shoot, not letting the world find me. So now i have a refined creative process where i sit and meditate for at least 15 mins before i go out, and when i do go out with my camera i try to not get it out until i am sure that their is a photograph for me to take. Meaning no more walking around with my camera around my neck looking for the shot. I just walk and enjoy the world my neighborhood and my life, and sometimes i don't take one photo and that is one of the hardest things in my life... being patient
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Query
I have had 3 things on my mind today
1. shingles - man my side hurts !
2. Rev. KC Maduka Daikai asked me last week what would make me happy ... i still don't have an answer.
3. If i photographed a piece of fabric and then printed the photo on the fabric... what would i have ? a photo of the fabric, the fabric, or something different?
food for thought
1. shingles - man my side hurts !
2. Rev. KC Maduka Daikai asked me last week what would make me happy ... i still don't have an answer.
3. If i photographed a piece of fabric and then printed the photo on the fabric... what would i have ? a photo of the fabric, the fabric, or something different?
food for thought
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