1
HT2275 - Why They Call It Fishing |
You've probably all heard that old canard that they call it fishing, rather than catching, for a reason. The exact same thing exists in photography. When I'm out in the field I prefer not to think that I'm making art, but rather that I'm exploring the world. The artwork comes from that exploration, but rarely takes place simultaneously. Being out there with our antennae in full use is its own reward. |
|
2
|
HT2276 - I Like That One |
When someone looks at a collection of my chapbooks or PDFs and says, "I like that one" I know I've failed completely. The statement, "I like that one" is a statement about them and their values with which my artwork just happens to agree. My artwork succeeds when they say, "I've never thought about that" or "I've never looked at it that way." |
|
3
|
HT2277 - The Intersection of Life and Scene |
I'm wrapping up my month in Oregon and reflecting on what I've seen and photographed here during these last few weeks. There is so much left to do, but time is running out. Come to think of it, that sense of the incomplete is a lifelong reality for every photographic trip I've been on. Perhaps that is just the nature of being an artist; we live in the intersection of life and scene. We accumulate moments with a little luck and happenstance. Our work is the map of our life, a record of chance encounters with subjects and weather. |
|
4
HT2278 - Pruning Is the Essence of Aesthetics |
We gather, we collect, all around us grows, and seems to have a momentum that is perpetual. Every gardener knows that the essential activities they must engage include not just planting, but pruning, shaping, clipping with a sensitivity to a garden aesthetic. Is it just coincidental that artmaking contains the same essential activities? We capture, our image base grows, but our essential job is to prune, shape, and edit our way through the image jungle to a visual aesthetic. |
|
5
HT2279 - Deciding Which Media |
We are so fortunate to have so many potential media we can use for each project. Print, book, folio, chapbook, PDF, web gallery — and I'm sure I forgotten some. For each project we do, an important decision is which media (plural) shall we use? |
|
6
HT2280 - I Am A Contemporary of Walker Evans, Yikes |
At an early workshop that I attended and showed my nascent Made of Steel work, the instructor suggested that 100 years from now or more I will be considered a contemporary of Walker Evans. That is to say, our work will be seen in the context of photographers who have proceeded us by generations. My sense of being flattered was quickly overpowered by debilitating intimidation. |
|
7
|
