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Author Topic: A Thousand Images Retrospective  (Read 4500 times)

Alexandre Buisse

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A Thousand Images Retrospective
« on: February 22, 2010, 04:47:38 am »

Since April 2007, I have posted a new photo every day on my blog, Aperture First. Yesterday marked an important milestone: the 1000th one! To celebrate, I have created a small gallery with my favourite image from each month the blog has existed. It's over there:

A Thousand Images Retrospective

Any criticism on either the blog itself or any of the images is very welcome.


Oh, and here's the 1000th image:

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martinreed22

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A Thousand Images Retrospective
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2010, 05:43:44 am »

A humbling portfolio, thanks for sharing.

Two that particularly struck me are:

http://www.alexandrebuisse.org/galleries/1000/october07/
http://www.alexandrebuisse.org/galleries/1000/february09/

martin
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fredjeang

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A Thousand Images Retrospective
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2010, 05:56:18 am »

I was very delighted with the website.
Lots of beautifull images.
There is talent there.

Congrats.

Best,

Fred.
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Shirley Bracken

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« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2010, 08:09:35 am »

That was amazing.  You have traveled a bit!
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RSL

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« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2010, 11:26:02 am »

Alexandre, I think Martin hit the nail on the head. Your work is "humbling." You're very, very good with people, which is my favorite kind of photography.
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Alexandre Buisse

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« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2010, 12:18:59 pm »

Thanks all, I really appreciate the compliments!

@RSL: that's quite interesting, I don't consider myself a people photographer at all. I much prefer wild natural landscapes to portraits and street photography, so it's rather surprising (but very nice   ) to hear you say that. Just curious, though: do you base your opinion on just the retrospective gallery or on more images from the blog/portfolio?
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fredjeang

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« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2010, 01:29:44 pm »

Well, I tend to agree with Russ, your people photographies impact me and that is where I was the most involved.
Let you guide by the river, sometimes ( or often) we think we are good at one style or we want to be good at one style,
but then appears the real nature, and it generally appears without our consent.  
I would certainly take the Russ post into consideration.

Good luck, and good street.

Fred.
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RSL

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« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2010, 01:49:51 pm »

Quote from: Alexandre Buisse
Thanks all, I really appreciate the compliments!

@RSL: that's quite interesting, I don't consider myself a people photographer at all. I much prefer wild natural landscapes to portraits and street photography, so it's rather surprising (but very nice   ) to hear you say that. Just curious, though: do you base your opinion on just the retrospective gallery or on more images from the blog/portfolio?

Alexandre, I went to the gallery. It's interesting to me that you don't consider yourself a people photographer. As I ran through the gallery (haven't had time to finish the whole thing yet) the people shots jumped out at me. I'm not saying that the other photographs aren't good. They certainly are. But you need to reexamine your self-image as a photographer. Still, in the spirit of full disclosure I have to admit that I believe street photography is a lot more important work than landscape. That might have something to do with my reaction to your work.
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Eric Myrvaagnes

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« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2010, 02:37:52 pm »

Quote from: RSL
Alexandre, I went to the gallery. It's interesting to me that you don't consider yourself a people photographer. As I ran through the gallery (haven't had time to finish the whole thing yet) the people shots jumped out at me. I'm not saying that the other photographs aren't good. They certainly are. But you need to reexamine your self-image as a photographer. Still, in the spirit of full disclosure I have to admit that I believe street photography is a lot more important work than landscape. That might have something to do with my reaction to your work.
Let me say right off that Russ frequently makes insightful and valuable comments about work (including landscape work) that appears here in the forum. But I must take issue with his belief that "street photography is a lot more important work than landscape." IMHO, people focusing on people can be somewhat narcissistic. What Alexandre's work shows me is that this is a magnificent world that we live in, and that we share it with many other creatures, mountains, etc. So my prejudice is that landscape work can be much more important than street photography, largely because it increases our awareness of the world outside our cities.

That said, Alexandre, you are a fine photgrapher, and I don't think you need to categorize yourself more than that.


Wonderful and varied work!

Eric

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Jeremy Roussak

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« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2010, 02:48:53 pm »

Quote from: martinreed22
A humbling portfolio, thanks for sharing.

Two that particularly struck me are:

http://www.alexandrebuisse.org/galleries/1000/october07/
http://www.alexandrebuisse.org/galleries/1000/february09/

martin
I agree: some great photos. The october07 shot leapt out at me as well.

Jeremy
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dwood

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« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2010, 03:05:56 pm »

Eric's comments...+1

RSL

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« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2010, 03:26:32 pm »

Quote from: Eric Myrvaagnes
Let me say right off that Russ frequently makes insightful and valuable comments about work (including landscape work) that appears here in the forum. But I must take issue with his belief that "street photography is a lot more important work than landscape." IMHO, people focusing on people can be somewhat narcissistic. What Alexandre's work shows me is that this is a magnificent world that we live in, and that we share it with many other creatures, mountains, etc. So my prejudice is that landscape work can be much more important than street photography, largely because it increases our awareness of the world outside our cities.

That said, Alexandre, you are a fine photgrapher, and I don't think you need to categorize yourself more than that.


Wonderful and varied work!

Eric

Well, Eric, I truly appreciate the pat on the back, but as John Maw put it in a different thread, let me agreeably disagree with the thrust of the argument. First, I'd suggest that street photography isn't always done in cities. But that's not really the point. One of Alexandre's finest nature shots is #6 in the landscape section of his gallery: "a peak in the Allgäu Alps." It's a splendid thing, reminiscent of some of the finest work done by our best painters when they first encountered the Rocky Mountains in the United States. It tells me about the beauty of our world and also about nature's unforgiving nature (to coin a phrase). But then look at numbers 4, 6, and 8 in his People section. All three of these could have fit nicely into Steichen's "Family of Man" show and catalog (the book of that name which is still in print after all these years). Number 7 in his Urban section would have gladdened Walker Evans's heart. Every time I look at a mountain shrouded in cloud I'm reminded how beautiful and unforgiving our natural world is. And I look at mountains shrouded in cloud almost every day because I live at the foot of Pikes Peak. But though the scene may vary the message is always the same. On the other hand, when I look at something like Alexandre's "Peruvian kids running for candy," I receive a transcendental flash that tells me something about myself and, at the risk of cliche: the human condition in general. Every one of those messages is different, perhaps because people are all different yet very much the same.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2010, 04:46:24 pm by RSL »
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Alexandre Buisse

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« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2010, 06:05:40 pm »

Quote from: RSL
Well, Eric, I truly appreciate the pat on the back, but as John Maw put it in a different thread, let me agreeably disagree with the thrust of the argument. First, I'd suggest that street photography isn't always done in cities. But that's not really the point. One of Alexandre's finest nature shots is #6 in the landscape section of his gallery: "a peak in the Allgäu Alps." It's a splendid thing, reminiscent of some of the finest work done by our best painters when they first encountered the Rocky Mountains in the United States. It tells me about the beauty of our world and also about nature's unforgiving nature (to coin a phrase). But then look at numbers 4, 6, and 8 in his People section. All three of these could have fit nicely into Steichen's "Family of Man" show and catalog (the book of that name which is still in print after all these years). Number 7 in his Urban section would have gladdened Walker Evans's heart. Every time I look at a mountain shrouded in cloud I'm reminded how beautiful and unforgiving our natural world is. And I look at mountains shrouded in cloud almost every day because I live at the foot of Pikes Peak. But though the scene may vary the message is always the same. On the other hand, when I look at something like Alexandre's "Peruvian kids running for candy," I receive a transcendental flash that tells me something about myself and, at the risk of cliche: the human condition in general. Every one of those messages is different, perhaps because people are all different yet very much the same.

That's an extremely interesting point of view. As a photographer, and as I have tried to say in the statement, I have set myself a very simple goal: I want to share the beauty I see in the world. Nothing more. It so happens that, because probably of my character and my personal tastes, I find a lot of this beauty in the wild landscapes, and especially in mountains.

I have a feeling of having two different personae: on one hand, the photographer will simply tag along, a camera in hand, and record "beauty" wherever he can find it, be it on wild climbs or in the Copenhagen conference (though, since I spend quite a lot of time in the mountains, there is a statistical bias toward mountain images).
On the other hand, the viewer in me relates a lot more to some images rather than other. While I can appreciate the peruvian kids photo, it won't leave an everlasting mark in my memory. On the other hand, some of the climbing pictures, especially when they show how small humans are in comparison to the mountains, stir something very deep inside of me. But I completely understand that someone else, such as you, Russ, with other tastes, a different life experience and a different pair of eyes, will react in very different ways.

The photographer is happy to produce images of people. The viewer doesn't really care.
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RSL

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« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2010, 07:50:14 pm »

Quote from: Alexandre Buisse
I have set myself a very simple goal: I want to share the beauty I see in the world. Nothing more.

Alexandre, I heartily agree with that sentiment, and I share it. I happen to find people more interesting and more beautiful than rocks and trees, but "more" doesn't mean I can't appreciate scenes like this one from Sunday in the Florida swamps:

[attachment=20425:Tree_and_Swamp.jpg]

Sorry about the degradation in quality but I don't like to post anything over 500K. Takes too long to download.
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wolfnowl

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« Reply #14 on: February 22, 2010, 09:30:49 pm »

Quote from: Alexandre Buisse
That's an extremely interesting point of view. As a photographer, and as I have tried to say in the statement, I have set myself a very simple goal: I want to share the beauty I see in the world. Nothing more. It so happens that, because probably of my character and my personal tastes, I find a lot of this beauty in the wild landscapes, and especially in mountains.

Some great work there, Alexandre!  Thanks for sharing them.

BTW, Dewitt Jones has started a site to'Celebrate What's Right with the World!'

Mike.

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Eric Myrvaagnes

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« Reply #15 on: February 22, 2010, 09:32:24 pm »

Quote from: RSL
Alexandre, I heartily agree with that sentiment, and I share it. I happen to find people more interesting and more beautiful than rocks and trees, but "more" doesn't mean I can't appreciate scenes like this one from Sunday in the Florida swamps:
Russ,
I agree with Alexandre's sentiment, too.

I think you and I agree more than we disagree, but sometimes it's good to highlight variety of viewpoints. And of course I enjoy trying to goad you a little now and then (but gently, and respectfully).

Eric

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RSL

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« Reply #16 on: February 23, 2010, 08:55:17 am »

Eric, There's no doubt we agree on the important concepts in photography. As far as the goading is concerned, don't stop. I thoroughly enjoy the repartee. LuLa is an awful lot of fun. Here we can talk about what matters: the photographs. Most other fora talk almost exclusively about equipment, which is the least important part of the whole thing. I get a special laugh out of Nikonians where most of the Avatars are of serious-looking guys staring out over their cameras with battleship-gun style lenses hooked on.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2010, 09:55:34 am by RSL »
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