Caoutchouc

[Ivo_B]

I needed your explanation for recognizing the building as the façade of a railway station.
I guess the umbrellas are distracting.
The monogram of Leopold takes also some  time to find. Again the lettering on the umbrellas I guess.
Maybe taking the  pics by night? Then they would take out all distracting items...
Just MHO 

Thanks, you are right about the link to a railway station. The blue sign only works for somebody who know Belgian rail stations. The little wheels on the marble are no hint.
The Corsendonk umbrellas are a link to Belgium.

I need some reflection of the tracks in the door.... or another picture in the series to support the determination of the location.

[Martin Kristiansen]

I think it an interesting project. Imagine you could find a photographer working in the DRC that could do a similar thing where they live  and then put the two pieces together.

Tough with a project like this to expect positive feedback on a forum such as this. Not denigrating the photographers here but on the forum it’s mostly individual images with little attention to a narrative. It’s simply the nature of it. There are some exceptions of course.  Perhaps keep this thread alive and develop the narrative over time?

[Ivo_B]

I think it an interesting project. Imagine you could find a photographer working in the DRC that could do a similar thing where they live  and then put the two pieces together.

Tough with a project like this to expect positive feedback on a forum such as this. Not denigrating the photographers here but on the forum it’s mostly individual images with little attention to a narrative. It’s simply the nature of it. There are some exceptions of course.  Perhaps keep this thread alive and develop the narrative over time?

I know Martin.

I’ll keep the thread alive.

Good suggestions about a photographer in the DRC, I know Carl Dekeyzer made two books and is working on a new one.

Leopold II was never in Congo, I found it interesting to take the same approach, looking in Belgium and blind towards DRC.

I will see where it goes, but I’m trilled to have a project at hands. 😬

[Martin Kristiansen]

It’s very motivating. I have a few running at the same time. Did you sign up for that Magnum course? The recent one you posted about.

[Ivo_B]

It’s very motivating. I have a few running at the same time. Did you sign up for that Magnum course? The recent one you posted about.

Yes. And coincidentally it’s very interesting in the light of this project. I don’t find Alec Soth the most inspiring person on earth, but overall it’s interesting to learn how he approaches his projects.

[Rob C]

1.  Ivo, I tried the series thing myself with my Miss Coke; it ended up a dead end and a mental trap to boot.

http://www.roma57.com/coke.html

Frankly, it (a series) eventually becomes forced, at which point it loses (at least for me, who has to make the snaps) its value because one tries too hard and it shows. I think art has to look fluid, easy and natural.

2.  I also failed to make any connection with rubber. Unless you want to limit the interest to those already in the know, perhaps the way around it is to start with a proposition laying out your intentions.

For that to work fluently, you'll really need to keep the images grouped together at all times, along with the explanatory introduction. Showing a single image at a time will not cut it because its success then depends on the viewer always staying aware of the concept, which it a pretty big wish for anyone.

Rob

[Ivo_B]

1.  Ivo, I tried the series thing myself with my Miss Coke; it ended up a dead end and a mental trap to boot.

http://www.roma57.com/coke.html

Frankly, it (a series) eventually becomes forced, at which point it loses (at least for me, who has to make the snaps) its value because one tries too hard and it shows. I think art has to look fluid, easy and natural.

2.  I also failed to make any connection with rubber. Unless you want to limit the interest to those already in the know, perhaps the way around it is to start with a proposition laying out your intentions.

For that to work fluently, you'll really need to keep the images grouped together at all times, along with the explanatory introduction. Showing a single image at a time will not cut it because its success then depends on the viewer always staying aware of the concept, which it a pretty big wish for anyone.

Rob

I did not make the jump to ‘art’. I want to make a photographic story.

It will take more photo’s and a strict selection process to end up with something, but that’s the challenge I guess.

Thank for your insights Rob, Much appreciated.

(Maybe your Coke series is to literal to work well?)

[KLaban]

I've always worked in series, as a painter and photographer, some tight, some loose: I know no other way.

[Rob C]

I've always worked in series, as a painter and photographer, some tight, some loose: I know no other way.

That sort of differentiates your field of photography from mine, where single shots were usually the name of the game for my advertising work, with a thematic approach reserved for calendars because the series could be seen in sequence in a calendar. If doing a trip for a manufacturer's seasonal range of clothes, then yes, a very loose theme would be developed simply by dint of the location creating one, but that would be more incidental than anything thought out in anger.

On a different topic, but one to which you may hold the key: I usually use the words "painter" or "artist" when I refer to people with painting skills; I am never sure how to describe or what to call people who make excellent drawings but don't paint. Does an official name exist in the art world and/or colleges for that isolated skill? I haven't heard of them referred to as drawers. No, this isn't intended as a silly play on words, I really am at a loss about the appropriate word for folks with such a specialised part of artistic ability. You're gonna hate this: how to label their box correctly and unequivocally?

[KLaban]

That sort of differentiates your field of photography from mine, where single shots were usually the name of the game for my advertising work, with a thematic approach reserved for calendars because the series could be seen in sequence in a calendar. If doing a trip for a manufacturer's seasonal range of clothes, then yes, a very loose theme would be developed simply by dint of the location creating one, but that would be more incidental than anything thought out in anger.

On a different topic, but one to which you may hold the key: I usually use the words "painter" or "artist" when I refer to people with painting skills; I am never sure how to describe or what to call people who make excellent drawings but don't paint. Does an official name exist in the art world and/or colleges for that isolated skill? I haven't heard of them referred to as drawers. No, this isn't intended as a silly play on words, I really am at a loss about the appropriate word for folks with such a specialised part of artistic ability. You're gonna hate this: how to label their box correctly and unequivocally?

Rob, that would be draughtsman/draughtsmanship.

[Rob C]

Rob, that would be draughtsman/draughtsmanship.

Yes, that fits, but draughtsman is terribly associated with engineering and architectural drawings; it isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of those people with the ability to make caricatures/portraits of people, drawings of trees, meadows, animals... but as I wrote, that aspect of the word just fails to come to my mind.

There is every possibility that it's just another of those tiny mental blocks that inhabit some minds. Now and then I write something, look at it again, and wonder if I mean the same thing as the dictionary means. Fortunately, I think I usually manage to sort it out in time.

:-)

[KLaban]

Yes, that fits, but draughtsman is terribly associated with engineering and architectural drawings; it isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of those people with the ability to make caricatures/portraits of people, drawings of trees, meadows, animals... but as I wrote, that aspect of the word just fails to come to my mind.

There is every possibility that it's just another of those tiny mental blocks that inhabit some minds. Now and then I write something, look at it again, and wonder if I mean the same thing as the dictionary means. Fortunately, I think I usually manage to sort it out in time.

:-)

Rob, draughtsman/draughtsmanship is the term used by artists to describe the practitioner of drawing or the skill of drawing. For example, Leonardo was a fine draughtsman, his level of draughtsmanship was unequalled.

Simples.

;-)

[Rob C]

Rob, draughtsman/draughtsmanship is the term used by artists to describe the practitioner of drawing or the skill of drawing. For example, Leonardo was a fine draughtsman, his level of draughtsmanship was unequalled.

Simples.

;-)

I'll settle for that! Ta!

[rabanito]

Yes, that fits, but draughtsman is terribly associated with engineering and architectural drawings; it isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of those people with the ability to make caricatures/portraits of people, drawings of trees, meadows, animals... but as I wrote, that aspect of the word just fails to come to my mind.

Interesting. I would have used "illustrator"

[KLaban]

Interesting. I would have used "illustrator"

As an illustrator for more years than I care to remember I used a number of different media, as do many other illustrators. Illustration is defined by process not medium.

[rabanito]

As an illustrator I used a number of different media, as do other illustrators.

Good to know.
Thank you for improving my English

[Martin Kristiansen]

Where I am from we use the term illustrator. Ad Agencies always employed such people and they worked in various mediums including digital. Draughtsman was always a term used for technical engineering and architectural plans.

[KLaban]

Where I am from we use the term illustrator. Ad Agencies always employed such people and they worked in various mediums including digital. Draughtsman was always a term used for technical engineering and architectural plans.

As did I for 25+ years. Illustrator is the common description for one who illustrates, regardless of medium. People can have the ability to draw without being an illustrator or engaging in illustration.

Rob is asking for an alternative word for drawing and those who draw. Every illustrator I know has a far wider skill set than just the ability to draw, they also use media other than specific drawing tools and have additional design skills.

As I've said, artists use the words draughtsman and draughtsmanship to describe and define drawing and those who draw. Unfortunately the word draughtsman, amongst the general public at least, has taken on and to a degree has been superseded by a different meaning connected with a specific job description.

[Martin Kristiansen]

Getting miles off track. Sorry Ivo

I know many fine artists, some quite famous. Not all can draw. I have heard artists talking amongst themselves and when they want to say that a particular artist draws very well then that is what they say. As in "William Kentridge can really draw"! I think that draughtsman in the context of what is being spoken about in this thread is archaic and no longer in general use.

Anecdotal for sure but I have met far more illustrators that can draw than artists.

[Ivo_B]

Getting miles off track. Sorry Ivo

I know many fine artists, some quite famous. Not all can draw. I have heard artists talking amongst themselves and when they want to say that a particular artist draws very well then that is what they say. As in "William Kentridge can really draw"! I think that draughtsman in the context of what is being spoken about in this thread is archaic and no longer in general use.

Anecdotal for sure but I have met far more illustrators that can draw than artists.

Well, draftsman use rubber to correct errors, so the link between the topics titel and the last posts is more obvious than the link with the pictures.