Pages: 1 ... 5 6 [7] 8 9   Go Down

Author Topic: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II  (Read 155938 times)

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #120 on: February 24, 2013, 10:56:55 am »

Vehicles can make a difference, Rob, especially when trying to capture the sublime emotional experience of crossing the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia.

Without the right type of vehicle you woulkd likely get stuck. In an area without mobile phone coverage, you might die.


Ray, I have long been resigned to the inevitability of the event; it powers one of the few remaining reasons for making an exposure photograph: eternity, or a stab at it. Or, maybe two hundred years if stored properly (the print, not myself).

As far as deserts go, not a chance: I won't even go to the beach these days. Not because I fear a sunstroked street shooter, but because I'd get sand in the car and then the apartment. Which I'd have to clean.

Rob C


Isaac

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3123
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #121 on: July 12, 2013, 05:17:17 pm »

Quote
"This effect (most obvious in works like 99 Cent and Rhein II, 1999) is achieved by photographing a scene of deep space, scanning the image into a computer and dividing it into horizontal bands, adjusting objects near the vanishing point so that their resolution matches that of objects in the foreground, and then pasting the whole thing back into its original configuration. The results are twofold: First, atmospheric perspective is eliminated; second, things that originally lay one behind the other now lie next to each other on the same spatial plane."

Margaret Sundell, "Review: Andreas Gursky, Matthew Marks", Artforum 38 (7), March 2000, p131
Logged

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #122 on: July 13, 2013, 05:00:57 am »

Now we understand art.

Love those writers!

Rob C

Isaac

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3123
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #123 on: July 13, 2013, 12:14:19 pm »

Now you have a clue.
Logged

kencameron

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
    • Recent Photographs
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #124 on: July 22, 2013, 11:18:09 am »

Snapping’s like fishing (obviously) and you will one day discover that the very best snaps are the ones that you simply didn’t make for the fundamental reason that you were so wrapped in the moment (even, sometimes, decisively so) that the distraction of finger on button would have absolutely removed the thin, evanescent patina of magic, that quasi-erotic sense of oneness with the creation before your eyes, that not making the shot actually allowed you to preserve within the eternity of your inner consciousness.

Well - yes. But it helps to have to have a camera, or the habit of a camera, so you are open to the possibility of those very best snaps. Drawing serves the same purpose, as John Ruskin pointed out. He thought everyone should be encouraged to learn drawing, not because they would produce good drawings (very few would do that) but because they would learn to look and see. I think the same is true of  photography - the attention it develops is, for many of us, more valuable than the photographs.
Logged
Ken Cameron

32BT

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3095
    • Pictures
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #125 on: July 22, 2013, 11:51:18 am »

Well - yes. But it helps to have to have a camera, or the habit of a camera, so you are open to the possibility of those very best snaps. Drawing serves the same purpose, as John Ruskin pointed out. He thought everyone should be encouraged to learn drawing, not because they would produce good drawings (very few would do that) but because they would learn to look and see. I think the same is true of  photography - the attention it develops is, for many of us, more valuable than the photographs.

But don't you think there is a fundamental difference between drawing which requires calming down and concentration, vs happy snapping which merely detaches you from reality? I agree that photography can potentially develop attention, but in its current state it reminds me of all those people that actually missed the experience of vital events because they were too busy trying to capture it on video.
Logged
Regards,
~ O ~
If you can stomach it: pictures

Eric Myrvaagnes

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 22814
  • http://myrvaagnes.com
    • http://myrvaagnes.com
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #126 on: July 22, 2013, 12:03:52 pm »

Well - yes. But it helps to have to have a camera, or the habit of a camera, so you are open to the possibility of those very best snaps. Drawing serves the same purpose, as John Ruskin pointed out. He thought everyone should be encouraged to learn drawing, not because they would produce good drawings (very few would do that) but because they would learn to look and see. I think the same is true of  photography - the attention it develops is, for many of us, more valuable than the photographs.
Well put, Ken. When I had an 8x10 view camera, I often set it up just to look at scenes, without bothering with film.
Recently I went out photographing with my DSLR, and with the first shot I realized that I had no memory card in the camera (blush, blush). I kept on shooting, and looking, anyway. I'm sure it helps.

Logged
-Eric Myrvaagnes (visit my website: http://myrvaagnes.com)

kencameron

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
    • Recent Photographs
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #127 on: July 22, 2013, 12:12:37 pm »

But don't you think there is a fundamental difference between drawing which requires calming down and concentration, vs happy snapping which merely detaches you from reality?
I find that going out with a camera helps me to pay attention in a way that carries over into occasions when I don't have the camera. I would admit, though, that digital photography too often lures me into taking far too many photographs. But that is another story.
Logged
Ken Cameron

RSL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 16046
    • http://www.russ-lewis.com
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #128 on: July 22, 2013, 12:21:58 pm »

I never go anywhere without a camera, but in my own experience I've found that in order to make good use of the camera I have to shift away from "wandering around with a camera over my shoulder" mode into "looking for pictures" mode. If I'm carrying my D3 or D800 I'm always in "looking for pictures" mode because I wouldn't go out with a camera that heavy and bulky if I weren't out there for pictures. But in "wandering around with a camera over my shoulder" mode the E-P1 is, literally, over my shoulder, not ready for the kind of reflex snapping needed for the street. But when I wrap the strap around my wrist and get the camera into my hand, then I'll get pictures.
Logged
Russ Lewis  www.russ-lewis.com.

Isaac

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3123
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #129 on: July 22, 2013, 01:17:19 pm »

Unshackle your burdens! Cut a 2x3 window in some foam core and carry that instead of a camera.
Logged

Slobodan Blagojevic

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 18090
  • When everyone thinks the same, nobody thinks
    • My website
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #130 on: July 22, 2013, 01:25:36 pm »

... it reminds me of all those people that actually missed the experience of vital events because they were too busy trying to capture it..

Funny you mentioned that. I posted this, in response to Rob's similar thoughts on the subject, about a year ago:

"Reminds me of a discussion I had with a mountaineering friend. He was telling me about the joy of being there, high up, alone, witnessing a magnificent vista, etc., and I responded by lamenting the fact that he does not carry a camera. He seemed genuinely bewildered by my suggestion. His explanation was that it is precisely the lack of recording (and inherent subsequent sharing of it) that makes the moment unique and transient, intimate and personal. Capturing it sounded to him like imprisoning it, sharing it like prostituting it. Something like a masstardization™ of beauty (my newly coined word: mass bastardization :))"

RSL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 16046
    • http://www.russ-lewis.com
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #131 on: July 22, 2013, 01:54:15 pm »

Unshackle your burdens! Cut a 2x3 window in some foam core and carry that instead of a camera.

Is that what you do, Isaac?
Logged
Russ Lewis  www.russ-lewis.com.

32BT

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3095
    • Pictures
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #132 on: July 22, 2013, 02:51:41 pm »

Funny you mentioned that. I posted this, in response to Rob's similar thoughts on the subject, about a year ago:

"Reminds me of a discussion I had with a mountaineering friend. ...

I must agree with him. I happen to like how my memory completely distorts the reality of past events. Never understood the whole 60s thingy with drugs and all. My brain f**ks with my perception of reality quite enough on its own.
Logged
Regards,
~ O ~
If you can stomach it: pictures

Isaac

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3123
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #133 on: July 22, 2013, 03:46:21 pm »

Is that what you do, Isaac?

My modest SLT-A35 - with battery, modest fixed-length 35mm or 85mm, and lens hood - only weighs 24oz. I carry that camera in-hand for 5 or 6 hours without tiredness.

Even with camera in-hand, I seem to have less difficulty with "the joy of being there" versus "looking for pictures" than a couple of years ago. I seem able to choose being there, without regret.

Intermittently I will see something and engage in an episode of Taking the Photograph, but that feels less like an interruption and more like an addition. It's just that I'm starting to handle that camera, and those lenses, and that mini-tripod and tape and remote, and... more fluently ;-)
Logged

RSL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 16046
    • http://www.russ-lewis.com
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #134 on: July 22, 2013, 04:03:16 pm »

Sounds good. Lets see some of the stuff you shoot.
Logged
Russ Lewis  www.russ-lewis.com.

Isaac

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3123
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #135 on: July 22, 2013, 04:52:08 pm »

If I was going to post photos, I would have done so by now.
Logged

RSL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 16046
    • http://www.russ-lewis.com
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #136 on: July 22, 2013, 04:56:04 pm »

The why are you on here?
Logged
Russ Lewis  www.russ-lewis.com.

kencameron

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
    • Recent Photographs
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #137 on: July 22, 2013, 06:59:36 pm »

Judging on performance, Isaac seems to me to be here to add a bit of intellectual rigor and a lot of interesting art-historical and theoretical context to our discussions. Of course, this isn't always gratifying to the rest of us and I have sometimes thought he might let go of subjects a bit sooner. But seeing his photographs would make no difference at all to my assessment of the quality of his thoughts.
Logged
Ken Cameron

Isaac

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3123
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #138 on: July 22, 2013, 07:03:06 pm »

The why are you on here?
To do my choice of those things that others choose to do here.
Logged

RSL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 16046
    • http://www.russ-lewis.com
Re: Andreas Gursky's Rhein II
« Reply #139 on: July 22, 2013, 09:08:31 pm »

No kidding! And what are those?
Logged
Russ Lewis  www.russ-lewis.com.
Pages: 1 ... 5 6 [7] 8 9   Go Up