Show us some Abstracts!

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I think I would have liked Aunt Anna a lot.

[Telecaster]

If you went to Iona, you did better than I: I made Oban, but never the islands - AKAIR. I just had no local curiosity. Unless you want to include some cameras. I see you already had one... where's the uke or banjo?

;-)

We did get to Iona as part of a loop around the Isle of Mull, also stopping at Tobermory along the way. Can't remember now if it was a single day or two day boat trip. I do remember the water was choppy. My camera was a Kodak Instamatic. This was around the time my dad started letting me use his Leica, though it was left at home on this vacation in favor of his more pocketable Retina. The plastic uke was also left at home. 

Anna lived in the US for decades, but the dress she's wearing was probably made by my mom. I remember that Mom liked '60s fashion from a distance but had no interest in making clothes influenced by it.

Anna was truly a gem. Huge influence on me.

-Dave-

[Rob C]

We did get to Iona as part of a loop around the Isle of Mull, also stopping at Tobermory along the way. Can't remember now if it was a single day or two day boat trip. I do remember the water was choppy. My camera was a Kodak Instamatic. This was around the time my dad started letting me use his Leica, though it was left at home on this vacation in favor of his more pocketable Retina. The plastic uke was also left at home. 

Anna lived in the US for decades, but the dress she's wearing was probably made by my mom. I remember that Mom liked '60s fashion from a distance but had no interest in making clothes influenced by it.

Anna was truly a gem. Huge influence on me.

-Dave-

Very few males have had much impact on my way of thinking; almost everything that I hold dear or in which I believe I find basic truth has come from the distaff side of my life. Influence from the male membership of the family tree has been practically zero. I think women have more imagination and much more sense of reality, too, whereas males seem to major in one direction at a time. It's not about multi-tasking at all, but about breadth of personality.

Perhaps that's why many men fear them.

Rob

[John R]

I see that Rob has been tearing up this thread lately. There is smoke everywhere. They are all somewhat mysterious. Must be a new found love.

Here is one I took today, which I think conveys a little bit of loneliness. Debated whether I should tone down contrast and accentuate the loneliness even more.



 

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Nice one, John. Even if it is sharp.   

[Rob C]

Nice one, John. Even if it is sharp.   

I know how it feels. It has my sympathy. Only the return of summer can help either of us.

Rob

[John R]

Can't wait for summer. Must learn to photograph in, and enjoy all seasons. Doctor's orders, no excuses. So here is one more minimalist image from my walk.

[Rob C]

Can't wait for summer. Must learn to photograph in, and enjoy all seasons. Doctor's orders, no excuses. So here is one more minimalist image from my walk.

You may have been walking, but your buddy, Batman, was clearly flying.

;-)

Rob

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

You may have been walking, but your buddy, Batman, was clearly flying.

;-)

Rob

+1.   

[Telecaster]

So you see, it's no lie: the rumours are true!

Nancy & Sid? Marilyn & James Dean (never woulda guessed!)? 

-Dave-

[Peter McLennan]

Thread drift. That's not an abstract.
Just sayin'

[Rob C]

Thread drift. That's not an abstract.
Just sayin'

Wot!? Ghosts not abstract?

Jus' thinkin'

;-)

Rob

[Peter McLennan]

Yeh, ghosts are abstract, by definition. 
But this thread is so good, so unique, I hate to see it drifting off course.

[John R]

Batman mythology notwithstanding, it's pays to explore our shadows and it makes light even more welcoming; especially in Winter! Getting home after work is no fun. It's dark and there is no time to photograph.

 

[Rob C]

Batman mythology notwithstanding, it's pays to explore our shadows and it makes light even more welcoming; especially in Winter! Getting home after work is no fun. It's dark and there is no time to photograph.

Already being home because there is no work is even less fun; don't knock the alternative!

;-)

Rob

[Rob C]

Yeh, ghosts are abstract, by definition. 
But this thread is so good, so unique, I hate to see it drifting off course.

How ironic that I made a similar observation some time ago, and had my little knuckles politely rapped!

We are in danger of being thought of as fundamentalists. Not a good idea in today's clime.

Rob

[John R]

Rob, I see... I think?... very mysterious. A shaft of light makes an appearance and points to a window we cannot see through. I better go sleep on this.

JR

[Rob C]

Rob, I see... I think?... very mysterious. A shaft of light makes an appearance and points to a window we cannot see through. I better go sleep on this.

JR

I agree with you, John, better to lie down!

The explanation is terribly mundane: I just saw it and liked it, which is pretty much all I think photography ever is, unless you're trying to sell something. It's what I'm always trying to say to people: it's in one's head/eye or it isn't, and if it is, all you can do about it is photograph it, for better or for worse; and even then, with or without one, it exits whilst it exists... hence my Glimpsed Parallels gallery. I have a couple of recent shots where I can't even find again the polished steel plate on a wall where I shot the reflections. I am sure I know where I made them, but the plate - vanished! And I live between two tiny towns. God knows whether Leiter could ever have found some of his windows again, let alone redo the magic he noticed within them!

One of the reasons I'd love to be able to move back to a city to end my days is because of the variety of stuff around, especially for somebody like me who has been away from big conurbations almost for ever, it feels, but at least for about half a lifetime. So much 'new' old stuff to rediscover... perhaps.

;-)

Rob

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I just saw it and liked it.

Every photographer should write that on the blackboard 1000 times!
That is, indeed, the essence of photography.

Thanks, Rob.

[John R]

Rob, it was tongue in cheek. However, I do believe some of the images we take during the course of our lives do reflect how we feel, or that we choose to photograph certain subjects because they have a certain resonance for us. One example is the image I just posted that I said represented loneliness and isolation. That's is what I saw when I first encountered it.



And if one continues to have certain subjects with a theme or similar treatments, I think one can say that it may represent something. Not your latest image, but certainly some of the images you have posted have a kind if underlining look or theme. Does it have meaning? I can't say for sure, but it may have. And if you exhibited a whole body work, we may see a theme, or not. I don't think we should exclude possible social, cultural and psychological meaning in photographs or a body of work, but certainly not for most images. It goes without saying that the images with the most impact usually have an emotional appeal as well. So keep it up.

JR