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Author Topic: Eschewing Perfection  (Read 58285 times)

kencameron

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Re: Eschewing Perfection
« Reply #100 on: August 30, 2015, 08:33:56 pm »

Briefly revisiting Lula after an absence (in MOOC heaven), I can't resist the temptation to probably vainly tap this sleeping thread on its shoulder. Michael's image is interesting because the women are out of focus and the background is sharp. That makes it technically good. The technical characteristics are being used to say something. We get the out of focus/soft/tender/fleshy/kissy human element set against the sharply focussed/ornate/metallic iron work of cuban (architectural) history. Or something like that. I am trying to point to what seems to me an obvious and essential mode of response that would be commonplace in analysis of a painting. I suspect Amolitor was making something like the same point, albeit in a curiously tentative tone, when he talked about the weeds of emotional response. Why would emotional response be described (even ironically maybe) as a weed? Surely it is at the heart of any work of art. This kind of response seems to be alien to some photographers, perhaps because they are wedded to notions of representational accuracy associated with the technical quality of their equipment and their prowess in using it. Good luck to them, I admire and enjoy much work based on those premises, but surely it can be accepted by now that photographs can work in different ways and that in art perfection is ultimately about expressing something rather than about sharp edges.
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Ken Cameron

GrahamBy

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Re: Eschewing Perfection
« Reply #101 on: September 02, 2015, 06:09:08 am »

art perfection is ultimately about expressing something rather than about sharp edges.

 :) I've seen one of my favourite photographers shooting through the bottom of a spherical fish-bowl... when she doesn't have black muslin over the lens. For her images, which are all about imagination, dreams, references to paintings... it works.
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AreBee

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Re: Eschewing Perfection
« Reply #102 on: September 02, 2015, 08:20:04 am »

Ken,

Quote
Surely [emotional response] is at the heart of any work of art. This kind of response seems to be alien to some photographers, perhaps because they are wedded to notions of representational accuracy associated with the technical quality of their equipment and their prowess in using it. Good luck to them, I admire and enjoy much work based on those premises, but surely it can be accepted by now that photographs can work in different ways and that in art perfection is ultimately about expressing something rather than about sharp edges.

Perhaps the subject of the artwork contains sharp edges.
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Rob C

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Re: Eschewing Perfection
« Reply #103 on: September 02, 2015, 03:59:44 pm »

One of my all-time favorite photos (depending on the day it's my #1 fav):

http://www.photoforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/william-klein12.jpg

-Dave-


I come late to this thread, for historical reasons.

The Klein shot is not a good example of 'honest' street: he shows contact sheets with that shot followed by the kids grinning their butts off.

His story is that he asked them to mug for the camera, and as a very accomplished snapper, he got exactly what he desired to get.

He goes on to explain that, for him, it is a sort of double self-portrait, for he is both the 'aggressive' kid as well as the 'angelic' one, together repesenting both sides of his own identity and spiritual make-up.

(I've just heard an ad telling me that one can get Viagra pills for under four bucks a pop. That's over KLEB-AM in Louisiana. I had no idea they cost so much! On a regular basis, they make boats seem affordable.)

Rob C

P.S.

I should have mentioned that I didn't even notice the difference in focus of the b/ground vis-à-vis the two ladies in the 'kiss' shot. It simply didn't occur to me to look: it was bleedin' obvious where the interest lies. That's the essence of any shot that works.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2015, 04:09:27 pm by Rob C »
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MattBurt

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Re: Eschewing Perfection
« Reply #104 on: September 02, 2015, 04:31:22 pm »

I have this shirt.

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-MattB

GrahamBy

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Re: Eschewing Perfection
« Reply #105 on: September 03, 2015, 04:32:02 am »

Ken,

Perhaps the subject of the artwork contains sharp edges.

Possibly, but not always.
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AreBee

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Re: Eschewing Perfection
« Reply #106 on: September 03, 2015, 07:14:05 am »

Graham,

Quote
Possibly, but not always.

If the subject of the artwork contains no sharp edges, then sharp edges cannot be expressed.
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