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September 2012 Alumni News Now Available
The LensWork Alumni News is a distillation of news and events from photographers whose work you've seen in LensWork and LensWork Extended — people and work that we know you'll be interested in!
This free publication features news from:
Click here to download the September Alumni News pdf (2.5 mb)
Fog in the Hills and Aits
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Fog in the Hills and Aits, my latest in the Sketches series chapbooks, is fast approaching its deadline at the introductory price. The introductory price ends Saturday 9/1. After that it will be available at the regular price for 5 weeks. Here is more information about how we're pricing these chapbooks and why we are retiring titles after 60 days. Visit www.brooksjensenarts.com for more information about this and other work by LensWork editor, Brooks Jensen. |
Fragments of Time by Ryuijie
From Fragments of Time by Ryuijie
From
LensWork #34
© 2001 Ryuijie. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the photographer.
Commentary
It may or may not be obvious what you are looking at in this photograph. With enough analysis you'll probably recognize it as some kind of leaf. To me, however, it's always felt a lot more like flight.
Ryuijie did a most interesting thing with this image that differentiates it from the typical botanical photograph. There's no stem, there's no leaf brothers and sisters, there's no background other than this featureless black. The shape floats on this black background and perhaps that's why, for me, it feels more like wings at the top of the power stroke. I've always found it easier to see this image as a bat or perhaps a ray-like creature of the sea than as a yucca leaf.
It should be noted that this image is included in a project that Ryuijie titled Fragments of Time. I have to confess, I like the title but I don't quite understand it in relationship to this photograph — which brings us to one of the interesting aspects of photographic artwork: viewers may not always see what we, as photographers, intend. My reaction to this photograph has been strong since the moment I saw it, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that Ryuijie had no intention of representing flight the way I see it.
I may be entirely missing his point of the photograph, but then again he may be entirely missing mine. This is an incredibly slippery slope. I often hear from photographers a thoroughly noncommittal attitude toward the interpretation of their work. "However you want to think about it is fine! It's not my place as a photographer to tell you what to think about it." Hogwash. I'll say this topic for another time, but there is no denying that there are differences, from time to time, between what the photographer intends and what the audience sees.
As a viewer of photographs, I try as best I can to give the photographer the benefit of the doubt and interpret the image as they intend. There are times, however — and this image is an example of that — where the intention of the photographer is sufficiently vague as to leave us functionally on our own. As producers of photographs, if we are comfortable with that, vague titles are perfectly acceptable. If, however, we feel strongly about the audience understanding the photograph from our point of view, we need to make sure they have enough information to be steered down the path of our choice. It's one of the fundamental decisions we need to make as art makers and then take actions with titles, descriptions, or even the image content so that our wishes are known.
The portfolio can be seen in its entirety in our back issues — print (while still available) and our PDFs for computer, iPad, Android, and other devices. Plus, bonus audio commentary about this image is available to full-access members of LensWork Online.
Discussion
Add your comments and observations to the discussion by using the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post.
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Portfolio Reviews – September appointments now available! Personalized One-on-One, 40-Minute or 60-Minute Sessions
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Some Comments About Reviews with Brooks Jensen I'm struggling with so many aspects of my photography and our conversation was a great boost and source of direction. Thanks. Thanks for yesterday's session. It was an honor to talk to you and get your feedback on my work. I found it extremely helpful and felt that the guidance you gave me was very much in line to what I was looking to learn/ know. Thank you again for your time, especially the extra time. I got some good feedback and a lot of motivation. Thank you Brooks. It was an extremely helpful conversation. Let's see what happens! |
LensWork #102 Preview
The preview of
LensWork #102 is now available online. You can purchase this single issue from our virtual newsstand and receive free shipping in the U.S.
LensWork #102 iPad and Android Portable Edition
The Portable Edition for issue #102 is now available for single issue purchase and immediate download from our online store at LensWork #102 Portable Edition
If you're a LensWork Online member this issue has been posted for download. Login here.
Suspended Dreams: The Unknown Musicians by Mark J. Davis
From Suspended Dreams: The Unknown Musicians by Mark J. Davis
From
LensWork and LensWork Extended #81
© 2009 Mark J. Davis. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the photographer.
Commentary
In this commentary, I'd like to break form from our usual discussions and focus for just a moment on the inspirational aspects of this photograph. In fact, this entire project by Mark J. Davis is inspirational for what these musicians can teach us photographers.
The title of the project is Suspended Dreams: The Unknown Musicians. I suspect it would not be too far a stretch for us to imagine a project that describes so many of us — "Suspended Dreams: The Unknown Photographers." Whether one plays the guitar or makes beautiful photographic prints, the challenge of gaining an audience is daunting. So many photographers find the culmination of their hard work stored away in archival boxes, rarely seen. Similarly, it would be so easy for a musician to store his instrument safely away in its case, rarely to be heard. But the musicians in Davis' project have chosen a different path. This fellow has the courage to sit and play in spite of the fact that no one appears to be listening. The woman on the far right seems far more interested in the architectural details in the ceiling than in his musical performance. He plays anyway. The cluster of people outside descending on the steps at the very right edge of the photograph probably can't even hear his guitar. He plays anyway. We can't tell from the photograph, but it doesn't appear to be a particularly populated location. He plays anyway. That in itself is a powerful lesson.
I can't help but take this train of thought one step further. I don't recall ever seeing the functional equivalent of this street musician in the form of a photographer. That is to say, what would prevent a photographer from doing something similar? What would happen if one found some public place where one's photographs could be on display for passersby? What if we were to find some public wall and affix to it a dozen images for people to see as they walked by? Would they look? How could they not? If they don't, would we photographers have the courage to present our artwork when almost no one is paying attention? I have no idea how the logistics of such an exhibition might take place, but if we are the creative people we think we are I'm assuming those logistics could be imagined with a little creative thought.
Would our egos allow it? Well, this musician has an ego, too. It cannot feel comfortable to play his guitar in a public place for no one! Perhaps it's a matter of subduing our pride and recognizing the simple truth that in order to gain an audience one must present one's artwork out in the world where the audience is. It seems to me manifestly easier to get our work seen by taking it into the world — even if it takes the courage of this musician — than it is to gather an audience inside our closet where our work can currently be found.
And there is one final element that I think is worth discussing about this musician. Notice that he is not selling admission tickets, he hasn't priced his work at elite gallery prices, he isn't trying to persuade his audience that his artwork has investment potential — he just plays. He recognizes this is a combination of performance and practice. It's called "paying your dues," and it's part of the process of becoming an artist.
The portfolio can be seen in its entirety in our back issues — print (while still available) and our PDFs for computer, iPad, Android, and other devices. Plus, bonus audio commentary about this image is available to full-access members of LensWork Online.
Discussion
Add your comments and observations to the discussion by using the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post.
Adobe Reader for Android
When we started publishing our LensWork Extended PDFs for the Android format, we were surprised that the worst PDF reader of the lot was the Android app Adobe Reader. It forced vertical scrolling, didn't display single pages, links didn't function, bookmarks didn't function — it was a mess. Ever since then we've recommended a Mantano Reader instead. However, in the latest Adobe reader update, it looks like they fixed just about everything. Single page view now works, fit page works, bookmark links work, and best of all it renders images in sufficient bit depth to prevent any banding. Hurrah! We can now officially recommend the Android Adobe Reader as the PDF app of choice for our downloadable publications. Thanks Adobe!
Saving Steps with Optics
I am trying my best age gracefully, and one of those realities I face is that I have to make some compromises in my photographic outings. A 10 mile hike with an 85 pound backpack was a common thing in my youth. Now, I use every bit of technology to save me all those steps that I possibly can, and do what I must to preserve my strength and stamina for the most important parts of my creative life. Curiously enough, one of the most useful tools in this regard has become an effective pair of binoculars. I'm more than happy to look and study from a distance before I haul my gear way over there only to find out there's not much of interest. In fact, I've found a good pair of binoculars has made my photography considerably more efficient because I waste far less time exploring places that ultimately are unproductive.
Because I wear glasses to correct astigmatism, I need to wear my glasses when using my binoculars. This is a problem with most binoculars because of the way this increases the distance between my eyeball and the optics of the binocular. This extra distance reduces one's field of view — sort of like looking through a straw. Removing my glasses for use with typical binoculars leaves me seeing a fuzzy world. Fortunately, there is an answer.
I learned about the optical measurement called "eye relief." From Wikipedia: The eye relief of an optical instrument (such as a telescope, a microscope, or binoculars) is the distance from the last surface of an eyepiece at which the user's eye can obtain the full viewing angle. The farther the eye relief distance, the more there is room for one's eyeglasses to remain in place without losing some of the field of view.
Many binoculars have an eye relief in the 12 to 15 mm range. For eyeglass wearers, eye relief in the 20 to 25 mm range is much more practical. As one of the primary considerations in my research, I discovered one has to shop more diligently to find devices that meet this criteria. I found two that have quickly become some of my most valuable tools when I'm in the field.
First, I always carry in my camera bag a slick little, lightweight monocular manufactured by Carson. It's a 7-power by 32mm device that is very sharp, with excellent contrast, and fully multi-coated lenses. Most importantly for us eyeglass wearers, it has a 19 mm eye relief — not perfect, but comfortable. Additionally, it includes a handy tripod mount thread which I find incredibly useful to stabilize my view when used in combination with either my monopod or a simple walking stick.
Where weight is less of a concern, I use a great pair of Montana binoculars (now owned by Meade) that have a 20mm eye relief. I had to search high and low to find binoculars with long eye relief, but what a difference it makes! I absolutely love these binoculars because of this feature. (Carson makes a similar model with a 22mm eye relief, but I haven't use them myself so I can't report on them from experience.)
If you wear glasses and have been frustrated with binoculars, try searching for ones with longer eye relief and you'll be amazed how much more you enjoy using them.
The Hidden Empire by Charles A. Hedgcock
From The Hidden Empire by Charles A. Hedgcock
From
LensWork #28
© 2000 Charles A. Hedgcock. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the photographer.
Commentary
One of my pet peeves in life is people who complain they are bored. I simply cannot relate to living in this marvelous, mysterious, magnificent world and being bored. The photographic corollary is the photographer who complains that they don't have anything to photograph. Whenever I hear this, I want to pull out LensWork #28 and show them this portfolio by Charles Hedgcock. If he can make such an interesting body of work by photographing bugs, I think no one has any excuse to claim there is nothing to photograph.
One of the most intriguing aspects of monochromatic photography (more commonly known as "black and white photography") is a certain aesthetic regarding tonalities and their relationships to one another. Part of the reason I think this portfolio by Hedgcock succeeds as artwork instead of mere entomology is his marvelous renditions of monochromatic tones. The sheen on this beetle's back is so reminiscent of those marvelous still lifes by Edward Weston of his famous peppers and shells. In fact, I think I recall that somewhere I referred to Hedgcock is the "Edward Weston of bugs."
This is all about light and surfaces. Notice that in that last sentence there is nothing that defines or limits the choice of subject. These tones can be created in a pristine mountain landscape like the aerial images from Bradford Washburn (LensWork #50); lots of my images from the Made of Steel series show these tones in the sheen of metallic tools; Carl Chiarenza explored these tones in his abstracts in LensWork #79; Bill Young's portfolio of sand dunes in LensWork #90 was all about these tonal relationships — I could go on, but you get the point. The subject changes, but the chord of these visual tones is something that perpetually delights.
I use the word chord specifically because of its musical connotation. Certain chord progressions are themes in music that recur in choral music, jazz, rock, country, and probably every other style of music I could think of. These chord progressions exist because they connect so deeply with our physical being as well as because they are so deeply ingrained in our cultural heritage. The same can be said of certain visual elements in our photographic vocabulary. Hedgcock recognized this and his entire portfolio resonates with these same tones. I suppose just as musicians can recognize certain chord progressions regardless of the music, we photographers can recognize certain tonal scales regardless of the subject. It's part of what elevates a photograph of a bug to something that's worth looking at for the sheer joy of its marvelous photographic tonalities.
The portfolio can be seen in its entirety in our back issues — print (while still available) and our PDFs for computer, iPad, Android, and other devices. Plus, bonus audio commentary about this image is available to full-access members of LensWork Online.
Discussion
Add your comments and observations to the discussion by using the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post.
Nexus 7, Bluetooth Keyboard, and RDP
Just in case any of you are interested in such obscure things, yesterday I tested the Nexus 7 for my upcoming travels. Yes, it works perfectly with a Bluetooth keyboard — I have (and love) the Motorola Wireless Keyboard for Atrix, which by the way is on sale at Amazon.com for $26. Really.
Yes, the Nexus 7 works perfectly with a Bluetooth mouse.
And most importantly, yes it works perfectly with iTap's RDP app — I connected to my computer back at work flawlessly, first time, and was able to run all my desktop functions just as if I was sitting at my computer back at LensWork. I assume other RDP apps like PocketCloud, etc. will work, too. If you are unfamiliar with RDP, see this post.
I've done remote desktop connections before with my ASUS Transformer and found it worked as expected. Most interestingly with the Nexus 7, however, its high resolution screen was a far more pleasant experience in spite of the fact that it is a 7" tablet.
Very sweet and very useable, long battery life, and the weight of the Nexus plus keyboard plus mouse is less than my iPad, less than my netbook, and far less than my clunky old laptop. It's rare when everything works like this so well, so I'm going to bask a while in the moment.
Why do I fuss with all of this?
I'm going to experiment with something new this trip. Rather than upload all my images to my laptop and work on them in my hotel room, I'm going to plop a select few RAW files into my Dropbox where they will sync automatically with my desktop computer. I'll then login to my desktop back in the office using RDP and be able to do Lightroom work on them, post them to the blog, email them to friends, etc. — all accomplished remotely with the full power of my main computer back home. During my trip to China, I tried using Adobe Touch on my ASUS Transformer and although it worked, I found it slow and clunky. I'll see if this works any better.
And it'll be fun.
