Well this week was the first of the Photoforum 'Select' Galleries where only those artists selected by an elite panel of selectors (with several months or even years of selection training) are asked to contribute. I must admit that I was skeptical about accepting the hand delivered envelope. The last time I received one of those, it was an invitation to appear before a judge. But accept it I did, and when I opened it and saw that gold leaf invitation I was floored. Never-the-less I pulled myself together and grabbed a print for the gallery. Richard and Dan were already in the limo which whisked us off to a tuxedo-clad Andy (and less formally attired PF staff) waiting in the lobby of the Waldorf. It was a night I'll never remember but I'm sure it was a blast. So here we have the selected images and my impressions of said images. Richard Cooper (Mathew Brady) - I've got to say that this image does leave a lot of unanswered questions. Is this guy an actor at a pioneer village or does he really dress that way? Does he actually use that 4x5 or is it just a prop? Good exposure though. Even with all that white, his face isn't too dark and there's detail in the shirt. Sure its a little blown out but that's likely just down-sampling for the gallery. Greg Fraser (Rain on Buckshot Lake) - A little while ago I got a Canon A1 and 28mm lens. I like the parallax created by this lens. Rectilinears are for sissies! I like the lack of human noise pollution a good rain or snow produces. I tried to capture that peaceful atmosphere but mostly I was drawn to the two patches of fluorescent orange on the lifejacket on the pier and the hazard cone on the floating dock. I used a polarizing filter that gave the water a mottled sort of look. Dan Mitchell (A Coil of Wire) - There is a coil of wire in the shot but to me its just one element of a multi-element image. I'm amazed at the variety of shapes and textures. You've got the rusty roof and pipe (I wish were more saturated), the smooth cool leaves, the smooth but highly textured wood, the smooth plastic pipe and the coil of wire. You've also got as many different shapes from hard, straight lines of the pipes to squashed arcs in the wood grain, to pointed, jagged leaves, to the rippling edge and the rust holes of the roof to the circular coil of the wire. None of the shapes are isolated either. They are all repeated over and over in the image. So much more than a coil of wire. She's a graphic smorgasbord! My thanks to the PF staff and selectors and to my fellow contributors. Greg Fraser Master of Funk "Things are never what they seem" - Vlad http://users.imag.net/~lon2251/Gallery PS - I found a red pump that smells of cheap champagne in my jacket. I'll be mailing it to RIT tomorrow. If I remember correctly that was yours Andy.
