Re: PF Galleries on 11/22/03

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

 



At 08:58 AM 11/27/03 -0800, you wrote:
At 09:53 AM 11/27/2003 -0800, Alan Zinn wrote:
The brave ones who are determined to try their hand at reviewing should be applauded. I wish everyone could read Terry Barrett's book "Criticizing Photographs." Maybe I can find some brief quotes to pass along.

That would be useful.


I thought it might be worth quoting this paraphrasing of Szarkowski, who probably had more impact on the acceptance of photography as art than anyone. Szarkowski :"defined the medium's essential features as:

The thing itself (the right subject in the real world)
The detail (the telling fragment)
The frame (placement of the edges - the act of choosing and eliminating)
Time (all photographs are exposures of longer or shorter duration)
Vantage Point (the location of the camera)

I don;t necessarily agree that this is the right set of essential features, but it's a good starting point. It encompasses the "rules" in a sense that doesn't embalm them but lets them live as characteristics of photographs rather than "rules."


Jeff Spirer Photos: http://www.spirer.com One People: http://www.onepeople.com/ Surfaces and Marks: http://www.withoutgrass.com


Jeff,

Yea, these are the essentials taught as "rules of good photography" in countless books and pamphlets. Looking at the whole frame may be the most over-looked concept. Visualizing negative space, especially off the tripod (or from the hip!), isn't intuitive.

I find photo books with proof sheets useful for seeing photographer's creative process. Some revision the shots altogether as if they are preliminary sketches and others select a shot and print the full frame. Obviously their are valid reasons to do either but I suspect that more of the full-framers studied photography.

AZ

Build a Lookaround!
The Lookaround Book, 2nd ed.
NOW SHIPPING
http://www.panoramacamera.us



[Index of Archives] [Share Photos] [Epson Inkjet] [Scanner List] [Gimp Users] [Gimp for Windows]

  Powered by Linux