> The PhartoForum artiste's art space was relaunched SEP 03 2005. > masterpieces which are, well, hung on display at > http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html Where reading about what form a Review should take - and the sometimes very strong opinions on what should and should not be said about an image - I always arrive at to the same dilemma. "Do all authors demand the same style review: do all images deserve it?" This week's gallery is no exception: some are clearly art, some meant as art, some artistic, some mere photographic records, some experimental, some personal, some atmospheric. In reality of course these are not properties of the images themselves but of the viewer's own experience, prejudices and expectations. In an environment where - the use of phrases equivalent to "wow" is condemned as irrelevant. - comments on basic technique are considered "art school". - even the mildest divergence into the author's motivation can earn a stern rebuke. What is there left to say? ART REVIEW =================== * Jeff Spirer - Saw Of all the regular contributors to the PhotoForum gallery Jeff jumps out to me out as being the artist with a vision. That does not mean I can always see what he saw but I'm always confident about the way that I should be trying to look. Jeff's work (caveat: at least that aspect of it he chooses to reveal on this forum) has a distinctive STYLE. By that I don't mean in a mechanical patternistic sense but in a unique vision. Jeff does not confuse us with a family snapshot one week, a cute baby the next, then a landscape, etc etc. This week's contribution is no exception. It's a stark, empty image. Metal and concrete - a mixture of pattern and discord in harmony. The subtlety of this shot is not in what's shown but in what's reflected. The small area of pale orange top left is key to it's success. Even the very muted red of the hose serves as a foil for the trace of green of concrete. The white diagonal line somewhat mechanically hits the top left corner (exactly where I would have placed it) but, again the hose, cuts it with an essential touch of asymmetry. When I look at the saw blade today I immediately see an oval: only yesterday I read something about "shape constancy" which has influenced my observation if not perception. In an "Art School" review I might have come to comment on the slight softness of the near side of the saw blade - but I suspect Jeff already knows that. * Don Roberts - Winter Wandering Of all the images in the gallery this week this is the one I would hang on my wall. It has a barren simplicity that is so often missed. In my mind's eye I can see the animal meandering up the miniature valley, stopping here and there to eat what grass pokes through the snow.. There are almost no distractions to that progression. Further up the image the simplicity is compromised, but not for me in a way that spoils the image. Another animal has cut across the snow diagonally but on reflection this adds a layer of interest. The snow itself is curious: it's lack of either blue of gold suggestive of a heavily clouded day and yet the footprints themselves are intensely white Tim Mulholland - Before/After This shot was not the result of the photographer stumbling across a scene and pointing the camera in the right direction - it was clearly planned (conceived if you like) in the mind of the artist ... and it has worked well. In all "art" there is an element of originality (in either style, technique or presentation) that distinguishes it from the work of someone who can merely follow (copy) the inspiration. I don't think I've seen another work anything like this ever though there was one pregnant belly amongst the Vagabond camera's latent images I seem to remember. Rubin F. Diehl - Colors Where does street photography fit into art? How can you review such pictures on an "artistic" level. Presuming the people in this picture were not paid actors under the direction of the photographer in essence we are looking at a mere record (albeit an entertaining one) of real life. There is skill, knowing when to press the shutter. There is judgement, in choosing which images to show the outside world, but is there real creativity? I like the image: there is a real happy atmosphere. If I have a problem it's with the text accompanying the image: that ain't no blond! Guy Glorieux - Montreal - Mondrian This is the image that most matched Guy's palette: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/SHD/S595.jpg or maybe this one http://makeashorterlink.com/?T2EB12BBB Reading up quickly on "Mondrian" I was struck by this quote: "Everything in his life was reasoned or calculated. He was a compulsive neurotic and could never bear to see anything disordered or untidy. He seemed to suffer acutely, for instance, if a table had not been laid with perfect symmetry." How I feel for the poor chap: the quest, obsession, for such patterns in life/art is a handicap not a gift!!! Anyway, to Guy's image. It's shown quite desaturated (trembling as I realise that might be considered a "structural" comment). But the lack of saturation can also bee seen to bring out the atmosphere (haze). Guy resisted the obvious temptation to "enhance", and therefore "kill" the image by auto-levels in PhotoShop. What I "see" in this picture is the blandness, the depersonalisation, of modern cities and city life. There's no hint of warmth, just a seemingly random hotch-potch of pieces. People, if they have any part in such a scene, are not central to it. They are tolerated by the concrete and steel - the machine - rather than being it's master. I didn't know much about Mondrian: This applet http://www4.vc-net.ne.jp/~klivo/soft/mondrian.htm seemed to produce some images within half a dozen tries that could easily have appeared amongst the real ones revealed by a google image search. http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=mondrian Herschel Mair - A classic theme that will evoke a certain kind of calm in the heart of anyone who has continued to watch the sea long after the sunset. As with Don's image, it's success is in it's simplicity. I'm not required to analyse all the complex facets of a busy image but instead bring my memories and experiences to fill n the gaps. I'd love to be there - indeed, I have in a way many times after long busy days at sea. I can hear the gentle lapping of the tiny wavelets on the beach. I can hear the distant "chug-chug-chug" of a small fishing boat returning to harbour. But by his own admission Hershel straightened the image. Mondrain (again) had no qualms about portraying an off-level horizon: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/mer/1702.jpg ART SCHOOL REVIEWS ===================== These are the images that would have received comments had I felt comfortable enough to stray into the realm of technique and presentation. For all of them I find myself seeing just the pictures and how /what they are physically - rather than what they represent / any deeper meaning. Since such comments are unwelcome, I'll have to pass this week. Dave Van Verst - Carolyn jIMMY Harris - Me and my PENTAX Jim Davis - Two Kinds of Fishers Marilyn Dalrymple - Moon Scape Shyrell Melara - Old Kitchen > There are 4 photographs (by Elizaga, Ferguson, Leigh and > Talbot) awaiting future installation. New ones are still > expected with eager anticipation!. That is good news - things are better if you have to wait But it also means that there have been no new submissions for several days - mine I posted on the 28th. > Note that the photographs are installed in the exhibit > in the order in which they arrive and not based on > some qualitative criterion. It's amazing then how often similar photos arrive together then - two smiling couples - two monochromes Bob PS: I'm happy with any comments on my images from anybody. As a photographer all I ask is honest feedback. "Beggars cannot be choosers" as they say.
