Review of the Feb.5, 06 Photo Forum exhibit by Alan Zinn. Bill McKinney I like pictures to be full like this one. To me the vernacular landscape is the kind of anthropological narrative best expressed by photographs. As a pure abstraction the picture works very well, but that?s just to get you interested. In the foreground a bare lit-up tree suggest a festive occasion. The bridge leads us to a building in the distance - some kind of mountain lodge in an alpine setting surrounded by an over-built and decorated environment. We have to work our way, as we do in the real world, through a maze of contradictory meanings, toward what we hope will be a pleasant experience. Veli Cigiran Vili?s title ?Jewels? gives the picture an unmistakable double meaning that both feminists and other, less evolved, persons will appreciate - the objectified female, or, ?Hey, she knows what she?s doin?? The picture is a lovely, forthright expression made very well. Pini Vollach Don?t we all like to photograph these kind of subjects?! Why does decrepitude look so good photographed? The nice thing to discover in this type of picture is that it isn?t just another Modernist abstraction. It tells a bit of a story. The wear on the stairs reflects their long history. We wonder about the graffiti. Steve Hodges. You have to be careful with titles. If possible (seldom is) you should not read them before looking at the picture. The title ?construction equipment? is ironic I suppose. It emphasizes the tragic failings of a culture but risks further dehumanizing the subject. The ugliness of the ?facts on the ground? cannot be overcome by thoughtful arrangements of formal elements. One of the criticism?s of Salgado is that his pictures are too pretty. Given that they are propaganda directed toward the privileged, used to certain formal constants in their coffee table art, they succeed. I don?t know how to depict victims other than showing their struggle. Jeff Sprirer Jeff has achieved a kind of in-between look at imagined or dreamed reality and created a beautiful object.. The light envelops it as if it were suspended in cherry Jell-O. It reminds us that with the intervention of the camera real objects can exist in many forms. We can imagine this kind of light and form but we cannot really ?see? it. Only the camera lens can. It?s not just out of focus. It requires skill and practice to get it right. Museki Abe. Museki?s series of landscapes have been uniformly refreshing - in every way superb. They evoke the meditative quietness and formal nature that must permeate the real locations. This one is perhaps the quietest. D.L Shipman. This reminds me of the calendar my tax guy gives me. Honest, efficient, with no surprises. Emily L Furguson Maybe the VDT version of this kills the colors but I?d work the heck out of it with PhotoShop. It?s too much of a document and it should be screaming ?look at me.? Don Roberts. Lucky you to have stumbled on to these lantern slides What a treat. Trevor Cunningham. The desert thing is fascinating as an object. With no reference to scale it is monumental as befits its locale. Needs a tiny camel in the foreground maybe? The actual print is no doubt pleasing to look at. I get less excited about this kind of picture than others because with its ambiguity I can?t think of where it fits in my own experiences. But then I remembered Ozymandius! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandas AZ Build a Lookaround! The Lookaround Book, 4th ed. Now an E-book. http://www.panoramacamera.us
