tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post4757275899655807879..comments2024-03-27T00:32:29.877-07:00Comments on Photos and Stuff: Criticism: Two Portfoliosamolitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-29275148689672947572016-12-04T20:52:33.754-08:002016-12-04T20:52:33.754-08:00"It also made me feel I could imagine interes..."It also made me feel I could imagine interesting things it was saying" is <i>exactly</i> what I intended!<br /><br />As Andrew correctly noted, my intention with these photos is <i>not</i> to persuade viewers to accept my point of view, but to encourage them to reflect upon and contemplate their own.<br /><br />In short, I aim to set the stage with my photos, then step back and leave it to the viewers to take it from there and come up with their own narrative(s) based upon what they see and how they respond to that.<br /><br />Whenever I've talked with viewers of my photos at the few exhibitions I've had to date, it has fascinated me to no end to discover just how widely divergent those individual narratives can sometimes be. 8^)<br /><br />JGhttp://audiidudii.aminus3.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-85078320345530207552016-12-04T20:49:59.706-08:002016-12-04T20:49:59.706-08:00Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but the main r...Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but the main reason there aren't more illuminated windows in my photos is because I'm typically photographing between 11:00 pm and 4:00 am, and very few people are awake then to have the lights on.<br /><br />No, I haven't been arrested while taking any of <i>these</i> photos*, but I have had several encounters with the police over the years, including one when they responded to a call from somebody about "a man with a bazooka" they had just driven past.<br /><br />(That particular incident had four police cars searching the neighborhood for me, but ended with a laugh when it turned that the "bazooka" was actually my tripod, slung over my shoulder while fully extended. I don't know how the caller jumped to the conclusion they did, but I suppose it can be difficult to tell the difference when it's dark outside? )<br /><br />And for the record, I am very much aware that what I'm doing with this project is troubling to many people (or would be, if they weren't asleep at the time and thus completely unaware of it.) So I am scrupulous about not trespassing on private property, tempting though it may be at times. With one exception, every photo I've posted at my photo blog was taken legally from public property!<br /><br />* Full disclosure: It's a long story, but I <i>was</i> arrested several years ago while taking photos when I unintentionally trespassed onto BNSF Railroad property and then resisted leaving because I didn't believe the unarmed man wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt telling me to do so was, in fact, the railroad cop he claimed to be or that I was, in fact, trespassing. It turned out that I was wrong on both counts ... <i>oops!</i> Fortunately, I wasn't charged with anything and was released with just a stern lecture after I sat in a holding cell for three hours.JGhttp://audiidudii.aminus3.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-43610156055617762322016-12-04T14:16:58.680-08:002016-12-04T14:16:58.680-08:00I had different reactions to the two portfolios. M...I had different reactions to the two portfolios. My reaction to Benoit's is that it's unified only by a gimmick; the gimmick can create interesting stand-alone pictures, but otherwise there's nothing particular that ties them together for me. Any unifying intention I could imagine felt like it would be an 'Art high concept' thing.<br /><br />Jeffrey's portfolio (of the b&w nighttime shots) felt unified by some sort of general theme and setting. It felt like a series of photos that were all orbiting around an idea, approaching it from various different angles. It also made me feel I could imagine interesting things it was saying (whether or not they were what Jeffrey intended).<br /><br />In short: Benoit's photos made me go 'that's sort of pretty' while Jeffrey's made me go 'that's interesting'.Chris Siebenmannhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/22276923@N06/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-92061145781790907082016-12-04T06:52:46.098-08:002016-12-04T06:52:46.098-08:00Benoit reminds me of Andy Goldsworthy's epheme...Benoit reminds me of Andy Goldsworthy's ephemeral work with leaves and flower petals - eldritch encounters with landscapes that make your hair stand on end? Benoit's white slab is more space aliens, and Goldsworthy's leaves are more sidhe rituals, and both kinda make me wanna flee, just a bit...<br />(but the inverted white-cube gallery, whoooo, awesome!)<br /><br />The night photo set has preoccupied me for quite some time - initially I thought perhaps they were like the Wind in the Willows village scene where the two travellers visually eavesdrop on all the lit domestic interiors (Danish "hygge" going on in spades) as they pass through the village, but the night photo set is not hygge at all, and it's not, in fact, at all attentive to the interiors either, although illumination is almost always a key component. I think it's a celebration of great planes and knots of fabulous visual textures (quite different in focus than Hido's series which I would call… more illuminated windows, maybe?), and also there HAS to be a triumphant sub-text of "no, I did not get arrested taking these photos, no, not even once." Heh. stone sealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08285111419079958362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-63829967844146760552016-12-02T00:41:04.771-08:002016-12-02T00:41:04.771-08:00Jeffrey portfolio immediately suggested to me the ...Jeffrey portfolio immediately suggested to me the concept of futiliy or impermanence - the very subject of an house, that is usually sold to the buyer as a "finishing point" in their life, or a measure of his personal success, has always struck me as one of the more superficial things one can tought as a "legacy": look at what happens in the case of an hurricane or an earthquake... In contrast, Benoit work suggest me nothing.Andreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13150555399278445304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-18905601758753019582016-11-25T17:17:10.906-08:002016-11-25T17:17:10.906-08:00Hmm...
Let me ponder for a bit and come up with a...<i>Hmm...</i><br /><br />Let me ponder for a bit and come up with an interim solution ... perhaps a .pdf file that I can email upon request?JGhttp://audiidudii.aminus3.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-89361063471627455992016-11-25T14:19:56.918-08:002016-11-25T14:19:56.918-08:00Any chance we could see the portfolio? Any chance we could see the portfolio? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-79348958433123538332016-11-25T02:56:33.861-08:002016-11-25T02:56:33.861-08:00Hey, no one said there was going to be homework! A...Hey, no one said there was going to be homework! And I loathe French hippies.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-53780689112328533792016-11-24T10:26:46.990-08:002016-11-24T10:26:46.990-08:00@ Mark A.
I use my photo-blog as a scratch-pad of...@ Mark A.<br /><br />I use my photo-blog as a scratch-pad of sorts, where I post recent photos for contemplation and comment. Although Andrew refers to it as a portfolio, it's obviously not -- with nearly 1,700 photos, how could it be? -- which is why color photos and photos from some of my other projects do appear there on occasion as well.<br /><br />FYI, the set of prints Andrew saw was much more focused than my "portfolio" generally and I suspect his comments above were largely shaped by those. (I guess I really should setup a proper website for my photography, as it now seems clear this internet thing isn't going to be just another fad...)<br /><br />As for Todd Hido, I think his work is great (IMO), but I had been working on this project for nearly two years before I ever heard of him or saw any of his photos. To the extent that my work on this project has been influenced by that of any other photographers, then it would have to be Gilbert Fastenaekens at the top of the list...<br /><br />And before I forget, thanks for looking at my photos! More eyeballs are moar betterer! 8^)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-75503299626232170652016-11-24T04:09:31.233-08:002016-11-24T04:09:31.233-08:00Just some things that come into my mind randomly:
...Just some things that come into my mind randomly:<br />Why are some of Jeffrey's pictures in colour? When I scroll down, more and more pictures appear after some loading time? This portfolio needs to concentrate on fewer pictures in my opinion. Also I can't help but I have to compare Jeffrey's pictures to Todd Hido's nighttime photographs. In contrast to Hido's a lot of Jeffrey's pictures show houses with dark windows, which for me me is a signal of "everybody sleeping" - there's no story here, or is there? Also every place is so tidy and clean, almost like a movie set - again no story, no questions. Maybe it's because I grew up somewhere else...?<br />And Benoit's pictures - first thing I thought was that this portfolio screams "look at me, this is ART"... but I do like the light in some of the pictures, and especially those in the woods work for me quite well. But I don't really get the concept that's behind them...<br />That's it for now, maybe I'll check again later.Mark A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11553260844948501544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-63467973113676900962016-11-24T00:12:45.321-08:002016-11-24T00:12:45.321-08:00Further to the above, it occurs to me that Benoit&...Further to the above, it occurs to me that Benoit's work is the polar opposite of a white cube gallery, i.a a white installation using the landscape as a gallery. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-83631967981894289492016-11-23T22:21:36.411-08:002016-11-23T22:21:36.411-08:00I saw in Benoit's Work female genitals and I s...I saw in Benoit's Work female genitals and I shit you not. (One man's interpreted portal is another man's interpreted twat). On this metaphorical level I find Benoits work thus stronger, but subjectively I like it less. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com