tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post5430431835910684111..comments2024-03-27T00:32:29.877-07:00Comments on Photos and Stuff: Vancouver IIamolitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-66944938707439555222016-01-06T10:58:26.226-08:002016-01-06T10:58:26.226-08:00Oh, cool. I did google him and recognized some of ...Oh, cool. I did google him and recognized some of the names of the books! So I'm not totally a doofus, I swear ;)<br /><br />Thanks for the link!<br />amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-77080650666845463652016-01-06T10:47:18.899-08:002016-01-06T10:47:18.899-08:00David Hurn is the co-author of On Being a Photogra...David Hurn is the co-author of On Being a Photographer and a member of Magnum. I think you wrote some time ago that you would like to read this book. You can download it from here: http://www.purbecku3a.org.uk/PHOTOGRAPHY/On%20Being%20a%20Photographer.pdfDragan Novakovicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-23986688293490219472016-01-05T14:35:57.826-08:002016-01-05T14:35:57.826-08:00Phew! Thank you!
I was definitely going for some ...Phew! Thank you!<br /><br />I was definitely going for some sort of idea of longevity. The forest was there long before people were, and will remain most likely long after they're gone.<br /><br />The city might not endure on that scale, but it will move (indeed, it already *has* moved) on from one wave of newcomer to another, and another.<br /><br />In My Vancouver (which, let us keep strictly in mind, is not the Real Vancouver!) the dominance of asian faces in the city is quite new, and still feels superficial, a veneer.<br /><br />I wasn't going for circular, but rather a past-present-future timeline, but the circle works just as well.<br />amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-30910670389530459012016-01-05T13:56:09.196-08:002016-01-05T13:56:09.196-08:00I recently discovered your blog via Mike Chisholm’...I recently discovered your blog via Mike Chisholm’s Idiotic Hat (and recognized your name from your comments on T.O.P.), and have greatly enjoyed your writing. It’s a bonus to see some images, and I’ve enjoyed these, too, though they don’t have me chuckling or inadvertently spitting my beverage onto the keyboard as some of your written posts have ;-). I’ve never been to Vancouver but have at least a little bit of familiarity through one of my favorite color photographers, Fred Herzog. <br /><br />You’ve captured a lot of what I would expect from a Vancouver essay —the dark forest and the city scenes that look damp, chilly, often dreary, but punctuated by bright, primary colors and an undercurrent of vitality. The repeating yellows and reds are wonderful; they remind me of Herzog’s use of greens and reds, but with a more modern feel. <br /><br />I really like your analogy of bones, flesh and skin, which helps me to look at the photos from a new perspective. With that analogy in mind, though, my brain keeps wanting to view the photos in a somewhat different order—from the inside out, moving generally from B&W to the images with the drab colors and ending with the brighter colors. There are images that seem like obvious transition pictures between layers and I really love the many images that have even more subtle tie-ins to the other layers. For example, there are the ferns in the second image, whose shapes are echoed in the furry collar of the woman’s coat (repeating again in the image of the couple at the airport), and the vertical lines of the forest trees that repeat in the architecture of the city. <br /><br />Perhaps that inside-to-outside approach would make the sequence too literal/linear, though? Your current sequence seems like more of a circle, beginning and ending with the forest, and that has a pleasing effect, too. I’m sure the current ordering scheme is deliberate and meaningful, so don’t take my re-sequencing musings as a criticism—it’s probably just the idiosyncratic way my brain works, or I haven’t studied the current sequence long enough. In any case, I’ve enjoyed the process of rearranging the puzzle pieces in my mind, even if only to get a better grasp of the 3-layer analogy you’ve laid out. <br /><br />For what it’s worth, in my mind I see the sequence starting with the B&W forest images, working up from the smaller “cellular” scale of the floating leaf, then to the twigs and leaves, and finally to the ferns and larger trees. The transition image to the flesh layer might be the B&W image looking at the city through the chain link fence (love the way the posts and even the chain link repeat the trunk lines and leaf patterns of the forest, and also the fact that there is an actual fence of trees between the viewer and the buildings). Then my mind wants to move to the image of the tree in front of the hi-rise, with its desaturated colors and thematic links to both the bone and flesh layers. From there, I move on to the rest of the muted-color city images and eventually to that wonderful OOF image of the billboard and umbrella (which gives a nice hint of the colors and people to come)—or perhaps, instead, to the red building with the lone twig, which includes themes from the 1st and 3rd layers?? Then it’s on to the color images with people in them, probably ending with the city street scene that includes those fantastic yellow-lighted trees, the rich blacks and primary colors, the umbrella, the vertical lines of the buildings, and the people—so many themes/motifs wrapped up in one image. <br /><br />Whew, that was kind of a long comment; my apologies. There’s nothing like a photo essay to spark the comment center of my brain, LOL, especially when the author has given such a nice explanation of his or her thought process to chew on, with enjoyable photos to boot.<br /><br />I’m usually much more of a lurker than a commenter, but I’ll be checking daily on your blog, one of the best things I’ve discovered on the internet in a while. <br />Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00214179882864373628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-121709979148338252016-01-05T12:43:37.569-08:002016-01-05T12:43:37.569-08:00Hi Andrew,
since you didn't ask: This is an i...Hi Andrew,<br /><br />since you didn't ask: This is an interesting body of work. Though I've never been to Vancouver, the common motif of wetness and gloomy weather is easily recognizable for me. The details like the reference to the rainforest and the asian population, however, didn't become apparent to me until I read the explaining follow-up post. Nicely done, in my opinion, is the contrast between the coldly colored city exterior scenes and the pictures of people which are in rich, warm colors. What doesn't work that well for me is the mixture between black and white and color pictures. Sure, it makes sense within your layering concept, but it appears a bit harsh and disrupts the flow of the series. I could imagine that pictures of the forest taken on heavily overcast, rainy days in late autumn (dark, almost devoid of color, slightly greenish/blueish) could work well – then one would have city exterior – cold colors; people – warm colors; forest – almost colorless, slightly greenish/blueish ...<br /><br />But: I find it admirable to be able to start out with a concept. It's definitely not for me - I'm too chaotic for that ;^)<br /><br />Best, Thomas<br />Thomas Rinkhttp://www.picturesfromthezone.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-19304644249575796512016-01-05T11:33:12.617-08:002016-01-05T11:33:12.617-08:00Nice. For those who've been there, (visited tw...Nice. For those who've been there, (visited twice), it says, sotto voce, "Vancouver." I guess a clichéd shot of Lions Gate bridge from Stanley Park, or a float plane taking off as seen from the totems, would be shouting. (And reveal me as a tourist, and completely lacking in subtlety.)MikeRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15230112561510206950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-60641220686602600512016-01-05T07:27:32.040-08:002016-01-05T07:27:32.040-08:00The name doesn't even ring a bell!
Which prob...The name doesn't even ring a bell!<br /><br />Which probably means I stole it lock, stock, and barrel, and then my subconscious buried the evidence!amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-64993050813129264452016-01-05T07:24:12.057-08:002016-01-05T07:24:12.057-08:00I note that, whether accidentally or on purpose, y...I note that, whether accidentally or on purpose, you followed David Hurn's procedure for tackling a photographic project.Dave Jenkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16815756076188881975noreply@blogger.com