Abstract With People - DPChallenge Forums

04/28/2012 08:08:54 AM · #26

I have a few examples, well maybe they can be considered examples, these are from my //www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio.php?USER_ID=114285&collection_id=39340
experimental and blur portfolio:

How would these go down, DNMC or DMC.

Your thoughts please folks!

JuliBoc

Apple iPhone 6s+

Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R IOS

04/28/2012 08:31:27 AM · #27

Originally posted by klkitchens:

Originally posted by pixelpig:

I think you can get abstract without going for blur.

Love this!

I love it too, and it certainly has an abstract quality to it. But since it is clearly a railway/subway platform I would not consider it a true abstract. I suspect the general population of voters would score it very high regardless.

ETA: I was looking at this on my iPhone when I said it was a subway station. On a larger screen it is more recognizable for what it is -- the tunnel with the moving walkways. Sorry. I love it even more on the large screen.

Message edited by author 2012-04-28 09:03:17.

markwiley

Fujifilm X-Pro2

04/28/2012 08:49:23 AM · #28

Originally posted by Neat:

How would these go down, DNMC or DMC.

Your thoughts please folks!

These are really nice -- I would consider them good candidates for the challenge. They may not strictly be abstracts, but I think folks may need to loosen up up their definition of abstracts for this challenge.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/28/2012 08:53:30 AM · #29

Originally posted by markwiley:

These are really nice -- I would consider them good candidates for the challenge. They may not strictly be abstracts, but I think folks may need to loosen up up their definition of abstracts for this challenge.

That's one of my pet DPC peeves: the idea that an "abstract" needs to be "unidentifiable". To "abstract" a thing is, literally, to reduce it to its essentials. The concept of abstraction existed long before modernist artists started creating work consisting solely of col;or and/or shape with no direct visual references to "real things".

R.

04/28/2012 09:47:28 AM · #30

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

+1
I will be one voter in this frame of mind. [eta] Because an unidentifiable BG could be just a plain color, but that wouldn't be much of a challenge, & boring to vote on. I don't much like the example comps with the black paper cutout people because to me those are too much about the BG which is not very interesting as an abstract anyway. I'll be looking for an interesting abstract made more so by the inclusion of people, or even an abstract of people. Probably won't be my own (lol) but that's what I'm shooting for, anyway.

Message edited by author 2012-04-28 10:16:16.

04/28/2012 10:03:48 AM · #31

Message edited by author 2012-07-24 16:36:42.

04/28/2012 10:26:57 AM · #32

The BG is abstract, in a nonrepresentational way. And so are the people (a woody is an abstract of a human). Even the story is abstract. Right?

Message edited by author 2012-04-28 10:30:12.

04/28/2012 10:36:33 AM · #33

Message edited by author 2012-07-24 16:36:48.

04/28/2012 10:52:50 AM · #34

I enjoy a good discussion, I'm always hoping to learn something new.

A woody is an abstraction of a human, but it is also a woody, a real thing. In real life, a woody is an abstract. But a photo of a woody is not so abstract because it's a photo of a real thing, a woody.

The story is Love, definitely an abstract idea like Truth or Justice. IMO.

For me Abstract & Nonrepresentational are not the same idea. So for me the BG fails as an abstract because it isn't an abstract of anything, it's just nonrepresentational.

In photography, where the basic nature of a photograph is abstract, trying to figure out what qualifies as abstract is bound to be confusing. That's why we go for blurred color. Then nobody can't say it's not abstract.

An abstract photo works for me if I can figure out what it's an abstract of. I know it's a photo, so I know it's a picture of something real that reflects light. I enjoy the moments of mental effort trying to figure it out.

Neat's images, I would pick this one as the most "Abstract With People." There is a suggestion that the human could move into the light, which is a good abstract narrative. The BG is interesting texturally, & reduced to abstract elements of light & shadow, but I can imagine it to be an alley. The human is not as abstract as the BG, which gives the comp some depth of interest.

Message edited by author 2012-04-28 11:08:48.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

04/28/2012 11:18:31 AM · #35

Message edited by author 2012-07-24 16:36:59.

Venser

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

04/28/2012 11:31:30 AM · #36

Originally posted by deeby:

The number one is abstract, until you associate it with a thing...one pencil...one now represents the pencil. CosmicAssassin is a mathematician....it'd like to hear his opinion on this.

You might be disappointed with my opinion.
Throughout school, I always had the mentally if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense. I did a Ph.D. in applied math, that's what the degree has written on it, but it was theoretical condensed matter physics underneath. Worked closely with a group who did the experiments for what I would discover through simulations. Back to the issue at hand, I never thought of the abstract side of math, and shied away from it at all costs. Was forced to take an abstract algebra course once, and it was about the most useless half semester of my life. That was enough abstract anything and I'd like to keep it that way.

I will forward your comment on to someone I know. He was an artist and started drawing knots. Don't ask me how, but got interested in them and found some 50 year unsolved problem. Worked out the details, solved the problem, and came to Western with the solution. They made him jump through the necessary hoops and he now has a Ph.D. in knot theory. He might give more insight to your initial comment because he was/is an artist and now an accomplished mathematician; at least he thinks in the abstract.

CS

04/28/2012 11:34:30 AM · #37

It's fun to ponder because it is elusive. I think the success of the woody as an abstract is that you can see it as yourself. It isn't representational because only you can see yourself in it.

I'm fascinated by the object-ness of a photo. Standing in that tunnel at the Detroit airport was a very abstract experience. The photo of it, much less so.

04/28/2012 11:38:20 AM · #38

Message edited by author 2012-07-24 16:37:13.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

04/28/2012 11:46:24 AM · #39

Message edited by author 2012-07-24 16:37:23.

Venser

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

04/28/2012 11:53:15 AM · #40

Originally posted by deeby:

that's a cool story. It would be super interesting to chat with this guy. Don't get me wrong...your thesis sounds cool too...reminds me of Einstein predicting real shit like event horizons from his theories.

He legally changed his name to Ortho Smith. The problem was is there are thing like orthogonal vectors and every one thought he changed his name for that reason. Turns out there was some Shakespeare reference involved, but we liked our version better.

CS

04/28/2012 12:46:38 PM · #41

Originally posted by deeby:

I think we're going to disagree on the woodies, but I have no problem with that...we wouldn't have had the fun discussion without it ;)

Yes, thanks you!

Neat

Canon Canon 1d x Mark II

Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS

04/29/2012 04:55:58 AM · #42

Is this too abstract.

MargaretNet

Apple iPhone 15 Pro

04/29/2012 05:21:16 AM · #43

Originally posted by Neat:

Is this too abstract.

Where are the people? :)

Neat

Canon Canon 1d x Mark II

Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS

04/29/2012 05:28:41 AM · #44

TOp right, obv too abstract............lol

rooum

04/29/2012 05:33:28 AM · #45

Originally posted by MargaretN:

Originally posted by Neat:
Is this too abstract.

Where are the people? :)

Shuffling past the closed factory gates of course.

It certainly works for me Anita. It sparks imagination and gets under my skin. I like it a lot. I suspect it won't go down well with the majority, though, who will want a recognisable person or two.

Also, like me, you've found a good use for all that sensor dust. ;) I rarely stop down far with my photography so when i do, such as using a technique as this, i'm always shocked at how filthy my sensor is. Fine for this sort of stuff but its a good job ii don't do many landscapes! I'll get mine cleaned at some point i'm sure.

rooum

04/29/2012 05:49:24 AM · #46

Away from the blur, i wonder if some of the later photography by Roger Ballen (my favourite photographer) might be suitable.. There are certainly lots of approaches to take. A very good challenge i think.

MargaretNet

Apple iPhone 15 Pro

04/29/2012 05:56:57 AM · #47

Originally posted by rooum:

More bizarre than abstract to me.

rooum

04/29/2012 06:11:30 AM · #48

Originally posted by MargaretN:

Originally posted by rooum:
Away from the blur, i wonder if some of the later photography by Roger Ballen (my favourite photographer) might be suitable.. There are certainly lots of approaches to take. A very good challenge i think.

More bizarre than abstract to me.

I'm not sure of the 'abstract' qualities either. I think some could be defined that way. I doubt Ballen himself would see them as such coming, as he does, from a social documentary lineage and his later working being a loosening of that.

04/29/2012 07:50:40 AM · #49

Message edited by author 2012-07-24 16:37:34.