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03/16/2010 07:59:58 PM · #1 |
I am hoping to have this be a thread where we could offer the story about our entries, and perhaps a little about who we are as the photographer. The idea germinated for me when I started to get comments that made me think that perhaps I was really capable of telling a story with my work. It's taken me a while to get to a point where I can pretty much put forth the image the way I both see, and intend it to be, so it becomes something from that point that is dependent on you, the viewer.
I called this The Broken Boulevard 'cause it is kind of broken. This street is not much used any more. I have never seen a car at this point where the bridge is. It's in a pretty bad neighborhood, it doesn't really go anywhere, and that lower part of it is in a towing impound lot and is often entirely blocked. This particular chunk of road is cut into the ground and walled for that little bit before the bridge, and truthfully, I don't know if it ever saw much traffic. Somewhere dead in the middle of that bridge, the name changes, so that it's actually a different name on either side of the bridge. As you can see, there's assorted litter, rocks, broken glass, and whatnot scattered about.
Yet, somehow, I'm drawn to find what it is that I call "Broken Beauty"....lost and deteriorating examples of the meticulous care and craftsmanship that was put into things, ordinary things, that were built a long time ago and despite the ravages of time and neglect, still cling proudly to their former grandeur. This shot wasn't something I had thought about and was bringing to fruition by any form of premeditated vision.....I was just doing a random drive-through of town on my way home. I love the eerie glow that the sodium lights put out, and the harsh shadows they create, and that coupled with the crumbling stone always makes for good subject material for me.
So.....it was accidental, yet when I opened it up to start editing it, I knew it had me written all over it as I see this world. And I figured that the best entry I could make in an art challenge as I'd see it would be to enter something that is representative of what drives my passion for photography.
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03/16/2010 09:53:26 PM · #2 |
Mine was not any result of planning to achieve something in particular. More a matter of keeping an eye out for something that may suit the topic. There is a field I drive past every morning on the way to work, where I shot my red ribbon tree. There is a lot going on in the field lately, a gas rig keeps popping up every couple of months and then these stacks of purple pipes showed up. Seems some sewer work is also being run through this field.
I thought the morning sun looked pretty neat hitting these pipes. I stopped on the way one morning and got a some shots for the parallel lines challenge, then realized when reviewing them that the view looking down them had a nice play of light on the inside surface. I stopped again the next morning, and then again on the way home. The afternoon shots seemed to generate a larger variety of interesting abstract patterns.
I really like when I find abstract views that don't give any clue as too what the object really is. No greater meaning for me other than I think they are cool looking abstracts. I'm not deep. I don't believe there needs to be a message or greater meaning behind my photos. Conveying a message or story is great when it happens, but a pleasing or interesting image is frequently all it needs to be.
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03/16/2010 10:08:46 PM · #3 |
Mine is Alex. About 80% of all photos I take are of Alex, but I'm working on that. Comments on this entry have suggested it is clichéd (someone even compared it, albeit politely, to a particularly pungent cheese), and with that I concur. It is a kind of cliché.
This is one of those many photos that have meaning mostly only for the photographer. The subject is my favourite subject. It's taken in my favourite place. I tried to get him to take a position that showed interesting shapes and lines. His body looks kind of like an egg to me, somewhat. I was interested in seeing what shapes I could cut out of the surrounding wall with the lines of his body. The title was an unfortunate afterthought -- in fact, it was the title of the song that was playing when I was ready to upload. It didn't seem to not fit, and for want of something more meaningful, I used it.
Some commenters got other stuff, like sadness and so on, out of this picture, and I was interested to hear those thoughts. They weren't what I had in mind. I really just wanted to explore the light on this pale subject, and how it interacted with the surroundings, including the reflective surface of the wood floor. There was less internal meaning, and more external interest, which is interesting, considering how I berated many of the entrants for doing the same thing. |
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03/16/2010 11:57:01 PM · #4 |
Louis, for me the play of light and shape was the "deeper meaning" that I missed on the first go-round. Well done.
Mine was also nothing more than a study of light and forms. I was accused of imitating Ursula, but I hadn't seen Ursula's image until it appeared on the front page, after my image was submitted. It seemed to me that Ursula was trying to convey something about the motion of water, while I was trying to escape the motion, to escape the water altogether. I liked how my rough treatment turned the water into hair and the rocks into gold. |
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03/17/2010 01:35:46 AM · #5 |
I wanted to go for a big, deep toned, bold abstract, something with good color and texture.
My Fiancee was complaining about her camera being a POS (and it is ;) ) But I said "It's ok if you know what you want to do with it, and you work around the limitations, I'll even use it to enter the next challenge"..
So, I grabbed the camera and started looking around the house to find something that was right. Then I saw that the blue rug had a great hard shadow running across it, and that the table was well light with evening sunlight, so I just defocused the hell out of the camera (not easy with this model), and took a few shots on different angles etc..
Since it was a fine art challenge, I wanted to challenge myself to do a minimal PP job, so I shot until I had a picture I felt would be perfect with nothing more than a color adjustment.
So that's the story, oh and people HATED my title.. Won't be doing that again. Did have a huge amount of fun, and I was super glad that some people enjoyed the image despite the egregious title.
-Cory |
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03/17/2010 02:15:06 AM · #6 |
Well Sofia and I were just sittin around, and she asked me what was meant by "fine art". The best explanation I could give was that if you took a picture and liked it, printed it and hung it on your wall it was because it had meaning to you. Then perhaps you went to a gallery or some other type of store and saw a print that maybe moved you, or you liked as artwork enough to buy it and put it on your wall. Pretty lame explanation I know....
So, at any rate, we sat quietly for a second and then suddenly I looked at her and said; "you know, I bet if I took a picture that was really random, black and white and with a really bizarre title, it would pass for fine art".
So, I grabbed one of my wifes shoes, Sof got a flower from the yard and an egg from the fridge and I set it all up on top of our piano. She lowered her hand in, I lit it from the side with a desk lamp, and thus was born:
Cleaning the lint trap
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03/17/2010 02:38:16 AM · #7 |
I spent the week looking for textured subjects to create an abstract. This particular, mundane, scene jumped out at me while hiking with my daughters and nephew. There was a lot of excitement and energy at that moment as it had just started to rain (again) and they were loving that. Quite the adventure when you are 4, 5, or 6. We discussed the different paws, the sizes and shapes; the shoes, mom, dad, or a kid, maybe it was Luke Skywalker (really, he was mentioned!). The tire tracks; who was riding the bike, why? Where were they going? The kids infused life and energy into this scene of mundane mud. The added benefit was the light, the vignette was enhanced, but not created in post. I'm still not happy with the composition created by the light, and I do have a 4x5 crop version that may be a stronger composition, but it left of a print that I wanted in the frame. The title also represented soles, not so subtle, and life, again, nothing subtle there. Some liked the title, and some felt it should have been grilled for dinner! ;) |
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03/17/2010 04:28:08 AM · #8 |
As some guessed it's a photo of water draining down a sink. The drain was covered by a cd so it would narrow the funnel making it more pronounced and also served to mimic a wormhole effect (i.e. the reflection). Basically just playing with water and hoping something interesting would result. I didn't notice the word "arts" on the cd until after I was looking at it on my computer.
The title was chosen afterwards because the spout reminded me of the machines in Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches story and how the challenge was essentially going to result in the addition of stars to some bellies while leaving others plain.
Message edited by author 2010-03-17 04:50:47. |
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03/17/2010 06:32:41 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by yanko:
As some guessed it's a photo of water draining down a sink. The drain was covered by a cd so it would narrow the funnel making it more pronounced and also served to mimic a wormhole effect (i.e. the reflection). Basically just playing with water and hoping something interesting would result. I didn't notice the word "arts" on the cd until after I was looking at it on my computer.
The title was chosen afterwards because the spout reminded me of the machines in Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches story and how the challenge was essentially going to result in the addition of stars to some bellies while leaving others plain. |
I gave you an 8 as I was just fascinated by how something so mundane could look so interesting. I mentioned in my comment during the challenge that I wanted to see a color version, yet I still didn't feel cheated......now I'm wondering how uch desaturation you actually did. Loved this, Richard.
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03/17/2010 08:19:58 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by smardaz:
Well Sofia and I were just sittin around, and she asked me what was meant by "fine art". The best explanation I could give was that if you took a picture and liked it, printed it and hung it on your wall it was because it had meaning to you. Then perhaps you went to a gallery or some other type of store and saw a print that maybe moved you, or you liked as artwork enough to buy it and put it on your wall. Pretty lame explanation I know....
So, at any rate, we sat quietly for a second and then suddenly I looked at her and said; "you know, I bet if I took a picture that was really random, black and white and with a really bizarre title, it would pass for fine art".
So, I grabbed one of my wifes shoes, Sof got a flower from the yard and an egg from the fridge and I set it all up on top of our piano. She lowered her hand in, I lit it from the side with a desk lamp, and thus was born:
Cleaning the lint trap
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"I think this will do very well in the voting but I see a lot of these juxtapostion shots that I don't honestly understand. Top Hat's, umbrellas, eggs, nudes, jumping fish, birds nests, old telephones, clocks etc. all placed together in frame... I need to know why?" - pawdrix
I've been having an issue with the many "Faux Surrrealism" images that are popping up all over the place...and I mean ALL over the place. But don't think I'm picking on you in particular, cus I left the same comment on Judis entry...and I might even throw one Coley's way. I love Magritte and Dali's Persistence of Time is awesome, I see the reason behing their work but many photographers are just whacking together incongruent subjects ...and VIOLA! Art? Kinda as you stated. |
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03/17/2010 11:17:58 AM · #11 |
I'll take an analytical Art Therapist view here â€Â¦
I honestly think this spontaneous photo could reveal things about me even though I had no intention of it doing so. I will lie down on the couch and reveal my innards to the psychologist examining my head and my work:
As a child, I was always moving with my mother. Changing schools far too often. I had no siblings, was in a single-parent home, and had distant relatives whom I would visit but many whom I had very little connection to. My personal confidence had dwindled from when I was younger â€Â¦ my roots were left hanging - I was fragile and my confidence was shot. I was a shadow - I wanted to hide.
At some point my skin got so bad that I was also ashamed of my looks for several years.
So maybe this faceless figure represents my utter fear of getting up on Monday morning to go to a school where I wanted to be a shadow â€Â¦ Maybe it represents anxiety that i have for my daughter who can be as shy as I once was. Or maybe it is a piece that lets me examine myself - as art should - but had no real unconscious meaning at all. We'll never know ;)
Nice idea for a thread, BTW.
Message edited by author 2010-03-17 11:21:59. |
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03/17/2010 11:46:53 AM · #12 |
I had been wanting to shoot these courts, in the winter, it seems like forever, but it was never quite right. We had a late storm the week of the challenge, however, coupled with a howling wind, and that produced the sort of scoured look I was after. For the most part, the reason I wanted to shoot this was design-oriented; I like the way it divides into quadrants and yet feels like it's not symmetrical all at the same time.
In the event, as I was shooting this I was remarking to myself how much the three posts resembled soldiers on parade, little potbellied soldiers. So I was thinking of the excavations in China that uncovered the terra-cotta armies in the buried staging areas, and I was thinking as well of Jaroslav Hašek's great anti-war novel, The Good Soldier Švejk, and its bumbling, potbellied protagonist and his friends.
There you have it, nothing deep (I'm not that deep) but to me an immensely satisfying image.
R. |
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03/17/2010 11:56:18 AM · #13 |
The fake doctor is in â€Â¦ please recline on my pretend virtual couch.
This represents a discomfort with societal norms and expectations.
Women in particular - forced to wear uncomfortable shoes to represent a taller, more feminine mystique. Expected to raise children (the egg), care for them, and meet all the expectations without a hitch from a society that expects the best of both worlds the impossible goals that come with parenting. The egg is being dropped? Picked up? Not held with affection - that's for sure. And do other people really care about her egg? She thinks not - that's why it's just an egg â€Â¦ one of many many eggs.
THe flowers represent society's efforts to make women happy- "Here are your flowers, you're a great mom" â€Â¦ but the flowers here are wilting, small, and meaningless, a second thought that doesn't help her find meaning.
I think it's safe to say that "Cleaning the Lint trap" represents a strong disdain for how society sees this woman. She does laundry and the mundane routines like cleaning the lint trap represent how she is viewed: as a one dimensional character merely ment to care for the egg but expected to be beautiful and appeased by futile attempts at societal love (flowers again).
This is very dark, symbolic, feminist work that examines society through it's basic elements.
Or maybe it's just a bunch of objects.
Cleaning the lint trap
[/quote]
Message edited by author 2010-03-17 11:57:15. |
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03/17/2010 12:00:30 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by tate:
Cleaning the lint trap
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[/quote]
Personally, I thought it was symbolic or metaphor for Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union at their peak and darkest hour.
...Or maybe it's just a bunch of objects?
Message edited by author 2010-03-17 12:04:12. |
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03/17/2010 01:05:20 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by tate:
The fake doctor is in â€Â¦ please recline on my pretend virtual couch.
This represents a discomfort with societal norms and expectations.
Women in particular - forced to wear uncomfortable shoes to represent a taller, more feminine mystique. Expected to raise children (the egg), care for them, and meet all the expectations without a hitch from a society that expects the best of both worlds the impossible goals that come with parenting. The egg is being dropped? Picked up? Not held with affection - that's for sure. And do other people really care about her egg? She thinks not - that's why it's just an egg â€Â¦ one of many many eggs.
THe flowers represent society's efforts to make women happy- "Here are your flowers, you're a great mom" â€Â¦ but the flowers here are wilting, small, and meaningless, a second thought that doesn't help her find meaning.
I think it's safe to say that "Cleaning the Lint trap" represents a strong disdain for how society sees this woman. She does laundry and the mundane routines like cleaning the lint trap represent how she is viewed: as a one dimensional character merely ment to care for the egg but expected to be beautiful and appeased by futile attempts at societal love (flowers again).
This is very dark, symbolic, feminist work that examines society through it's basic elements.
Or maybe it's just a bunch of objects.
Cleaning the lint trap
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This must be analysis from the famous firm of Preet & Shinn |
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03/17/2010 01:08:59 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by chromeydome:
This must be analysis from the famous firm of Preet & Shinn |
Hahaha!
However, to be fair, when I saw that image in voting I actually DID think to myself that it was some sort of feminist commentary on a man's idea of a woman's place in society.
Either that, or it was just a bunch of objects, as they say, but I was pretty much predisposed by the topic to at least TRY to find a unifying theme, metaphor, or gestalt in the assemblage :-)
R. |
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03/17/2010 01:24:32 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by tate:
The fake doctor is in â€Â¦ please recline on my pretend virtual couch.
This represents a discomfort with societal norms and expectations.
Women in particular - forced to wear uncomfortable shoes to represent a taller, more feminine mystique. Expected to raise children (the egg), care for them, and meet all the expectations without a hitch from a society that expects the best of both worlds the impossible goals that come with parenting. The egg is being dropped? Picked up? Not held with affection - that's for sure. And do other people really care about her egg? She thinks not - that's why it's just an egg â€Â¦ one of many many eggs.
THe flowers represent society's efforts to make women happy- "Here are your flowers, you're a great mom" â€Â¦ but the flowers here are wilting, small, and meaningless, a second thought that doesn't help her find meaning.
I think it's safe to say that "Cleaning the Lint trap" represents a strong disdain for how society sees this woman. She does laundry and the mundane routines like cleaning the lint trap represent how she is viewed: as a one dimensional character merely ment to care for the egg but expected to be beautiful and appeased by futile attempts at societal love (flowers again).
This is very dark, symbolic, feminist work that examines society through it's basic elements.
Or maybe it's just a bunch of objects.
Cleaning the lint trap
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WOW, maybe I am very deep and introspective and didn't even know it? |
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03/17/2010 02:40:37 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by smardaz:
WOW, maybe I am very deep and introspective and didn't even know it? |
Be careful. You may not be able to fit your head through the door any longer, if you go down that road. Besides, it's just a bunch of random objects. Well lit, interesting random objects.
I'm still trying to decipher some of the judges comments about mine. I need a Motrin. |
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03/17/2010 02:42:10 PM · #19 |
I pass this on the highway about 3 times a year, and usually try to get a few takes as we whizz by. Fascinating structure, changing dramatically with changes in POV. This time my view was very limited, mostly to the top of the structure.
Hadn't thought of the challenge, just started to play with the crops in Irfanview, teasing it hither and yon until it took on a life of its own. - Mostly how I work on the road - on trips where I can linger only on someone else's sufferance, collecting stuff that interests me and then seeing what might be what later on. Pure snapshottery. Carnival fish pond. I have a wonderful life.
Message edited by author 2010-03-17 14:42:34. |
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03/17/2010 03:02:00 PM · #20 |
I imagine that if "the Rapture" (and its accompanying Armageddon) were ever to actually occur, then the fire would rage even through "a dark and stormy night...."
I was taking macros of raindrops on the car window, but decided I liked the rooflines better; I left some token drops (or are they tears?) in the upper-right corner as "evidence" of what I was doing originally. They also help distinguish it as a photo, not a painting or picture of a painting.
As I often do when presented with a flat lighting situation, I played around with color Curves until I found this one, which in turn inspired the title. I see it as the equivalent of having shot with a deep-color filter. I wanted somethng which resembled a painting in feel, yet was clearly a photograph.
Title from the "standard" inkblot test used for psychological profiling, because of the suggestively-shaped clouds.
Bonus hint*: Tilt your head 45° to the left and check out the cloud pattern(s) along the left-hand edge ...
Note: this version is as-is -- not retouched ... a version with a slight amount of dodge/burn in the clouds is here:
This version without obvious raindrops was my alternate choice as an entry, but I liked the roofline and the clouds of the entry better.
Resized original: 
*Here's what I saw (not-so-subtle burning-in added):
Stern patriarch: 
Panting Husky: 
Fire-breathing dragon (with one plugged nostril): 
Message edited by author 2010-03-17 15:03:04. |
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03/17/2010 10:28:58 PM · #21 |
Good stuff, people.
I was glad to get the sense that others as well as I found themselves sitting there, staring at their camera on the table thinking, "How the heck am I supposed to squeeze Fine Art outta that thing when I'm not really sure what it is.".
I was delighted to see that all but 200 people gave it a shot, and thanks ever so much to those of you who took the time to tell us where you were coming from.
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03/18/2010 12:32:17 AM · #22 |
If this had been run under Expert Editing rules I could have submitted the "Andy Warholized" version ...
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03/18/2010 02:08:39 AM · #23 |
Hmmmm, OK, I'm game.
My FA Entry is this: 
I especially like art that raises more questions than it answers, that presents the viewer with a challenge to decipher what is going on and really decide for themselves what it means or what exactly is happening. I walked around on Saturday night with my camera, new lensbaby mounted on it, no real plans, no hot date, jazzed up on caffeine and my mind ablaze with thoughts and ideas. I saw this couple walking across the street, lifted the camera to my eye, waited and "click".
When I got home, I put it on the monitor and looked at it for a while, mulling it over, wanting to see what questions it asked me as a viewer. Several came out: Why this distorted view? Am I drunk? What city is this? Where is this couple going? Where have they been? What are they talking about? Do they even know each other? Visually, I fell in love with the strange bokeh and the busy, intoxicated feeling it gives to the image. It obviously had effect on some viewers, based in his comment,  Sirashley pretty much got it.
Louis's comment "Nice as urban/street, not quote "fine art" though" raises another "issue" (for lack of a better word). What is art to one, may not be art to another. Is street photography "fine art". Why or why not? What constitutes "Fine Art"? I'm sure there was some big thread before the challenge, discussing exactly that...I dunno.
I'm not trying to call Louis out or get into some kind of philosophical pissing match over whose definition of art is "right". |
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03/18/2010 06:49:35 PM · #24 |
| I guess it's my turn to be the buzzkill. |
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03/18/2010 07:16:36 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by Spork99:
Louis's comment "Nice as urban/street, not quote "fine art" though" raises another "issue" (for lack of a better word). What is art to one, may not be art to another. Is street photography "fine art". Why or why not? What constitutes "Fine Art"? I'm sure there was some big thread before the challenge, discussing exactly that...I dunno.
I'm not trying to call Louis out or get into some kind of philosophical pissing match over whose definition of art is "right". |
That quote sums up the problems with a "fine art competition" for me. |
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