Waiting out the afternoon heat by cool water in the shade.
6/6/12
Midday At The Oasis
A place our horses and we may rest...
Waiting out the afternoon heat by cool water in the shade.
Waiting out the afternoon heat by cool water in the shade.
6/5/12
6/4/12
6/1/12
Keep It Simple
Classical absence of complication...
There is a lot of discussion in the photography and visual art world around why monochrome, black and white and less complex images are becoming more popular. Some are mistaking common black and white street photography and minimalism or ministract as the thrust of the movement but although it is an element it does not encompass all of it. What I am referring to is what appears to be a reaction to photographs or visual art that has been highly post processed or overly emphasizes an overly complex style and high ornamentation. Specifically images that are so highly edited that for many the color is garish, the perspective stretched beyond belief and has gone way beyond fantasy into freakishness. I admit to not caring much for this work either but if someone else likes it that is their choice. Personally I do like a well processed photograph that is striking although that is not my skill or style, I much prefer processing pictures into visual art that appears more as art which is not a photograph, painting, drawing nor collage.
The current dialogue came to me serendipitously and not as a conscious decision and I am not completely in any camp of one style or technique and view it as interesting from afar. I find defining myself into a class or style too limiting, preferring to go wherever my moods, current skill level and personal progression as a person and artist leads me, both in writing and visual art. Recently with my photography I had to make a change in editing programs I was using due to limitations, lack of support for the 64 bit operating system I use and the programs were unstable. It brought me to the decision to learn more than simple Photoshop and also Adobe Lightroom. Simultaneously I started learning to use Android camera apps more vigorously which has brought me to a renewed sense of starting afresh. I view it as opportunity since now I am unable to produce artwork that has multiple layers upon layers of post processing. It has led to a more rudimentary way of producing pieces as I acquire new skills combining getting the knack of mobile photography apps with the ins and outs of a professional version of Photoshop. I haven't begun to touch Lightroom yet after some initial sense of being overwhelmed therefore decided one step at a time and that brings the topic back to simplicity.
While in the midst of my own progress of rendering my visual art while in mastering mode my output has naturally been less complex since I am still gaining skill with new tools as I am creating. As happenstance would have it as it usually does I've become a curator of a monochrome art page on Google Plus (Monochrome Arty Club) as well as in various places discussions regarding the popularity of certain types of images. Let me state that I am not a fan of minimalism or ministract finding them stark and difficult for me to do but to each his own. Also I often find that the idea what you leave out speaks without being present actually often leaves the viewer sensing something really was left out. Nonetheless as I am cracking new tools and processes I am also out of necessity relearning the value of simplicity, its elegance and charm while creating my own preference in visual art. In the evolution I believe I am acquiring skills that are beginning to produce a more refined and cultivated work that is categorized simply as my own.
5/31/12
The Urban Desert At 110° F
Sun bearing down on patch of ground...
To experience it is to take a photowalk mid-afternoon.
To experience it is to take a photowalk mid-afternoon.
5/30/12
I Walk The Line
Because it is mine to walk...
A fugitive crosses his tracks living life to the fullest.
A fugitive crosses his tracks living life to the fullest.
5/29/12
5/28/12
5/27/12
5/26/12
The Artistic Eclipse
Silver dollar moon passing over gold coin sun...
In the partial solar eclipse in Phoenix on May 20 the moon blocked 83 percent of the sun at it's peak. What made this eclipse special for me is that in my lifetime I have had several opportunities to be in a location when there was a total or almost total eclipse of the sun or the moon but I was away from Arizona. At every other opportunity for these events I happened to be in places notorious for gray skies and rainy weather and never even got a glimpse of them for that reason. It's difficult to avoid the sun in Arizona and this time was no exception.
Since I didn't bring even a point and shoot camera because I literally went "in the moment" unexpectedly to see the event somewhere other than I originally intended, I used my mobile phone camera with several different apps and achieved some interesting effects. As I pointed out in my post on May 8, The Artistic Supermoon I knew that displayed all over the web would be technically perfect textbook-like photographs of that event, the same would apply with this eclipse. If you want technically perfect or beautifully crafted pictures of this solar eclipse there are plenty to be found on the internet. These are mine created to turn a classic phrase using "the best camera you have is the one you have with you."
What was more important to me at the time was to experience the event with someone close to me at the spur of the moment while also meeting strangers doing the same thing. It was the classic circumstance of an unusual event where people unknown to each other and unlikely to meet again shared and experienced with what equipment they had hurriedly brought along. Newcomers with little in common that ordinarily might not mingle in a public setting but caught up in the excitement of a unique moment in time created by nature. In the course of it I was able to capture some moments that make for visual art interesting to me that I am now sharing.
What I find interesting about some of these photos is after-the-fact I noticed that I had captured the reflection of the crescent of the moon that was not passing over the sun. Although I didn't get pictures that technically showed the actual eclipse of the moon passing over the sun in the moment I caught images with which I was able to create visual art. They serve as memories of I was there that more than made up for the times I wasn't able to witness the phenomenon.
Since I didn't bring even a point and shoot camera because I literally went "in the moment" unexpectedly to see the event somewhere other than I originally intended, I used my mobile phone camera with several different apps and achieved some interesting effects. As I pointed out in my post on May 8, The Artistic Supermoon I knew that displayed all over the web would be technically perfect textbook-like photographs of that event, the same would apply with this eclipse. If you want technically perfect or beautifully crafted pictures of this solar eclipse there are plenty to be found on the internet. These are mine created to turn a classic phrase using "the best camera you have is the one you have with you."
What was more important to me at the time was to experience the event with someone close to me at the spur of the moment while also meeting strangers doing the same thing. It was the classic circumstance of an unusual event where people unknown to each other and unlikely to meet again shared and experienced with what equipment they had hurriedly brought along. Newcomers with little in common that ordinarily might not mingle in a public setting but caught up in the excitement of a unique moment in time created by nature. In the course of it I was able to capture some moments that make for visual art interesting to me that I am now sharing.
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