Picture Envy for June 21, 2004

Today is the Summer Solstice, the date that marks the northernmost point of the Sun's travels across our sky (well, really it's the southernmost point in the Northern hemisphere's vantage point of the sun, but I like the poetic image of Phoebus Apollo rocketing over the land), and this week's Picture Envy recognizes the Solstice with this image, from the NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day website.

As for the photos submitted for this week's review, I'll start with one of Kathleen's picks, even though it's related to the hated Red Sox. It's Muddy Rivers' Go Sox, taken during the American League Playoffs of 2003. I lived just north of where (I'm guessing) this shot was taken during college, and it's a cool neighborhood.

Next up is another shot from Muddy Rivers, this one entitled Dancing. It's a shot of a couple dancing in a fountain, and has a great, symmetrical layout.

The third shot for this week's Picture Envy is Da Goddess' Hibiscus, a colorful and, um, Freudian close-up of the flower. Da Goddess has a number of shots that really use color saturation well, and I think this is one of them.

The fourth submission to Picture Envy comes from Kevin Murphy, but if you had told me that T.E. Lawrence or Robert D. Kaplan had taken the shot, I wouldn't be surprised. Entitled On The Road With Ali, it's a black and white shot taken in Pakistan. I'd love to hear more of the back story behind Murphy's trip to Pakistan.

Next up, Jerome Du Bois, who was (deservedly) praised by James Lileks for his absurdist story about Cuban Art in America, has submitted Winter Birds Transmigration, a black and white photo and brief essay that gives us the following observation:

These days, though, thanks to incessant observation and science, we know how fruit can turn into a bird, and how a bird can seed a tree, and the many braids between migration and transmigration. As knowledge deepens, the sadness and ignorance recede.

After Kathleen sent in Muddy Rivers' photograph, above, she reconsidered and sent in a few of her own, from a Caribbean cruise. First, we have one of the remarkably modern lifeboats, then one looking back upon St. Thomas, then my favorite, a shot of another cruise ship (around sunset, I'm guessing by the lighting), and, finally, a shot of one of the tugs that harbor pilots use to guide the massive cruise ships into the ports of these small, Caribbean islands.

For my pick of the week, I've selected a shot from Chromogenic, one of the "Hot Blogs" on Photoblogs.org. The shot, entitled "This Is The Way It Was," is a social commentary (at least I think so), reflecting the sort of emptiness that can infect the lives of men and women.

Finally, I wanted to introduce a good essay into the mix of Picture Envy. To that end, I present Petteri Sulonen's blisteringly funny Boring Photographs. Sulonen's essay reads as a challenge to those who try to take photos that work as art:

Something horrible tends to happen to people when they suddenly realize that the camera they hold can produce things that are pretty in and of themselves. They suddenly stop making interesting pictures -- the pictures that fill their albums, tell stories, evoke emotions, preserve memories. They go into a rictus of squeezing out endless flower macros and portraits of ducks. Eventually, as they progress in what they think of the art of photography, they may graduate to gauzy soft-focus portraits of simpering women (clothing optional), black-and-white figure studies of carefully sanitized, moodily lit nudes with perfect bodies on a black backdrop, eagles taking wing in zoos or wildlife sanctuaries, motorbikes speeding through the curves on a track, "golden hour" landscapes with mountains and water, or macros of bugs. Eventually some of them may realize the futility of it all and go into a rebellious mode and shoot off an angry series of poorly exposed grainy and blurry pictures of nothing in particular, or dress the simpering ladies in vinyl and slather lots of make-up on them and call it "fetish photography." Log on to Photosig and you're guaranteed to see a ton of these pictures on both the "Featured Photos" and "Photos" page. And, of course, open up any DPReview forum, and it's virtually certain that there'll be at least one thread with flower macros on the first page. Bubble gum for the eyes.

Reading that, I have to admit an embarrassed recognition of attempts I've made (the flower macros, the "golden hour" landscapes and the rebellious, grainy shots of nothing), as well as those of the sites I enjoy (there's a certain link between these "shots of nothing" and the photography – albeit enjoyable photography – of Quarlo and Satan's Laundromat {sometimes I wonder if, deep down, the two photographers of these sites, being so close in proximity, gnash their teeth when one scoops the other; alternatively, they may be the same person}). But, this does require a challenge be answered: what is it about certain photography that makes it interesting, compelling, or "beautiful" to us? What is not boring photography?

I look forward to your thoughts on that one.

Next week's Picture Envy, the same rules apply: send in that which you think is related to photography - shots on someone's blog that you enjoy, shots of yours that you wish to share, essays, tips, etc. - and I'll put it up for the world to see. Just a few tips: don't send in the actual picture file, just send a link to that picture; you're not handing over rights to this thing, you're just promoting it. Don't be afraid to self-promote; that's sometimes the only way you're going to get noticed. And, finally, don't forget: send it to this address by 12:00 AM, Sunday, if you wish to be included in the Picture Envy for June 28, 2004.

Thanks go out to Kevin Donahue for the link to Picture Envy. That's greatly appreciated.

Comments

[Melissa]

Well after that boring picture spiel, I am completely intimidated. No peekaboo pics for you.

[Melissa]

Well after that boring picture spiel, I am completely intimidated. No peekaboo pics for you.

[Kathleen]

I feel the same way Melissa. I was like, in comparision to the others he chose, everything I take sucks.

Though I sure do love this feaute.

[Kathleen]

"feature", even.
damn spelling.

[sugarmama]

Re Petteri Sulonen's essay: He described my B&W photography class in college, in a nutshell. In New Orleans, 98% of the class took photos of the St. Charles streetcar, Bourbon street signage, and the St. Louis cemetary, subjects that were tired and overdone. With the advent of digital cameras, photographs have become even more boring. At least with darkroom work, there is a more personal element in photography: the hands are involved in production. Now, the process has become completely machinated.

I guess I'm nostalgic for the "old times"...

[Da Goddess]

Me - Boring photographs: GUILTY!

I'm glad YOU like the color of the hibiscus. The contrast was what really did it for me.

[Da Goddess]

As for what constitutes "not boring" photography - I think the answer to that would be - whatever captures the viewer's eye.

[Jerome du Bois]

Thanks for selecting my photo, TPB. It will be part of my forthcoming photobiography, "My (Larger Than) Life." Sorry; he's on TV; I needed to use the joke, and there you were.

I noticed something missing from Sulonen's list, unless it comes under macros: allover patterns, as of a hedge of leaves, or a close-up of a complicated dress pattern. I enjoy perusing such images -- and there's nothing wrong with it!

Thanks again.

JdB

[TPB, Esq.]

I don't necessarily agree with the "Boring Photos" essay's critique of certain shots, but I do appreciate that the author is trying to encourage people to take natural pictures of what they find interesting, not what "should be" shots (i.e., the flower macros, etc.). The thing is, even those macros are natural, eventually, because there are just some flowers that are worth pictures.

Sulonen's essay is entertaining to me, and I think it's a good inspiration to me to just relax about taking pictures, to just shoot what I want. I think that's a good thing.

Sugar, you've hit a topic that I was planning on discussing in next week's picture envy: the negative impact of digital photography on new photographers.

[sugarmama]

I'm less impressed with flower macros and more impressed with the photographer's ability to make mundane things look interesting. For example, I found this serires impressive because the photographer has a good eye for composition.

[JCA]

{sometimes I wonder if, deep down, the two photographers of these sites, being so close in proximity, gnash their teeth when one scoops the other; alternatively, they may be the same person}
I know the fellow who blogs at Satan's Laundromat -- have been to, alas, too few of the excellent Mafia/Mao/bake your own dessert parties at his house, back when he lived out here -- and I'm pretty sure that the Quarlo person is someone else entirely. :)