Getting Psyched
I am finally getting around to reading the recent Aperture and am happy to report that it has been getting me pretty psyched up for the upcoming weeks ahead. Next week, a quick trip to Louisiana and the week after that presenting an Imagemaker lecture at SPE's National Conference in Miami. The last month in Minnesota has been less than hospitable for photographing, but I am buckling down to drop some film this weekend with the help of some new strobes.. woo-hoo.
A lot has been passing through my head, but the very first article that I read in the current Aperture has been lodged in my head for days. The article is a dialogue between writer Luc Sante and Stephen Shore regarding his book, The Nature of Photographs. I have read very little from Shore. An article here, an interview there, but not his entire book. After this short article I am looking forward to getting my hands on this book.
Within the wide range of topics addressed, Shore even touches digitization's effect on photography, something I have never heard from him. It is valuable to hear someone who was at the front of one photographic revolution speak about another massive shift. He answers with an open mind that seems characteristic of an eloquent and supportive professor. Essentially a nod to go ahead, but with caution. He refers to there being a lot of "junk" being produced because of the immaterial aspect of digital, something I am looking forward to hearing more about in Nancy Spector's keynote lecture at SPE .
What really has been stuck in my head was Shore's very last statement:
I guess what it comes down to is: an illustration is aiming the camera at the direction of some content, while the photograph is making sense of it."
I am someone who likes to define things. Creating personal definitions for things allows me to really understand something and more effectively create what I am after in a specific art/job/task. This definition of Shore's is well said. Many people like to think of photography in terms of illustration, and I sometimes feel as though my work walks the line of illustration in other's eyes, but when I put it in the context of Shore's definition I know exactly where I stand. Making Sense, that is exactly what interests me about photography and why, in the end, I am obsessed by it.
On a side note: Those of us who studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design know Mr. Shore as Stephen "F'ing" Shore, a result of a funny story about a professor's experience at CAA 25 years ago, when Shore received his long held position at Bard College.
March 5th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
good luck with your lecture and travels! the snowy photograph is lovely too: envoking not so much homesickness as a nostalgic image of MN, the motherland.
March 7th, 2007 at 3:42 am
Ahh… jay looking into the future, good luck man! Stephen Shore books sounds interesting, perhaps this summer we shall dissect it in a summer reading session hosted by our blogs or perhaps a higher entity.