Jay Gould’s Photography Blog

My big computer is in the shop, having a transplant.  And with it all of my recent images, so today on the blog, it's words! 

You are all keeping me so busy. I mean it.  I'm mostly at fault, but you are keeping me very busy.  All you bloggers, with your interesting thoughts, delicious photographs, and constant comments streaming in.  If it wasn't so interesting I would walk away and spend a little more time on my bike or doing my job. 

I have been monitoring the shift in how I spend my computer time lately. Conscious that how I procrastinate, at least, is becoming slightly more intellectual.  Better that I am looking at some of Jeremias' new work or reading some of Alec's completely unexpected connections rather than surfing Myspace.

Another way that I use up time is podcasts.  Last week, John Dickerson , Slate's chief political correspondent was explaining why he has never listened to, and avoids listening to This American Life. the imminent radio program, entirely because he knows he would love it.  At first I wondered why anyone would avoid TAL, but in a voice of obvious burden and pain, he makes a good case.

"The problem is, my media diet is already way too full." 

 Oh My Yes! I am horribly obese with media obligations, or, more appropriately, media obsessions.  I evade invitations to watch regualr programs like Lost as though my friend's couches are on fire.  The thought of a movie night while my coffee and strobes get cold makes me twitch.  Do any of you skip a decent movie prospect to stare in silence at the wall with a notebook.  Dickerson is right, I trust my friend's opinions about what I "need to see." so much that I avoid it, under great pressure, in order to have a moment to ingest their earlier recommendations.

I suppose I won't cut out the blogs, it's too late for that.  Too late to give up Todd's biweekly wordless, Memo's musings and Jon's treasures, but I am going to be watching the media calories this spring.

Sorry for the rant… interesting blogging coming soon… I promise.

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.