<- Click hereJohn Updike in an essay quite critical of photography as an art form wrote, "We cannot expect the camera to suck in, with light and shade, the photographer's emotion." Mr. Updike died recently before he got to fully appreciate what photographers can do now. We can suck... and we can regurgitate... at a level with painters. Now whether we can suck as well as they can... Hmmmm... That depends upon the suckability of the individual artist, huh?
Rita's visiting her family this week, so I went to NYC for the day last Friday with my buddy Chis Herr to do a day of pre-processing with my Canon G10. A peculiar thing happened. It felt claustrophobic. I've not ever been as aware of the teeming masses that crammed the sidewalks and streets. The police were enforcing the traffic lights in teams with solid white chains to corral the pedestrians from simply ignoring the signals. Crammed, jammed, slammed about I had no sense of fear, but lots of discomfort as the tide rushed along the grimy ways.
The city's showing its age, and melancholy.
Oh... Post Processing for this surreal capture was done with Lucis Filters in CS4. At the moment at least, my recollections of last Friday seem best described in surreal.
7 comments:
Ahh, I was already beginning to worry.
No, remembering last time, I won't even begin to look up Lucis filters :)
Well done Ted! Or rather should I say "this really sucks!"?
Cheers!
Barry
Hey Ted-
Cool image here...
I love shooting in NYC.
I am wondering....What is Ted selling on the side of this building? lol...
Great work as always!
Have a great day!
Brian
A long time ago it did not enjoy your images. And you give this wonderful composition to us, worthy of a whole poster. Superb processing
Greetings
Yup, this sucks big time! But I think the camera played a very small part in this, you're the sucker here. Love it.
Nekid picturess sure turn up the heeeet, huh? Um, or does the heat have to be turned up so that pictures can be done naked? Or... It's another of those cart-horse, chicken-egg conundrums everybody...
{Andreas} Summer has me distracted. We are planning a trip to Peru in February, and already I'm heavily into studying its history, culture(s), and language. And somehow I'm tiring of trying to gather seasonal based images. Actually I took my G10 to New York and came back with awful images. Not sure if it was me or the camera.
{Barry} Yeah, that sucking sound that came from Updike is attention getting, eh? Thanks.
{Brian} This image was the best I could do with a crmbled egg. I try to go to NYC one day during the summer to just roam. This time it was way short of the muse it's been over the years. Not sure why, but the city actually disappointed my camera's lens... Something was missing, in me. Odd.
{Angel}Voy a Perú en febrero. Debo estudiar otra vez español. Me pregunto si hay las cosas que solamente una persona que habla Spanis puede ver en un país latino. ¿Eh?
{Bill} I thought of you and some of your city walls as this image came together. You've had so much fun with city captures.... Glad you enjoy this one.
Ted-
I completely understand what you're saying, however I think you came away with a winner her.
I have experienced similar feelings in certain places that I visit regularly, Yellowstone, Choteau, Glacier.
You would think it impossible to come back "empty handed" but on occasion something doesn't click.
I often wonder if it is the location or the photographer that fails.
Having been to these places so often do we close our minds to the creativity that we often experience in a new location.
Do wee live in the past? Meaning are we shooting up against the memories of great images we've created at these places before? Is the pressure of coming home with a image as good or better have an effect?
I think that's what it is for me. Sometimes I have to put the camera down and just enjoy the location for what it is and allow myself to reconnect with it and rediscover why I love the spot so much.
Post a Comment