Today is Jed Devine's retirement party. A lot of us former students and colleges are massing at the only thing Purchase can consider a local bar, Doral Arrowood. apropriate for anyone elses retirement it is attached to a golf course. But that really in the end isn't jed's style. this should have been at Walkers in Tribeca.
I know everyone feels this way but I feel close to Jed in a way that I don't feel a lot of the others don't. Jed is the person who I based my undergrad choice on. Going to Purchase was a chance to study under Jed Devine. if you don't know how much that stands for, look him up, he is listed as an influence of Jan Groover, John Cohan, and Greg Crewdson to name a few. In my first photo class I wrote a long paper on him, back in High School. I wanted to print like him. I wanted to hear what he had to say.
He never disapointed. he could talk about anything and you would listen. He just has that gift. I would spend hours at purchase just listening to stories. Eventually we started trading stories. That is where Jed became more than a famous artist who took amazing pictures. Jed was a whisky drinking, life living, father, artist, mentor and a great dart hucker. (He doesn't through he hucks the darts).
That's the person I'm going to this party for. I'm not going cause of some fan boy obsession, or cause it's the cool place to be, or to be seen. I'm going to have a drink and thank the guy who has been a top influence on me not just as an artist. He is a great person and a great teacher. I model the way I teach my own students after Jed (and Bob Kozma but this is not about bob right now). Give them lots questions, give them few concreate answers and tell them to let go and make work when you need too.
The most important lesson I ever learned from him was to disearn between when to take a picture. and I'm not talking cropping or light readings. "If the experience is better then what the photograph, then enjoy the experience. Live it and don't lose it behind a box with glass." and yes that is the exact words he used the first time I heard it.
Jed taught to not just take pictures, but to live life develope stories. Without life stories you have nothing to share at the bar. Live life and meet him at Walkers, have some bourbon and play some darts. Cause that's photography, that's Jed Devine.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Jed Devine (ruff draft to get stuff out my head; to be edited)
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Yelling at the internets.Part 2
This is not a pointed post. I am not aiming this at any one person in particular (except the ad execs at Nikon). Unless this makes you feel guilty then figure that out on your own. I just wanted to get a quick rant out. I am the first to admit I have committed at least 50% of what I just was ranting about. The important part is to look at it and recover and clean it up. I even like some images that are based in some of these points. Many people I know or even admire have great pictures of parking lots and bands.
This is more about "photographers", the Nikon "everyone is a photographer" people. Photography takes work an thought. It is one thing to have fun and take pictures and such but that doesn’t make you a photographer. Little kids use finger paints all the time, are they all painters? Maybe. It is what I have even told kids who I have worked with, while engaged with materials you are that profession. But that is kids and we need to encourage them and give options. But I would lean to no. They are kids. They do not have labels yet. (Slippery slope there that I am not addressing at this time)
I know I am standing on a pompous high horse. It is very tall and very large. It sits on ivory columns and wears a robe and mortar. I am a trained artist and photographer. I studied photography from high school straight through to masters. I do feel that gives me some right to look at some pro-sumer who has excess cash, buys a mark III not knowing anything but that it is a cannon and starts claiming to be a photographer and complain a bit, and worse yet, they think they are artist...
Art is the only field where people can just go around saying that that is what they do. It is part of the strength and weakness of the arts. I can't just say I’m an engineer or a doctor. Sometimes, in some states or countries, that can be a crime.
Photography is my profession. I don’t make a lot of money doing it. Nor do I have to. Would be nice though. But it’s a practice and its work. If you make pretty pictures, that’s great. You are not an artist. Because you are good at something does not make you something. If it is a hobby, then you are not artists. If it’s what you base your whole life around and surround yourself with, and have a compulsion to do or you physically get sick, then you are an artist.
Do you need training to be an artist? No. But it helps. I’m not talking a degree. I chose my path knowing that was what I wanted or needed. You should learn something to improve your skills. Renaissance artists are artist without degrees. But they did learn things through apprenticing and through the community. The idea of a hermit artist who is completely unaffected by the world is a myth, especially in today’s society. Get over your selves and take some advice and ask people how they do things. Work with each other. Stop being selfish.
Cut it out! Clean it up!
This is more about "photographers", the Nikon "everyone is a photographer" people. Photography takes work an thought. It is one thing to have fun and take pictures and such but that doesn’t make you a photographer. Little kids use finger paints all the time, are they all painters? Maybe. It is what I have even told kids who I have worked with, while engaged with materials you are that profession. But that is kids and we need to encourage them and give options. But I would lean to no. They are kids. They do not have labels yet. (Slippery slope there that I am not addressing at this time)
I know I am standing on a pompous high horse. It is very tall and very large. It sits on ivory columns and wears a robe and mortar. I am a trained artist and photographer. I studied photography from high school straight through to masters. I do feel that gives me some right to look at some pro-sumer who has excess cash, buys a mark III not knowing anything but that it is a cannon and starts claiming to be a photographer and complain a bit, and worse yet, they think they are artist...
Art is the only field where people can just go around saying that that is what they do. It is part of the strength and weakness of the arts. I can't just say I’m an engineer or a doctor. Sometimes, in some states or countries, that can be a crime.
Photography is my profession. I don’t make a lot of money doing it. Nor do I have to. Would be nice though. But it’s a practice and its work. If you make pretty pictures, that’s great. You are not an artist. Because you are good at something does not make you something. If it is a hobby, then you are not artists. If it’s what you base your whole life around and surround yourself with, and have a compulsion to do or you physically get sick, then you are an artist.
Do you need training to be an artist? No. But it helps. I’m not talking a degree. I chose my path knowing that was what I wanted or needed. You should learn something to improve your skills. Renaissance artists are artist without degrees. But they did learn things through apprenticing and through the community. The idea of a hermit artist who is completely unaffected by the world is a myth, especially in today’s society. Get over your selves and take some advice and ask people how they do things. Work with each other. Stop being selfish.
Cut it out! Clean it up!
Yelling at the internets.Part 1
Here is a short rant. Just a growing list of things that get me angry with "photographers." You know why I put that in quotes, dont lie.
1) You are not a night photographer. You are just too lazy to get out of bed during daylight hours.
2) Generic abanoned buildings, stop it!
3) Close of of a chain link fence with a shallow depth of field, see above!
4) Naked chicks; Dudes stop being skeezy creepers. Being a photographer is not an excuse to get a girl naked. Make it interesting if your going to do it. It cant be just about "the femail form." Creeper..
5) Selective Color: No, just no. Having only red with everything else b/w is not acceptable. Save it for the wedding portfolio. Cut it out, clean it up!
6) Pictures of friends drunk/high. If you were drunk or high while taking a picture, keep it to yourself. It's not art, you are just stoned.
7) Parkinglots...
8) Your images are not contrasty/yellow/blue/not fixed correctlly cause you like them that way, you just suck.
9) "I wanted that Palladium Look" Shut the hell up! You obviously do not know what palladium prints look like cause your print is pretty much purple. Palladium is not purple!
10) If you didn't trip the shutter, plan the ocmposition, or are "the artists as muse" give the images back to the person who actually did work on them.
11) "I want to stradle that line of documentary and fine art." stop/think about what you just said/punch your self in the face
12) Walking around with a leica or hassleblad like it is a badge or piece of bling. You need to give me your camera so I can take care of it cause you obviously can't. You are probably a "street photographer" right?
13) Parents bought you a view camera cause you wanted to TRY it. Let ME punch you in the face.
14) "Digital is so much better" punch..
15) "Film is so much better" face....
16) Toning a print to give it an "old or antique look." Is this an old time photo hut in Great adventure?
17) Band Photography? Really?
18) "Painterly" ::cringe::
19) You only look at photographers for influence? Do you live in a black box? Maybe a cave? Maybe Plato's cave (oh you dont get that reference cause you only read essays about photography.) You probably also describe your images as painterly, there for also insulting painters
20) Black Boarders or negative frames around images, do you know why this started, or what it means? why does your digitaly captured image have this? read a book, you only read about photographers anyway some one has to have told you why they do this.
21) Know your history. Dont repeat it! Take it as influence, dont copy it.
22) Works of art are just that. WORK! So if you were lazy and didnt work on your craft or anything, don't get mad when people dont get it.
23) Please learn to speak. Dont dismiss anything just because it isn't photography. Look at everything as images, not as medium. Medium can inform but is not always the most important part. (This really applies to all mediums not just photography)
24) Blank Stares. Just sick of um.
25) I really hate grain.... I just do. Hate.
26) Holgas are not worth $90. Even when painted CRAZY COLORS. Looking at you Urban Outfitters.
27) New expensive gear only helps if you know what you are doing. I don't care if you have that Mark whatever or if its a RED, how many pixels or if it is a hourseman or deardorf. Pictures are reliant on the person not the gear.
28) that Nikon solgan.... you know which one.
1) You are not a night photographer. You are just too lazy to get out of bed during daylight hours.
2) Generic abanoned buildings, stop it!
3) Close of of a chain link fence with a shallow depth of field, see above!
4) Naked chicks; Dudes stop being skeezy creepers. Being a photographer is not an excuse to get a girl naked. Make it interesting if your going to do it. It cant be just about "the femail form." Creeper..
5) Selective Color: No, just no. Having only red with everything else b/w is not acceptable. Save it for the wedding portfolio. Cut it out, clean it up!
6) Pictures of friends drunk/high. If you were drunk or high while taking a picture, keep it to yourself. It's not art, you are just stoned.
7) Parkinglots...
8) Your images are not contrasty/yellow/blue/not fixed correctlly cause you like them that way, you just suck.
9) "I wanted that Palladium Look" Shut the hell up! You obviously do not know what palladium prints look like cause your print is pretty much purple. Palladium is not purple!
10) If you didn't trip the shutter, plan the ocmposition, or are "the artists as muse" give the images back to the person who actually did work on them.
11) "I want to stradle that line of documentary and fine art." stop/think about what you just said/punch your self in the face
12) Walking around with a leica or hassleblad like it is a badge or piece of bling. You need to give me your camera so I can take care of it cause you obviously can't. You are probably a "street photographer" right?
14) "Digital is so much better" punch..
15) "Film is so much better" face....
16) Toning a print to give it an "old or antique look." Is this an old time photo hut in Great adventure?
17) Band Photography? Really?
18) "Painterly" ::cringe::
19) You only look at photographers for influence? Do you live in a black box? Maybe a cave? Maybe Plato's cave (oh you dont get that reference cause you only read essays about photography.) You probably also describe your images as painterly, there for also insulting painters
20) Black Boarders or negative frames around images, do you know why this started, or what it means? why does your digitaly captured image have this? read a book, you only read about photographers anyway some one has to have told you why they do this.
21) Know your history. Dont repeat it! Take it as influence, dont copy it.
22) Works of art are just that. WORK! So if you were lazy and didnt work on your craft or anything, don't get mad when people dont get it.
23) Please learn to speak. Dont dismiss anything just because it isn't photography. Look at everything as images, not as medium. Medium can inform but is not always the most important part. (This really applies to all mediums not just photography)
24) Blank Stares. Just sick of um.
25) I really hate grain.... I just do. Hate.
26) Holgas are not worth $90. Even when painted CRAZY COLORS. Looking at you Urban Outfitters.
27) New expensive gear only helps if you know what you are doing. I don't care if you have that Mark whatever or if its a RED, how many pixels or if it is a hourseman or deardorf. Pictures are reliant on the person not the gear.
This is not a pointed post. I am not aiming this at any one person in particular (except the ad execs at nikon). Unless this makes you feel guilty then figure that out on your own. I just wanted to get a quick rant out. I am the first to admitt i have comitted at least 50% of what I just was ranting about. The important part is to look at it and recover and clean it up. If you wish to see the rest of my rant that is not in list form. Please see part 2.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
http://annotatedimages.tumblr.com/
I really dig what greg is doing with his recent project. this idea and these worrksspeaktoth kind of separation and loss that happens at the end of a relationship. in a way there is a bit of a "f you" you can be replaced but I really more feel that this is about that disconect that happens when anything familiar and great ends. what happens after? there's almost the stanges of death. bargining, fighting, depression but in any process is acceptance. This person was in my life. and none one could have really been the person for that siuation. at least that's my first read. I dig it, people also should.
Friday, September 9, 2011
sweet!
reminded me of donnie darko. aside from that were really amazing. there is something to seeing art work that has a little distubing shock to it but still has such attenticve craft. the fine details on allof these were so exact and really remarkable. the figures really came to life and had their own presance.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
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