January 2008 Archives
I have a new camera. I can also make phone calls on it which is slightly odd. I had to get myself a phone for the first time in my life. I got my first phone in 2000 via work (a Motorola dual-band) and have always had work phones since then and as a consequence I have never seen one of my phone bills. Well, that's all about to change.
New one has a Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/4.5 3.2 MP camera.
It takes pictures like this.
New one has a Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/4.5 3.2 MP camera.
It takes pictures like this.
A shibboleth is a word of phrase that is able to differentiate 'tribes, where a tribe is a nation, a group, an ethnic grouping etc. The idea is that the tribe that devises it knows that only its people are able to pronounce it accurately. This it is possible to differentiate. All quite simple really. For examples, see the bible.
[JOOI, Lost In Translation is on the telly again (good, I love it). NSTAC. And it's just like being back in Tokyo. All those flashing red lights at night. They're drinking sake out of boxes... now, I know how to do that...]
[This is the second go at writing this as the first was lost when my Mac powered down as it does when the battery runs out - for some reason, I missed the often non-existent warnings. Shit.]
If you happen to live without access to Tate Modern in London you will not get to see perhaps this most amazing piece of art. The previous turbine hall (it is an ex-power station) installations have been well attended but thus is amazing. The playfulness and youthful exuberance of the people enjoying it was amazing. Even the girls commented that there were lots of 'young people' (the girls are 11, 13 and 15 so this was quite a statement). People took their shoes off and climbed into it; they lay on the floor and stuck their heads into it; they put their cameras into it; kids walked in it... Interactive.
It is difficult to talk about it without discussing how it was done. But who cres. It is relevant and irrelevant. It is beautiful (and beautifully done) and it is amazing to see so many people at the Tate enjoying it.
It is a real crack; a real creation. You can get into it - you can climb into it. You can break your leg. It is often two feet deep. It is two feet wide and it is 1mm wide. Shibboleth. It separates.
I have seen many of the turbine hall installations and while they have all been captivating, this has been the one that has been most amusing and absorbing and so obviously just right there.
I was expecting it to be in colour.
[LIT, photography. It is a base camp. No translation needed.]
[JOOI, Lost In Translation is on the telly again (good, I love it). NSTAC. And it's just like being back in Tokyo. All those flashing red lights at night. They're drinking sake out of boxes... now, I know how to do that...]
[This is the second go at writing this as the first was lost when my Mac powered down as it does when the battery runs out - for some reason, I missed the often non-existent warnings. Shit.]
If you happen to live without access to Tate Modern in London you will not get to see perhaps this most amazing piece of art. The previous turbine hall (it is an ex-power station) installations have been well attended but thus is amazing. The playfulness and youthful exuberance of the people enjoying it was amazing. Even the girls commented that there were lots of 'young people' (the girls are 11, 13 and 15 so this was quite a statement). People took their shoes off and climbed into it; they lay on the floor and stuck their heads into it; they put their cameras into it; kids walked in it... Interactive.
It is difficult to talk about it without discussing how it was done. But who cres. It is relevant and irrelevant. It is beautiful (and beautifully done) and it is amazing to see so many people at the Tate enjoying it.
It is a real crack; a real creation. You can get into it - you can climb into it. You can break your leg. It is often two feet deep. It is two feet wide and it is 1mm wide. Shibboleth. It separates.
I have seen many of the turbine hall installations and while they have all been captivating, this has been the one that has been most amusing and absorbing and so obviously just right there.
I was expecting it to be in colour.
[LIT, photography. It is a base camp. No translation needed.]
Today at 10am I was made redundant for the first time in my life. Initially I was shocked and ashen, but as the day wore on and the more people I talked to (fellow redundantees and the 'still employed') the more OK I felt. Maybe I will crash and burn (maybe not - this is not guaranteed to happen - I'm not going to make it happen!) but so far I am dealing with it and reacting far better than I expected.
It is one of those few events that (a) I never imagined would happen to me and (b) if it did I would deal with it VERY badly. Well it has and I'm dealing with it.
Compare and contrast: Epilepsy diagnosis and loss of driving license. Hmmm. To quote me "you can get used to anything". This is however financially very destabilizing. Epilepsy wasn't. That's what I was so scared of. Being destitute.
I now need to find employment. It is forced rather than leisurely. But, critically, this isn't the case at all. I don't have to get a job. I have financial resources (redundancy and otherwise). I can redesign my life. I am going to redesign my life. Why not. It was coming anyway. I've been talking about it for long enough.
That aside, I have learned in the space of a few hours who my friends are, and the high level of support that they bring. There were no surprises in who contacted me.
It is one of those few events that (a) I never imagined would happen to me and (b) if it did I would deal with it VERY badly. Well it has and I'm dealing with it.
Compare and contrast: Epilepsy diagnosis and loss of driving license. Hmmm. To quote me "you can get used to anything". This is however financially very destabilizing. Epilepsy wasn't. That's what I was so scared of. Being destitute.
I now need to find employment. It is forced rather than leisurely. But, critically, this isn't the case at all. I don't have to get a job. I have financial resources (redundancy and otherwise). I can redesign my life. I am going to redesign my life. Why not. It was coming anyway. I've been talking about it for long enough.
That aside, I have learned in the space of a few hours who my friends are, and the high level of support that they bring. There were no surprises in who contacted me.
If you're looking at this as an RSS feed, please also consider the Timbre of Light RSS. It's different. It also has an RSS feed.
What is fine art? Is this it? What is art? What is fine about fine art?
I'll stake my position... I don't know what it is.
I don't think that it matters what it is.
Is it about classicism? References to classic art forms perhaps. Does it have to relate to classic art forms such as painting, sculpture and so on? No, otherwise photography wouldn't be included. Mind you, I'm making some assumptions here. But hey, I'm the one doing the defining. Yes, this is fine art. Simply because i say that it is. But, if it is about collecting, and desirability, then that's nothing to do with me.
Is it about an attitude to visual art? A personal attitude? A 'museum attitude'?
Context.
This photograph in a staircase sales brochure... in an office promo... as a 3ft x 4ft print in an architects reception area... in the Photographers' Gallery... on the cover of a CD...
Have a think.
I'll stake my position... I don't know what it is.
I don't think that it matters what it is.
Is it about classicism? References to classic art forms perhaps. Does it have to relate to classic art forms such as painting, sculpture and so on? No, otherwise photography wouldn't be included. Mind you, I'm making some assumptions here. But hey, I'm the one doing the defining. Yes, this is fine art. Simply because i say that it is. But, if it is about collecting, and desirability, then that's nothing to do with me.
Is it about an attitude to visual art? A personal attitude? A 'museum attitude'?
Context.
This photograph in a staircase sales brochure... in an office promo... as a 3ft x 4ft print in an architects reception area... in the Photographers' Gallery... on the cover of a CD...
Have a think.
Of course the answer is to put non-DSLR lenses on a DSLR. Or put a DSLR back onto an SLR. Not hard.
This photograph was taken on my phone (while I was on a train on my way to Basildon to buy my new-to-me Alfa Romeo). Anyway, to the point...
In the old days when we had mechanical, oiled-gear-driven cameras where focusing was with the left hand [and very tactile it was too] we could focus on what we wanted, and very quickly. With a digital camera focusing is all done for you and software decides on how it happens. Yes, you can with a DSLR switch to manual focus or control the focus 'zones' and they use algorithms to decide what happens... but hey, it's a slow, non-tactile experience. Slow.
As an aside, are there any DSLR lenses with tactile-feedback manual focusing?
Anyway, back to this picture.
This was photographed out of the window of a moving train, and it was raining. I wanted to focus on the buildiongs and the camera seems to have known this. How? The camera has a wide angle lens so ought to be focusing on close images. So how does it work? What would a DSLR have done?
OK, this is not really about this picture or about phone cameras... it is about DSLRs that take the art of focusing away from you.
I think that focusing is a fundamental problem with auto-focus cameras (yes, it's not really a DSLR-exclusive issue). Manual focusing is not a pleasant experience - because the lenses are so poor. Ok maybe not poor (they focus OK) but because it feels so much like stirring tea. There's no feedback. Does anyone do it? I don't. But I miss it.
It is one of the reasons I occasionally get my F3 out of the drawer and have a play. It is a weighted, oiled, made-of metal machine. It feels so much more tactile and beautiful that my 20D. Absolutely no comparison. It is small and light (ish) but most importantly, it demands creative input.
What is the DSLR equivalent?
In the old days when we had mechanical, oiled-gear-driven cameras where focusing was with the left hand [and very tactile it was too] we could focus on what we wanted, and very quickly. With a digital camera focusing is all done for you and software decides on how it happens. Yes, you can with a DSLR switch to manual focus or control the focus 'zones' and they use algorithms to decide what happens... but hey, it's a slow, non-tactile experience. Slow.
As an aside, are there any DSLR lenses with tactile-feedback manual focusing?
Anyway, back to this picture.
This was photographed out of the window of a moving train, and it was raining. I wanted to focus on the buildiongs and the camera seems to have known this. How? The camera has a wide angle lens so ought to be focusing on close images. So how does it work? What would a DSLR have done?
OK, this is not really about this picture or about phone cameras... it is about DSLRs that take the art of focusing away from you.
I think that focusing is a fundamental problem with auto-focus cameras (yes, it's not really a DSLR-exclusive issue). Manual focusing is not a pleasant experience - because the lenses are so poor. Ok maybe not poor (they focus OK) but because it feels so much like stirring tea. There's no feedback. Does anyone do it? I don't. But I miss it.
It is one of the reasons I occasionally get my F3 out of the drawer and have a play. It is a weighted, oiled, made-of metal machine. It feels so much more tactile and beautiful that my 20D. Absolutely no comparison. It is small and light (ish) but most importantly, it demands creative input.
What is the DSLR equivalent?
What was I thinking!
Of course saying that the photograph jumble was like a roll of film was more of a muscle-memory statement than anything else. In actual fact it could not be less like a roll of film. The simple fact that there are colour and b&w images shows that it is much more like a 'digital flash card' than a 'roll of film'.
Is 'digital flash card' a universal statement analogous to 'roll of film'? I doubt it. There's nothing to link it to photography per se. Mind you, the same is (sort of) true of roll of film.
Of course saying that the photograph jumble was like a roll of film was more of a muscle-memory statement than anything else. In actual fact it could not be less like a roll of film. The simple fact that there are colour and b&w images shows that it is much more like a 'digital flash card' than a 'roll of film'.
Is 'digital flash card' a universal statement analogous to 'roll of film'? I doubt it. There's nothing to link it to photography per se. Mind you, the same is (sort of) true of roll of film.
My screen saver shows me random images from my 'pictures' folder. With this I see my pictures in random order. The juxtapositions are beautiful and this post is all about that, albeit in a way that replicates that randomness. I have been observing what is displayed and noting the appearances and what you see here is the result. Not random. In fact the opposite.
It is like seeing a roll of film. Or even a vignette. Made up though. Fake. But having said that, a story could be told via these pictures.
What is really interesting to me is that some of these pictures have been passed over and ignored and have therefore not been published before. Seeing them out of context, out of the context of the other pictures 'in the shoot' reveals them in a new light. They are no longer competing with or being compared to other (potentially similar) images. And they are often seen in a new frame of mind and therefore quite differently.
This is about nothing other than image juxtaposition. Try looking at these while listening to the theme from Shaft.
It is like seeing a roll of film. Or even a vignette. Made up though. Fake. But having said that, a story could be told via these pictures.
What is really interesting to me is that some of these pictures have been passed over and ignored and have therefore not been published before. Seeing them out of context, out of the context of the other pictures 'in the shoot' reveals them in a new light. They are no longer competing with or being compared to other (potentially similar) images. And they are often seen in a new frame of mind and therefore quite differently.
This is about nothing other than image juxtaposition. Try looking at these while listening to the theme from Shaft.
Everything in the universe is made up of quarks and electrons. There is nothing else. Apart from exotic laws that defy reason. And waves. But not empty space. There is no such thing as empty space (it is filled with the above).
Language is mere poetry in the description of atoms (I paraphrase here).
It is a collection of atoms, me, that is saying this. These are the same atoms that make up you, and the object through which you are reading and seeing this.
Language is mere poetry in the description of atoms (I paraphrase here).
It is a collection of atoms, me, that is saying this. These are the same atoms that make up you, and the object through which you are reading and seeing this.
