Intersecting Images

75,000 people do not attend political rallies unless something truly magical is happening. -  Posted by Robert Blanchard North Smithfield, RI

I don’t usually find much interesting about ”press photography” and I’m a healthy skeptic these days about how and what sort of images come to be associated with “reportage”. All too often, I find myself distrusting any ability of photography in general to portray anything close to reality. It’s more a game of association. I suppose its always been that way - so that’s nothing new really.  Having said that,  seeing these two very different photos of the Democratic nominees Senator Barrack Obama, and Senator Hillary Clinton that ran in the NYT recently regarding the current “momentum” of the Democratic candidates is but one concrete example of why:

Shirtwood Phenomenon; Maine 1963

Marianne McCarthy

I’m very excited about the opportunity to participate in the upcoming show “The Altered Landscape” opening up tomorrow night at The New Space Center for Photography.  The Altered Landscape is an exhibition culled from over 200 local, national and international entries. Photographers were asked to submit depictions of an “altered landscape”.  I’m happy to offer up my own attempt - I’m even more interested to see what others have pictured and explored.

Hill [Pre-Illinoian Glacial influence, East Central Iowa]

Matt Niebuhr - 2006

Altered Landscapes: Natural Forces is part of a series of photographs in combinations among other things…

This old hill, an apparent remnant of glacial action, is located in Eastern Iowa between the boundaries of the Illinoian glacial limit and the Late Wisconsin glacial limit - likely formed during pre-Illinoian time.

The time interval between 310,000 and 128,000 years ago is referred to informally as Illinoian time.   The time prior to Illinoian time (more than 310,000 years in age) is referred to informally as pre-Illinoian time. Several pre-Illinoian glaciations occurred during pre-Illinoian time.  I grew up in Iowa - much if not quite most of Iowa was at one time or another forever altered by the ebb and flow of glaciers  - way before any human touch - but now just how different it has become from that which I experienced some brief 37 years of my life.  And so the subtle shapes of the land of my childhood - deeply embedded in my most brief existence and memory - have been and will always be altered landscapes.

Come to the show - see what you see - First Friday opening reception is tomorrow night already - Feb 8th - 7 - 10 pm. 

The show runs February 8th through 26th.

Newspace Center for Photography
1632 SE 10th Ave. Portland, OR

Monday-Friday 10am-8pm
Saturday 11am-6pm
Sunday 12-8pm

Snow at night…, originally uploaded by Matt Niebuhr.

Season’s Greetings!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

Frank Horvat - “Photography is the art of not pressing the button”…

Reflections upon a photograph to remember or forget?

“He knows that everything he writes [or photographs*] is consigned to posterity (oblivion’s other, seemingly more benign, face)” Joyce Carol Oates

* There is something gnawing at me about the notion of “othering” that was discussed by Amanda Koster during her recent visit to the Newspace Center for Photography.

Two kinds of photographs:

Photo by Renee C. Byer
In an effort to get Derek outside, Cyndie wheels him through the front door passing by artwork and cards given to her son by classmates at Bridgeway Island Elementary School. “Just like a newborn, he needs to get out and get some air,” she says. It was his last trip outdoors.

from 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner Renee C Byer, for Feature Photography.

And,

the image below (previous post)- of Caxton - by Amanda Koster

I began thinking about this briefly in a previous post, and now with a little more reflection, I think my opinion is becoming more obvious to me; that it has to do with acknowledging a particularly powerful characteristic of still photography which is the effect of a condensed objectification of experience.

My opinion: the emotional content and symbolism in the “prize receipent” feature work by Byer - is initially gripping (emotionally), but quickly I become oblivious and hopeless. “Going towards the light” for the last time only leads me assume the predictable end - I have to have the last image in the feature series in order to close out my emotional state - it completes and releases me emotionally. I am powerless and helpless.

For me, the moment when a photograph (or series of photographs) resists this condensed experience, it changes from story telling to something more nuanced and akin to allusion. There is more depth to an image that orchestrates the voyeuristic quality of photography; to contain both intimacy and distance. It’s like a peculiar detail in a written story that sticks out - that you stub your toe on - something that allows you to project a personal connection…makes it real to you.

I particularly like the fact that the microphone from the interview with Caxton is left in the picture from “Aids is Knocking”, a reminder of opportunity for “dialogue” - along with the particular detail of the “CAT” logo on the tee-shirt. The image alludes to interaction and connection - blending symbolism and realism.

In the context of image fatigue in our visual culture, so much of what we see published invites us to enter a state of visual oblivion - a state of being disregarded or forgotten. I think partly this oblivion is from a lack of attention span coupled with some perverted need to see the ugliness that is potentially all around us. Perhaps this need to see ugliness, reassures that our own lives are relatively untouched and thereby we remain blissfully ignorant? Or, we have a visual dipstick on normalcy. Either way, this stream of ugliness is happening to others, it helps us to somehow manage to get up and get through the day - because thankfully, we are not confronted with the situation at hand. So that is the idea of photography’s negative “othering” potential… to help us live with oblivion.

It has me on the lookout for images that are powerful enough to sustain attention, to promote compassion, to get us to snap out of the hypnotic state of oblivion?

Thanks to a post by Alec Soth on his blog… “Quiz” got me to thinking…

With anticipation of getting my own copy of Richter’s “Atlas” (previous post) and thinking about relationships between a “finished” photobook (assuming a product of some kind of story telling) vs an “atlas” way of seeing (encyclopedic collecting, cataloging and fact/fiction presenting) as a source for inspiration - I came across “photo-eye” web site via Shane Lavalette’s journal entry - and thanks for sharing a recommendation.

Looks like a good place to explore and spend some time getting to know other work…

ser·en·dip·i·ty

A little article in the NYT today… about Portland’s new TRAM system which just opened for use this past weekend. While I didn’t get a chance to see it first hand, I have been completely encouraged by my other public transit experiences in the city, beginning with a quick ride into downtown by the light rail “MAX” followed by a couple of very straight forward bus rides… Easy, Clean, Safe… Timely and simply just “the right thing to do”.

Now public transit may not be a big thing to those of you already living the “big city life” but from my perspective (a Midwestern “city” where a car is absolutely essential) the opportunity to really not have to use a car in a city the size of PDX (metro area approaching 2 million according to the NYT article) is completely amazing…

This isn’t to say that public transit couldn’t also be relevant in a smaller Midwest city - It’s just become completely apparent to me it has to also be about a mindset, a way of thinking about quality of life, understanding how individuals decisions impact the collective well being and experience of a community… This is what so exciting to begin to understand about Portland…

I can’t wait to start to explore.

Ok, so I’ve been busy making some minor and quite major adjustments to things in life… considering “the future” … where / how / who / on so many levels so I’ve just not been able to offer any new entries - but that will change. The tipping point is now.

Very exciting events are unfolding - I will be contributing in a more regular way again in the near future to this blog but in the meantime - enjoy some of the the links off to the side to other interesting photo / blog/ architecture sites…

I am currently in PDX / missing my family in DSM / but soon - very soon will be whole again…

We do not remember days, we remember moments.
Cesare Pavese

For me there has been a kind of explosion of things to see and read about and some of it in the blog world about photography. That is to say that there is a lot of blog work - by artists, writers/critics and dedicated bloggers about photography. This is a good thing. But, with all the possible avenues of interest represented it is hard to keep up with my own efforts on posting - but that is also a good thing - I would after all, rather be learning about other bodies of work in the “smokey loft” atmosphere. Except, with all that the web is, one can not mistake this experience with the real encounter with work - out on the street, up on the walls and between the linen covers of a good book…. The web does make for fertile ground to find the unexpected - I like the connections - whether real or imagined - the discovery of new bodies of work by artists is extraordinary. It’s up to you the reader to decide what is of value to you and why. Then spend your energy going out to see the work in analogue - it’s so much better !

This interview post on Conscientious , another Conversation with Alec Soth… about blogs is a good start describing a reason of why one might spend time doing this - for me, first off, it’s about becoming more aware of photography in a general sense - a way of seeing variety - secondly, it helps me in my own work - to try and feel out the modi operandorum and directions I am pursuing in a personal body of work. Artists are constantly comparing and considering others work in relation to their own. Thirdly, it is an opportunity to share other’s work - that I find interesting. Lastly, over time, this journal of sorts becomes a repository, for the slow and gradual accumulation over time (regardless of the “of whom / by whom” phenomenon) that to me generates an interest in examining the threshold at which ordinary visibility ends and perception begins. Now, after almost two years of “blogging” I’m finding that the description line of my own blog is very much the thing that holds steadfast interest to me.

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Crib [Cherokee County, Iowa], posted by Matt Niebuhr.

One in a series entitled Portraits: Faces and Profiles of Utility
Another crib found about 4 or 5 miles north of highway #3 and one mile west of the black top north out of Aurelia…. How’s that for Geo coordinates huh? I need one of those location devices so that I can get coordinates for these structures when I shoot them… I need to get these all located and mapped so I can re-visit them easily through out the year…

This image has the right balance for me anyway between the subject and the sky / ground cover. It’s open ground in this part of the country after all…