interesting interview

[ann]

not sure where to post this, but this seemed the most likely :confused:

discovered this yesterday

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09212007/watch3.html

then check this out, as it will give you a better idea of what those large murals look like up close and personal.

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php

My creative mind doesn't think this way, but it is interesting that some do and also interesting how this all got started.

One just never knows what direction one will go


i reveiwed this with one of my classes last night and sent it along to a few other classes as well

I don't want to get into a "flame" about his motions but it is interesting how he came to this project.

I would love to see the orginals up close and have time to think about them, but the zoomed down details are very cool, with the total vision certainly something to ponder.

[Terri]

Thank you for posting this - it's rather mind-boggling, isn't it? I'm with you, I am not the type who would/could have come up with something like this.

Very compelling work, on several levels. I would love to see one of his shows and be able to "get close".

Wow! :shock:

I hope more people take the time to view this!

[ann]

i find it a bit staggering, and imho, a great use for digital and the 'wonderful world' of photo editing /manipulation with a computer.

i really would like to see this work in person as i am sure there is no way to really understanding and appreicate what it has taken to pull this off. More than just a few clicks of a mouse.

I am doing another workshop this weekend on VDB printing, and there is no way under the sun one could pull off that kind of work with any of those wonderful "old " processes .

I have to admit , I resisted digital photography for a very long time, but have come to the point of embracing the idea that in the long run it is the image that is the most important part of the journey and these days we have a lot of options so why not take advantage of all of them, up to and including mixing them together.
I have been playing around a bit with printing on canvas and i am getting ready to print out something with canvas, coat it with something else and the destress the surface, how and with what, i am not sure. research and experimentation can be a lot of fun.

I know some of my darkroom people are starting to wonder if i have lost my mind. ;)

[Terri]

I agree. What is fascinating here, to me, is following along the progession of this guy's thought process while he worked. He started off by jumping fences with his 8x10 camera, and then the work seemed to demand that he take this other route.

The images themselves are amazing, what it must have taken him to put them all together. Combined with the "factoids" he presents, it does take on that disturbing undertone that he is trying to hit. It's really an incredible feat.

And yes, he could not have done it without computerized aid. ;)

Digital shooting, per se, does not interest me personally, atm. I am too engaged in getting my hands dirty when I am working on a print. I love the tactile involvement in my image-making. :) But I would be wrong to deny that digital tools can, and do, break some barriers to allow some creative minds to make spellbinding imagery. And this artist-photographer is living proof. The one with the light bulbs! The jet trails! They are just beyond cool!

btw Ann, I hope you can share some of your experiments with the coated canvas you mentioned, when you get to playing with it some. I'd like to see!

[ann]

ah, yes, the tactile involvement .

i always think of traditional work as being organic and digital being mechanial.
Until i started printing i found shooting digital a real bore and so lacking in anything but 1's and 0's on steriods. However, when i decided i needed to learn how to do inkjet printing on a level beyond snapshot stuff from Wolf's, it took on another demension.

That piece of the puzzle has made it more interesting, but it still lack's that tactile organic wonder.

I don't shoot a lot at this point, either film or digital, but i am just in one of those moments of "lull", which will pass. What helps to get past being stuck is trying new things that stoke the coals lying around somewhere in the head, and i have been willing to let that happen regardless of the camera type.

perhaps it is time to see what negative could be scanned, printed out on canvas and "beat up on". I just ordered some large canvas sheets so if i can figure out the next piece of the puzzle , we shall see. However, no jet trails or even paper cups.

Paper cups are tempting , maybe printed with some VDB paper, gold toned. hmm paper cups on the tacile level

See, what happens when the brain starts thinking about how to express a feeling about a technique. Gets to wander all over the place.

Must consider finding that thread a gift from the photo gods.

[Terri]

i always think of traditional work as being organic and digital being mechanial.
I like this! It makes sense.

[Seefutlung]

Very interesting ... I have a saying that there are photographs everywhere and it is up to the photographer to see them ... he has seen/created images that most of us didn't see.

[ann]

very true.

i am always taken back when someone will see a piece of work, and then say, "what's so great about that, i could have taken it", well the point i sometimes say out loud is "but would /could you have seen that before " usually the reply is strained silence or uh............

[renegade]

I found this to be very interesting. Not so much the images themselves although they were captivating but the journey he took. Even though he fought against it, he still went down the path he was meant to go. I also find digital very tedious. I spend too much time on the computer to make it fun right now. And I love how the darkroom makes me feel I really "own" the image. I'd like to see what you do with the printing on canvas though, Ann.
Gay

[Rolleimaniac]

Ann,

Very much enjoyed the link you provided to Chris Jordan’s images. I found it predictable that most of his subject matter revolves around our society’s obsession with convenience and speed. Several of the photos, airline cup for example, shows all too well the destructive nature of these elements. I felt like the 1970’s Keep America Beautiful American Indian looking at these pictures…

I hope people like Chris will continue to beat the environmental drum so that maybe one day some serious attention may be paid as to what we’re doing to this planet.

I’d like to believe that one day humans will wake up and clue in to what’s really important, but I’m afraid that prejudice, politics of fear, and the pursuit to amass wealth at any cost will continue to rule the day.

[Miranda]

i am simply fascinated with the images at Chris Jordan's page. i've never imagined the world like he does.. makes it thinking of who we are.. our hidden inner world.
thank you for sharing