Fiddler

This is really a great time to be an artist (or even just "into" the arts) in Miami because there is just so much going on.  What started as a simple art walk in Coral Gables and a few satellite shows in Wynwood during Art Basel has blossomed into a full-fledged micro economy with artist communities fairly much springing up across the entire county. The Bakehouse (where my studio is located) and ArtCenter/South Florida have been around for decades but the last ten years has brought us several new communities including ArtSouth, the Artisan Lounge and Ironside. 

Some artists I know have taken studios in Ironside, which of course has its own art-walk.  As with all the better venues, Ironside has a sort of youthful cool, artiste feel to it all set in an industrial park.  Tre chic.

As we were leaving, Ironside I came across this violinist and shot the image in near darkness.  I like the image, even if it's not terribly sharp, maybe because it's not terribly.  Still, considering the lighting, I'm lucky I got anything useful from it at.

The Bakehouse Art Complex

In late April I was accepted as a resident artist at the Bakehouse Art Complex, a non-profit residency of studios, galleries and work areas for emerging and mid-career artists. This is a huge honor as the acceptance process is very selective. I know many of the current and former BAC artists and feel truly humbled to be included in their number.

I was accepted just in time for the last event of the season so was able only to host a small, impromptu reception. I've posted photos of the reception on my Flickr feed. Given the short time frame, I featured selected photos from Mermaids!, Alone in a Sea of People, and Soapbox. I also featured selected photos from The Dispossessed. None of these has ever before been exhibited.

Each of these will be the subject of its own show, after the season begins anew in September with a grand opening. The September show, however, will feature Caution Tape, a series examining fear and feminine identity. Please keep an eye out for emails from me announcing new exhibits. I hope to see each of you there.

The Struggle for Meaning

Monolithic Eclipse

I've been wanting to write about this image for a while now, but embarrassingly really didn't know what to say, words just escaped me.  It's an image that attracts me, but strictly in a right-brain, mute sort of way.

I love how the border between the near-black and the sky almost bisects the the image perfectly from the upper left all the way down to the middle third, and then just veers off in a slight jog upwards.  I love how the sun suggests itself from the slant but doesn't overwhelm the image.  In print, but probably not on a computer monitor, you can make out vague suggestions of rectangular tiles in the black, lower portion of the image providing a rigid, grid-like counterpoint to the clouds in the upper half. The image speaks to me on many different levels, just not a verbal one.

The viewer, though, may be left with the question, "What is it?" To my mind, it reminds me of the monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and thus the image's title.  Others, especially the younger set who may not have seen the film, may not draw the same initial comparison.  Again, messages on different levels.

Perhaps this is why I find it so compelling.  Good photography always engages the viewer, either by attraction or repulsion.  The best always lingers for a while afterward even if you struggle to verbalize a meaning, maybe especially if you struggle to verbalize a meaning.

High Dynamic Range and the Film Aesthetic

Downtown Miami at Sunset

Years ago when was still thought of as something different from "real" photography, people took to using Photoshop to get a technique called selective color to add or keep color in a part of a black and white image. I admit, I have a few images like that, just a few. This technique was used so much its become a cliche and fallen out of use, to a large extent.

I say this because trends come and go.  Years ago it was selective color, today it is High Dynamic Range.  HDR is essentially an attempt to use two or more photos of the same scene shot almost at the same time but at different exposure values in order to mimic the dynamic range of the human eye.  If done right, the results can be very pleasing.  If overdone, well, it looks like a graphic illustration.  While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just don't find it aesthetically attractive.  Perhaps that's a generational thing.

I came to photography with black & white film.  My aesthetic was formed from Life magazine compilation of images from the forties, fifties and sixties, almost all of which were black & white and, owing to the limited technologies, of restricted dynamic range.  Shadows and darkness are compositional elements to be used not problems to be overcome.  Sure, there's a place for HDR, if used sparingly.  Still, I really prefer the look of high contrast scenes. 

Security is the New Freedom

Miami International Airport

Perfection is Overrated

Lauren in Chicago

There are three types of photography sites: those that concentrate on gear, those that concentrate on technique, and those that concentrate on photos.  The technique and photo sites are generally a wash as they often overlap but the gear sites greatly outnumber the other two, unfortunately.  I say this all somewhat sheepishly as I tend to frequent the gear sites much more than the photo sites even though I think that the photo sites are without question more worthwhile, at least in an artistic sense. 

I think this is partly because photography is almost unique in the arts that it requires both some artistic ability and technical/mechanical ability too.  This attracts lots of people who obsess over measuring results in order to seek technical perfection.   The Canon 5D3 has 23 megapixels but the Nikon D800 has 36 so the Nikon has to be better, at least for now.  Is this lens sharp enough? Don't know if it is?  Well, then get a sturdy tripod and photograph a brick wall.  Yup, do it again at all apertures and focal lengths and then look at them at full magnification in Photoshop.  Keep doing this because it'll make your pictures more technically perfect.  Yup, corner-to-corner, edge-to-edge sharpness in all its 36 megapixel glory, or 23 if you're a fanboy. [continued after the break]

The Leica, One Year Later

Orange Line, Wabash and Adams No.2

About 18 months ago I bought a Leica M8 with a Voigtlander 35 f/1.4 lens. I should say I've spent the last ten years shooting Canon 1d's of various versions. As my street gear, I'd mount a 28mm to my 1D2 for an effective focal length of 35mm. So, unlike most SLR shooters, I was already used to shooting with prime lenses. Still, this was a huge change.  Rangefinders, like the Leica, are just different animals, wholly unlike SLRs.

The viewfinder on the M8 is large and beautiful, but you don't really see the exact image you're shooting because, unlike an SLR, you don't actually see through the lens.  The viewfinder is off to the side and a bit above the lens.  Essentially, you look off at an angle from the lens itself and, of course, you don't see any of the blurring or even see the image snap into focus as you would with an SLR.  Also, framing is done with frame lines which will change depending size and position depending on focal length and focus distance and even then, they're not terribly accurate.  You focus manually with a projection of an image on the viewfinder that essentially triangulates between the rangefinder and your view.  Because of my long history with DSLRs, this was a bit disconcerting, to the point that I'd subconsciously use the entire VF, just like a dslr, just force of habit. [more after the break]

¡Presente!

Photo of a Brigade Member

View from the crowd

At just past midnight on the morning of April 17, 1961, an expeditionary force of approximately 1,500 men, assisted by naval and air forces, attempted an invasion of Cuba in order to overthrow the government headed by Fidel Castro. Known as Brigade 2506, they landed on the beach known as Playa Giròn, at the mouth of a bay called the Bahia de Cochinos. In Spanish-speaking countries, this event is remembered as La Bataya de Giròn. In the United States it is remembered by the English name, the Bay of Pigs.

The invasion lasted three days and resulted in a loss for the American-backed expeditionary force. There are numbers, of course: 118 killed and 1,202 captured. On the defenders' side 176 were killed and 4,000 wounded. The invaders put up a strong fight. Many would languish in prison and face execution in the days that followed the invasion. Eventually, most would make it back to the United States, many to Miami. More than a loss of the battle, though, the Bay of Pigs marked the end of any further significant attempts to over-throw the Castro Government and to reverse its Marxist revolution. La Revoluciòn consolidated its grip power. Those caught on the other side of this Caribbean Iron Curtain settled into a life as Revolucionarios, whether by choice or circumstance; those caught on this side became exiles, without any real choice.  The temporary became permanent. 

[more after the break]

Miami Vinyl

Miami Vinyl

Found on the intersection of South Miami Avenue and Thirteenth Street.  Googled it.  Apparently, it's an exhibit / lecture series on local, Miami music offered through the Miami Art Museum.  It's also pretty good guerrilla marketing.

After the Rain

After the Rain

We had a torrential rain on night last week, odd since we're still in the dry season.  The summer monsoons don't usually start till around Memorial Day, and then not in earnest till about mid June.  Still, it really seemed like a minor hurricane that night.

Afterward, Jackie and I went for a walk, me with my Leica, of course.  I just recently saw some photos from a friend of mine in New York, posted on his Tumblr account.  They're all very dark and brooding nighttime images, also shot with a Leica, btw.  The photos have stayed with me since and, well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess.  Another way to put it is that "good artists copy, great artists steal", as Picasso is supposed to have said.  Well, I'll let others judge whether I merely copied from Dennis or if I stole.  I'll post those images some other time.

For now, I just ran into this umbrella, an obvious casualty of the storm, lying next to a puddle, a remnant of the storm, and thought the juxtaposition made for a good image. 

Click here to purchase.

Brooklyn Heights in the Rain

Brooklyn Heights in the Rain

Across the East River from Manhattan lies the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, bordered on the river side by the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  I first encountered it on a rainy June afternoon in 2006, coming back from the annual Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. 

We had been walking in the rain for most of the afternoon, including during all of the Mermaid Parade and were now pretty soaked when finally made it to the Promenade.

The scene shows the Brooklyn Bridge in the background through haze and fog.  The only thing that mars perfection is the trashcan in the foreground, but there really was no other view that would have framed the bridge exactly the same way.  Even with the trashcan, it's still one of my favorite shots.

The Meaning of Life

One Life

In my day-gig, I encounter many people who are, as they say, goal oriented.  These types of people are generally not weighed down by questions or even doubt.  The know what they want and the go and get it.  To them, life is simple: if you have a goal, plan the work, work the plan and achieve your goal.

Many people, however, aren't like this.  They seek a greater truth, an understanding of what lies beneath, or perhaps above. These people are seekers.  They question, they doubt, they seek the truth and are skeptical when they find it.  Ultimately, they seek the meaning of life. [continued after the break]

Crazy Loco

So, is this art?

We went to the Bakehouse Art Complex a few weeks ago for their monthly open house.  For those who haven't been, this is truly a great place.  Housed in the former National Bread Company building, it provides affordable studio space to emerging and mid-career artist.  The exhibit in the Audrey Love Gallery was of works of professors at a local art college.  Among them was  Brian Nogues Reference Work 1.5, pictured.  It so astounded me, I had to photograph it.

Of the many works in the gallery, I liked some and didn't like others, but none provoked the level of discourse that Nogues' work did.  Jackie described it as "Crazy Loco."  The idea that someone would put an ordinary bubble level in a matte, frame it and call it "art" shocked my senses.  That he should demand $950 for it, well, I thought took some nerve.  Still, I snapped the photo and walked on.  [click below to read more]

The Known-Unknown

Oftentimes you'll read on the web about the importance of lighting in photography.   Photography is essentially writing with light. The name, after all, means light (photo) writing (graph). While this is certainly true, in black & white photography especially it is often the shadows that will produce a really great image. While you can't diminish the importance of lighting in black & white photography, the shadows can be just as important. 

Shadows provide contrast, the lovely smoothness of the models' skin offset against the dark background immediately draws the eye and focuses attention to the intended subject.  But there is more.

Shadows also provide an air of mystery to the image.  What's behind the models off in the right-hand corner of the image?  We don't know.  In fact, we will never know what is back there and in this knowledge about lack of knowledge, the known-unknown, lies the appeal of this image.  Yes the models are beautiful but they would remain beautiful under glaring lights and in full color images.  By showing only portions of the models and obscuring the rest we intrigue the viewer and make for a more powerful image. 

Blonde Roast

This is photo pretty much sums up why I always carry a camera on weekends.  Walking by a Starbuck's and seeing two, young blonde ladies under a sign advertising Starbuck's new Blonde Roast Coffee.  Really?  Gotta love serendipity.