Photography is a contest between a photographer and the presumptions of approximate and habitual seeing. The contest can be held anywhere … John Szarkowski Submitted by Howard Landau Four of our talented members brought their work in to show today: Howard, Rene, Jim and Gareth. You couldn’t ask for more diverse and interesting work. Howard showed a suite of pictures he shot earlier this year as part of a class he took at Art Center. Titled Just Gimme Some Truth, the images are of people taking polygraph tests as well as the associated lie detector equipment and digital read-outs. Howard shot them off his computer screen from YouTube videos, resulting in grainy, theatrical exposures. The pictures are meant to be viewed together as a conceptual commentary on ethics and politics in contemporary society. Rene also showed work from his time as a student at Art Center in the 50’s. (Some of his fellow students included Lee Friedlander and Robert Gottschalk, the creator of the Panaflex camera.) Rene started as a teenager taking pictures in his father’s jewelry store in downtown LA. He shot black & white portraits of family, friends and people he would find in neighboring shops. His other student work included abstractions and experiments with different printing techniques. It was easy to see how his early efforts continue to inform his work today. Gareth showed some new work in the genre of Street Photography, very different from work he has shown in the past that use words as the theme. Each image prompted lively discussion about his eye and the way he chose to present the subject in the frame. Needless to say, we each had a different opinion. As with all discussion at f8, here were no fisticuffs, only good collegial critique. Jim showed examples of his unique work in 3D photography. We all had fun trying to get ourselves cross-eyed in order to see the two images merge into one and pop off the page. Jim is membership chair of the LA 3D club which meets monthly at the armory. Interested guests are welcome to attend club meetings and learn more about the technique. Gareth showed the picture below. It generated lots of discussion, particularly on how it should, or should not, be cropped or enhanced. It was interesting to hear how each of us had a slightly different reaction to the image.
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