DIPTYCHS Etymology: Late Latin diptycha, plural, from Greek...Date: 1622 1 : a 2-leaved hinged tablet folding together to protect writing on its waxed surfaces 2 : a picture or series of pictures (as an altarpiece) painted or carved on two hinged tablets 3 : a work made up of two matching parts Comments below are from Carel Before officially starting the discussion, Bill asked me if I would also cover the historical use of the diptych format. I had not intended to do so, but hope that the paragraph below will help to correct that omission. There is a good wikipedia article on the diptych: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diptych It was originally a "wax notebook and school exercise book". Eventually the diptych morphed into a format for portable religious (and secular) art, for instance the eastern orthodox "traveling icons". An early example of a secular diptych, with a warning on the closed cover, seems to have aspired to a kind of jack-in-the-box effect: http://pietmondriaan.com/2014/12/02/anonymous-flemish-artist/ It is also an early example of the modern day use of two panels to create a synergistic effect. A google image search for "diptych photography" produces a wide variety of examples: https://goo.gl/eScbW3 The more interesting ones strive for a synergy of form, color, and/or composition. An element of koan-like tension is also present in the most striking examples of the format. Many of you provided samples of your own diptych photography, while others took me up on my offer to do the compositing for them. This was a very enjoyable task which helped me form a deeper understanding of the compositional challenges of the format. The following are from notes that Bill took during the discussion... Diptychs are about relationships... Real Geometric Visual ideas...conceptual Perspective Mystery...Tensions Hybrid compositions...transformative images Below are some examples created by our f8'ers and some created by Carel with images supplied to Carel by f8'ers...please note not all diptych images reviewed at the meeting are below... As you can see, lots to discuss and see...thanks to all who contributed and Carel for his discussion leadership
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“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.” W. Eugene Smith Today was an "open" session and we had lots to see and discuss. First, Kevin Pazmino joined us for the second time and today had a number of printed images to share. He showed us a few images from his series "Conversations in the Woods"...showing the relationship between people and the environment. The discussion focused on how early photography showed people dressed up and not quite ready to interact with the nature around them. This could have been an "act of respect" toward nature. This is opposed to today where people are generally shown in pictures with nature dressed down and ready to experience what nature has to offer. The second set he showed was devoted to his portraiture...done largely in his studio...with subtle lighting and reflecting an older style. The agreement in the group that these still remained distinctly modern. check out his website: pazminophotography.com Kevin will probably join us on a more regular basis Next we had Reid Wishner (grandson of Kathy & Bill) talk about his experience in being introduced to photography as well as his experience learning Photoshop in his school. Reid showed various pictures demonstrating some of the themes of those sessions. We all encouraged him to keep shooting. Debra talked about her recent assignment for the Moreno Valley Methodist Church, upgrading their website with pictures she took while "embedded" at church activities. She pointed out now important it was to remain a fly on the wall when shooting these types of events. www.morenovalleyumc.org/ The picture above was shot by Rene but printed by Paul. The print was great but unfortunately Rene could not be with us today. We also got to see a TED Talk on Google Art Project...Google's HD pictures of art in museums around the world.We discussed the ying and yang of the project....less museum goers but more access to people not able to experience the art in person. Also whether the depth of detail could actually be TMI for viewers to process or did the artist ever intent that their work was to be seen in such detail. http://www.ted.com/talks/amit_sood_every_piece_of_art_you_ve_ever_wanted_to_see_up_close_and_searchable?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2016-06-11&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=top_left_button Finally, Bill showed a short video made of him at Photo Independent...
Busy f8 Pasadena Salon day...see you all next week. "Color (photography) is descriptive. Black and white (photography) is interpretive" Elliot Erwitt The above pictures were taken by Joe Loudermilk, our leader today in the discussion of color vs black & white photography. The entire presentation will be sent by Joe directly to f8 contributors and friends...it was too big to enclosed within this blog. Needless to say the discussion was wide ranging and contibuted to by all in attendance. It was hard to capture all that was said and my notes don't do justice to the quality of the discussion...but here are some highlights I noted. B&W photography was manipulated in camera (different ASAs and film types) as well as in darkroom. It gradually became less "visible" as print media went from B&W to color reproductions....color became the standard. The aesthetic of B&W has persisted to the current time. Color has had its own aesthetic largely defined early on by the film itself (Kodachrome vs Ektachrome for example. This was coupled with variations in darkroom production techniques. Color accentuated the Roland Barthes example of a visual "punctum" being present in all pictures...in B&W it was a point in the picture; with color it could be a point of color. The discussion moved to the differences between actual B&W and color images converted to B&W by numerous programs available in PS and plug-ins like NIK / Silver Effects Pro. These conversions have almost an infinite number of ways to arrive at an artist acceptable final version. Joe used examples provided by f8'ers in his presentation. Some examples pointed out how details can be de-highlighted in the conversion so that an initial conversion may need further tweaking to arrive at an acceptable image. For those not there, review Joe's presentation and send additional comments. For those there last Saturday, send me additional comments on points I have missed in this blog post It was a great session...thank you Joe Actually we started the meeting with a discussion of the recent shootings of two black men and the shooting of police in Dallas. All three incidents were caught on video and published to social media instantly...without context and filtering.
Our discussion centered on whether this "instant" publishing helps or hinders our efforts to foster social, political or societal changes. We would like to think that such immediate "reporting" would move change more quickly within society....but it's less than clear...making problems visible...it will shame society into changing. On the other hand, violence is already a steady part of our media and we are de-sensitized to the issues at this point as our politicians remained deadlocked on taking any action. |
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