The photographer hopes, in brief, to discover a tension so exact that it is peace.
Robert Adams, from “Denver: A Photographic Survey of the Metropolitan Area,” as cited by Szarkowski.
Szarkowski is an exemplary writer for his sincere effort to be clearly understood. I think these efforts are most visible where he meditates on the most basic qualities of photography. He may not use a “basic” style, but it is rewarding to stick with him.
Photography is a system of visual editing. At bottom, it is a matter of surrounding with a frame a portion of one’s cone of vision, while standing in the right place at the right time. Like chess, or writing, it is a matter of choosing from among given possibilities, but in the case of photography the number of possibilities is not finite but infinite.
By means of photography one can in a minute reject as unsatisfactory ninety-nine configurations of facts and elect as right the hundredth. The choice is based on tradition and intuition – knowledge and ego – as it is in any art, but the ease of execution and the richness of the possibilities in photography both serve to put a premium on good intuition. The photographer’s problem is perhaps too complex to be dealt with rationally.The photographer cannot freely redispose the elements of his subject matter, as a painter can, to construct a picture that fits his prior conception of the subject. Instead, he discovers his subject within the possibilities proposed by his medium.
Via AMERICANSUBURBX
Ricoh’s “Ring Cube” occupies two floors of a building in Ginza [link to map], which happens to be the place to go in Tokyo if you’re looking for old-school camera shops. That’s not really my thing but here’s a page with relevant information if you’re interested. All of the major Japanese camera manufacturers have a branded “gallery” or “salon” or… “ring cube” in Tokyo, as a place to show photographs and also show off their latest wares. The top floor of Ring Cube is a small museum which displays every camera Ricoh has ever manufactured.
Anticipation
The amazingly small Ricoh Auto Half series. I forgot to take a picture of the great ads for these cameras which are displayed just to the side
One of many 110 format cameras, but this one stood out to me
I am pretty sure this camera was in the house growing up, although I also think I was not allowed to use it
A sacred place. WALL OF GR SERIES CAMERAS
A blue GRD?
Photographers—how do you answer this question?
Currently, my response begins with a look upwards, a breath, and “well, it’s hard to explain…” (“????????…”)
Photography’s meaning, if it has any, is transmitted through representation. When the answer to this question—which is inevitable, by the way—can’t be something tangible like “flowers” or “street” or “landscape,” the problem we face is one of translation. But more than bridging two spoken languages, this translation is doubly difficult: how to represent a different language of representation?
This makes transmission almost impossible, especially when we assume the other party expects an answer of two, maybe three words. If only we could show them our photos! Then they would understand! (Perhaps)
John Szarkowski’s Introduction to William Eggleston’s Guide is remarkable for the precision with which he has attempted to make this translation.
somewhere in Tokyo, i forget
Lately I have been wanting to take pictures of the plant life in Tokyo. Foliage has never interested me before as a subject, but I’m seeing how people here jam plants everywhere, like in windowsills, behind fences and especially in pots on the sidewalk. They are always hanging out with so much concrete though.
I shot a whole roll of black and white plant stuff out by where I work, it came out well and I’m hoping to print it soon.
Next up: macro and HDR – Flickr explore here I come!
My friend John sent me a link to Mika Kitamura’s site a few weeks ago. There’s a lot of work up there, but I liked her series “?????????” or “From one roll of film” the best. Looking at the work by Fukuyama Emi and Yamashita Tsuneo has been pushing me towards more empty compositions, and these photos make me think along the same lines.
As it happens, the first five photos on 415Kurt’s photostream strike me in the same way as this other work. They are night shots of San Francisco houses with a strong feeling for the city.
This post comes late, but there are still a few more days left to check out the “Japan: Self Portait” exhibit at the Setagaya Art Museum. The exhibit is a survey of postwar Japanese photography. Here’s the link to the Tokyo Art Beat entry, which includes all the information you’d need to make it out. (I suggest a bike ride to the park, if possible.)
Tadahiko Hayashi, “Return of Ginza-bura,” 1950. This looks about 500 times better in real life
Apart from the pleasure of walking through many comfortably large rooms of black and white photographs, I enjoyed thinking about different contexts for viewing a photograph. Some of these pictures could have been tossed off by the photographer, without much thought towards history, but now we might read something much different in them.
Whether you can make it to the show or not, the interview with curator and blogger Marc Feustel at Japan Exposures about this exhibit is worth reading, for an inside perspective on Japanese photography.
The current show at Totem Pole Photo Gallery, Emi Fukuyama’s “Followed By the Moon 4,” is really worth seeing if you’re in Tokyo during the next week. (It closes Sunday June 21.) Totem Pole is one of the strongest galleries in Tokyo, but this exhibition might be the best I’ve seen there.
a photo by Emi Fukuyama, from a previous show
The photographs in this show are all taken from positions that my friend called “awkward”—he pointed out that in almost each image, there’s something blurred in the foreground. This could be distracting, but the resistance draws your eye in to the rest of the frame, where something’s waiting for you, like umbrellas hanging outside an apartment, or chairs by a pool. The consistently expressive composition and lush black-and-white printing makes for a strong mood from start to finish. My friend and I walked out wanting to shoot a lot, which is a sign of a winning show.
Please enjoy, and let me know if you make it out, I’m curious to hear other responses.
There’s an interesting experiment online right now. Actually, it’s not really “interesting” so much as “vital,” as in, “it is vital that this experiment goes well.”
Hamburger Eyes needs $3000 to put out their next issue—who can blame them—so they’ve set up a page where you can donate, and track their progress. If you donate $15, you get a copy of Issue 13… which you were going to buy anyway, right? This is a chance for people on the internet to stand up and be counted. I’ve been passing up on a lot of books lately but I had to put some Yen behind this one.
the blog world is still so new! the current stars are skilled at putting on a grand show, like chaplin. who knows, maybe even the more thoughtful ones (keaton, in my image) won’t survive the next wave…
i used a darkroom today. i like black and white film because i think it’s EASY. today i made four contact sheets and four prints. none of the prints are ready to be exhibited, 3 are not centered properly on the paper, but in all of last YEAR, even with my scanner, i made probably no more than 15 prints, which was the whole idea of getting it in the first place. scanning is such pain, everything is guesswork! “how’s the calibration of my monitor, how’s the calibration of the lab’s printer, if i move this curve 5 pixels down does the photo actually look better, and WHY IS IT THAT walgreens almost makes my color film look better anyway…” not to mention the soul-crushing tedium of scanning. the darkroom is simple and rewarding.
FEEL ME FLOW
i also saw araki’s latest show today. it’s called Araki 69, he’s turning 69 years old and he shot it with a 6×9 camera. i would say the photos are like “Araki photos made with a 6×9 camera,” in other words he translated his style accurately to the format. here’s an interesting interview with Araki, it makes me feel a bit ashamed for having so little to say about him WHEN HE’S PUBLISHED 450 BOOKS, if that’s even true. “Kofuku Shashin” sounds interesting, though.