all good things must come to an end….i hate writing those words….but, those words are one of life’s little truisms….and i suppose the richness of any experience is actually enhanced by the very fact that it is temporary…so all of us, when smack in the middle of the buzz of camaraderie, just try to soak it all up as best we can, knowing full well the moment will soon be stored on the hard drives of our memory and the "reality" will be gone..
such are my musings on a clear monday morning after an often not so clear recollection of all that went on last week…"intense" is, i suppose, a reasonably good way to describe the gathering last week in my loft….i cannot recall a more dynamic, often frustrating, and ultimately rewarding workshop class…and segued into a gathering of our online forum tribe the likes of which have not quite happened before and will not likely happen again….or will it??
my apartment looked like a war zone hospital ward (sleeping guests everywhere) the night after the night after the celebration ,following the friday evening student slide show, lasting up until just a few hours ago…no joke…all of us knew something really "special" was happening with our community here, and nobody wanted to "let go"…
many of you have read all of the comments leading up to this gathering and the reports are still coming in, but i can assure you that we all felt the "surge" of a new era…the feeling that so many things are possible for us…and the promise of good things to come…
most of you, of course, were not here in my loft….and we talked about that….there is nothing worse than reading about somebody else having a good time….but, i hope the spirit of the work that was produced by the students (soon to be posted) and the general good vibes of your colleagues here will be somehow transmitted into your psyche….the beauty of the whole thing was this: our online relationship has manifested itelf into reality..both in the work many of you have done and in the personal friendships which have been built…i expect this to be carried forward into more good work by you and in personal meetings in the future…
now we must all get back to work…the party is over…..those who were here must get back to their "normal lives" and i must get out on the road on my family project in a couple of days…but, we have all changed…a little bit of last week and the weekend will stay with us forever…treasured….thought about over and over and over again…play back the tape….this story will last….
perhaps the appropriate "truism" is that all really good things end up with a life of their own….
*tumbleweed*
reason i’m awake at 3.28am on a saturday night.. with time to post long mumbles of drivel and loose opinion.. is that i’m baby watching.. he’s on the couch next to me.. while mum in bed gets a solid deep-sleep for as long as possible.
between posts i have changed three nappies, leafed through two photo books and sung the made-up song,
‘it’s a chore being a boy called tor’, whenever he has woken from his slumbers..
who’s the daddy?
ERICA LIVES..
and i’m going to sleep.. g’nite europe.
”The exhibition was widely popular with Americans who did not normally visit museums.”
and that was the joy of the family of man.. it was the work of one photographer working as curator and as such more accessible.. it lacks the vision of a single photographers work, apart from in the manor of a single photographer curating.
i think they are right to say that it was the last successful collective photo journalistic approach..
you know..
the national geographic ‘oddessy’ book is okay.. b u t..
it’s disappointing that a less palitable photo was removed.. i didn’t know that.. product of it’s time..
tanks erica.
SIDNEY AND DAVID
I certainly don’t mean to overly criticize The Family of Man… I do think the intentions of the creators were noble and the book includes some marvelous, iconic, powerful photographs. It is a product of its time…
Sidney, thank you for your perspective, how interesting it is that I see the book as I do… and I’m cut from the same cloth as (spawn of) those New York liberals! What a difference a generation makes.
David, to expand somewhat…. I do understand that the book aspires to a utopian world-view, but I do think it operates too, as a projection of “American Dream” type values…. at a time when there was an ongoing ideological battle between Western capitalism and Soviet-style communism… I can’t look at the book without seeing a political statement, and as a document, it shares the aesthetics of soviet and german propaganda of the 30′s and 40′s, which I think may account for some of its power… it was, too, as I understand it, conceived unapologetically as appealing to an absolute lowest common denominator, by which I mean meant to not offend anyone… on the planet.
But by no means do I dismiss the book as mere propaganda, or an evil tool of capitalistic coercion… if anything, your views are well taken, and I do think The Family of Man is a very complex piece of photographic history indeed…
A wonderful, interesting facet of its complexity, to me, is the role it played in the creation of The Americans…
ERICA
Thanks for the post… interesting essay, still thinking about it…
“family of man”. A throwback? Are we talking the pictures or the exhibition’s subtext?
It seems to me, without judging the content of each, that so many books and photographic best-sellers, since then and to this day, are an embodiment of much of the philosophy behind FAM.
Examples abound, but “a day in the life”, natl geo coffee table collections, come to mind. Steve Mc Curry (the most popular Magnum photographer alive?) is quite within this very humanistic type of photography. And of course, the FAM book has been re-edited regularly since the first exhibition.
Maybe none of these above have to do with “american photography” or any photography as defined by Szarkowski and historians? Yet people relate as much to such photography as they did then, and I think, in the same frame of mind.
I googled a bit. The exhibition went to Moscow in 1959. It would be interesting to read what was the reaction in the soviet Union, both Kremlin and visitors.
Funny also, just found these words (1), and frankly, they are very much pointing at a philosophy many of us are caught more than often agreeing to, on this blog, the oneness of all things. Maybe oneness meant americanness back then. I don’t know.
(1) It was conceived, in Steichen’s words, ‘as a mirror of the essential oneness of mankind throughout the world’.
HERVE
When I used the word ‘throwback’ yes I definitely meant the exhibition’s subtext and not the individual photographs. Your point about the enduring popularity of this editorial approach is well taken… and I am quite sympathetic to views that say what is popular and what is ‘art’ are not necessarily different…
I am probably a very inappropriate person to talk about this since most of my own work is terribly cliched and old-fashioned, but I recognize a significant difference between craftsmen and craftswomen trying to please established taste, and true artists who are exploring the boundaries of their own and others’ perceptions… a commercial gallery or publishing company has every right to want to please an audience… an institution like MOMA probably has to do that to some extent too, but it also has a responsibility to explore new frontiers and push out boundaries, to stake out new territory. ‘Family of Man’ is filled with great photos, but the editorial ideology which curated it was rooted in a world-view that was more nostalgic (that’s what I meant by ‘throwback’), than exploratory, I think… (of course, maybe I’m wrong!) In other words, it was ‘safe’ in the same way all those ‘Day In the Life’ books are safe… safe in the way that Thomas Kincaid’s painting is safe. (OK, that’s going a bit too far…)
‘Safe’ does not necessarily mean ‘bad’ to me… but after a while, maybe it means ‘not as interesting as possible.’ I thought David Bowen made a great point when he said that ‘Family of Man’ was devoid of irony or cynicism… to which I would add, on reflection, yes, for the viewer… was it devoid of irony or cynicism for the curator, the museum board, and the photographers as well? Apparently not…
HERVE
Me again! I just read your second post above, and I realized that one could easily argue just the opposite of what I wrote… that the idea of the essential ‘oneness’ of all humanity was in McCarthy Era red scare America quite a revolutionary (and potentially threatening to some people) idea and not a ‘throwback’ at all… it just depends on your perspective.
This topic actually raises endless questions about editing, the contexts in which photography is used, etc. We tend to talk here a lot about intent when making the individual images, and not so much about what happens to photos once they are ‘released’ in the world. I think you are quite right to raise these issues… DAH’s normative, optimal scenario is of course the one-artist book or exhibition that shows the photographer’s intent, but the reality is that most of the photography that gets paid for or seen in the world isn’t that at all, but something put in editorial contexts that may have little to do with the photographer’s original intent.
tnx gina and all
http://www.cristinafaramo.com/casadonpuglisi_/
http://www.cristinafaramo.com/casadonpuglisi
also if you wants to try the choccolate,this is the link:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E3D81331F937A25755C0A9609C8B63&scp=1&sq=foodstuff%20chocolate%20don%20
LASSAL!
yes of course i’m “applying”…. i went over to your site and re-read the concept… am a bit confused… do i now have to send the post card or just hang on to it until you pass by (IF you decide to pass by of course :-), do i have to prepare the story linked to the city already?
oh and just so you know, there is plenty of place for you to stay at the house…
PATRICIA rockin’ gramma
thanks so much for the kind words and email… gives me great strength…
CRISTINA dear criss
yes you have a great series… a lot of “feeling” in it… and i agree with gina (i think i mentioned the same in an email a while back) about the “chocolate” part of the story….
powerful story… love it.
BOB bro
you’ve been gone for a couple of days i think… starting to miss you… get back here :))
HERVE/PANOS
editing down… the most difficult task… will do the exercise for birgit: edit down to 7… oh jeez what am i getting myself into? but, like you panos, i will do the final real edit together with the master :))))
ANDREW SULLIVAN
how come i have never seen your images before? they are… wow
MARCIN
yes i understand you… difficult to look for a ‘language’ in the color as well as in the photographs, it feels like you have to make two pictures at once…
but the three color images you showed i thought had a very powerful color, one that you should not deny existence… explore…
DAVID B
thanks for the kind words mate.. the words are indeed important too… looking for a way to interject them even more… but not “too” much..
peace
anton
MARCIN
hi there!
I really like your colour work
it has stayed with me,
i can remember looking at some of your photos
many months ago when I had a brief visit here
on the blog.
I can understand your dilemma and in the end
only you can find the answer (but I hate it when
people say this to me… still it is true…)
I understand that in a way it might be more easy
to use b&w because you are looking for special light
with your colour, but sometimes we must push ourselves…
Like i said, your colour has a special feel and I like your
photos a lot, so i guess i am saying that I think you should
continue with colour.
also, if you still think about b&w then you can always turn your colour into b&w on the computer… okay it’s not tri-x, but you have this option. With b&w you can not add colour….
all the best
Sam
Anton, Sam
Thanks for advice.
I think I will shooting both. I just have to use more provias than velvias (velvia is more unpredictable). But I want shoot b&w also… schizophrenia?
Now I save money for films for thailand. I like feel free so I think it will be half to half. And m6 and mamija only. It will be big holyday of photography for me.
Work, work work!!!
peace
anton..
with the words i loved the passage i mentioned particularly because it began with child-like concerns and ended quite diffrently.
mike / herve / sidney
mike – totally understand what you are saying mate.. it is, in a sense, a more relevant book today than ever.. with the american empire struggling to maintain it does stand as an interesting document which pins the u.s. perception of the rest of the world at a time (after ww2) when many there will have been inquiring about the rest of the world for the first time… relevant today perhaps because again many amercans are questioning the nature of the rest of the world.. this time rather than wondering what the rest of the world is like may be the concern is how the americas are percieved.. certainly a new ‘family of man’ would have the u.s. and u.k. flags, although perhaps this time they would be on the streets of dehli of bagdad being burn’t.
spot on regarding the use of photography being just as important as the original motivation for shooting.. control of works copyright and the trust of people who syndicate the work is essential..
enjoying this discussion very much.. has had me flicking through FOM and STORYLINES books over again.. one thing i notice, with all my books, is that as i change the books change for me.. over the years they have become more interesting.. as life has become more interesting / terrifying.. the ideology of the FOM becomes even more altruistic for me.. storylines becomes more familiar.. living room more full of love and home and abroad more.. well.. more funny. :o)
marcin..
if you want to shoot a lot of BnW i’d seriously recommend getting hold of a bulk film loader and loading your own film canister.. it reduces the cost per film significantly.. and if you’re developing your own as well it becomes a viable method on a low income..
bulk loaders on ebay are very cheap.. although i have yet to research the bulk film roll market.. do they still make them?
CRISTINA
CASA – The women being unfriendly with you doesn’t come through at all, I think it is great you found an angle to show (that of the children) that allowed you to keep working. For me, you show the children in powerfully, and there are some gorgeous images there. I know you feel done, but I’d love to see a few more frames that tie in the chocolate aspect, maybe the moms departing from the house (walking out the door, waiting for the bus, etc.) or of them heading into work (if someone will cooperate)..but what you show is very well done..
LISA
CONGRATULATIONS!
ANDREW S
It is very interesting to see a continuation of your exploration of music in a different culture..and I think this is a very sound (sorry for the pun) start to a separate body on Samba. With the challenges of getting to Brazil, I started to wonder if you couldn’t seek out Samba in different places and have a holistic look at how it thrives around the world, including here at home. I think you have already made some very strong individual images for the series, but personally am not sure you should be presenting this on your site as something that could be viewed as a completed body (and I say this as a friend, because I think the series will be fantastic, and I wouldn’t want it to be diluted. Alternatively, if you wanted to show the best of the samba work now, I’d somehow make it part of a wider category of music..it isn’t that what you are showing isn’t good, but if you plan to continue it as a story, I think you should reserve the best images..I hope you understand what i mean, if not we should talk on the tele).. Which brings me to a point..
PANOS
you raised a question about the appropriateness of password protected galleries..while I feel that they are something of an inconvenience for the viewer, the reason I started doing it was because of a conversation I had with DAH. It is so lovely and wonderful that we have a community here of people with whom we want to show our experiments, beginnings, mis-steps and musings, as well as our completed work. But, if a site is being visited by editors and others who are seeing what is presented as representative of the photographer, it may be better to save work in progress and experiments for the eyes of friends and family. It isn’t about being elite at all..actually I see it as the opposite, a way to be inclusive to this community when there is something to share that isn’t appropriate to be shown as final work.
MARCIN
Love the last soap bubble image!
MIKE
Yes..am looking forward to digesting the gestalt narrative of the Americans..I wonder if this exhibit still travels as a whole? Have you ever seen it?
I don’t know where the truth in each (FAM/AM) book is..to some degree each is the vision and perspective of one, and in that would be subjective. The fact that the FAM exhibit was only 10 years prior to the (formal if not practical) end of Jim Crow laws makes me think that there is no certain reconciliation between the two.
DAVID B
uhh..running out of steam..I may live, if only by honey and lemon juice :) Thank you for the link to Living Room, I remember seeing this for a second and now of course I wish I had spent some time with it..will have to stalk ebay..
about mixing formats..”although practically speaking i could not do what i wanted to do”..well that’s it, right? You do what you can to be as close to your intent as is possible, given the tools that apply..
About a new, contemporary family of man..check this out..http://www.freshmilkphotos.com/# “Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship). Inspired by the 1950s landmark photographic exhibition, ‘The Family of Man’, M.I.L.K. began as an epic global search to find unique and geographically diverse images on the themes of friendship, family and love.” They did this in 99, and are doing it again..somehow I think there won’t be any images of burning flags..Though Erwitt is hands-down amazing, certainly the intent of the organizers is to keep the spin on the upward turn.
I love your made up song to TOR
SIDNEY
Very funny about the Thomas Kincaid analogy..
“Kinkade uses his gift as a vehicle to communicate and spread inherent life-affirming values.”
Steichen’s intro to The Family of Man..
“We sought and selected photographs, made in all parts of the world, of the gamut of life from birth to death with emphasis on the daily relationships of man to himself, to his family, to the community and to the world we live in…Photographs of lovers and marriage and child-bearing, of the family unit with its joys, trials and tribulations, its deep-rooted devotions and antagonisms. Photographs of the home in all its warmth and magnificence, its heartaches and exaltations. Photographs of the individual and the family unit in its reactions to the beginnings of life and continuing on through death and burial.”
But I too value the endeavor, and am extremely grateful to it as it may have been the only photography book in my house for many years when I was a child, and one I used to look at in attic (it had been relegated to a box of extra / in the way stuff) when I was a bit older..
last comment for me on the blog….
appropriate in light of all the discussion:
“Nous sommes, nous tous, les pèlerins qui se battent le long de différents sentiers vers la même destination.”-saint-exupery
those who dont know french:
“We are, all of us, pilgrims who struggle along different paths toward the same destination”-s-e
до свидания
erica
made up songs rule
playing tor aphex twin.. loves it
ALL
i had several issues when updating comments on my blog reader, but now it works!!!
http://jnss.x10hosting.com/dah_reader/
MARCIN
i like your color photos. I’m asking myself the same questions…wanting to make everything simple…not easy…
ANTON
i looked at Birgit presentation, love it!!!
I’m happy for you, that you achieve to make something ‘finished’, even nothing is never finished…
Congratulations.
PANOS
i like your Dark Child #2, i prefer it to the first serie.
ERICA
I think your 4×5 work can lead to something very interesting, good luck!!!
Just a question, you seem to use a lot medium format, does it bring you something that digital doesn’t have? Just collecting answers to my own questions, to make my decisions about hypothetical projects…thanks!!!
HERVE
you made me laugh a lot :-)))
Coluche!!!
CRISTINA
i love your photos. N° 10 is wonderful to me.
thank you.
BOB
I love St Exupéry!!!
peace to all
ALL
NEW DAH POST….
go on!!!
David Bowen,
I think I will have problems to get roll films of tri-x or hp5.
Erica
Thanks, It was just documentary of event non profit assignemnt, but great pleasure also. I just love time when I can take pictures at ease.
Jean
Yes, simple…
I think simplicity is key to best photography.
Peace
David Bowen – yes, made up songs are the best. Wait a few years and you’ll be able to play photographic I-Spy ….. “I spy, with my wide-angle eye, something beginning with”…
If the subject is distant you spy with your telephoto eye!
Congratulations to you and mum.
Mike R.
DEAREST BOB
You will be sorely missed here on the blog. Your voice has always been one of intelligent wisdom and inclusive love. It’s hard to imagine this family without you here among us, but I know your spirit will always be with us. And there are many with whom you will continue to travel through emails and phone calls. I am grateful to be among them.
Journey in Light & Love, my friend. Thank you for the gifts you share through your spirit, words and images.
Patricia
JEAN
I love St Exupéry!!!
————————
“l’ essentiel est invisible aux yeux”…
St Ex knew something about photography! ;-)
Bob is not running…. I believe he is actually very still, focussed, in full Monty…..Er, metta… ;-)
Off to work(samsara)
Bob. this last was posted lightly, as I did miss your goodbye post. Not in response to it.
Pat’s post drew me back to your post that I missed. Wether you are particiapating or not, your presence will always be here, my friend. I hope you can break the vow from time to time, but having entered our lives, I am sure everyone agrees, you will not leave them.
Your aura, buddy, is a permanent metta. Yes, no need to send, but if ever you change your mind, no knocking on the door, no explaining.
You do have a home here. Your home.
Cristina what a wonderfull work.. I wnat to see it again and let you knon my point on view.
bye
MIKE,
My apologies for the extremely late response. As you have no doubt gathered by now, I wasnt anywhere near a computer yesterday. I went down yesterday to do the Hispanic Day parade; I could either do one or the other, but not both, so I did yesterday’s parade. Thanks anyway; maybe next time :-) ?
“…arbitrarily dislike folks with McCain/Palin signs on their front lawns…”
Uh-oh