Comments on: untitled by john gladdy

By: Interview with John Gladdy | Urbansand

Interview with John Gladdy | Urbansand — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:20:09 +0000

[...] first discovered John’s work at Burn. His work caused quite a visceral reaction with me and I’ve been staring at his photos ever [...]

By: John Gladdy

John Gladdy — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:19:45 +0000

Gracie. I guess because your family already has people who give a shit, who care enough to go the extra mile for them. Lots of people dont. And what does it cost? five minutes time to MAYBE help someone remain in touch with humanity. Glad you feel no guilt though. I mean, Why should you? You could never be them right?
PEACE
John

By: Gracie P

Gracie P — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:53:57 +0000

although i hear what john is trying to say (very loudly), i feel no guilt about leaving the homeless people alone. each time i “dole” out, i often ask myself: “why them? why not my family?”

By: Kyunghee Lee

Kyunghee Lee — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:58:13 +0000

This is very impressive portrait.
An earnest desire makes a best work.

Thank you, John.

By: matiokawa

matiokawa — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:19:39 +0000

Well, I can see the feeling being captured, but when I look at pictures I like to know the behind the scenes. To get more involved with the topic. I don’t think your intention is just to have a powerful image but to show who he is and why in this particular moment he feels this way.

By: Marina Black

Marina Black — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:11:17 +0000

very powerful photograph. an interesting interplay of the teeth and the ‘teeth’ of the handle

By: Andrew Wiese

Andrew Wiese — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:13:49 +0000

This has been one of my two or three favourites of John’s for a long time… glad to see it here.

By: michael kircher

michael kircher — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:41:10 +0000

This is a beautiful photograph. Well executed. Powerful and gritty yet even a little humorous.

By: john Gladdy

john Gladdy — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:48:08 +0000

Thanks everyone [and to DAH and burn] for having a look at this. There have been some questions raised that I really should answer, except that I am not going to. I dont know any of the answers. And if I tell you what it is to me, that will surely affect what it means [or does not mean] to you. I think that is the whole point of this series.
Other work must have other motives; the rock and roll stuff i do, for instance, is simple and to the point. Like the music it aims to represent. No secrets there. Staight down the line [attempted] iconography. Visually arresting[sometimes, hopefully :)] and throwaway at the same time. ironically it is the genre in which i have the closest thing i have to what might constitute an ‘essay’. 3 years worth of footage from a single band/ artist, all sitting in the film/digital archive waiting for a reason to exist as a whole.
What i will say is @patricia—You may well be right. @matiokawa—what do you feel he is feeling???
@david– thank you for over-riding me and putting my little rant from the previous thread with this..You were, after all, right.
Peace
john

By: herve

herve — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 07:09:17 +0000

Absolutely, Wendy, yet very few photographers who have achieved greatness are remembered in the end for the totality of an essay (which is not a book, even with a single theme, btw). Richards and Franck do come to mind, where the single-minded totality takes precedence over the single shot (by design/authorship).

Anyway, it’s been an ongoing reflexion, the tyranny of the single shot in the history, not so much of the medium, but its public perception.

By: Uchujin

Uchujin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:23:32 +0000

Jon is one of my favorite photographers on Flickr , which is where I first discovered his work.
This shot is incredibly powerful, like a lot of his work.
Keep it up Jon, fantastic stuff.

By: lisa hogben

lisa hogben — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:49:57 +0000

Hey Tom, yep I am with you on every word you just wrote.

By: matiokawa

matiokawa — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:02:12 +0000

Actually, what I wanted to ask is why is he feeling this way.

By: matiokawa

matiokawa — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:55:12 +0000

Is this person actually feeling this way?

By: erica mcdonald

erica mcdonald — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:36:45 +0000

looks like a self portrait to me..I know (think) all successful photos are in some way self portraits, but this one looks like an actual self portrait to me..

By: marcin luczkowski

marcin luczkowski — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:41:21 +0000

John

Your photos from “meat” series seems to be honest. I need nothing more.
peace

By: Mike R

Mike R — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:12:59 +0000

Reminds me of Bruce Gilden: get behind the snarl and you find the person.
My first reaction on seeing this photograph was to look at John’s website; I wanted to know more. I didn’t find any answers there – just photographs. I don’t subscribe to the just-show-the-photographs school of thought: this is fine for the photographer, who has intimate knowledge of the time and place of each click but not-so for the viewer, who may have no understanding of the lifestyle of the photographer or subject.

I’m so pleased that David moved your post, John, because I missed it in the melee. “A homeless junkie, a sunset, a lone flower peeking through the snow…”? All I see on your website are photographs of people. I’m pleased to see people, you obviously care.

I would so much like to see your story in photographs; obviously you can’t show yourself; but vicariously, through the lives of others. I’m drowning – not waving. We are all equal, we just don’t recognize ourselves asleep on the sidewalk.

Thank you,

Mike.

By: Patricia Lay-Dorsey

Patricia Lay-Dorsey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:33:11 +0000

As a person who also uses a wheelchair I see this man’s frustration, anger and unhappiness. And maybe it’s because he just plain didn’t want to be photographed.

Patricia

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:19:46 +0000

This is a powerful portrait. I can’t tell if the subject is showing anger, despair, or pain (or all three) but the intensity is all too evident. I love how it’s framed and how the only details are in the guy’s face.

Deeply affecting – it’s been branded into my memory …

By: Kirill Surov

Kirill Surov — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:46:05 +0000

Burnt wings, clutched teeth, raw meat – very human. Amazing work.