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Steidl publishing recently made it possible to see in print more easily the book most referenced as a secular work of street photography: The Americans. We hope people getting this book (‘getting’ meant on multiple levels) now realise the latitude of images that make up a street-spirited photo essay.
Essays like the Americans are clearly not page after page of peopled, killer images, and it’s certain that essays like this were not achieved by finding another killer image to get rid of an image that was ‘less’ killer in what you had before.
Without getting into the philosophy of what makes a killer image and what makes for a good image for a photo essay; it’s worth mentioning that the inter-dependent images like those in the Americans would not get promoted in HCSP without the gallery feature.
The set we’re introducing now is actually the specific set of images that made us rethink the promotion philosophy and introduce the gallery feature. This set shows in a compelling way that something dripping with humanity can be delivered with few or no humans.
We discussed with Ludmilla what was going on in her head when she was collecting these images and how did she know that this was a Pacific Boredom capture verses just another image for some other project or set?
Ludmilla described back to us that this wasn’t really a project; it was more like a two month period in her life. It also wasn’t a matter of chasing images that would fit the project; it was more of a need to justify leaving the house. And most importantly, it was all about seeing things outside that looked like how she felt on the inside and collecting these images with her camera to move on.
As far as the title for the set, Ludmilla says her essay's intention benefits both from the words literal use as well as the ideas that are associated with them individually. The actual body of work is a much larger set of forty-five images. We’ve identified what you might describe as a ‘taster set’. If you feel this, then you will really feel this....
Personally, I’m no stranger to gushes of feelings, emotions, and other sensations, usually artificially induced, but I can honestly say I got the same wash without the chemicals after seeing this full set for the first time. Attempting to describe this rush would be ridiculous, but I can say that I felt Henley’s Boys of Summer playing in the background and i certainly had flash backs of bliss, sadness, and yes… moving on…
...
www.flickr.com/search/groups/show/?q=hcspgallery3&m=p...
Essays like the Americans are clearly not page after page of peopled, killer images, and it’s certain that essays like this were not achieved by finding another killer image to get rid of an image that was ‘less’ killer in what you had before.
Without getting into the philosophy of what makes a killer image and what makes for a good image for a photo essay; it’s worth mentioning that the inter-dependent images like those in the Americans would not get promoted in HCSP without the gallery feature.
The set we’re introducing now is actually the specific set of images that made us rethink the promotion philosophy and introduce the gallery feature. This set shows in a compelling way that something dripping with humanity can be delivered with few or no humans.
We discussed with Ludmilla what was going on in her head when she was collecting these images and how did she know that this was a Pacific Boredom capture verses just another image for some other project or set?
Ludmilla described back to us that this wasn’t really a project; it was more like a two month period in her life. It also wasn’t a matter of chasing images that would fit the project; it was more of a need to justify leaving the house. And most importantly, it was all about seeing things outside that looked like how she felt on the inside and collecting these images with her camera to move on.
As far as the title for the set, Ludmilla says her essay's intention benefits both from the words literal use as well as the ideas that are associated with them individually. The actual body of work is a much larger set of forty-five images. We’ve identified what you might describe as a ‘taster set’. If you feel this, then you will really feel this....
Personally, I’m no stranger to gushes of feelings, emotions, and other sensations, usually artificially induced, but I can honestly say I got the same wash without the chemicals after seeing this full set for the first time. Attempting to describe this rush would be ridiculous, but I can say that I felt Henley’s Boys of Summer playing in the background and i certainly had flash backs of bliss, sadness, and yes… moving on…
...
www.flickr.com/search/groups/show/?q=hcspgallery3&m=p...
AlanSmithee2008
Posted 17 years ago
hmmmm. I really wanted to enjoy this set of images. I even watched the slideshow twice. and let the images just 'sit'. I think i know where they were coming from. I think i know where they took the author. I even think I could identify with the theme portrayed....but i also found the whole thing a bit tedious; A bit 'fine art not fully thought out', if that makes sense. There were four really strong images(for me), and one other that i felt. The rest just didnt gel together as anything that i would consider' finished'.
An artistic essay for sure, and a definite attempt at grouping a set of images to portray a specific 'state' of seeing/feeling/being. I just dont think its cooked yet.
Note.
Way nearer fine art photography than "street" photography; or is that line blurring all the time also now, what with very bad vernacular being considered for approval?
An artistic essay for sure, and a definite attempt at grouping a set of images to portray a specific 'state' of seeing/feeling/being. I just dont think its cooked yet.
Note.
Way nearer fine art photography than "street" photography; or is that line blurring all the time also now, what with very bad vernacular being considered for approval?
~Joe~
Posted 17 years ago
Alan, what you say is fair. Thanks for setting the right tone for discussing this stretch of the definition with some relevant and thought provoking feelings toward the gallery. I hope others can keep it this clinical! :-)
rainy digestion [deleted]
Posted 17 years ago
Edited by rainy digestion (member) 17 years ago
Before this escalates into yet another tedious back-and-forth, can we just agree to either enjoy the images and be happy that we've enjoyed them, or not enjoy them and acknowledge that some have, and that some will, in the future? This isn't aimed at you directly, Alan; I'm just seeing where this might go, and don't want the images to become tainted by the discourse that may inevitably surround them (that sort of discourse often being at a great remove from discussion or criticism about the images themselves).
I found this today, looking up something completely unrelated, but perhaps connected:
www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.evans/psychogeog.html
I like the idea of dérive. I think it provides the missing link between "street" and "the other stuff" that some people seem to need. Taking photos to understand things. Taking photos of people, sometimes, to understand people; other times taking photos of the places where people are, the places where people have been, the places where people will be. Why should that be relevant here? 不为什么. No reason why. Just accept that it exists, and either reject it, or take a deep breath and let it fill you up. Because it is here.
There are no lines in the sand here, art on one side, street on the other; this is just people doing things, making things, and other people looking at them, thinking about them. It isn't a fight, a tug-of-war, a quest by something new for dominance over something old. Please, please: can this thread be a positive thread, fuelled by some of the creative energy all of the admins here know is out there, as opposed to driven, demonically, by some negative and banal desire to squabble with others within the confines and safety of your computer monitor.
And yes, vernacular is being accepted, when it is good and interesting. Nothing "bad", whatever bad is, is generally "considered" for approval.
This set by Lud is good, and it fits here, and it has reason and motive and purpose. I don't like all of it, and I may have ordered it differently, but I like - greatly like - that it is here, in this group.
I found this today, looking up something completely unrelated, but perhaps connected:
The dérive is the first step toward an urban praxis. It is a stroll through the city by several people who are out to understand the "psychogeographical articulation of the modern city". The strollers attempt an interpretive reading of the city, an architectural understanding. They look at the city as a special instance of repressed desires. At the same time, they engage in "playful reconstructive behavior". Together they turn the city around.
www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.evans/psychogeog.html
I like the idea of dérive. I think it provides the missing link between "street" and "the other stuff" that some people seem to need. Taking photos to understand things. Taking photos of people, sometimes, to understand people; other times taking photos of the places where people are, the places where people have been, the places where people will be. Why should that be relevant here? 不为什么. No reason why. Just accept that it exists, and either reject it, or take a deep breath and let it fill you up. Because it is here.
There are no lines in the sand here, art on one side, street on the other; this is just people doing things, making things, and other people looking at them, thinking about them. It isn't a fight, a tug-of-war, a quest by something new for dominance over something old. Please, please: can this thread be a positive thread, fuelled by some of the creative energy all of the admins here know is out there, as opposed to driven, demonically, by some negative and banal desire to squabble with others within the confines and safety of your computer monitor.
And yes, vernacular is being accepted, when it is good and interesting. Nothing "bad", whatever bad is, is generally "considered" for approval.
This set by Lud is good, and it fits here, and it has reason and motive and purpose. I don't like all of it, and I may have ordered it differently, but I like - greatly like - that it is here, in this group.
"How is this street? And i don't see any people in some of these photos..." - roommate
I like the photos though, first time i've seen her work.
I like the photos though, first time i've seen her work.
migue1ito
Posted 17 years ago
@ scribeoflight. dérive is an interesting way of putting it - i like the idea.
and I like the set alot. its such a shame that flickr, or maybe the people using flickr are so prone to pigeonhole images and to not view things as a more long term, organic process. reading about how this was shot and looking at the images give a really nice insight into someone working with a particular drive and direction. you can see someone who is really trying to articulate themselves visually, whatever the technique.
and I like the set alot. its such a shame that flickr, or maybe the people using flickr are so prone to pigeonhole images and to not view things as a more long term, organic process. reading about how this was shot and looking at the images give a really nice insight into someone working with a particular drive and direction. you can see someone who is really trying to articulate themselves visually, whatever the technique.
@ scribeoflight
Interestingly (or not) one of the psychogeographic maps of Paris that Debord knocked up as a result of his dérives was titled "The Naked City" in a nod to the detective film and so back to Weegee. I think.
Carry on.
Interestingly (or not) one of the psychogeographic maps of Paris that Debord knocked up as a result of his dérives was titled "The Naked City" in a nod to the detective film and so back to Weegee. I think.
Carry on.
LoFiKen
Posted 17 years ago
This is a great set, it is rich and at the same time it feels like a void. It accepts interpretation and emotion from the viewer.
Arcady Genkin
Posted 17 years ago
I think that including pictures where the "peopled" dimention is implicit is the best thing that happened to HCSP pool recently (the worst being the attempt at sequencing ;^) ).
It would make sense to provide a hyperlink to a slideshow of the HCSP edit of this set, just like it was done with the previous Galleries.
Thanks for this gallery, I think that it is very timely.
It would make sense to provide a hyperlink to a slideshow of the HCSP edit of this set, just like it was done with the previous Galleries.
Thanks for this gallery, I think that it is very timely.
Here's a hyperlink to the slideshow:
www.flickr.com/search/groups/show/?q=hcspgallery3&m=p...
the problem is the same one we had with Mecan's set, flickr doesn't show them in the order they are in the pool. Useless! If the slideshow order can't be controlled, we're wasting our time trying to sequence these galleries.
www.flickr.com/search/groups/show/?q=hcspgallery3&m=p...
the problem is the same one we had with Mecan's set, flickr doesn't show them in the order they are in the pool. Useless! If the slideshow order can't be controlled, we're wasting our time trying to sequence these galleries.
sad, but true. when i watched the set i felt like alan - some nice pics, but lacking a structure. now looking at them in the pool, proper sequenced in two rows, like in a real gallery, makes so much more sense. maybe it would be good to create a place outside of flickr where you can show these galleries in an appropriate way, like la pura vida does it. but i don´t think blogs are an alternative, because they only allow vertical arrangements which is also very limiting
curdiogenes
Posted 17 years ago
Mark_H
the only workaround I can see until flickr pulls their heads out of their asses is maybe upload a start and end slide into the gallery and play the slideshow directly from the hcsp pool....
can admins order the pool anyway they want?
the only workaround I can see until flickr pulls their heads out of their asses is maybe upload a start and end slide into the gallery and play the slideshow directly from the hcsp pool....
can admins order the pool anyway they want?
Tell your room-mate that street ≠ humans, but street = humanity ;)
al cafone
Posted 17 years ago
@Mark_H: you can ask the photographer who has been chosen to display a gallery to organise a set edited as per HCSP will and then link to the related slideshow.
The set would be named "set blah blah edited by HCSP".
That slideshow will display the pictures in the order you want. Easy.
The set would be named "set blah blah edited by HCSP".
That slideshow will display the pictures in the order you want. Easy.
.. greg ..
Posted 17 years ago
I can't decide how I feel about the eclectic aspect of the selection -- the photos are wonderful, there is a very strong sense of narrative, and yet this narrative is interrupted every three or four photos by something unexpected, almost jarring. Which naturally leads me to think of the set as still unfinished, still needing to be edited, and yet, upon reflection, I'm not sure..
Part of me feels like the juxtaposition of photos that wouldn't otherwise seem to belong together is incredibly well done, and help push the narrative further -- I imagine a heart-broken photographer, wandering through cement streets and ocean seascapes and just taking it all in, taking picture after melancholy picture.
Part of me feels like the juxtaposition of photos that wouldn't otherwise seem to belong together is incredibly well done, and help push the narrative further -- I imagine a heart-broken photographer, wandering through cement streets and ocean seascapes and just taking it all in, taking picture after melancholy picture.
ceaseless oven [deleted]
Posted 17 years ago
The problem that I have with the set is similar to what greg mentions, its the sub edit... when I viewed the original as a whole, I got something different from it, and if I was to present a taster to it I (and I presume everyone who views it) would have done it differently.
I suppose its the problem with such a loose subject, personal interpretations and connections to subject matter and the fact we like to think of ourselves as photographers.
"I don't like all of it, and I may have ordered it differently"
If you have a spare minute could you show us?
I'd love to see how other people would sequence this thing
I suppose its the problem with such a loose subject, personal interpretations and connections to subject matter and the fact we like to think of ourselves as photographers.
"I don't like all of it, and I may have ordered it differently"If you have a spare minute could you show us?
I'd love to see how other people would sequence this thing
I just watched the slideshow and really enjoyed it and it makes me want to get out and start looking which is as good as it gets.
It still needs finer editing, in my eyes, but isn't that what flickr's for....we can stick everything in a set and see how it works and we're continually refining the series.
Anyway, beautiful work, I'm very glad I had the chance to view it.
It still needs finer editing, in my eyes, but isn't that what flickr's for....we can stick everything in a set and see how it works and we're continually refining the series.
Anyway, beautiful work, I'm very glad I had the chance to view it.
mort*
Posted 17 years ago
Beautiful set - especially the full version and I'd love to see these printed. The Americans comparison is very apt Joe. I've nothing specific to say about the images other than they hit me on an emotional level... big time! And that's all that counts.
curdiogenes
Posted 17 years ago
Haven't had time to comment, still don't in depth, but I'm a fan, man.