Photography : Three Bamboos

Photography : Three Bamboos

The intense photography of Trente Parke, Part I

Trent Parke (born 1971) is an Australian photographer, member of Magnum Photos.

For me he’s the best street photographer ever. You’ll find in his work : energy, composition, mystery, questions, technique (light, long pauses), intensity…

I’ll make a second article with his colors.

Little Snow in Lille, France

Little Snow in Lille, France. January 2019.

What does the photographer do in sterile new neighborhood?

What does the photographer do in sterile new neighborhood?

One question the thinker asks is : “Why do you live here?”. Do you live in a quiet old village, or in a quiet new clean street? Left, or right?

Out of the obvious :

1. On the left, you’d better like your neighbors – and where do you park your fucking car?
2. On the right, how do you breathe, where’s beauty, where’s life? What would you add (pot of flowers, old things?) not to die in a few days?

Well, it’s too easy, right?

Therefore the entry for my article is the photographer. What do I do? It’s all concrete, straight lines, everything’s smooth!

Hmmm. I could look for cracks, mistakes and flaws, that’s funny, like a revenge of the world. So there! Places like these are like tanned fashion models : entirely boring. And you’re relieved when you notice a flaw : a bit too thick calf, a little scar…

Well, OK. I could try to find line harmonies, colors and clouds, find the “mood of the place”, but I’m not Stephen Shore, sadly :

Another possibility is to cling onto nature : the sky, grass (1), or find a little demon watching (2), or walk just enough to find an old barrier (sigh of relief) (3), or, well, play with my cam in a minimalist mood (4).

What would you do?

Thanks for reading!

la photographie not good

Back home today with my Canon G9X, from the train station through a little park I love, I took pictures and I posted a few here.

Here is an exercise. I chose 9 failed pictures. What I noticed is when a photography is not good, you can do what you want : change colors, reframe like this or like that, it will always LACK something :

1. For picture 1 I was sure to make something interesting, because of the quiet work site : the blocks/pipes layout, the noony harsh light. I didn’t manage to “resolve” it. I should have come in the evening, maybe. Or climb somewhere.
2. The E.T. block on picture 2 was funny, but it cut the girl’s legs for no reason, and the “sense” of the image is just nonexistant. I reframed it like a fool until I saw there was nothing to do about it.
3. I love picture 3 because it’s a reflection, you can feel the warm city mood, I managed to underexpose it the good way and the picture has a good structure, framed by shadows. But well well well : it’s blurry, and this is not Alex Webb, right?
4. The bridges in picture 4 are great, the light is good, the guy is luckily in the sun and the tulips are just perfect on the right. Nevertheless it’s not good. Too far. Too flat.
5. The guy with the trumpet on picture 5 was funny to watch (and to hear with is ducky wrong notes). I asked him for a picture after this one but I failed to take any good pics. This one is wrong : the trash, the light, the background.
6. Picture 6 is like “yeah yeah yeah humans and architecture”. Could have been good but it’s not but I don’t know what to do here.
7. Picture 7 lacks a kid or two, that’s all.
8. Picture 8 is like too easy, right? Contrasts, underexposition, verticality. To “eighties Rayban ad”, oui? Nope.
9. Picture 9 is the “OK but so what?” type. I was lucky with the blue (sky, car, shorts), that’s it. Pff.

 

What’d you’ve done, dear?

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

Werner Bischof, Swiss photographer

Werner Bischof (1916-1954) was one of the first Magnum Photos member.

Harmony. Moderation. A humanist. The most “awwee” photographer I know.

 

Have a nice day!

JP

Paul Graham, British photographer

Staged or not?

For most photographers, you feel and know that they “just” took the picture, right? Even the most talented. Though hey had to decide many things (the cam adjustments, the frame, the moment), they took the picture. And I love that, from Eggleston who looks like he’s a magic-eyed kid trying to gather shells, to Shore who “resolves” a picture, inventing a perfect moment with the light and how he structures what he catches.

So yes, I admit there’s pleasure, in photography, in the movement of my brain trying “to find what the photographer wants”.

For example, Paul Graham‘s picture (the man with the lawnmower) is a great photography (the light, the rain, the atmosphere, the lucky tee-shirt/road sign correspondances) in itself, I learned that it was also a part of series of photos, showed in a certain order, which brought another dimension.

Working in series is interesting : you again think on what “is showed here”. A juxtaposition? A process? What’s the link : time, drama, correspondances, random?

TOOL :

…questioning what photography can say, be, or look like.

What do you question in your Art? In poetry or marketing, teaching or composing, fashion or decoration, blogging?

Again, again : Is it smart to make your audience think – and be aware of what’s happening (in your work/in your head/in their head), or do you prefer bring them in a dream, as usual?

Is reality simple or complex? Where is inadequation?

Thanks for reading!

Television Portrait (Cathy, London) 1989 Paul Graham born 1956 Purchased 1994 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P77635

vuescan + 9000

“Untriggered by assessments” : What does the photographer want?

I just had a good conversation with F. L. Larkins, an English photographer, after an article I wrote about her work.

Fiona Louise Larkins, English photographer

I subsequently updated my article, and I realized it was a good way to introduce another text about the photographer’s motivations.

It made me think, watched more pictures. There’s something I know : if I see a silhouette walking in the misty woods, or someone watching absently through a window (when it rains -> droplets on the glass), I don’t fall for it. I never fall for it. I just smile and I click away.

I see “the author wants me to notice it is a melancholic moment“. Like Nathalie Sarraute in literature, I disbelieve, I’m in assessment mode, I’m bored.

If I see lovers under an umbrella I smile “it’s cute, they’re in love and luck, right?”. But… No.

(though I love to be with my lover under an umbrella, listening to the subtle sounds of the rain on it)

So what does the photographer want? To testify of something? To fake happiness (like often on Instagram)? To gently mock the craziness of the world (Martin Parr)? To resolve a picture (Stephen Shore)? To have an audience, interest? To “express” oneself? To denounce?

You can make this exercize : watch your own Instagram, then watch the Instagrammers you follow.

Who do I love?

• triciaetlea : humanism and sense of the frame.
• jazzy_jeff57 : modestly shows the world.
• mariakdolores : adorably sarcastic.
• mariadelsur : shows Paris.
• studioriquois : haunting landscapes of the North.
• ninas982 : splendid atmospheres with no people.
• natela_grigalashvili : people from Georgia.
• johngiannatos : sparky human lover.

 

And many others. Diversity of motivations! But none of them give me instructions on how I must feel. Openness, subtleties.

I want to raise an eyebrow, to smile, or to have the desire to know the woman or the man behind the cam. Not to be “guided”. The audience triggers what he wants or needs or dream to see. Every single artist/viewer is a free thinker and a great soul. When sparks sparkle : Thank you!!

 

Thanks for reading!

(sorry for my English)

 

 

 

Pentti Sammallahti, Finnish photographer

Pentti Sammallahti is a Finnish photographer born in 1950.

Delicate. Snow. Animals. Quiet. Panoramic shots.

Plenty of images here : http://www.espritsnomades.com/artsplastiques/Sammallahti/Sammallahti.html and on Pinterest, of course!

Have a nice day!

René Burri, Swiss Photographer, Part 2 : Black & White

After René Burri, Swiss Photographer, Part 1 : Color, let’s watch his black & white work now.

 

 

 

 

 

Fabio Vittorelli, Italian Photographer

He Italian, did you guess it?

It’s hard to define his style. He likes the streets. His pictures are careful, like conscientious. He likes lines. There’s a Virgo, in this guy, for sure. His Facebook page is great!

It’s not enthralling like Eggleston, haunting like Stephen Shore. It’s not toxically splendid like Gruyaert. But each picture almost makes you “stop and ohhh”…

Like the one I put on top. The lines. Including the dark sea…

No genius here : good ideas, good frames, meticulousness, and a genuine desire to show. He makes splendid nudes. There’s tenderness, here, and I love it!

Have a nice day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Adams, American photographer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Adams_(photographer)

Robert Adams (born 1937) is an American photographer “who focused on the changing landscapes of the American West”.

I like his photos, and understood I liked it because he works on borders : between nature and men things, between the past and now, he works on where things… rub.

 

Have a nice week end!

 

JP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter De Bruyne, Belgian Photographer

http://www.peterdebruyne.com/

Peter De Bruyne comes from Belgium. He takes pictures of his country, or Poland, or USA. And see : he likes to be blurry!

Well, I’m interested in guys who don”t obey. Too dark, too blurry : “mistakes”. Therefore (maybe), there he goes!

You can find you own seeds in this approach (don’t obey rules, do something which seems wrong, insist). You can also think about this : “What does the artist want?”. The mood without the objects? Abstraction? You decide.

Have a nice day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Why do you live in this place?” – Shore & Depardon

Bonjour tout le monde !

In the preface of a French photography book called “Habiter en France” (“To live in France”, by Raymond Depardon), the writer says that it’s one of the most intimate question : “Why do you live in this place?”.

Indeed, I think he’s right. It comes from the deepest of the deep. Parents, roots, the sky, people around. We stay “here”, but why? What’s the bond? What do we like? Why do we live here? These questions seem to put us in a thoughtful silence…

Today, the 23 December 2017, I got this huge, heavy, mythical book from Stephen Shore, one of the best American photographer ever : “Uncommon Places”. It’s a present I made to myself…

Both books, one in the USA, one in France, like to show what is rarely showed. Not the Eiffel tower. Not New York. But little roads, normal houses, parking lots. And certainly not in a bad way. Uncommon places in America, and where do people live in France.

They both “insist” on photographing these places until we feel the mood, the sky, the silence or the little winds…

I remember this friend from Kansas, feeling the summer air here in France, like… “Ohhhhh… There is something…”.

 

I LOVE to have these two books together. In this blog, it’s because I found a common structure, a pattern, of course. Pictures of normal life. And as usual :

The pleasure comes from “finding the subtle differences” within these cousin works…

 

Merry Christmas! Thanks for reading!

 

Originally published in 1982, Stephen Shore’s legendary Uncommon Places has influenced more than a generation of photographers. Shore was among the first artists to take color beyond the domain of advertising and fashion photography, and his large-format color work on the American vernacular landscape stands at the root of what has become a vital photographic tradition over the past forty years. Uncommon Places: The Complete Works, published by Aperture in 2004, presents a definitive collection of the landmark series, and in the span of a decade, has become a contemporary classic. Now, for this lushly produced reissue, the artist has added twenty rediscovered images and a statement explaining what it means to expand a series now many decades old.

John Giannatos, Greek Street Photographer #streetphotography

I follow more than 2400 persons on Instagram – I love this tool. This is Earth, humanity! For only a few ladies & guys, I activated the “tell me when she/he publishes” option. John Giannatos is one of them.

No genius here. He is just GOOD. He’s a street photographer. And you can see kindness, empathy, a sense of the things which make a good photography : light, moment, frame. He loves people, that’s obvious. John Giannatos. I don’t know him. You’ll find it, right?

Bravo, and thank you, stranger.

 

Thanks for reading!

Colors of Saul Leiter, #Photographer

Saul Leiter (1923 – 2013) was an American photographer. He worked for fashion magazines and remained unknown until late in his life.

He photographed the streets of New York in color, when everybody considered that black & white was the only serious way to be a photographer. He captures moments, empty quiet seconds, he likes to play with frames, complex reflections, blurry lights. Each photo is charged in mood : heat, melancholy, waiting, thinking, sudden snow magic, thinking, loneliness…

Google his name! Thanks for reading/watching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Shore, mesmeric #Photographer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Shore

Stephen Shore is very special to me.

• Like William Eggleston, he’s one great artist who “rediscovered” color photography when everybody was shooting in black & white.
• He uses light and sun (and therefore the shadows) like nobody else.
• He likes to take normal, “non interesting” places, like suburbs, streets, parkings – I am very touched by this approach.
• His book, Uncommon Places, is a marvel.
• Each photography is charged with a mood. You can almost breathe the air of it.
• He has his own way of photographing normal lands, cars, streets, people with so much… care that all these become fascinating, mesmeric.

 

I found 12 pictures for you (plus the front cover of his book). Stare at these.

Have a nice day!

 

 

 

Léonard Misonne, Photographer or Painter?

Léonard Misonne is a Belgian photographer who died in 1943. The first time I saw a picture, I Pinterested it in “Painters” – sure it was a (great) painting.

Nope, this man is a photographer! Of course, he is a “pictorialist” : he retouched his work a lot – way before Photoshop or Instagram filters. So there. It’s academic but my eyes are delighted. The way he uses the light, of course…

But mainly : Belgium is a few miles North of my city of Lille, in France. And therefore I’m touched because he captures “this” light we have in the sky, these autumnal sudden cracks in the clouds from where the sun becomes resplendent, the November moods when water draws mirrors on the roads after endless days of grey drizzle…

Have a nice day!

 

 

 

 

Mabel Morrison, #photographer

Mabel Morrison seems obsessed with reflections. Her Instagram keeps me in a awe. Where, how, why? I think of Saul Leiter, of course, but not only. The colors, the frame, the “moment”, the choices : it’s splendid work! It’s generous, and well done, and I smile.

Behind the “reflection” trick, there’s a sense of color, a chase for sweet life, or dramatic mysteries, quiet boredom. This is a good place for Art to be. And look at them : each one could inspire you a beginning of a novel, right? Thanks you. And…

… Bravo!

OK, enough words. Just look :

https://www.instagram.com/mabelmorrison/

Harry #Gruyaert, photographer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Gruyaert

Harry_Gruyaert is a Belgian photographer, member of Magnum Photos. He’s well known for his work with color (in a way I love : cf Saul Leiter, William Eggleston, Stephen Shore). Let’s say… he pushes some levers. He has this capacity to stop you from seeing so many images. Like : “Hey, wait a minute….”.

I’m deeply in love with his work.

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!