Comments on: Photograffiti

By: Steve Durbin

Steve Durbin — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:48:29 +0000

Birgit,
I just saw your tally — thanks for doing that. More important than the count is, I want to go back and get a sense of why color was or wasn’t favored, and what else it may be related to for different viewers. Thanks again for your detailed comment about that.

By: Steve Durbin

Steve Durbin — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:45:39 +0000

Rex, thanks for your comments. You’ve identified something I’ve been thinking about more and more, the idea of story. Sometimes that can arise from presenting a (potentially) dramatic moment. I think it can also arise from depictions where you can easily put yourself in the scene, and then the natural human inclination toward story takes over, we naturally ask ourselves “what happened here?” or “what’s going to happen next?” Especially if the scene is a little odd, putting one off-balance, leaving one wondering…

By: birgit

birgit — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:15:48 +0000

So far, we are evenly split.

Monochrome: David, Leslie, Karl, Rex (? Color does not help)

Color: June, Birgit , Chantal, D.

By: D.

D. — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:02:10 +0000

For me, the most thrilling aspect of the creative process is when decisions are based on the “life” of the work and not the formal qualities of “art”.

Of this series, I favor the color print for two reasons: it captures the contrast of the two different light sources and feels more specific to the experience as “contemporary”.

And I think the idea of showing your work at work is great. Maybe an Opening during coffee break?

By: Rex

Rex — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 04:23:41 +0000

Steve,

I think I’m becoming a fan of your work… No, I definitely am.

I’m going to answer your questions indirectly therefore. I’ll tell you what works for me. That way you can decide which rendering is best.

What I like about your work is that it stimulates my imagination. Like Birgit, in that staircase, I saw the set of an action scene, for example. I was haunted by the next moment. So the way to decide which is best is: Which one is asks the stronger question? Don’t give the game away. Let your viewer finish it.

Does the color in the color version help that? (I think not.) The greater contrast in the first of the second set? Better or not? Well, the way the light part glows around the Medusa figure is damn spooky. (I like that.)

You have an eye for mystery and ambiguity. You are beyond technique with an eye before the world and the means well behind you.

Great stuff, man.

By: birgit

birgit — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:04:24 +0000

Steve,
One possible theme for an exhibit could be (1) to show the flow of light in the monochrome ghost series and (2) to illustrate how the flow of light is dependent on color by showing the graffity pictures in monochrome and color.

The graffiti pictures may be the perfect choice to illustrate the difference that color makes because of the sense of menace some of us, who are too remote from the inner city culture, feel It looks like the set of some action movie where some stylish bad guy is about to come down the staircase .

By: Steve Durbin

Steve Durbin — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 22:57:55 +0000

Karl,
Yes, the city scene is more like a mural, but most of the walls are a more chaotic mix of images and words. I love your observation about the puddle. Since we expect the reflection in a puddle to be imperfect, the fact that the original subject is an illusion becomes less noticeable, and we accept it as real.

Interesting that the very color which differentiates areas of the image and helps Birgit’s eye move in a directed way, for you disturbs a relationship that is more apparent in the monochrome version. This nice example not only illustrates the truism that different viewers appreciate differently, but show us more precisely how they differ (in the case of you two).