I agree with your general point – making any image which can cross all time and cultural boundaries is difficult – but I feel that this image is not particularly dependent upon an understanding of boats.

Most of the viewers I’ve discussed this with have seen it as a boat and have let “boat” lead their imagination.

But try hard and forget “boat” and see if there is still an image worth looking at. “Boat” wasn’t particularly at the top of my mind when I took the photo.

Then again, all image perception is depending on the viewer knowing something…

But, beyond that , I like intellectualizing

Me too

But, you might want, at some time, to evoke some specific mood……

That goes to the nub of the “communication” debate. Ask me again in a decade, but at the moment I forsee no occasion when I would put that much intent into a picture.

Was it you who said that A&P…

No, not me. David, I would guess.

I think you can take your photos in any state of mind you wish (as if I could give you such permission!) But, you might want, at some time, to evoke some specific mood and now you’ve collected bits of information that might help you if you want “scary.” Or not.

But, beyond that , I like intellectualizing — not so much when I’m making art, but after I’ve made it and certainly when I’m looking at it. I find it just plain fun — exhilarating when I’m close to truth and even more exhilarating when I miss the mark completely. I don’t take any intellectualizing very seriously — I’ve been around too much BS to get all hot and bothered by words — but I still love to do it, particularly as a “large element of fun and spontaneity.” So you’ll just have to consider the source of the comments.

Was it you who said that A&P was most fun, not necessarily for the content of the posts, but for the on-going conversation? That’s what I mean by “intellectualizing.”

(a) focus

Focus and blur are essential tools in photography (you’ll recognise those photos from an earlier thread).

Because not everything can be in focus, then often it is best to work with the medium and use blur to advantage. However, some images need no blur – still life and landscape are two areas where people commonly strive for back to front sharpness. This is where somebody drawing or painting has an advantage.

(b) scary

I find it odd that people find (some of) my photos scary or anxious making as they are invariably taken with a light heart. I know this because when I’m not in a light mood I’m rarely taking photos.

It is seriously possible to over intellectualise art making and the resulting art works. A lot of photography is about saying “hey, that’s neat, click”. Slower media may not be quite the same, but surely there still can be a large element of fun and spontaneity. At least I hope so.

I also have been thinking a lot about focus since I have been looking at Colin’s boat picture. Earlier, I thought that the focusing issue was a handicap in photography. But I has just dawned on me that blurring is a powerful method. In painting, it is not just used in distance perspective. Angela Ferreira in Fado blurred the left foreground to make it appear that the street is sliding away.

How would you implement that in textile art?