Comments on: New project http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html a multi-disciplinary dialog Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:44:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Steve Durbin http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34208 Steve Durbin Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:15:38 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34208 Tree, Probably the whiteness is due to overexposure, though there might well be some detail there I could capture--don't have it in front of me now. Though anathema by Ansel Adams standards, I think going to a white sky can sometimes be interesting, though I think it's less appropriate for yours. I haven't decided whether I should try to recover some sky detail here. It might be OK in some images, but I don't especially like having inconsistent skies. Yes, your houses have large, flat color areas, which contributes to that monolithic quality Jay mentioned. A good foil for ornamental detail, something you can really work with. I think it's a similar perceptual dynamic: obvious symmetry points to asymmetries large, flat areas point to details Tree,
Probably the whiteness is due to overexposure, though there might well be some detail there I could capture–don’t have it in front of me now. Though anathema by Ansel Adams standards, I think going to a white sky can sometimes be interesting, though I think it’s less appropriate for yours. I haven’t decided whether I should try to recover some sky detail here. It might be OK in some images, but I don’t especially like having inconsistent skies.

Yes, your houses have large, flat color areas, which contributes to that monolithic quality Jay mentioned. A good foil for ornamental detail, something you can really work with. I think it’s a similar perceptual dynamic:

obvious symmetry points to asymmetries
large, flat areas point to details

]]> By: Tree http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34205 Tree Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:20:33 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34205 "One aspect is just the emphasis on strong shapes and relatively large tonal regions (somewhat like color fields)." Just like my houses :-) These photos are good, Steve. I'm curious about the background in the first one. Is this whiteness intentional? I used to struggle with white skies in my black and white photos. “One aspect is just the emphasis on strong shapes and relatively large tonal regions (somewhat like color fields).”

Just like my houses :-)

These photos are good, Steve. I’m curious about the background in the first one. Is this whiteness intentional? I used to struggle with white skies in my black and white photos.

]]> By: Steve Durbin http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34195 Steve Durbin Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:10:58 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34195 <img src="http://www.artandperception.com/v01/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/9024-450.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.artandperception.com/v01/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/8957-450.jpg" />Tree, Well, the abstraction thing is a grand concept I'm still working out, and probably will be posting more on before too long. One aspect is just the emphasis on strong shapes and relatively large tonal regions (somewhat like color fields). This may be somewhat more obvious in the examples above, where these aspects have less distraction from the dramatic curves and emotion. Another aspect is the generalization to the degree that associations with completely different subjects can come into play, as in the "landscape" I show below. <img src="http://www.artandperception.com/v01/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/9201-450.jpg" />David, Yes, there really is a connection with the landscapes, sometimes fairly directly, as with the above image that reminds me of June's hills: <img src="http://www.artandperception.com/v01/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/abovecantranch-450.jpg" />You're also right that leaving the tripod can be freeing and I think this will be a bridge to further handheld photography. Jay, Good observation! Yes, I'm playing more with blur, as I was with the pears. You're also right about the light, but it's not sunset but sunrise light. Mary, I am fascinated by the eyes. They're so big that I can sometimes see myself and the landscape in them. Maybe I'll include one in a future self-portrait post. Tree,
Well, the abstraction thing is a grand concept I’m still working out, and probably will be posting more on before too long. One aspect is just the emphasis on strong shapes and relatively large tonal regions (somewhat like color fields). This may be somewhat more obvious in the examples above, where these aspects have less distraction from the dramatic curves and emotion. Another aspect is the generalization to the degree that associations with completely different subjects can come into play, as in the “landscape” I show below.

David,
Yes, there really is a connection with the landscapes, sometimes fairly directly, as with the above image that reminds me of June’s hills:

You’re also right that leaving the tripod can be freeing and I think this will be a bridge to further handheld photography.

Jay,
Good observation! Yes, I’m playing more with blur, as I was with the pears. You’re also right about the light, but it’s not sunset but sunrise light.

Mary,
I am fascinated by the eyes. They’re so big that I can sometimes see myself and the landscape in them. Maybe I’ll include one in a future self-portrait post.

]]> By: Mary Scriver http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34122 Mary Scriver Fri, 31 Aug 2007 03:20:59 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-34122 I like these horses very much, esp. the first photo -- which is nicely balanced between sentiment and function on the parts of the horses. You know that little squeeze or the noogies you give a friend when you've been rubbing their back for them? And it's interesting to look at the eyes. Naive artists have a tendency to put people eyes on their horses, and these horses DO have people eyes! The camera can't lie! Normally horse eyes are the eyes of prey, set to the side and slightly bugged so they can see all around in case a cougar is creeping up. But these horses might be relaxed enough to be telling stories, as at a cocktail party. "And then I said..." Prairie Mary I like these horses very much, esp. the first photo — which is nicely balanced between sentiment and function on the parts of the horses. You know that little squeeze or the noogies you give a friend when you’ve been rubbing their back for them?

And it’s interesting to look at the eyes. Naive artists have a tendency to put people eyes on their horses, and these horses DO have people eyes! The camera can’t lie! Normally horse eyes are the eyes of prey, set to the side and slightly bugged so they can see all around in case a cougar is creeping up. But these horses might be relaxed enough to be telling stories, as at a cocktail party. “And then I said…”

Prairie Mary

]]> By: Jay Hoffman http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-33901 Jay Hoffman Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:43:32 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-33901 Steve: Before I let this post slide by without a comment, let me say that that first picture is terrific. I'm sure that you took that shot from across the crowded room, yet it seems that you are next in line for an equine nuzzle or two. Let me guess that your focus experiments with the pears are bearing fruit in this, another topic. The horse on the right is very nicely blurred, and in a manner that draws attention to the eye, which,itself, draws my eye back into the composition. The light, too, is provocative: sunset? A very special place where horses revel and dream? Steve:

Before I let this post slide by without a comment, let me say that that first picture is terrific. I’m sure that you took that shot from across the crowded room, yet it seems that you are next in line for an equine nuzzle or two. Let me guess that your focus experiments with the pears are bearing fruit in this, another topic. The horse on the right is very nicely blurred, and in a manner that draws attention to the eye, which,itself, draws my eye back into the composition. The light, too, is provocative: sunset? A very special place where horses revel and dream?

]]> By: David http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-33862 David Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:28:41 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-33862 Steve, it looks like a great project for you. Most of the photos I've seen of horses (not that I've looked at that many) have been of the whole horse, or a "portrait" of the head. The idea of getting in close, and especially capturing the interaction between horses, seems like it could tie in well with the work you've been doing with landscapes. I think it's good that it forces you to abandon the tripod. You'll discover more things that emerge without calculation. Steve, it looks like a great project for you. Most of the photos I’ve seen of horses (not that I’ve looked at that many) have been of the whole horse, or a “portrait” of the head. The idea of getting in close, and especially capturing the interaction between horses, seems like it could tie in well with the work you’ve been doing with landscapes. I think it’s good that it forces you to abandon the tripod. You’ll discover more things that emerge without calculation.

]]> By: birgit http://artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-33763 birgit Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:38:21 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/new-project.html#comment-33763 ‘Horse Nudes’ sent me down memory lane. I vaguely remember 'Perrudja' by Jahnn (1894-1959), a book that I read as teenager in which the main character had erotic feelings for his horse. De.wikipedia says that Hans Henny Jahnn's works remind of Surrealism in the painting. ‘Horse Nudes’ sent me down memory lane.

I vaguely remember ‘Perrudja’ by Jahnn (1894-1959), a book that I read as teenager in which the main character had erotic feelings for his horse.

De.wikipedia says that Hans Henny Jahnn’s works remind of Surrealism in the painting.

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