“What is it about this world that demands an image?”

[bmattock]

Not everyone knows everybody, sure.
A couple of weeks ago I listened to a conversation a cashier had with a young barista (at LePain Quotidien, not Starbuck's mind you 😛) and he didn't know Bob Dylan. I asked her how anyone could not know him, she just raised her shoulders and said , he's twenty... we both smiled.

I just assume most do not know the music I tend to appreciate. I would most likely get blank stares if I mentioned Agent Orange, Amy LaVere, TSOL, Cal Smith, 5 Chinese Brothers, James McMurtry, Red Lorry/Yellow Lorry, Shonen Knife, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Nathan (the band), Roxie Music, Soft Machine, and King Crimson. Etc.

Dylan? Yeah, he's cool. But he makes me think of Warren Zevon, whom I also liked quite a bit.

 

[Nh3]

I've read about them ... they can make your voice suddenly get deeper and cause you to grow extra body hair in unusual places!

Have you seen the movie Taxi Driver, the main character looks too much in the mirror and suddenly starts asking his own image in the mirror, "are you talking to me?"

All I'm saying is that one too many self-portraits could have adverse psychological ramifications which might manifest itself as forum-hogging, flaming and finally to biting chicken's head to drinking Rodinal etc...

Speaking of self-portraits, where is Pixtu? 😕

 

[Al Kaplan]

Starbucks must hire better baristas here. The ones where I go think it's cool that I photographed Dylan and a whole bunch of other musicians from that era. What they really want me to do is set up my sound system again so they can come over and listen to everybody from Bob Dylan to Pink Floyd on the original vinyl.

 

[Keith]

Have you seen the movie Taxi Driver, the main character looks too much in the mirror and suddenly starts asking his own image in the mirror, "are you talking to me?"

All I'm saying is that one too many self-portraits could have adverse psychological ramifications which might manifest itself as forum-hogging, flaming and finally to biting chicken's head to drinking Rodinal etc...

Speaking of self-portraits, where is Pixtu? 😕

Where in this thread have we been discussing portraits ... stop drinking the rodinal! 😛

 

[Nh3]

Where in this thread have we been discussing portraits ... stop drinking the rodinal! 😛

It has a smooth and silky finish, unlike those Australian wines. 😛

 

[Al Kaplan]

I've been known to shoot a self-portrait or two. I work cheap and don't need a model release.

 

[maddoc]

It has a smooth and silky finish, unlike those Australian wines. 😛

No ... that's HC-110 ! 😛

 

[Nh3]

No ... that's HC-110 ! 😛

I have to try that... but first i need some shots of Iford rapid fixer to get my senses working!

 

[Nh3]

I've been known to shoot a self-portrait or two. I work cheap and don't need a model release.

The dualism of self-portraits is always intriguing. Who's really "you"? the person who pressed the shutter or the person in the photo...?

It can also get really disturbing if you ask yourself to smile and start having small talk with yourself.

 

[quadtones]

Over the years, I've taken an awful lot of photographs of performers--on stage during dress rehearsals of plays [directors thought the actors shouldn't care if I had a camera in their face]--but not performances, where it might interfere with the audiences involvement. In jazz venues, taking available light photos since the 60's, I've often had musicians [whom I'd gotten to know over time] express the idea that the photos being taken became part of the totality of what was going on, and had no real difficulty with my involvement [in small clubs--but large auditoriums are a different sort of venue--people need to sit in their auditorium seats and behave themselves, not have a good time]. Two examples of these [loooow light] shots are attached.

On the other hand, a club owner told me, after his headliner showed up late, more than a few years ago, "Miles is a genius, but that doesn't mean he has to be an a**hole."

 

[Al Kaplan]

Nh3, shortly after I bought the 15mm Heliar a few years ago I tried to get a photo of myself with a friend, and it worked. There was nobody else around to shoot the picture. Then I started playing around with the technique, documenting my life, the places I went, the people I knew. It was fun! The image of me is pure acting. Other people in the picfture might not realize that I'm even taking a picture or that they're included. They're not acting. I hold the camera in one hand or the other and have become adept at winding and firing one handed. I usually shoot about 3 frames of each situation. How I get the framing and compositions is something I can't figure out myself. The bigger mystery is how I hold the camera steady at arms length. A lot of those shots are at 1/8, 1/4, and some even longer. The distance scale is always set at one meter. I always print them full frame, no cropping. There's a whole section of them in my P-net portfolio and a lot of the photos on my blog are those self-portraits in different situations. I mostly do them with the lightweight Bessa L. A Leica M is a bit heavy to hold like that.

I'm not really sure which me is me, the one who presses the button or the guy who pretends he doesn't know he's being photographed. Maybe the camera has a spirit of its own. It sure gets me to do some strange things such as wandering around town with a toy monkey (or is it the toy monkey who gets me to bring the camera?)



thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com is the blog

 

[Austerby]

Ahem, returning to my original post - the point I wanted to explore was that Jarrett's challenge was about why individuals feel the need to possess their own image of an event: what impulse made that person in the audience feel the need to try to take a photo (despite being asked not to). We're not talking about portraits here, this was someone probably using a mobile phone camera or P&S - the flash fired from halfway back in the auditorium (I was sitting in the Choir so behind the performer and could see what he could).

I'm not interested in getting into a debate about who knows what - a wise person once told me never to underestimate what people don't know.

It was, however, a remarkable evening of solo piano improvisations where, for me, he conjured up soundscapes and imagery that entranced, entertained and thrilled me unlike any other performer I can think of. If you can catch him, then do go if you can get tickets - but you have to go on his terms.

 

[Carlsen Highway]

Now that Mr Eastman has succeeded in putting a camera into everyones hands they have become an integral part of our culture; as has motion picture as well, which means we are at the stage that if there is no image; it didn't actually happen. This is why he took the picture. To prove the concert existed and he was there.

 

[bmattock]

Ahem, returning to my original post - the point I wanted to explore was that Jarrett's challenge was about why individuals feel the need to possess their own image of an event: what impulse made that person in the audience feel the need to try to take a photo (despite being asked not to).

Ah, that is very different. I don't know the answer to that one, either, but I note that people will feed the animals in the zoo whilst standing in front of the sign that implores them not to.

They won't pull over for fire trucks and ambulances despite laws and social mores that say they should. They pass school buses despite the danger of running over small children, they race around dropped railroad crossing signs, they touch paint despite 'wet paint' signs.

There appears to be a strong streak of anti-authoritarianism in us, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how it is expressed.

 

[dave lackey]

I had my faith restored recently by being able to discuss the joys and advantages of 5x4 film with the young sales girl (about nineteen) at the local Kodak one hour.

After that I wouldn't care if she didn't know who Bob Dylan was! 😛

Heresy!

Anyone who doesn't know Bob Dylan is missing one of the fundamentals of photography...enjoying music as part of the art. Of course, you MUST care if she didn't know who Bob Dylan IS....it is your duty to teach this young person else she live a life of emptiness.🙁

Warren Zevon? Yeah, another great one....

Back OT...what is it about this world that demands an image? Because the image fills in the information that is missing when all the other parts, such as music and words are already in place.

But, that music, Dylan, Zevon, Muddy Waters, etc. is such an inspiration for good photography....at least for me.:angel:

 

[Keith]

Heresy!

Anyone who doesn't know Bob Dylan is missing one of the fundamentals of photography...enjoying music as part of the art. Of course, you MUST care if she didn't know who Bob Dylan IS....it is your duty to teach this young person else she live a life of emptiness.🙁

Warren Zevon? Yeah, another great one....

Back OT...what is it about this world that demands an image? Because the image fills in the information that is missing when all the other parts, such as music and words are already in place.

But, that music, Dylan, Zevon, Muddy Waters, etc. is such an inspiration for good photography....at least for me.:angel:

Surely if she was able to appreciate the benefits of large format she would have to have heard of Bob Dylan ... I may have to go back and ask now! 😛

 

[icebear]

....
It was, however, a remarkable evening of solo piano improvisations where, for me, he conjured up soundscapes and imagery that entranced, entertained and thrilled me unlike any other performer .... quote]

To experience Jarrett the way you did in this live performance, you have to open up and soak it up and follow him into his spaces, then you'll most likely never forget this experience.

Today we live in a world of complete overload of media of all sorts. People usually take all that crap only as background noise, entertainment in an otherwise boring life. These people can't experience such a concert in a way you did - and therefore they need some other reminder of the experience in form of a picture. And they don't really care about any announcements and hundreds of people being disturbed. if they had just the brains to wait until the end when the applause starts, so no one would care about the picture being taken but no they can hold it until then... . That they are in the wrong performance at the wrong time in the first place, is another topic...

 

[JoeV]

I am reminded of the androids in "Blade Runner", who, having been implanted with false memories to serve their 3-year lifespan, were also given a handful of snapshots that also correspond to their false memories. These snapshots served the purpose of reinforcing a sense of (in this case false) nostalgia.

I think there's an element of this with us non-androids, as well.

~Joe

 

[Photog9001]

“What is it about this world that demands an image?”


absolutely nothing. they're about as necessary as sofas. and concerts i suppose.


to turn the situation around. let's say you had an exhibition. in a decent enough gallery. no music, no café, just the space with walls and floor and ceiling and fancy lighting, and the carefully selected photos of course. and the visitors strolling through at their own paces, enjoying your photographs. not let's say a 25year old arrives, with a huge 80's like ghettoblaster on his/her shoulder, loud...

 

[Al Kaplan]

I would politely tell them to please turn off the music because they're disturbing people. I do this all the time at an outdoor cafe. It seems nobody else has the guts to do it. If they don't comply I loudly tell them that everybody knows that the louder a guy's music is the smaller his dxxk is. That always seems to work.