Steve Fibonacci

Check out the photography of my long-time friend, Steve Fibonacci.

[ photograph above: Steve Fibonacci, 2003 ]

Picasso

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

--Pablo Picasso

[ photograph above: Kelso Dunes, 2002 ]

More on Reality

"For the most part, what is deemed by society to be ‘reality’ at any point, far from being an absolute, is merely a commonly agreed set of values based on the perceptions of a group of individuals."

--Kevin Warwick


[ photograph above: Eastern Brook Lakes, 1989 ]

Lunar Eclipse, Part II

I ended up seeing the very beginning of the eclipse, the first 5 minutes or so (when it wasn't that spectacular). Flying from Madison to Milwaukee last night, I had a window seat (which never happens; I'm an "aisle man") and the moon poked through the clouds for a few minutes...

By the time I got home (almost 2 a.m.) it was all over. No photographs this time. Oh, well, they say we'll have another one on 2007!

[ photograph above: Solar Eclipse, June 10th, 2002 ]

Lunar Eclipse

Last November 8th, I took a few photographs of the partial lunar eclipse. At that time I also found out that on October 27, 2004 there would be a total eclipse of the moon, and made plans to stay up all night and photograph a complete sequence.

Yet today I find my self 1,500 miles away from home. I'll be flying home late tonight, but will there be time photograph even part of the eclipse? We'll see.

My two previous attempts at astro photography can be seen on Dave Schmahl's web site called Astrostop.com. While there you can check out Dave's awesome astro photography as well.

[ photograph above: Lunar Eclipse, May 15th, 2003 ]

Mono Lake

I love Mono Lake, as probably most photographers do--even if they've never had the pleasure to visit there.

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the start of the Old Fire (see yesterday's post). Today is another anniversary of a big event in my life: three years ago, Mike & I went to Mono Lake and kayaked out to Paoha Island where we camped. I was mostly in "documentary mode", not trying to do fine art, but ended up posting a number of the photographs on the web--my first photo essay.

[ photograph above: Negit Island, Mono Lake, 29 March 2004 ]

Wildfires: 1st Anniversary

Today is a strange day. I'm sitting in Madison, Wisconsin, here for a class at UW. And today is the one year anniversary of the start of the Old Fire in Southern California.

The Grand Prix fire had started a few days earlier, a dozen or so miles to the west. But the Old Fire started just a couple of miles away, and within a very short time was rapidly approaching my neghborhood. We evacuated; we came back; we evacuated a second time; and we came back to a lot of ash but no damage to the house.

Looking back at the photographs I took as the fire approached our neighborhood, it seems like just yesterday...

http://members.aol.com/mattartz/index.htm

[ phtograph above: helicopter returns from dumping a load of water, East Highlands Ranch, 26 October 2003 ]

Trust

"We crave visual reassurance of 'reality', and so we invest too much trust into the photograph--thinking it to be a reliable reflection of the world.

"This trust which we place upon the photographic image is its greatest potential weapon. John Tagg, in his book, The Burden of Representation, writes of a 'regime of truth' which is brought about by the growth and consolidation of the capitalist nations' power, and 'in which photographs functioned as a means of record and a source of evidence.' He pinches the term 'Regime of truth' from Foucault, who coined it to describe the power structure which places a high value on, so-called, objective knowledge."

--Amedeo Felix

[ photograph above: Greece, 1993 ]

Chip Forelli: Portfolio 1

Chip Forelli's Portfolio 1
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True Art is Timeless

"In art, it is the timeless, not the timely, that matters."

--Herman Hesse

[ photograph above: Greece, 1993 ]

Portraits

If you're looking for a colorful, happy, family portrait, don't ask me; go to K-Mart or something.

A good portrait is timeless. Yet if a photograph captures a moment in time, how can it be timeless? And more so, why would you want it to be timeless?

Perhaps a better term would be ageless. Standing the test of time. A good portrait is not dated by temporal styles, fashions, or technical aspects of the way in which it was produced.

A good portrait is as relevant today as it will be in 100 years. Yet most individual or family portraits from the last 30-40 years have been taken at portrait "studios" (more like factories) where you can place the image in time, if not from the backdrop used then through the clothing and/or hair styles of the subjects.

Portraits are something I'm trying to get a handle on, and my favorite portrait photographer is Tom Millea. His nudes and landscapes are great too, but some of his portraits are just amazing.

[ photograph above: my first "good" portrait -- Ruth, 2002 ]

Cole Weston: Eighteen Photographs

If you're a lover of fine color photography, be sure to check out "Cole Weston: Eighteen Photographs".

[ photograph above: Cole Weston, 2002 ]

Jennifer Drucker: Portfolio2

Jennifer Drucker's Portfolio 2.

What About Creativity?

"I tend to like things that already exist."

--Jasper Johns

Brooks Jensen's Audio Blogs

If you have not been following the audio blogs that Brooks Jensen has been posting on the Lenswork web site, you're missing something. They are a wonderful source of inspiration for photographers.

[ photograph above: East Highlands Ranch, 2002 ]

Full-time Artist

"Why do people think artists are special? It's just another job."

--Andy Warhol

Jean Arp

"Art is a fruit that grows in man, like a fruit on a plant, or a child in its mother's womb."

--Jean Arp

David Burdeny: Seascapes

David Burdeny's wonderful Seascapes portfolio.

Sensitivity

"In my photography I try to be sensitive and responsive to whoever or whatever I meet. Everything else naturally follows."

--Michael Kenna

Subtraction vs. Addition

"Ultimately though, I believe that photography is about subtraction, while painting is about addition."

-- Michael Reichmann

[ photograph above: Big Bear Lake, 2002 ]

Holger Eckstein: Little Everglades

Holger Eckstein's dark and mystical Little Everglades portfolio.

Vern Clevenger

One of the best comtemporary color fine art photographers, Vern Clevenger lives and works in the Eastern Sierra.

[ photograph above: Eastern Brook Lakes, 1989 ]

Claudio Cambon: A Year on the Ranch

Claudio Cambon's A Year on the Ranch: Seasons of Solitude portfolio.

How Much Modification?

"That photograph would look a lot better if the tree was on the left, not the right..."

My problem is, whenever I shot a photograph like this and have an idea to flop it or overly modify it, I am never satisfied with the results; I probably get too attached to the original image, and think it's too "fake" if it's flopped, etc. My other problem, specific to some of the locations I use, is that I've spent a lot of time climbing, hiking, exploring, and experiencing some of these areas. Knowing every rock and feature of the landscape, flopping or otherwise modifying the image just doesn't work for me.

[ photograph above: Obsidian, 1994 ]

Mario Abbatepaolo: ...Where the Sea Lands

Mario Abbatepaolo's ...Where the Sea Lands portfolio.

Oppression as Inspiration

"...the peoples in the world who have been most oppressed have also turned out to be the strongest."

--Thomas Vinterberg, Dogma 95

[ photograph above: Japan, 1987 ]

The Value of Tradition

A couple years ago I read a great interview with photographer Kim Weston. It was about working in an "old" style/tradition in photography, and the interviewer was basically questioning the validity of working on an old tradition in a "modern" time. I've seen this question up before (and since), and sometimes it's even tied to questioning the validity of the medium of photography in general because "everything that could be done has been done". In the interview, Kim's response was so awesome, I wish I could find it again and quote it directly--but instead I'm forced to paraphrase from memory (which can be a dangerous thing). But his response had to do with not "copying" the style of another, more successful artist, but "paying homage" to that style by working in that style (even though it may be "old" and out of favor with the trendy art crowd), and adapting that old style in new and unique ways. That had a big impression on me, because I'm not trying to be Edward Weston or Minor White--I love their work, and it has obviously influenced me heavily. But it's different. The differences are because I'm trying to express myself, take it in different directions. The similarities are not because I'm copying them, but because I'm paying homage to their vision, their style, the foundation they laid for people like me to follow.

[ photograph above: Mesquite Flat Dunes, Death Valley National Park, 2003 ]

Paul Dzik: Portraits

Check out Paul Dzik's beautiful portfolio of portaits.

A Great Photographer Can Make Mundane Subject Matter Shine

"I have been photographing our toilet, that glossy enameled receptacle of extraordinary beauty....Here was every sensuous curve of the 'human figure divine' but minus the imperfections. Never did the Greeks reach a more significant consummation to their culture, and it somehow reminded me, forward movement of finely progressing contours, of the Victory of Samothrace."

--Edward Weston

Creativity

"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things."

--Edgar Degas

Scouting for Photographs

"My own eyes are no more than scouts on a preliminary search, for the camera's eye may entirely change my idea."

--Edward Weston