Of the many things I love about photography, I am absolutely in love with the ambiguity the medium offers to photographers. While I have worked in various different genres in photography, I have always been personally drawn to the mundane and trivial things surrounding our lives. For me there is no poor subject matter, everything is worth looking at, everything has its own individual visual reality. There is a pictorial logic in this form even if it appears to be drained of context at first sight.
This type of photography is certainly not something I came up with; this subgenre has been pioneered by the likes of William Christenberry, William Eggleston, Saul Leiter, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander just to name a few. Critics have called it boring and ‘snapshot chic,’ but I feel otherwise. I am not talking about visual abstractions; I am talking about things and scenes we are all familiar with. So, is there beauty in the banal, is there visual poetry in the mundane, is there an elevation of the utterly prosaic? Of course, I say YES. I shot these photographs in and around my home last night.
Untitled # 14
Untitled #27
Untitled #36
Untitled #53
When someone has an artistic eye, it is easy for them to see beauty in something that a person with no artistic vision can not see at all. I love the first photo.
Thanks YnB, that’s why we all need artists in our lives.
FJ, you say yes, and I concur…
I see beauty everywhere I look, quite frankly.
On the other hand, I have been repeatedly accused of seeing the world through rose colored glasses…
However, in my own defense, I believe that our happiness is a choice, as is the beauty we choose to see around us. And I choose to be happy and see beauty everywhere I possibly can…
And, I must say I have yet to be disappointed as this life of mine unfolds… The wonders that bring me so much joy continue to unfold every time I turn around. I am extraordinarily lucky…
So, thank you for focusing my sight on more of that beauty that surrounds me, FJ… There can never be enough of what you bring to the table. I am extremely grateful for you, and the fact that you have intersected my life. I am richer for the mere fact of being able to see some of the world as you do…
In other news, that frame in “untitled #36″ is quite familiar… I have one that it is similar. It frames a watercolor tinted photograph of my great great grandfather’s brother, Paul Richard Hazeltine… He built the city library as a gift to his home town of Belfast, ME. With me loving books the way I do, I felt that that little gift has indeed come full circle now…
What a wonderful thing to say Prescott, it means a lot to me. Cheers friend, enjoy the holidays.
Is that the back of the frame in #36 or is it just that you’ve removed the mirror/photo to show what was behind it?
Its a mirror that I masked in order to paint the frame…which I did complete btw. Thanks for stopping by NM.
True story…I was in the Doctor’s office waiting to get my yearly physical on Friday, and as I was sitting uncomfortably on the medical table waiting the obligatory 45 minutes for my Doctor to finally show up, I started looking at various sections of the room and thinking to myself “I bet that would make for a great photograph.”
I then realized that thanks to you, FJ, I’m starting to look at things in a completely different way. And that’s a good thing.
Brilliant shots (as always).
Thanks B. Hope all went well with Dr. Jellyfinger.
Hello Mr Jelly. I now need to google all those folk you listed. Thankyou. Untitled #14 – I like how one’s eye is led to dance back and forth between the background and the towel in the foreground.
I knew you would like that because, well, because of your syncopated eyeball. Thanks SE.
I’m going to forgo my usual smartassery and just congratulate you on these shots. Like “found sound” compositions, you’re making common sights open to interpretation.
It brings to mind another favorite of mine: your driving shots.
http://fundamentaljelly.com/2009/09/11/city-nocturne/
Untitled #53 makes me believe a shotgun would be handy as that looks like perfect zombie lighting. (I’ve played too many video games. Or just enough.)
Thanks CLT, maybe you have played too many video games, but it is ‘perfect zombie lighting.’
“snapshot chic”, never heard that before. Cracks me up. Someone had to come up with that and for what purpose? To uncut a photograph? Awesome!
Thanks RR, great to hear from you.
#36 definitely got me excited. I could stare at that one all day long. For some reason, I thought of Iran/Turkey/Armenia (love of multiculturalism?). Intriguing shot.
Hey E3H, maybe it was the rug? Thanks.
Untitled 14 is now known as “Who left the damn towel out”
So let it be written, so let it be done, thanks Bear.
hhhhmmmm, stroking goatee….
Interesting…
How was that for my art critic impersonation?
Your impersonation was spot on and shot through with pathos.
Ah, I remember that time I sunbathed next to the Taj Mahal with my German-flag bath towel… good times.
Who could forget. Happy Holidays Josh, great to hear from you.
#14 got me right away. The blue is very striking, and that structure in the background is part of a house I dream about — or flash about — with the spanish arch. Columbians . . . pool party . . . white linen. Definately a flash there. I love arches in archetecture . . . great work, FJ!