So one might get occasionally into a bit of despair: what's the point of me going on? There's nothing new to photograph.
But then I see a photo like this. It looks much like a Lee Friedlander photo, but a search has revealed no source to me. But anyway, the point is:
There is nothing special about the subject. It's a typical US town street, Baltimore or something, on an unremarkable day, with all objects in it we see every day. (Albeit from over half a century ago.)
But that's just the thing, to me: despite all this, I love this photograph. To me, it's excellent art. What a fantastic arrangement of lines. The composition moves me, to me it is beautiful.
And if the Art does not come from the subject, it must come from... Source only knows... The Photograph itself, certainly (or maybe Certainly Not, it's just an object). Maybe the mind of the photographer. Maybe luck. Or inspiration. Maybe higher forces.
And all these things will always exist, no matter how many times something has been photographed.
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Update:
Bron informs: "Street in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania." -- Jack Delano
I think the "gift" of each image is that it means something entirely different to ever person that views it... Each person has their own unique interpretation of what they see in it; hence "the gift"...to both the one who viewed it, and, if fortunate enough to be given "the gift," in return, the person willing to share what it means (or what they like about it, just as you just shared w/us; thank you.) to him/her, with the Photographer...or just another person; it's fun/cool to see something from another perspective... :-D
ReplyDeleteI think that now more than ever there are good photos to make. The cream always rises, and with more photos being made of everything, truly good ones will stand out more than, say, when only serious photographers were taking pictures.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that photograph before but don't recall where. I'm almost certain, though, that it is some town in Quebec (possibly Asbestos?)
ReplyDeleteIt is a quite famous photo, I found it many places when I tried to look up the author.
ReplyDeleteBesides I have actually posted it once before, a couple of years ago, I think.
"Street in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania." Jack Delano
ReplyDeleteHe was a superb mid 20th. century photographer. Shorpy has a lot of his photos from the war period.
It could be anywhere, which I guess is part of its appeal. I like it. The guy could be anyone, too (and could easily be dead by now). Pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteIt's all been done before but Not By Me !
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons why I can go to the Grand Canyon and take pictures with the many other tourists taking the same shot.
Thanks guys. Thanks, Bron.
ReplyDeleteShorpy is great for collecting wallpaper for big screens. Direct, un-fancy BW photography, but has that nice aesthetic that a good, sharp, well exposed photo has, often.
btw, it couldn't be *quite* anywhere. Not Denmark, for example. Denmark was turned into farm land centuries ago, with only a few, protected forests. So we don't have timber houses like that, it's all brick.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess I'm guilty of a North American bias there. :-)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely loved this photograph of Aliquippa! It has a poignancy that is engulfing.
ReplyDeleteinteresting--when I saw the comment that it was from Aliquippa, I called Bill to see it. He recognized it right away. (Aliquippa is across the Ohio River, down stream from Sewickley, PA, where he was born and raised.) He also identified the smoke spiral in the center of the shot from the Jones & Laughlin Pipe Factory. Bill's best friend's father was the superintendent of that plant. (Also, Bill mentioned that the father of Mike Ditka (former coach of Chicago Bears) also worked in that J&L plant. Small world, huh?
Before i saw the comment with the location, I was about to say, "Somewhere near Pittsburgh. I was right. I once lived in the area and it looks just an area near where I lived!
ReplyDeleteYes to the above comment! I lived along the Ohio River! Many of the streets in the steep hills along the Ohio look like this. It is a region called the Rust Belt. After many steel mills closed down the area was greatly depressed. As soon as I looked at the photo I recognized the area.
ReplyDeleteEolake said, "it's certainly true by now: everything has been photographed thousands of times…
ReplyDeletewhat's the point of me going on?"
Because Eolake, No woman is ever the same from one moment to the next. Even if you shot with a motor drive, no two photos of her would ever be alike. (Why should I be telling you that? The original DOMAI?)
:D
ReplyDeleteI once wrote just that, I wonder if you've read this?
http://www.domai.com/news/articles/july00.html
"For my drawings, I was studying a video clip of a dancer, moving forward one frame at a time, and I noticed a peculiar thing: Even with just 1/24 of a second between two views, the body could look totally different in each picture. The lines were different, the curves were different, the relationship between different parts were different. Even a single part, like the head or an arm, could have a completely different outline between two pictures 1/24 of a second apart."