What *is* it?

By far the most asked question as soon as they know it is a photograph. I used to loathe the question.

What do you mean, what is it? Isn’t it obvious? Gah!

Did you ask the painter what his abstraction was? That’s what I thought!

Now I’ve come to love the inquiry. I’ve got snarky answers “It’s a photograph.” and deep(er) ones: “It’s you.”. Okay, okay I’ve not really perfected a really good answer to the question yet and here is why:

To me I see the elements in the picture plane as a very specific language, each image is a highly ordered and complex story. From color palette to mark making, range of values, depth to speed of line and how it all interacts in the composition. Is that form floating or sinking? Is that line speeding into the void or reaching for an escape? Is there enough tension in the elements to create balance and order to the chaos? Is the message clear (enough)? Does it make you feel something?, Anything besides curiosity of the materials at hand?

There is an entire world of things in this frame, a lifetime of possible outcomes. It is a moment that moves back and forth through time, reminiscing and hoping at the same time. That is exactly what I see and I’m trying desperately to share it with you. To me it is something raw and real, but it is fleeting too. If you ask the wrong question it might just escape forever.

Sigh.. But then again this is my obsession. I record it for the joy it brings me to see and order the world so that it reflects my experience. I ultimately share it because I think it is beautiful, worthwhile and it keeps my eyes open and my mind busy.

Participation

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Abstraction

Abstraction in photography is the norm and Non-Objective work is impossible.

We are tied to the object as photographers, it is the nature of the machine. The machine that has a shutter and allows light to create a near perfect likeness of the object. Though in the process of gathering information we often forget that this photograph, this piece of plastic, this mere arrangement of pixels is no longer the thing itself. It has lost it’s reality, been stretched through time and along the way losing at least one dimension.

It is all a lie.

Still a lie we’ve believed for so long that now we argue about the objects in photographs as if they were real.

They are not.

The only real property the photographer can claim is the arrangement of data on a disk, the plastic paper on which the image is replicated indefinitely or the sheet of cellophane that through the magic of chemistry traps the moment. That is real, that can be owned and fought over.

Expressionism

When I read Robert Motherwell early in my art career (read: prior to my obsession with abstraction in photography) he made the argument that: Non-Objective painters painted the way they did because those expressions were not available in nature. I’ve struggled with this idea ever since, it is one of the driving forces that fuels my obsession with seeing.

Did it not exist when he said it, and we just learned to create it in the world after seeing it on a canvas?

Or Did it always exist and we just didn’t see it until it was painted on the canvas?

Participation

Buy a print of this image. Leave a comment on Flickr or Facebook. Tweet this post and share your thoughts about the image below.

Methods

At no other time in history has the link between a thought and a product been shorter. I can literally have an idea as I fall asleep and wake up and implement the idea within hours of waking. From idea to product in a few hours. We certainly live in fast times, I’m not entirely convinced that much else has changed. We still feel, think and even behave in a similar way as previous generations. Evolution is slow, even when we push it around.

I shoot digitally, and print traditionally

My digital camera allows me to work quickly, by painting standards I can work at breakneck speeds. Personally, I find this an advantage when working on expression, because my moods and ideas can be fleeting. I can produced work in a single day that is intense, observational, ironic and formal. Most of my influencers in the Abstract Expressionist movement spend weeks working on a canvas and I admire their work but I have none of their patience.

Traditional printing keeps me grounded in the real business of art. It speaks to my classical art training and allows me to display works cleanly and in an archival way. These images will look just how they are meant long after I’m gone.

Again I’m struck by the relationship to evolution that my work has. Work quickly on successive trials then through selection let the best survive through time.

Participation

Buy a print of this image. Leave a comment on Flickr or Facebook. Tweet this post and share your thoughts about the image below.

Phoenix 22 begins

This year I’m doing things a little differently, by releasing the work an image at a time for 22 days. I believe this will allow for a much more direct look at the images as they stand individually. I consider the work expressionist so I’d love to hear how the work makes you feel or get your stream of conciousness responses to the visual language that I’ve presented here. Much like @alandd’s response last year “..the drips raise my anger..”, which ended up in the Phoenix 21 book, comments that tap into the power of expression will be used in the Phoenix 22 book.

To facilitate discussion the images will be released on etsy, flickr, facebook, and here in this webspace. It will be easy to buy 16×24″ prints of the work on my etsy account, view and comment on the Phoenix 22 set on flickr and facebook or you may discover new insights to the work as I talk about it here on Lying to Tell the Truth.

Participation is king

I’m seeking your participation this year and have some special rewards for those that participate by commenting, sharing, and buying the work. Comments that really delve into the work and ask questions will obviously score much higher than “I like it”, in fact I might give negative points to that ;). While sharing is obviously easily done on Facebook and Twitter, favoriting on flickr and etsy will also count as sharing.

Welcome to Phoenix 22. Enjoy.