tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post302469981662741434..comments2024-03-26T23:27:56.399-07:00Comments on B: Szarkowski's paradoxBlake Andrewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187987264904729243noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-61533106613591966302008-11-21T17:16:00.000-08:002008-11-21T17:16:00.000-08:00I love that book and thought that the early images...I love that book and thought that the early images were ahead of their time. I wondered why he did not continue to be a photographer rather than become a curator. (Probably to make a living.)<BR/><BR/>The subject is important, but not as important as how it's seen...and all art is derivative.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-11382497345879276812008-11-20T16:05:00.000-08:002008-11-20T16:05:00.000-08:00I used the word "junk" to be deliberately provocat...I used the word "junk" to be deliberately provocative, but you're right that not everything in that style is junk. I guess I am just tired of seeing the same photo over and over, peeling paint on a barn or a dramatic coastline, e.g., and so I took a cheap shot at the whole aesthetic. I think what makes the photography of Atget and Adams interesting is that they are each following their own path. They have voices which do not seem to copy forerunners. Szarkowski's work seems more derivative to me.Blake Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07187987264904729243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-42674954675933985552008-11-19T09:40:00.000-08:002008-11-19T09:40:00.000-08:00"Instead it seems trapped in the pre-Szarkowski er..."Instead it seems trapped in the pre-Szarkowski era. His photography is of the Weston school, large format b/w previsualized on a tripod with a heavy emphasis on natural forms. Trees, shadows, and rustic homes shown in infinite detail, the same junk we've all seen a million times."<BR/><BR/>hmmmm. i never grow tired of looking at Atget or Robert Adams. Medium and Large format, black and white landscapes are certainly not in vogue, but I think it would be pre-mature of photographers to abandon this aesthetic all together. These days, isn't really how you conceive a project and put the puzzle together? For me that's the key to any contemporary work, much more than a choice of aesthetics. <BR/><BR/>I love the Yellow Pine in Birches. <BR/><BR/>Interesting post. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com