It’s an interesting subject. There is an ongoing thread in the relationship between the plastic arts and photography. Looking at the photos of Alvin Coburn who I’d never heard of, I immediately thought of David Hockney’s experiments with his ‘joiners’ and photo collages. Using photography to replicate rather than imitate the experience of looking at cubist paintings. Then in the 60’s artists start incorporating photography and photographic techniques into their work. I think it’s also worth considering the art world battleground between representational or figurative art and abstraction that raged in the 50s and 60s and into the 70s in some ways. Gerhard Richter seems to utilise both representation and abstraction. Christian Boltanski is another artist who utilised photography in some of his most famous work, creating installations that were conceptual, minimal, sculptural and emotionally powerful. I like abstraction. Flipping one’s perceptions can be a powerful and immediate way of opening us up to previously unknown possibilities of seeing and understanding the world. Thanks for a well presented, informative and stimulating video.
Yes, I find Christian Boltanski interesting, but think Richter really shifted the use of the medium. Abstraction for abstraction sake is a bit mechanical, and eventually leads to graphic art.
@@PhotoConversations I think experimenting with abstraction can free you from what you think you have to do. Since the early 20th century in music there have been some great innovations in the types of sounds you can make and the way they can be utilised to create mood. Whether or not this type of music can stand by itself, it has made it into broader culture through movies, pop music, even photography can benefit from musical accompaniment. As a movement in painting I think the problem is that people were too dogmatic and thought that it made figuration or representational art no longer necessary or fit for purpose. This happens again and again, and again and again, artists break the confines of any orthodoxy. It’s a basic human quality: for every 100, 1000, or 1000,000 people who like predictability and following trodden paths, there is always someone who’ll say, ‘why not do it this way’. And who knows what will be the source of that inspiration. Best wishes, Roger
Extends my knowledge considerably from a short presentation on Moholy Nagy and Man Ray I made last year. Really absorbing, but that is fully in keeping with your reputation.
Along these lines, I can recommend the work of Kawada Kikuji, especially his recent stuff. He is making interesting multi-layered photos using cheap cameras and modern tools.
“Abstract” ? “Abstraction” ? I guess that’s when we are less interested in, or can’t work out, what an image is a photograph “of” and more aware of formal or graphic properties and arrangements. The photos of Mars are perhaps “abstract” until we are told what they are photographs of. Without losing their abstract qualities, we can appreciate their technical or scientific qualities. Scientists, I guess, see more than we do. That realistic substratum is revealed in the work of many of the great photos; sometimes immediately visible, sometimes revealed by the photo title or caption. Karl Blossfeldt and Imogen Cunningham (?). deserve labelling at the start of the video. Karl Blossfeldt taught furniture design. His photos highlighted graphic form in nature in service of Art Nouveau ideals.
Thanks for this. Its always good to put a bit of structure into styles, although nobody fits perfectly in any box. I've been struggling for the last couple of years trying to get my head around Mannerism. I can point and say, that's Baroque or that's Roccoco but Mannerism still leaves me with an uneasy sense of .... sort of. There's a great book called '...isms, Understanding Photography' by Emma Lewis I can strongly recommend, to try to put some historical scaffolding around different styles of photography.
This is fantastic, thank you so much for creating it!
Excellent and enjoyable video, thank you so much.
Great overview.
Thank You !!
Nice intro to a vast subject - you have produced a number is starting points for further exploration, thanks.
Brilliantly concise & inspirational!
Excellent work! Thank you!
excellent presentation!
Well done, Graeme. Excellent treatment.
Thanks very much for your excellent work in producing this fine video! I’m looking forward to your next photographic exposé. 📷🇨🇦🙂
Masterfully done.
Absolutely excellent and concise presentation. Thank you Graeme. Will be watching it again soon.
Thanks Geoff
It’s an interesting subject. There is an ongoing thread in the relationship between the plastic arts and photography. Looking at the photos of Alvin Coburn who I’d never heard of, I immediately thought of David Hockney’s experiments with his ‘joiners’ and photo collages. Using photography to replicate rather than imitate the experience of looking at cubist paintings. Then in the 60’s artists start incorporating photography and photographic techniques into their work. I think it’s also worth considering the art world battleground between representational or figurative art and abstraction that raged in the 50s and 60s and into the 70s in some ways. Gerhard Richter seems to utilise both representation and abstraction. Christian Boltanski is another artist who utilised photography in some of his most famous work, creating installations that were conceptual, minimal, sculptural and emotionally powerful. I like abstraction. Flipping one’s perceptions can be a powerful and immediate way of opening us up to previously unknown possibilities of seeing and understanding the world. Thanks for a well presented, informative and stimulating video.
Yes, I find Christian Boltanski interesting, but think Richter really shifted the use of the medium. Abstraction for abstraction sake is a bit mechanical, and eventually leads to graphic art.
@@PhotoConversations I think experimenting with abstraction can free you from what you think you have to do. Since the early 20th century in music there have been some great innovations in the types of sounds you can make and the way they can be utilised to create mood. Whether or not this type of music can stand by itself, it has made it into broader culture through movies, pop music, even photography can benefit from musical accompaniment. As a movement in painting I think the problem is that people were too dogmatic and thought that it made figuration or representational art no longer necessary or fit for purpose. This happens again and again, and again and again, artists break the confines of any orthodoxy. It’s a basic human quality: for every 100, 1000, or 1000,000 people who like predictability and following trodden paths, there is always someone who’ll say, ‘why not do it this way’. And who knows what will be the source of that inspiration. Best wishes, Roger
Thank you! So thankful for the pause button lol
Shore has a recent drone project too
Thank you...
Extends my knowledge considerably from a short presentation on Moholy Nagy and Man Ray I made last year. Really absorbing, but that is fully in keeping with your reputation.
Much appreciated!
Along these lines, I can recommend the work of Kawada Kikuji, especially his recent stuff. He is making interesting multi-layered photos using cheap cameras and modern tools.
Hi Henry Yes his eye is definitely attracted shape and pattern
My photographic life encapsulated. A wonderful video, thank you.
Great!
“Abstract” ? “Abstraction” ? I guess that’s when we are less interested in, or can’t work out, what an image is a photograph “of” and more aware of formal or graphic properties and arrangements. The photos of Mars are perhaps “abstract” until we are told what they are photographs of. Without losing their abstract qualities, we can appreciate their technical or scientific qualities. Scientists, I guess, see more than we do.
That realistic substratum is revealed in the work of many of the great photos; sometimes immediately visible, sometimes revealed by the photo title or caption.
Karl Blossfeldt and Imogen Cunningham (?). deserve labelling at the start of the video. Karl Blossfeldt taught furniture design. His photos highlighted graphic form in nature in service of Art Nouveau ideals.
Hi Lloyd We are continually abstracting in our daily lives...in fact it is the basis of any cognitive test.
Thanks for this. Its always good to put a bit of structure into styles, although nobody fits perfectly in any box.
I've been struggling for the last couple of years trying to get my head around Mannerism. I can point and say, that's Baroque or that's Roccoco but Mannerism still leaves me with an uneasy sense of .... sort of.
There's a great book called '...isms, Understanding Photography' by Emma Lewis I can strongly recommend, to try to put some historical scaffolding around different styles of photography.
That's interesting. I'll try to see if one can get an online version.
On abstraction... and no mention of Mario Giacomelli nor Daido Moriyama, what gives?