Discuss a Gordon Hutchings Photo

[magic823]

I had the pleasure of taking a Pyro workshop a few years ago from Gordon. This particular print was one of my favorites of his. At one point we were talking about toning and he let me tone it with a thiourea toner. I love the incredible amount of detail, the pinup girl print lying on the table amongst all the clutter. This is one print that needs to be seen big to really appreciate.

 

[Claire Senft]

I can much appreciate it as is. I have seen it before. I like the photo.

 

[mark]

I have not seen it in real life, but I have seen the reproductions. I don't know. Every time I see it I say: bad set up. If the pin up girl was as dirty as the rest of the mess I would have a better reaction. As it is I feel like I am forced to see the pin up, not discover it. Compositionally I like the image.

 

[Jim Chinn]

Lots of great detail and textures. After looking at it for awhile I am drawn to the upper-right quadrant. The rectangular geometry of the paper combined with the curling makes that a fascinating portion. I also enjoy the triangle of the light reflector with its bulb.

We often accuse an image of being to cluttered. But when the image is of clutter, well that's a whole different story.

I wonder if the pin-up poster was really there or "found" in the clutter and strategically placed to finish the composition. Nothing wrong with that. (artistic license on the part of the creator).

 

[Scott Peters]

I like the texture. The image doesn't work for me in the corners, and it doesn't even really seem to work as an abstract with shading/tones/texture. The 'pin-up' is almost seen as an afterthought and a disctraction. The image is almost split in the middle, light on bottom, light on top - black to middle left -it just doesn't work for me. It's almost like you say, what's going on and then you notice the 'pin-up' and then I say to myself, so this is what the image is about? It's a picture of an old room with a pin up on the desk. The craft is outstanding and the tonal range is nice and am sure its even better in person. But to each his own!

 

[reellis67]

There is a lot to see, and my eye moves easily around the photo. The dark area on the left center (shadow?) is a bit distracting, drawing me back more than any other area, but there is a lot of feeling here and a good deal of mystery. Despite the small size of this reproduction, the tonal values work well with the subject to provide a great deal of detail. I hadn't really though about whether the pin-up was placed or not until it was brought up here, but I don't really care either way unless this is intended as a documentary photo and the pin-up was not part of the site.

- Randy

 

[jovo]

This is a thinking man's Siskind! Rather than peeling paint that, after you recognize it for what it is, is really dull, this has that kind of random clutter, but with detail that's fun to linger over! I have zero interest in pyro, and the cult of admiration for its quasi-magical properties, but however this came to be...it certainly works!!

 

[Sparky]

This is a thinking man's Siskind!

LOL!

 

[Gay Larson]

I can't decide how I feel about this one. It made me wonder if someone just walked away from their office years ago and no one had ever touched it again. Perhaps that's because that is what I would really like to do. However you wouldn't find any pin up pictures, maybe a fireman calendar though.

 

[magic823]

Gordon told me that he added nothing to photo. The pinup was in the photo as is.

Steve

 

[c6h6o3]

Taking out the black strip with the chair at the bottom would improve it immeasurably. As it is, I would have to put this one in the 'just misses' column.

 

[CarlRadford]

I'd like to see the print in the flesh as it were! It is difficult to appreciate the light, detail and texture in this scan. I feel it works well compositionally and does convey a story...whether constructed or not!