I think you and I see pretty much eye to eye on this one, Michael. It's kind of funny, because whenever I can no longer resist the Soap Box I'll often see posts from you that really tick me off. I'm starting to suspect that the reason I get so ticked off is that I take your comments at face value when, in fact, you have a much deeper and more twisted sense of humor than I have given you credit for. Be that as it may, you've called it on this one. I like this photo. Had I paid good money for it and then found out it was made in the way that it was, I would be EXTREMELY disappointed. I certainly would'nt keep it on the wall anymore. It would be very much the same as buying a landscape photo, then finding out that someone put Mt. McKinley on the Serengetti. (I actually saw one of those once) Creative license is just that, but at some point one has to draw the line and call it a lie. Where that line is drawn is up to each individual but, for me, this one is way over the line. So far over the line that I picture Amish folk chanting "You don't speak for me!" Except, of course, such chanting would be beneath their dignity. Really gotta admire those folks... For a national organization to endorse it as some kind of Pulitzer prize contender is beyond fathoming.
Anyway, good call on this one.
Bruce
PS - Thanks for picking up the phone a month or so ago and setting me straight on the best use of the Zone VI VC enlarger, the new darkroom should be done soon and I'll actually be able to put that knowledge to use...
Anyway, good call on this one.
Bruce
PS - Thanks for picking up the phone a month or so ago and setting me straight on the best use of the Zone VI VC enlarger, the new darkroom should be done soon and I'll actually be able to put that knowledge to use...
blansky said:A couple of points:
This thread was not so much about whether you think this particular photograph was art, or even good. More so, it was about the fact that a top photographic organization, would be endorsing this kind of staging, and raving about it.
The second thing is, in life we sort of have an expectation of truth. Obviously the older we get, the more jaded we get. A child comes in thinking that everything is truth, and soon has to discover that it is not.
In movies we accept that it is not truth, in advertising we have also come to accept that, although that has not always been so. In photography for years we accepted that it was truth, well maybe just a little enhanced, but still pretty much truth none the less.
Look at how outraged we used to be when athletes who we admired reached great heights of achievement and then we find out they used steroids etc. Now we almost expect that they cheated.
I guess I just think it is sad that we must place a mental caveat on everything these days, that don't allow us to enjoy something with the knowledge that it was achieved honestly and without betraying our trust.
....here I sit, a sadder but a wiser man.....
Michael