It's like photographing pots and pans of famous chefs

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Here's an interesting photo project.

Dead Link Removed

Enjoy!

 

[holmburgers]

I saw some of these prints in person and they were really great. I like their simplicity, and the strange beauty that chemical stains can have, not to mention the wonder it might imbue in people about darkroom photography.

 

[blansky]

While rather interesting it's much like photographing the penis of the father of a family of famous people.

 

[holmburgers]

I wish you would've left that post blank...

 

[batwister]

Seems John Sexton has a system for cleaning his trays too...

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

Reminds me somewhat of this (which I find quite beautiful):

http://iliketowastemytime.com/2012/02/08/can-you-guess-what-these-pictures-are-of

 

[batwister]

Reminds me somewhat of this (which I find quite beautiful):

http://iliketowastemytime.com/2012/02/08/can-you-guess-what-these-pictures-are-of

Which reminds me of this actually - http://www.paul-kenny.co.uk/

 

[Vaughn]

I could photograph the trays probably used by Thomas Joshua Cooper as a student here at HSU (he graduated in 1969) but they would be a bit boring. We have been using the same trays continously in the university darkroom for the 40 years I have been around here -- don't know how far before that they were bought. Stainless steel -- no stains.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

While rather interesting it's much like photographing the penis of the father of a family of famous people.

The father of the Baldwin brothers?

Wait, he probably had it removed by now....

 

[steven_e007]

They're all so scruffy and stained! :confused: - this must mean something really deep and profound...

 

[holmburgers]

They're all so scruffy and stained! :confused: - this must mean something really deep and profound...

See, if you expect this from the photographs, you will be disappointed. No one's asserting that they're deep, profound, meaningful, besides you. I think the whole point of art is that you aren't supposed to bring your expectations to it, you're supposed to take it for what it is.

And sometimes, it's not much more than a picture of a stained tray.

Ever heard of wabi sabi?

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I remember I saw a show in Chicago of W. Eugene Smith. There was a display of his tacking iron on display. The plastic cover was off for one reason or another. I got the sticky finger urge. But I stopped myself because it was bad photo karma. BTW it was a great show.

 

[blansky]

It's all akin to the search for the grail for some people.

The search for the Holy Tray.

Some people need to ascribe significance to objects used by the heroes of their mythology. In fact imagine a gallery showing of prints with the respective tray underneath the print. Some people would have an orgasm. When in fact the photographer treated the tray as just what it was. A tray. Others would attach religious significance to it.

Humans are funny.

 

[holmburgers]

My only point is that the photographer has taken a very singular idea and done a nice job of bringing it to fruition. He appears to have completed his work, and here it is, for what it is. A document of a bygone era, with the added bonus of having a visual continuity that is in many instances beautiful, and at the very least interesting.

Beyond that, I don't see anyone giving it reverential significance, nor is it exciting thy loins. (ok, well maybe a bit...)

All I'm trying to say is that a critic is able to take something and work backwards, deriding the artist's intentions and supplanting a simple, noble idea with something corrupted; i.e. hero worship.

Not to say that some artists don't begin with innoble ideas.

Look, I think we're all upset that our trays weren't featured....

 

[blansky]

My only point is that the photographer has taken a very singular idea and done a nice job of bringing it to fruition. He appears to have completed his work, and here it is, for what it is. A document of a bygone era, with the added bonus of having a visual continuity that is in many instances beautiful, and at the very least interesting.

Beyond that, I don't see anyone giving it reverential significance, nor is it exciting thy loins. (ok, well maybe a bit...)

All I'm trying to say is that a critic is able to take something and work backwards, deriding the artist's intentions and supplanting a simple, noble idea with something corrupted; i.e. hero worship.

Not to say that some artists don't begin with innoble ideas.

Look, I think we're all upset that our trays weren't featured....

I agree. He did a great job. And it IS interesting. But I'm often surprised at how some people attach WAY to much significance to these type of things.

This is something like sports memorabilia. People will pay hundreds of thousands for a ball that ???? hit over the fence to win ????World Series or Wayne Gretzky's hockey stick that snapped in ??????goal.

When in fact, it is no different that 1 million other baseballs or one of the thousands of sticks Gretzky used. And often for instance during certain games Gretzky would used dozens of sticks during a memorable game like his last one. "Hey look, I have the stick from Gretzky's last game. And it only cost me $60,000 on ebay".

The dozens of pens that people cherish that a President uses to sign some significant document. 10 pens for one signature??

But I absolutely agree, the trays were an interesting idea, but I'm still gonna cringe when they are up for auction for $10,000 a piece.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Bottom line it's fetishism.

 

[steven_e007]

Ever heard of wabi sabi?

Yes. It's that green hot stuff you squirt on Japanese food.

 

[benjiboy]

This is reliquary, using objects that have belonged to the saints as items of devotion.

 

[hoffy]

While rather interesting it's much like photographing the penis of the father of a family of famous people.

Here's hoping his next project involves Porn Stars and their tools of the trade

I thought it was good - to me, it humanizes it to a degree. These are their most fundamental print producing tools and shock, horror, they are just like mine and yours (and just as stained, as it appears).

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

If you look on the internet..

Here's hoping his next project involves Porn Stars and their tools of the trade

I thought it was good - to me, it humanizes it to a degree. These are their most fundamental print producing tools and shock, horror, they are just like mine and yours (and just as stained, as it appears).

If you look on the internet, it's probably been done. Timothy Greenfield Sanders have shot porn stars. Though I'm not really a fan of his work, these portraits shows their human side. There are usually 2 shots. One shot with clothes and the other naked. I know some find porn distasteful, but it's a worth a look.

You can buy it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/XXX-Porn-Star-Portraits-Timothy-Greenfield-Sanders/dp/0821277545

 

[Vaughn]

Ever heard of wabi sabi?

Yes. It's that green hot stuff you squirt on Japanese food.

I thought it was what Tonto called the Lone Ranger when he was out of ear-shot.

 

[holmburgers]

Ever heard of wabi sabi?

Yes. It's that green hot stuff you squirt on Japanese food.

I thought it was what Tonto called the Lone Ranger when he was out of ear-shot.

I'm sorry, the correct answer was...

"Wabi-sabi is the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of traditional Japanese beauty and it occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greek ideals of beauty and perfection in the West. If an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."

 

[Vaughn]

In Praise of Shadows is an excellent book...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Praise_of_Shadows

 

[holmburgers]

That sounds great Vaughn, I'm gonna find a copy.

 

[benjiboy]

I thought it was what Tonto called the Lone Ranger when he was out of ear-shot.

Tonto is Spanish for fool. " Hey Tonto we're surrounded by indians, what you mean we white man".