#photo #monochrome #oldbuildings #art #mnartists

  • KevinFRKEnglish
    2•7 months ago

    Your photos are generally hard to “parse” for your intent, but in this case I feel especially uncertain.

    The composition, that is the chosen subject, angle and crop, makes sense to me. I might have looked for more interesting wood grain, but this suits your apparent style.

    What I don’t get is both the choice of high noise/low resolution, and choosing to let the top left exposure blow out. Is it that it’s just to get a “I never meant to take this shot” vibe, while entirely intending to?

    • Joshua W Murray OP
      1•7 months ago

      Thanks for the comment! My only intent with Astronomatopoeia is that it’s a series of scenes or objects, taken with black and white phone apps, that I find interesting when I’m out of the house. The photos are unplanned, spontaneous, and at the will of limited app functions.

      I rarely adjust these photos in post as the real challenge to myself is to take and post a picture a day (or close to that). I tend to compose asymmetrical shots, binary objects, or lone hero subjects. I think Astronomatopoeia falls somewhere between the spontaneous action of street photography and methodical composure of fine art.

      So, yes, ‘I never meant to take this shot’ but I like it when I take it like this.

      • KevinFRKEnglish
        2•7 months ago

        Ah - using a mobile phone, I should have guessed, and a phone does suit what you are trying to achieve. It also means you are not carrying around a bulky expensive thing, which is a bonus.

        Shooting Black & White is a different sort of limitation: to me B&W only suits scenes where there is very little colour variation, as otherwise you are just throwing away information (yes, I have a computer background!) which feels wrong. Looking back on what you’ve posted, (in my opinion) you’ve generally stuck to images where B&W works.

        • Joshua W Murray OP
          2•7 months ago

          I’d love to find a small digital rangefinder with a larger lens to carry everywhere with me. 25 years ago I always carried Grandpa’s Yashica Lynx 14e and 4 rolls of Tri-X with me “just in case”. It was fun.

          I like how the approach to black and white photography is different from color. For B&W I concentrate on contrast and form as well as the subject but with color my focus is on saturation and the ‘shape’ of color. I don’t think information is thrown away. I think it’s about working with the strengths and parameters of the medium.

          Or sometimes it’s just play. Astronomatopoeia is play.

          • KevinFRKEnglish
            2•7 months ago

            I’m pretty sure you don’t suffer from this problem (especially as you recognise B&W needs a different approach), but I came across too many photos where it was clear the photographer had just presented their shot as B&W because that’s “Artistic” (and no other reason) while there was almost certainly good colour in the scene they took a photo of - it’s those cases where I see it as throwing away information.

            • Joshua W Murray OP
              1•7 months ago

              Ahhh yes! I know exactly what you mean. You can see “artistic” talent right away. I think it comes from a lack of art education or inexperience or you’ve encountered a marketing rep. But then again, we’ve all put out art because that’s what we thought art is supposed to be.

              Here’s a question I ask my artist friends from time to time: can you instinctively see or notice high art / low art, more talent / less talent regardless of finished work? And, considering your answer, do you think there’s a universal aesthetic in which everyone can agree that there is definitely good art and bad art?

              • KevinFRKEnglish
                2•7 months ago

                It’s good art if it satisfies the soul of its creator … if it satisfies anyone else, that’s just a side benefit.