Re: Celebrate

[eric nelson <emanphoto@gmail.com>]

That's my point, quotation and all, which were tied into the previous direction of the "discussion".

I'm quoting here... "Yeats says,  "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."  This suggests, (if we're to buy into his thinking here{edit}), a dissociation between the best, which Yeats identifies as head people, the intellectuals, and the worst, whom Yeats associates with the mob who are those who react with passionate intensity not with careful intellectual study and expression."

I know it's a stretch but I thought since we're mostly "head" people here it might bring about some reflection.

Now from there, to get back to photoland, I led us to look at how Mortensen, takes a somewhat intransigent photographic/artistic position, albeit from the 1930's, and lays out his "reasoning" point by point to illustrate why he is right and why we should follow his aesthetic reasoning.  

We can read this now and can find there isn't necessarily a right and wrong way, although one can find it gratifying to have their own aesthetic POV bolstered by some points, get annoyed by others, and so on.  Depends on the person.  Hopefully for all it is a very amusing set as he illustrates some horrendous work we've all seen somewhere, sometime.

I'm not holding up Mortensen here as some standard we should all strive to achieve or limit ourselves by his rules as that is antithetic to the point and parallels I was, perhaps too cryptically, trying to make.  I was only jokingly suggesting to go out and shoot but not break any rules as I've broken Mortensen's "bad empathy" rule many, many times.

Bad Eric

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 3:11 PM, BOB KISS <bobkiss@caribsurf.com> wrote:

DEAR ERIC,

            If (and that is a BIG if) Mortensen were right we can completely discount the figure studies of Edward Weston, Lucien Clergue, Helmut Newton, and…yes…even Sally Mann and many others whom we all regard as at least significant if not brilliant.  Considering how camp and stylized Mortensen's work was I think he was a case of someone in a glass house throwing stones. 

                        CHEERS!

                                    BOB

 

---

From: eric nelson [mailto:emanphoto@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 3:37 PM

To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca

Subject: Re: Celebrate

 

"'The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity' -- now you figure out where I am. -Lou Reed quoting Yeats

 

 

Speaking of passion, I found a guide of nude composition faux pas(s) in my copy of Mortensen's "The Model" that one can find either funny because you've avoided these, or infuriating if your aesthetic is featured, because, like political perceptions, it all depends on where you're coming from.  

So go and shoot some nudes and don't break the rules! Haha!  

 

See, it all comes back to photography.

Eric

Mortensen Nude Blacklist Set 1 

Mortensen Nude Black List 2 

Mortensen Nude Black List 3 

Mortensen Nude Black List 4 

Mortensen Nude Black List 5 

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3592 (20081106) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com