RE: Mortensen
This is directed to the gentlemen , Brian and Eric- that were conversing on Mortensen's opinionated do's and dont's.... I just purchased his book on the problems of posing- and yes- he is very opinionated- however his influence is classical art- painting , drawing and sculpture and I think quite a lot of what he presents is spot on... I think the lesson from him is to show the Dont's- because if the teacher never presents anything bad he himself has generated- well then this falls to the reviewing of the students work. Now Mortensen was over-opinionated - and this is fine for his work- I do agree with the general spirit that rules were meant to be broken- and following one master is simply blind obedience. and why not do all of his don'ts to present a campy swarmy view of the nude? I remember seeing Bob Guccione's mid 1970s images of close ups of female "naughty bits" shot though some sort of vaseline and cheesecloth. I found these neither erotic nor clear enough to be anatomically instructive for a college boy. you can add those images to the Don't list... AnyWAY - the real reason I am posting is that Willard Van Dyke came to the New Orleans Museum of Art a few months before he died. This was back in the early 1980s to my remembrance. You may know he was the last surviving member of Group ƒ64. I knew he had had a long running feud with Mortensen, and asked if time had softened his opinion of Mortensens work. ( Mortensen died in 1965) Well - Mr. Van Dyke turned red and erupted into a minute long tirade against Mortensen and pictorialism. I think he used words such as abominations and schlock.... Anyway- many of the members afterwards congratulated me on having such knowledge of the history of photography - and one scolded me for interrupting his nap by agitating the speaker... Anyway- several months later Mr. VanDyke was gone...had I loosened a clot with my inflammatory question? Sincerely, Richard Vallon Jr. from New Orleans
|