Curtis Fant (c392578@showme.missouri.edu)
Sun, 14 Feb 1999 19:08:17 -0600
Judy,
thanks for the reply. I am aware and have a few of Mortensen's books.
Command to Look, Monsters and Maddonas, The Neagive, Pictorial Lighting,
Flash in Modern photography. I also have copies of all the articles he
wrote for Pop. photography.
>
.... I myself am soooo interested to learn that the vaunted book got
> a poor reception. That makes it more interesting, wouldn't you say ? Definately, since you refer to Mortensen as an ATROCIOUS photographer he still must be a very interesting topic. I am not defending him, but it seems that everytime his name comes to light he is judged bad on subject matter.
The book had poor reproductions and were mis-informative of even what
the center has on him. Why questions Dillons essay? She states, " I
will argue below that the collaborative dynamic between Mortensen and
Dunham pivoted around several related phenomena: the homoerotic
connotations of male collaboration; the ready surrogancy of one partner
for another in a variety of situations; the operation of narcaissism....
Before condeming his photography as atrocious, it might be useful to
note that his litmus test for any photograph(Mortensen's) was approval
from the viewer. So bad taste? maybe, but many people did want to view
and like his photographs. Picture-pictorialism-I am finding more and
more, even from the 1800's that used the same test for the work they
did.
Thanks for the reply,
Curtis Fant
> you feed us any details?
>
> I quoted Mortensen and reproduced his version of "the curve" [sensitive
> folks: DELETE NOW !] in Post-Factory Issue #1, p. 33. There was an article
> about his technical ideas to go with it, cut for reasons of space, but
> still in the pipeline for whenever.
>
> I also recently received a reprint from an unidentified Texas publication
> about Mortensen's system of negative development written by Ed Buffaloe,
> who may or may not be still on this list. (If he isn't I'll give you his
> e-mail offlist.) Ed summarizes the ideas about exposure & development from
> Mortensen on the Negative, which it was nice to see brought to mind and
> related to current thinking.
>
> Some of the old magazines wafting their mildew spores around this house &
> into my aging lungs (lamentably not well organized -- either magazines or
> lungs) show Mortensen's photos and/or the ad for his workshops, which is a
> naked babe wrapped in cellophane, "for the retired businessman" (I am NOT
> making this up). But permit me to mention in passing -- nostalgia to the
> contrary notwithstanding -- he was an ATROCIOUS photographer. Some of
> those "portraits" were UNINTENTIONALLY hilarious. "The Spanish Girl," or a
> title like that, only the worst of those that float into the mind's eye.
>
> It is claimed that Edward Weston based his methods on Mortensen's -- maybe
> so. But for sure not his esthetic. (Of course if I had to choose between
> the two oeuvres I'd be in trouble... but I guess that's another article.)
>
> cheers,
>
> Judy
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