From: William Marsh (redcloud54@earthlink.net)
Date: 04/14/02-12:07:00 PM Z
Halvor wrote:
> First, it is a bit a matter of scale, I focus on only a couple of trees
> instead of a few thousand. This, yes, beeing a result of the urbanisasion of
> the world & degredation of nature. Call it portraying what is left. The
> single image will not reveal much, although beautiful in itself, but the
> body of work will reveal what is missing. (That might, I suppose, depend on
> the spectator, culturally & interest) Doing pure landscapes/trees in the
> greater Tokyo area does pose quite a bit of problems. It is however also a
> challenge wich can produce interesting results.
>
Halvor,
I applaud your efforts to find your definition of beauty, wherever you
are. It may be that your vision of the natural world has the (paper)
cup half full. For me, however, the cup is definitely half empty. I
look back on that earlier version of myself, that stalked the perfection
of nature, and wonder where he came from and where he went - one day, I
just had to take pictures of an abandoned factory, and the world changed.
> is this what's called "beating a dead fish" or something like that?
It's a horse, "beating a dead horse," though If given the choice, I
would gladly beat the dead fish instead.
>
> About the paper cup. Tragic with an element of humor. It does also
> illustrates the changes of picture perception over time. Most people I know
> within photography today, would probaly have congratulated you instead, on a
> succesfull commment on the state of Nature. Assuming you ment the cup to be
> there. Which you today would have :)
It *was* tragic to me at the time, kind of hilarious now, but the issue
is not as simple as making a comment on the state of Mother Nature.
There are all kinds of beauty, including, but definitely not limited to,
pure landscape. Factories have enormous amounts of it, though it is a
"man-made" kind. I would refer you to Weston's Armco Steel Plant
series, or Charles Sheeler's or Albert Renger-Patzsch's celebrations of
the rise of industrial culture.
I guess it boils down to how each person defines beauty and the search
for beauty. We do this stuff to satisfy some inner quest for visual
satisfaction, eh? So, to each his own.
>
> Anyway Thanks to Shannon for this title may I suggest treesrule.com if you
> are going to make a web page sometime. It has been inspirational.
>
> now, there are trees to photograph.. :)
>
> Halvor
>
Yes! Many thanks to Shannon, et.al. I haven't had to think this clearly
about this in a long time, and I think I needed to.
Regards,
Bill
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