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the laramie project dir. libby jensen

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
Occasionally I run across photos that challenge my own preconceptions of what a photo should look like. These photos are an example. I really want to like them but in all honesty, I can't get beyond the processing technique. To my eye it overwhelms the content.

Beyond that, there are some very nice shots. I am drawn especially to the series of the young woman in the last few shots.
 

smokysun

New member
yes, i can completely understand that. it really depends on whom you're trying to please! i'm finding the subjects often (usually) like techniques on the border with painting. they find themselves and the landscape transformed into something that goes beyond time - and i think time is the issue. classic photographs include a stopped clock. (roland barthes said every photo really about death.) time is what makes us human. photographers like this classic feel, even if it sends a chill down the non-photographer's bones. and b&w tends to be more chilling than color.

that said, if you know the play, you might grant that it expresses something of it's spirit.

thanks for the comments.

wayne
www.pbase.com/wwp

ps. these are processed a lot less than it looks like. i do like to explore that border with painting, and i haven't added anything, merely brought out what was already in the raw files.
 
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TRSmith

Subscriber Member
Interesting to hear that your subjects respond more favorably to a more painterly approach. I hadn't thought of that.

On the other hand, IMHO processing techniques like this seem more likely to appear dated as the years pass when compared to more classic B&W renditions (for example) which can be timeless.

I suppose it's true that as a photographer I enjoy the tonality and textures of a fine print and that adds to my appreciation of the photograph. Perhaps there's a new aesthetic I need to learn to appreciate.
 

smokysun

New member
interesting, and i was thinking maybe the more painterly approach would age better! however, classic black and white has a long tradition and any b&w done in this manner will ride on the waves of the past. sea and sky don't change, but fashions do. this brings in nostalgia. for a simpler time, etc. and nostalgia is predicated on being a resident of time past! (the weight of the present has been lifted from us. we're already gone.)

for example, this very famous photo by cartier-bresson typifies what i mean: time frozen, the leaper, the dancer on the poster, etc. (and hcb actually cropped this pic, which he rarely did.)

also, i'd say the transition of tones in this fairly abrupt, and even more in the photos of bill brandt, perhaps my favorite photographer. harsh contrasts are a part of the photographic history. adams and weston set a precident, but it's not the only one. still, personal preferences will always apply.

http://www.billbrandt.com/Focus/focus_on.html

thanks again.
wayne
www.pbase.com/wwp

ps. i've posted the whole series of the laramie project at www.pbase.com/wwp/laramie
 
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