Blog #18 PRINT, So this week's blog falls on the heels of my first photography art show. Friend and photographer Kirill and I printed about 10 photos from our Project 365  (Blog #2 & Blog #17) and hosted an event at a lovely place called Social Room dedicated to Art/Music/People. All three were represented, I am proud to say. We held the event on a Wednesday and a Friday, from about 6:00 PM to 9:00 (later on Friday night).  There was so much to do just for a small event of this size. We printed photos 11" x 17" and mounted them in custom frames that were 12" x 18" with one inch white matting. Thankfully, Kirill ordered the frames while I ran around and secured the venue.  Invitations, posting to social media, personal invitations, framing, printing, buying hardware for mounting on the walls, arranging the drinks at the event, securing the DJ's (also friends)  were some of the tasks that we needed to arrange. There were no major issues, but of course nothing goes entirely smoothly. There was mounting hardware that needed to be purchased in the hour before the first event took place, for example. 

All in all, the show was well attended, and those in attendance heard some cool techno music, enjoyed some cold drinks, and of course, soaked in the color and black and white framed photographs that we had chosen for the event. It was an extremely rewarding and humbling experience to put our work out there for family and friends to see. We we delighted to receive many compliments and to discuss our work in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. When prints are framed and hung on the wall, they take on a different importance. They are viewed differently and a bit more seriously. Images viewed through social media are viewed for a mere seconds while photographs in a show are mounted on the wall for hours or even days. This functions to draw the viewers attention to the pieces and conversations emerge. Statements such as "Congratulations", "I like that one", and "This one is cool because..." began to fill the room and it was clear that there was a greater appreciation for the process of photography.  It's a refreshing experience to be in this type of an environment and present in this type of conversation where art is the centre piece. It was also really helpful to have shared this process with a friend. I think that it would be very intimidating to have a one person show since it was a bit unnerving to arrange this even with a friend. 

We did generate some interest in purchasing some of our works.  This was not the main goal, but I would have enjoyed not having to pack up and schlep all 10 frames back home. Social Room offered to keep some for their walls to give the pieces more exposure, and hopefully sell some moving forward. All in all, the photography show went very well and I would encourage any photographer or artist regardless of their medium to have a go at it at least once. I would definitely be keen to do another show again.  Maybe it's not your thing, but then again, you won't know until you sweat through the experience at least once.  You never know, you might just learn something, and enjoy the process. 

jhg

Framed

Blog #18. Criticizing Photographs or Beyond the "Like".  Most people in the "first world" and many others use social media regularly. Most, if not all, photographers (i.e. hobbyist, semi-professional, or professional) use social media of one sort or another.  These two facts result in thousands or even millions of photographs being uploaded daily. Regardless of the social media platform (i.e. FaceTime, Instagram, Twitter, etc...) the practice of commenting on photos is pervasive. The icon of the thumbs up is used to "like" a statement, link, post, and photograph.  Recent commentary on the practice of "liking" photos has been criticised for being vague, non specific, and of little value to the photographer http://petapixel.com/2016/03/10/great-photo-comments-will-ruin-photography/.  I happen to agree, or, umm, "like" this argument. 

In ​Criticizing Photographs, An Introduction to Understanding Images Terry Barrett (2012), Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University Department of Art Education, explains a professional and proper approach to discussing photographs. Criticism, Barrett argues is really not the judgemental word that we tend to think of. Rather, it is the educated and informed practice of understanding a photograph using a specific vocabulary that is generally free from bias and can be described as striving for objectivity. The purpose of criticising photographs is to accomplish four things: describe, interpret, evaluate, and theorise about a given photograph. Describing asks "What is it?" while interpreting asks "What does is mean?". One needs to be careful in interpreting a photo to avoid "intentionalism" or the practice of making statements about the intent of the photographer. This should be avoided simply because many photographers are making photos without conscience effort or intent for the image to mean anything, per se. In the process of criticising photographs, the viewer ought to understand the difference between the following statements, "This photo means...", versus "This photo means.....to me". Appropriate evaluations of meaning separate the meaning of a photograph from the meaning that a photograph might have on a viewer for various reasons.  The image below received "Honourable Mention" from a given website on a contest using Geometry as the theme. It's great to get praise, but it is more meaningful if the praise is given with evidence or more specific details. 

Criticising, or the art of critique (if you like), usually results in a labelling of types or categories of photographs. In The Photographers' Eye, John Szarkowski (1966) suggests the following five categories that distinguish photography from other forms of art: the thing itself, the detail, the frame, time, and vantage point. Many others have tried to categorise photographs.  Barrett (2012) himself proposes six: descriptive, explanatory, interpretive, ethically evaluative, aesthetically evaluative, and theoretical.  A photograph can fall under more than one category. However, to place a photograph in one or more of these categories is to interpret it. Interpretations, are open to discussion and re-catatgorization.  The evaluator's role is to discuss the category and to provide evidence  for the rationale for their decision. This is all so very fascinating to me and, inevitably, a new vocabulary will emerge resulting from a study of the art of critique. 

Taking a deep dive into art history and reading entire texts on photography is not for everyone. However, it is not necessary to do so in order to provide meaningful comments and/or suggestions on someones work.  An explanation of Why a given image works is the responsible response to a photographic post. The difference between 5, 50, or 500 "likes" is insignificant without evidence provided to the photographer.  After all, is this not Why we post through social media so that we can receive some meaningful comments on our work? A fairly recent and useful discussion on the topic can be found online here: http://www.digitalphotomentor.com/6-tips-on-how-to-review-images-including-your-own/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook. This is worthwhile read for any photographer and should give pause to anyone before they click the "like" button next time they are liking an image on social media. Do the photographer a favour and explain Why you like the photo.  Does the photograph work? State the evidence for this statement. Is the subject strong or salient in the frame? Did he or she emphasize the subject using one of many helpful compositional techniques? Was the use of colour in the image justified? Were there to many distractions to make the image work well? Questions of this type can provide evidence for statements about an image working or not working. We should all try to improve our art of critique along with our art of photography.  Receiving comments of this type is constructive.  I will make an effort to avoid the lazy click on the like behavior in favour of browsing images online with intent. If I do "like" an image, I will make an effort to make an appropriate comment. Comment constructively or nothing is my motto from now on where social media is concerned. Photographers, wherever they are in the world of social media, should "like" this and they might just do the same. 

jhg

Bamboo Scaffolding, Hong KongFujifilm X-T1

Blog #17 Photography Blog Statement of Purpose and Update

Greetings friends of photography. The last blog Post #16 was a special edition related to the final completion of my Project 365. That was exactly two months ago. Boy, does time fly!  I have taken a much-needed rest from the Project 365 and blogosphere, but I didn't take a rest from photography. In fact, I've been super busy with many projects. A lot has happened since the completion of Project 365. In the two months that have elapsed since the last blog, I have pondered the purpose of my blog. The purpose of the continuation of my blog, wait for it..., is to share my journey down the rabbit hole of photography.  Since I re-entered the field of photography in the last few years, I feel that my learning curve has been quite steep and it has become a very important part of my life. Reading , formal study, and of course experimentation have all contributed to this steep learning curve.  I think that it's fair to say that photography has developed into a passion and probably could be defined as an addiction, at times. Yes, carrying a camera every day and everywhere can probably be defined as an addiction. The only other thing I did everyday for the last year was eat.  This blog will function to share this addiction with you, the reader.  Through sharing my experiences, it will help me to reflect on my work and I expect that this reflection process will help to inform the direction that my photography will go into and grow into as well as document the journey for personal historical reasons. So there it is. Every successful blog needs a purpose, and now I have mine. On with it, then. So, as I mentioned above, I have been quite busy where photography has ben concerned. I have planned a show, become a mentor, shot a lot of film, bought two new cameras (more on that later), printed some books, joined a few contests, and I have been very fortunate to have some of my work published (more on that later, too). 

First, friend, fellow 365er, and Brother of the Light, Kirill and I are having a show to display a small section of our pieces from the Project 365 photos.  Another friend, Mike may join the show as well. We are printing about 10 photos each 11" x 17" and using a 1" white matt border in a 12" x 18" frame. The show will be at Social Room, in Central Hong Kong 16 & 18 March from about 6:00PM. If you reading this and you're in Hong Kong, please drop by for a drink and a look. Printing photos is one of my goals for this year. 

Second, through the international school that I work at, one of our middle-school students has been identified as having an interest or passion for photography. Another teacher (who happens to have a BFA in Photography from SCAD Hong Kong) and I have begun to mentor this student.  This has been a challenging but welcoming activity. Through teaching, we learn, whatever the subject.  The same international school is building a darkroom that will be operational very soon and I will be co-teaching a film photography course next term. In preparation for this course, I have been shooting B&W film with my old Nikon FM2. Photography is fun again! This has lead to the third point that I wanted to share. 

My GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome, See Blog #4 http://jeremyhgreenberg.zenfolio.com/blog/2015/7/blog-4) got the better of me and I e-Bayed two (2) new (actually very old) Nikon 35mm film cameras. I bought the best condition cameras that I could find for the money; a Nikon F3 and Nikon F100. The F100 is a recently developed film camera with electronic controls such as autofocus, metering, auto film advance and digital displays. It looks like a modern DSLR but 35mm film goes into the back. The newer, considered by some to be the best film camera ever made, Nikon F6, is next on my list if the newly acquired models do not satiate my GAS well enough.  Nikon is a nostalgic brand for me since that's were my photography journey started. It's hard to give up your roots.  "Don't know your past, don't know your future", Bob Marley sang. I will likely blog on these little treasures in more detail later. 

Fourth, I printed a Project 365 book and another version of Urban Angles - Geometry of a City through the Apple Photos services, the later all in black and white. It's a different experience to feel the photos in your hands compared to viewing them on a screen. I would highly encourage all photographers, novice, hobbyist, amateur, or otherwise, to print from time to time. All of the professional photographers know this and print regularly to get the full appreciation of their work and share it with others. 

Lastly, in an effort to challenge myself further, I took the liberty of joining a few online photography contests. I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to have a photo selected by National Geographic http://www.nationalgeographic.com for a "Built to Walk" themed contest as one of 30 photos selected from thousands of submissions. The photo below is the Nat Geo selected photo. Lens culture.com also published one of my images for a portfolio contest and a local English newspaper, Hong Kong Free Press published two articles showing about 20 images in each. This has all happened in the last two months. Sure, it's cool, but It's a bit surreal and a touch unnerving to be frank. The links to these online publications can be found on my Facebook Page www.facebook.com/jeremyhgreenbergphotography or the About page on this website http://jeremyhgreenberg.zenfolio.com/about.html .

Being published is exciting and sharing work that I am proud of is definitely a new but humbling experience. 

More blogs to come in 2016. 

May the light be with you, always. 

jhg

Crossing Central - Nat Geo Choice for "Built to Walk" Series