31 January 2007

Waiting for the Sun, by Telzey


Waiting for the Sun
Originally uploaded by Telzey.
For children, the clock may as well be broken. Time for them is enormous, infinite. Summers last a lifetime. But then somewhere along the line, the clock is fixed, and the children are no longer children. They discover mortality and each and every tick goes by faster and faster. Every grain of sand drops with a thud, and they are horrified by the mindless certainty of it all. It's not fair, they think. Noone warned us. Is there nothing we can do?

04 January 2007

Revolution, by Tous les noms...

In today's Lenswork podcast, Brooks Jensen bemoans the fact that there appear to be few or no websites devoted to discussing the meaning of photographs. Tons of sites about techniques and equipment, but none playing the role of "internet docent," a tour guide to help place photographs in context. He argues that without context, our understanding of any particular photograph may be superficial. Personally, I don't believe this is always the case; some photos literally speak for themselves. But what about ones like this? How much context is necessary for a full appreciation? Do we need more than just the title? There seems to be some danger of limiting a work because it may be that too much context might become interpretation. This is a slippery slope. In the end, Jensen says that perhaps we as artists have to be our own docents, that it's up to us to place our work in a context that makes it easier to understand and appreciate.