To the owners of Cooper. I've had a page from this blog bookmarked for months now. It's a photo of Cooper and it says that at 13 and a 1/2 years old, he still liked to play chuck-it. He seemed like a really good dog and his colouring reminded me of my old dog (even though he wasn't a corgi). Cooper seemed awesome. I didn't know he passed. I'm sorry to hear that, but know that your dog made a guy in Ireland smile a bunch of times over the past year whenever he'd stumble across that bookmark.
This is sweet, I hope Cooper’s owners see it. We did not/do not own Cooper, but he was a good doge.
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What I like about Rothko is the finality of his work. It's like each painting was laser-focused on achieving one small thing in a big way, and when that was done, so was the work. I'd compare it to macro photography where the subject takes place on a tiny scale but gets inflated to a size that we can comprehend. I also kind of look at his work in slow motion. Small and quick (one line for most artists) became large and slow. It's not for everyone. That's fine. It was never intended to be.
After five years of working on this myself, I've opened the space up to some new writers. Over the coming weeks, you'll see fresh content from new faces. I purposely selected people who I thought represented the ethos of DigitalFaun but could perhaps bring a new viewpoint to the table.
During the application process, I asked anyone interested in joining the team several questions including things like "If you could have 5 people, dead or alive, at a dinner party, who would you choose?" and "Pitch one article in less than 75 words" but the question which yielded the most interesting answers was when I asked if the applicant thought that artists should feel obligated to communicate their ideas in a secondary format to their original work (i.e. should photographers have to talk about their images, should painters have to write). Below, as an introduction to each new writer, I have provided their answer to this question.
Alex Sinclair (that's me!)
I don't think the writer themselves should have to express their ideas through a secondary medium, however, I feel that they should be open enough in their demeanour to allow others to create a reading of the work through an analysis of the artists' intentions. Artists should be open enough to allow scrutiny, but not so open that there is no room for interpretation.
Stephen McCabe
I would, for the most part, be of the opinion that it is not the artists obligation to communicate what their their ideas in formats that are secondary. Of course, sometimes it is necessary for an artist, in any sort of medium, to have to examine their work. Whether due to a controversial topic being addressed or political, etc. messages the art is trying to portray, sometimes it is quite central for the art to function as intended. This question brings up what exactly it is people expect from art. If one is just looking for beauty or truth in art then it is not necessary for artist to need to explain themselves. Of course, the pop culture sphere that art is now produced in does not make things that simple. With mediums like film and television, it is seems like writers and directors spelling things out for people is a necessary function for their survival as artists.
Stephen Hughes
I think that not only is it necessary for artists to communicate outside of their primary media, but it is impossible not to. To think that artists can somehow abstract their work from wider networks of genre, language, representation and materiality makes no sense. Context is the key here, and whether the artist likes it or not, their work will always be situated within a web of signifying contexts. The architecture of the building that hangs a painting; the colour of the walls inside a photo gallery; the name of the gallery, the part of town it’s situated in, the type of people attending an exhibition – these networks of signification are already working overtime to translate the meaning surrounding the representation itself. What grants art its power is not the autonomy of the aesthetic, but the fact that art is simultaneously material and symbolic. The function of a photograph is not its signifying potential alone, nor its reference to an actually existing place or situation, its unique perspective comes from a simultaneous manifestation of representation and reference. Art does not exist in a contextual vacuum – its network of signification ought to be recognised and embraced by the artist.
Isobel Taylor
An artist may reject other formats of communication as they find it impossible to use them; hence they resolve this inability to articulate ideas by producing the artwork in question. Explaining work may also be, an albeit petulant, rebellion against having to do so in education. However, in many cases staking claim to a specific intent could make the work reductive and alienate certain audiences, lest we forget the ambiguity of Mona Lisa is its allure. On the other hand, Edward Burtynsky had been quiet about his intent until he began to lose his audience. They believed he favoured the sites he photographed. It lead to Burtynsky conducting more talks, which quelled doubts that he was colluding with ‘the bad guys’. It can be easier to leave work for the critics to decipher and the artist may feel as if their work is already established it does not need their own input. However, more often than not it is an essential tool to guide your work where it needs to be and ensure success. Conducting affiliated work is also a way to support practice financially therefore the most sensible option but not suitable for everyone.
Matthew Flores
I think it’s crucial for artists to have the skills to communicate their ideas in any range of formats, because its precisely those skills that are required in order to create concise, intelligent art with a purpose. If you can’t speak fluently and intelligently about your own art, I think the art itself is flawed. Art is nothing if not expression, and expression naturally should flow through any conduit that is most appropriate. My favorite artists are the ones who can jump from media to media without losing a beat and without the action feeling contrived.
Luke Winter
“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture” being one of those too-glad put-downs which fail to grasp the matter at hand: a matter can neither be grasped nor appear at hand. Metaphor is the power of all art. Whilst it might seem cruel to ask an artist who has spent a career trying to describe something with photos, to communicate that truth with words instead, if words can bring a richer meaning to an audience, a kind artist should be eager to engage with that other medium. For meaning matters; feeling matters. Mystery has some part in prompting those, but if the barriers of mystery, through aloofness, through refusing to engage beyond the limited faculties of a visual work, are raised too high, no meaning or feeling will be derived. To add context to a work is a recognition of its limits. But the work is the start of a conversation only. In the words of Valery: “art is never finished only abandoned”. A kind artist should want to initiate an audience into their language. To do that, they should use any means necessary. Of course artists have a choice. But to remember Henry James: “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”
The above photo, by the extremely talented Harry Mitchell, was my first post on the site. As far as first posts go, I'm pretty happy with that. It's clear that while my knowledge and understanding of contemporary photography has changed, my taste in image makers has not.
Since the site's inception, there has always been a struggle to match interesting content with valuable critical insight and as such the process of running DigitalFaun has been a lot slower than a lot of other image-heavy photography sites. This will be the first year in which I actually won't be in college while working on the site so there's a possibility that even if things don't get churned out any faster, at least there should be a greater consistency to the site's output.
Thanks for sticking with me while I learned (and continue to learn) the fundamentals of what makes this medium so interesting.
I'm flying to New Orleans for a few days for my cousin's wedding. If anyone has any tips on good places to check out in terms of photography (or football, ha) while I'm over there, I'd be very grateful to hear them.
(I'm there through to mid-next week so this weekend's Flickr pool may be a bit off in terms of time but it'll still happen.)
Hit me up below or via message (click here!) with any suggestions you might have.
Catch you on the flip side of 17 hours traveling!
Alex
P.S. I may have bought a purple velvet suit jacket to wear to this wedding. Too jazzy?
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Really happy I've figured out a way how to use the DigitalFaun Flickr pool consistently now. Each week there's a higher volume and higher quality of work coming in. It's really encouraging to see.
Make sure to get yours in before 10am GMT on Saturdays to get the opportunity to be included in that week's post!
TOP: Brian Bielawa
Dreamy pinks, very Eternal Sunshine, original viewpoint.
LEFT: Alex Morvan
Sharp detail, limited colour palette, the tree shadow on his back.
RIGHT: Katherine Squier
Tungsten balance done right, great pose, air of mystery.
Submit to the DF Flickr Pool to maybe see your shots here next week!
digital faun had an open interview opportunity, and i applied. didn't make the cut, but he gave me a shout out! apparently i was very close. feels pretty good!
