18-JAN-2005
Waiting for their noodles, Huay Xai, Laos, 2005
This is a simple street photograph of two customers waiting for their hot noodle soup at a vendor's stand in a small Laotian town. I chose to backlight the scene to make it a partially abstract image, and thereby more symbolic of eating and less specific in terms of who is about to eat. By abstracting the three participants, I stress their shapes and body language and how they relate to each in space. One is already abstracted because she has turned her back on the camera. The other two figures are darkened just enough by the backlighting to leave something to the imagination and call more attention to the negative space moving between the figures. That negative space – the areas between subjects -- becomes very important here. This negative space is full of tension flowing in the space around and between the bodies of the noodle watchers. I also like the way the tension is increased by the objects suddenly piercing the frame at left and top left, as well. The splayed fingers of the waiting woman are unconsciously echoing the thrusts of the antenna at bottom left, small pipes of some kind at left, and the jagged flap of the roof at top left. There is enough light spilling into the scene to illuminate the colorful clothing of the woman with her back to us, as well as the faces of the other two people, and the various pots and bowls on the table. Yet we don’t see everything. My selection of a backlit vantage point has left some room for the viewer’s imagination to work.
Door Carving, Royal Palace, Mandalay, Myanmar, 2005
Mandalay's Shwe Nandaw Monastery was at one time part of the Royal Palace of Mindon, the King of Burma from 1853-1878. It is famous for its intricate woodcarvings. The entire monastery was once gold plated, inside and out. Rather than try to show the entire façade of the palace itself, which would be little more than a postcard photograph, I bring the entire palace down to this single carving – a fascinating detail on one of the palace’s teak doors. The process of symbolizing a larger entity through one small detail is, in itself, an act of abstraction. Yet, so too is this photograph. I used my spot meter to expose for the most brilliant of the highlights falling on the door from the late afternoon sun. I let everything else go black. The figure, which appears to be in a fighting mood, has raised its arm as it peers into the blackness below. He seems to still be rallying Mindon’s armies long after they have passed into history. This carving is but a small detail of a larger door, which is, in turn, is only a small part of a large building. And now we look at the smallest of detail within that carving itself, trying to take ourselves back to another time and another place. What we are doing here, of course, is abstracting the abstraction, and trying in the process to get as close as we can to the essence of the place.
15-OCT-2004
Merced Abstract, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004
I photographed four sticks protruding from the low Merced River within a shimmering reflection of El Capitan, to create this abstract view of two of Yosemite’s most familiar landmarks. This image is intended to prod the imagination of viewer. I fully intend it to say less about Yosemite National Park, and more about the sensibilities of those who interpret it. As with most abstractions, this image has its roots in reality and its substance in fantasy. I know what it says to me, but I’d like very much to know how it affects you. Let me know with your comments, questions, and suggestions.
(In the Spring of 2005 I reinterpreted this image as a lesson in the power of Photoshop to enhance and intensify meaning. My reinterpretation appears on the next page.)
15-OCT-2004
Merced Abstract Revisited, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004
The power of Photoshop as a tool of enhancement and reinterpretation in expressive photography is limited only by our imaginations. I posted my original version of this abstraction of Yosemite National Park’s Merced River embracing the shimmering reflection of El Capitan, in the fall of 2004. Since that time, the original image has triggered the imaginations of many pbase artists. You can see this image, and read the continuing commentary, along with my responses, on the previous page of this gallery.
A number of viewers have asked me to what extent I altered the original colors of this image with Photoshop. I have always answered that question by saying that I honored the original as it came out of the camera, with only minimal adjustments. Yet as time passed, I began to wonder how I might have altered the meaning of this abstraction by significantly intensifying the colors reflected in the waters of the Merced.
In the spring of 2005, I decided to put the original through Photoshop once more, only this time intensifying the colors to present a more vivid portrait of El Capitan’s reflection in the rippled waters of the Merced River. I used Curves, Saturation, and the Shadow/Highlight Control to bring to El Capitan to life within the water.
This image is the result. The colors are now warmer, richer, and the image holds more detail as well. However, I do not consider it to be either an improvement or a regression. It is still very much an abstract vision of a monumental scene. Yet it is a completely different expression than the one on the preceding page. Each of these two images will be perceived according to the imaginations of each viewer. Like the original version, this photograph has its roots in reality and its substance in fantasy. I present it to you here as a lesson in using the power of Photoshop to reinterpret our original expression in any way we wish.
15-OCT-2004
Fall Leaf, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004
I photographed this fall leaf from the inside of a Native American shelter exhibit in Yosemite Village. The leaf was resting on the side of the shelter, overlapping one of its openings. Light was passing through it, and a close inspection reveals that a spider had been passing over it – the fragile thread of its web is visible between two of the leaf’s points. By photographing only half the leaf, I make it seem as if the leaf is peeking into the shelter. As with any abstraction, much is left to the imagination of the viewer. To me it is an image that evokes a sense of season in one of America’s most treasured environments.
01-SEP-2004
Surfaces, The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 2004
Capturing the essence of an architect’s art is a matter of personal interpretation. Just as I hope that each of you will bring your own interpretation to bear on this photograph of architect Frank Gehry’s masterpiece – the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, I tried to express my own interpretation when confronting the massive plates of titanium sheathing that gives this world famous, award winning building its identity. Even though the Spanish weather was uncooperative (the skies were flat and gray), Gehry’s building magically absorbs and reflects any kind of light because of the way he has placed titanium plates as the surface of his building. These surfaces curve and twist like giant waves, and because they often face each other, the interplay of reflected light and shadow is fascinating. To portray my own impression of Gehry’s art, I build my idea upon abstraction. I remove all traces of the building’s outer form. (I have also interpreted this startling building in terms of its overall form and setting in my Gallery 15 on Buildings, as well depicted the enormous scale of the titanium panels themselves in my Gallery Two on Incongruity.) I decided to move in and concentrate my attention solely on how light plays upon on the titanium sheathing that covers the building, just as armor once covered the medieval knights of Spain. I found a spot near the building’s main entrance where Gehry had created a courtyard. Titanium sheathing faces other titanium sheathing at odd angles, with sheets of reflective blue glass squeezed between them. The sheathing in the shadows appears to be bronze, while the sheathing facing the overcast skies sparkles in a silvery tone. The blue glass between these panels captures reflections of both. I think my tight, abstract approach to framing has captured the essence of the whimsical nature of Ghery’s amazing concept here. It makes you wonder where these amazing surfaces lead. It activates the intellect, our emotions, and most of all our imaginations. And that is what abstraction does best. What do you think of this approach? I would be thrilled to hear your own impressions of this image. Does it work for you, too? Or does it leave as you as flat as the leaden skies overhead? I welcome your comments and questions.
05-SEP-2004
Vintage Truck, Lisbon, Portugal, 2004
I was struck by the play of light, rich colors and fine details on this old truck parked on a busy shopping street in downtown Lisbon. To express the interplay of these assets, I decided to abstract the truck by moving to make a picture of only one of its lights, and part of its hood and radiator. I eliminated everything else – its spindly wheels, roof, and body. I had too – the more I tried to get into the picture, the more literal and cluttered it became. Conversely, the closer I got, the more emphatic its beauty, grace, engineering and style became. Abstraction usually comes down to giving the viewer less and saying more.
03-SEP-2004
Ducal Palace, Guimaraes, Portugal, 2004
The Palace of the Dukes of Braganca was built in 1420. It is the most impressive historical building in the town of Guimaraes, near Oporto in Northern Portugal. Its most prominent features are these towering circular brick chimneys, once used to vent the many fireplaces in this huge, fortress-like building. The best way to emphasize this array of towering chimneys is to abstract the building by shooting only a part of it, and much of that in backlit silhouette. Using a 24mm wideangle converter lens on my Canon G5, I take a low vantage point and shot up into clouds. I use my spot meter to expose for the white clouds. The sky becomes a deeper blue, and that part of the palace that is in shadow goes black. This abstraction forces the eye of the viewer to the thrusting chimneys and on up into the clouds. It does not take a great leap of imagination to see the column of clouds in the center of the picture become a column of fireplace smoke, either.
16-JUN-2004
Lion’s paw, Forbidden City, Beijing, China, 2004
A pair of lions guard the doors to China’s ancient Imperial Palace. One is female, cradling a cub in her paw. The other is male, grasping an ornate globe said to represent the world. Most tourists dutifully photograph both lions. Others may shoot just one. My own choice was to photograph only the paw of the male upon the globe. The claws are fanciful and massive and the globe is a stylization as well. I place this highly cropped subject matter off to the right of the frame, keeping just a hint of the ornate palace for context at left. My intention: to characterize China’s former Imperial power in a simple and graphic form. Isolating a segment of subject matter for symbolic purposes is a form of abstraction. I don’t do it all the time, but occasionally trying a bold concept such as this can energize your approach to travel photography. Less can often become more, particularly when the strong symbolism is intended.
21-JUN-2004
Broken terracotta figures, Emperor Qin’s Tomb, Xian, China, 2004
Over 6,000 life sized soldiers made of pottery guard the tomb of China's first emperor in Xian. Unearthed in 1974, this 2,000 year old army was accidentally discovered by farmers digging a well. The massed ranks of Xian's terracotta warriors are impressive, but even more poignant are the hundreds of broken soldiers awaiting eventual restoration. We saw many figures such as these, their heads smashed and bodies in fragments, slumbering in jumbled heaps, just as the archeologists found them. I converted this image from color to black and white. Black and white photography is a form of abstraction. It can be more symbolic as well, because it leaves more to the imagination. Black and white is often simpler in form, as well. This abstracted black and white version works more effectively as a symbol of the slumbering past. It is more stylized, and thus more haunting. The color version looks more like broken pottery, while this black and white image makes us think that we are looking at shattered human forms.
15-JUN-2004
Yesterday and Today, Shanghai, China, 2004
This simple image tells us what Shanghai once was and what it has become. The graceful little clock tower once soared over the grandstand and clubhouse of Shanghai's famous Race Course in the 1930s -- a symbol of Shanghai Society. The race-course was turned into People's Park in the 50s. Its historic clock tower became the city's library and currently houses an art museum. Behind it looms one of Shanghai's new skyscrapers, looking very much like a giant rocket ship blasting its way right out of my picture. I cropped the upper half of the skyscraper out of my frame because I wanted the building to be less literal and more symbolic. By chopping the building in half, I’ve abstracted it, and made it seem as if it has no limits. Which is very much the story of today’s Shanghai – it is one of the world’s fastest growing cities.
18-APR-2004
Locked Chairs, Mission Bay, San Diego, California, 2004
Locks are part of life. We all use them to protect our belongings. Even in a vacation paradise, we need to have locks and cables to secure the two beautiful wooden patio chairs gracing this sun-splashed Southern California bayside vacation patio. I took on the challenge of converting this situation into a photograph symbolizing the nature of our times. The most effective way to create symbols is to abstract the subject by removing detail and leaving it up to viewers to come to their own conclusions. I moved in close and shot into the sunlight to turn the lock, cable, chair legs, and the wavy shadows of the chairs into silhouetted forms juxtaposed upon the diagonal grid of brown patio tile. The result: an ironic comment on the need for locks and cables to keep people from stealing chairs used purely for relaxation.