Rolleiflex & The Whaling City

[Elias Roustom]

On the 19th. Saturday. I just got word from the gallery owner downtown that she is very interested in a show of the results. How many here think they'd like to shoot for the purpose of printing and exhibiting?

[rternbach]

I will make every effort to attend in New Bedford. I just bought a Rollei E2 and had it rebuilt so I am eager to use it. I'm not a Letterpress printer but I have taken a couple of workshops taught by Kelly McMahon at John Barrett's "Letterpress Things" in Chicopee, Mass. which is near to where I live. kelly is a very good teacher and John is a great resource for letterpress printers from all over and is always willing to help novices and experts alike. He's also a moving force (no pun intended) at the Museum of Printing in Andover, Mass. which I've heard is well worth a visit--especially if you have an interest in the history of printing and photographing fine old presses.

Rudy

[bill h]

I always shoot for the purpose of exhibiting. Rarely achieve that level, but I always try, or sometimes. In other words, yes. Come on, everybody.
-b

[Whiteymorange]

I, too, always shoot for exhibit. I, too, have trouble making that standard with any regularity. I will gladly give the show my best shot or two and we'll see. Should be fun anyway.

[rternbach]

I, too, always shoot for exhibit. I, too, have trouble making that standard with any regularity. I will gladly give the show my best shot or two and we'll see. Should be fun anyway.

As a relatively new photo enthusiast I never think in terms of exhibiting what I shoot. Despite this I have submitted a couple of things for group shows and had them accepted. So there are at least two questions that come to mind: What do you do differently when shooting for exhibition? and, In what form do you give them your best shots? Jpeg? Small silver print? Full-size inkjet print? Other?

Cheers,

Rudy

[bill h]

Rudy, I guess I meant to say that I always shoot, or at least always take out the camera, with the intention/thought/hope/velleity that the next picture will be The One. I am preparing some prints for exhibition right now, and the task is daunting.
-bill

[Whiteymorange]

What Bill said.

[rternbach]

Bill/Whitey,
Thank you for describing the thoughts and wishes you have when shooting but can you be more specific regarding what you do to shoot for exhibitions? While I sincerely appreciate expressions of the shared feelings you have I'm interested in your behavior. That is, the stuff you do when preparing and shooting that can be seen by two independent observers watching at the same time. The sort of thing a time and motion nerd with a clipboard and a stopwatch would be after. Too simplistic, perhaps. Too concrete, yes, I know, I've been called that before. But I am what I am.
Rudy

[bill h]

Rudy, that's a good question, but one that doesn't have an answer likely to satisfy the clipboard folks. When subject-light-shutter combine, sometimes the photographer doesn't even know it until afterwards. On the other hand, you might have a setup in the studio or out with a field camera on a tripod where there's a lot of previewing and planning involved, and that doesn't necessarily work out. Best advice: show up and take pictures. We'll talk.

[Whiteymorange]

I guess for me, the question of "quality" comes into it all (all zen, no motorcycle maintenance, for those who got the reference.) I shoot with the hope of capturing something that will translate into a vicarious experience for a wide range of viewers. If I see something in a composition that speaks of balance and harmony or, conversely, of tension and implied action, I shoot with the hope of having others moved by these qualities. If I think the objects or people in a picture can tell a story that reaches beyond the particulars of time and place, I try to tell that story. Every once in a great while the magic works, and I have an image that speaks to people who know neither the photographer nor the particular details of the image, but who take something away from the experience of seeing it- perhaps akin to what I felt when I saw it first, perhaps not.

I have said in a different thread that art is really just a set of expectations- what I set up and tell you is art really is, but it is not necessarily good art. Good art, in my humble view, is communication, an extra-verbal communication of some truth that cannot be conveyed in another way quite as well.

As I said, I am seldom successful in my search for ways to convey truth through my images, but I have been known to get lucky - and hoping for luck keeps me shooting.

Not much there for the clip-board types but then it is posible that they have their own truths- truths which elude me.