weekend 6/18/06
Last weekend was really more interesting than the pictures I have. We did so much more than just entertain Soba with the laser pointer. O.K. so it was really for our entertainment. Have you ever tried it? Having a dog chase the imaginary "being" under the bookcase. Around in circles. Up the wall. Hours of entertainment I tell you.
Friday night we went to the Diane Arbus exhibit at the Walker. It was opening night and very crowded, but I thought it was fantastic. So inspirational. So many questions on photography were both asked and answered. She had a tremendous talent for catching people at the right time and illustrating who they are. Couples, old people, kids, circus performers, nudists, street people, etc., etc. I also found it interesting to see the many attempts she took before capturing the perfect photograph. Different poses. Different expressions. Subtle changes. I could also feel her passion for photography. She decided on "the latest" camera that she had to have. To earn the money for it she took on teaching additional classes.
What was diffecult to discern was how she was able to get so many people to pose for her. They seemed to volunteer displaying their weakest or most private moments. The best reasoning I can think of is a combination of the right level of assertiveness coupled with a time in the past that people were fascinated with the photographer (40 years ago). The difficulty of current times is the level of suspicion people have of strangers, and more specifically strangers with cameras. I've been reading about current day photographers and their experiences doing street photography. For the most part it's easy, but there are the occasional extreme reactions - in a bad way. I also have been learning that the truly intersting photographs have people in them. You may be able to see what they're doing. You might not. But it adds a level of perspective to the photo that you can't get out of a photo of a building or a sunset. I should say that photographs of very specific objects, cropped very tight, can be successful without people. But general photographs are just bad photographs. At any rate, there is so much to learn.
And Hiroe loved the exhibition too.
On Saturday we went to a local landscaping shop and ordered some crushed rock for the backyard. It was delivered on Monday.
It's not that either of us are exceptionally fond of rock. It's a cleanliness thing, i.e. dogs and mud. Whenever it rains, and for that matter all spring during the thaw, there is mud around our trees and anywhere there isn't grass. Even where there was grass there was mud, but I've been working on that one too. Whenever the dogs go out and it's wet they are due for a bath.
On Sunday night we went to our favorite local Indian Restaurant for our 2nd aniversary. Very nice.
Friday night we went to the Diane Arbus exhibit at the Walker. It was opening night and very crowded, but I thought it was fantastic. So inspirational. So many questions on photography were both asked and answered. She had a tremendous talent for catching people at the right time and illustrating who they are. Couples, old people, kids, circus performers, nudists, street people, etc., etc. I also found it interesting to see the many attempts she took before capturing the perfect photograph. Different poses. Different expressions. Subtle changes. I could also feel her passion for photography. She decided on "the latest" camera that she had to have. To earn the money for it she took on teaching additional classes.
What was diffecult to discern was how she was able to get so many people to pose for her. They seemed to volunteer displaying their weakest or most private moments. The best reasoning I can think of is a combination of the right level of assertiveness coupled with a time in the past that people were fascinated with the photographer (40 years ago). The difficulty of current times is the level of suspicion people have of strangers, and more specifically strangers with cameras. I've been reading about current day photographers and their experiences doing street photography. For the most part it's easy, but there are the occasional extreme reactions - in a bad way. I also have been learning that the truly intersting photographs have people in them. You may be able to see what they're doing. You might not. But it adds a level of perspective to the photo that you can't get out of a photo of a building or a sunset. I should say that photographs of very specific objects, cropped very tight, can be successful without people. But general photographs are just bad photographs. At any rate, there is so much to learn.
And Hiroe loved the exhibition too.
On Saturday we went to a local landscaping shop and ordered some crushed rock for the backyard. It was delivered on Monday.
It's not that either of us are exceptionally fond of rock. It's a cleanliness thing, i.e. dogs and mud. Whenever it rains, and for that matter all spring during the thaw, there is mud around our trees and anywhere there isn't grass. Even where there was grass there was mud, but I've been working on that one too. Whenever the dogs go out and it's wet they are due for a bath.
On Sunday night we went to our favorite local Indian Restaurant for our 2nd aniversary. Very nice.
posted by john and hiroe at 9:51 PM
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