The difference between mediocrity and excellence In addition to the quiet sensibility that this image evokes in me, it speaks to the human journey, our quest for meaning and purpose, even our individual place and function in the world as we paddle this way and that with attention focused mainly on the surface of things. […]
Chapter 5: Elements of Composition In pictorial art, composition relates to how visual elements are organized within a frame. Through the centuries, both Eastern and Western artists developed guidelines to help them maintain a viewer’s attention. Aspiring artists and many in the public appreciate that the organization of elements within a frame influences the viewer’s […]
Chapter 3: Color as Subject Objectively speaking, the world is colorless. So is the sun. Our brains construct the sensation of color from various radiating wavelengths of photons, depending on how they’re absorbed in and reflected from various surfaces. Visible light occupies just a tiny sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum, constituted of wavelengths that stimulate […]
Chapter 5: Particularity My wife and I occasionally visit antique stores and fairs. I walk up and down the many rows of vendors, looking for objects that might attract me, especially a quality of light and one or more of my aesthetic preferences. In the above image I found three of them—exquisite light, simplicity and […]
Chapter 3: Fine Art, Expression, Contemplation In the early 1950s, when I was introduced to photography, the debate was raging as to whether or not photography could be considered an art form. In January 1955 Edward Steichen launched an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City entitled, The Family of Man. […]
Chapter 2: The Aesthetic Dimensions Artists working in visual media train themselves to perceive beyond looking by continuously imagining or creating actual frames around everything they see. After a while a pattern emerges in the subjects they choose and the materials and techniques that work best. Along with these, they develop certain aesthetic preferences—choices relating […]
Consciously or not, every day we choose between breakdown and transformation Because the rust is so prominent in this image, giving the appearance of a “bleeding” or disintegrating stairway, I see it as an excellent illustration of entropy—matter in the process of dissipation, reverting back to heat energy. According to the Third Law of Thermodynamics, matter […]
By our works we are known Blunt, South Dakota When I photographed these orderly rows of young corn extending to the horizon, I was thinking about the farmer and his work, evidenced by the tractor tracks and the amount of time, money and energy it took to plant this enormous field. Reflecting on the image […]
The safety of system’s syntropy against the forces of entropy Obviously, guard rails are intended to keep vehicles from running off the road and to reduce the severity of injuries when they do. Not so obvious is the observation that their presence indicates a lack of trust. Appropriately so. Bad accidents, even death, may have […]
In my experience, more people seem to be moved more by color photographs than black and white. That’s understandable—color is more visually stimulating and it’s how we see the world. Our brains are wired for it. In our photography classes at RIT we sometimes heard some adage: “If you can’t make it good, make it […]
Contemplative Photography 