Chance/Abstraction #20160905172713

2016-09-05 17:27:13

Another from my abstraction and chance series. This time photographed through a train window in early spring 2016.

Formal?

One of the few images I made on this day 10 years ago

Time?

As we begin another 12 months of our existence on the third rock from the sun. I am reminded of the idea of time. Many folks no doubt would have spent last night partying until midnight or beyond cheering out the old and inviting the new year in. Convinced in the idea that somehow their lives would take an abrupt change or start fresh. Of course years, hours, and minutes are a human construct so any changes that occur in the natural world are not contingent on calendars or clocks. And in my mind only people who want to change do.

Time and photography is something that interests me though. I’m enthralled and excited at how cameras blur, distort and freeze time in ways the human eye and mind is incapable of seeing.

Over the years I have created several flukes and some surprising images, two examples are above.

However my most surprising is this one below.

I have for some years been trying to create a body of work that explores the idea of time and chance. Or is that Abstraction and chance? I will continue for the foreseeable future to work on this project. For the time being most of these images as they are digital will reside on the web. Who knows though? Maybe I’ll have a enough material for a photobook?

More from my inbox

Great article about the history of the 35mm format Here’s an excerpt; too funny! The first commercial Leica was produced eleven years later, in 1924, and for a number of years, “135” or “35mm,” as it was called, was also known as “miniature” format. Most professionals and serious amateurs, who scorned it, at least used…

Subvert the dominant paradigm II

My Locations & Motivations

I had to recently write an artist biography for the exhibition at Atkins Photo Lab. I was advised that it would be helpful to explain to non-photographers why I make pictures of the places I do. It is something that I had not given much thought to for some time. So why do I photograph…

Timing [Wordless Wednesday]

C Roads & Other Adventures?

One of my on again off again projects is entitled ‘C Roads & Other Adventures. It has its roots on flickr. It stems from my broader research on ideas about the flâneur and psychogeography. Most term breaks I try to squeeze in at least one day of extensive driving and one of ‘walking’ to build…

Glossaries?

As an educator I often refer my students to glossaries of terms. Photography as a skill and craft is peppered with unfamiliar terms, I wrote one such glossary for our student’s use. This week I uncovered another useful one, from the University of Chicago. Its focus is on ‘Theories of Media‘ but of course photography figures largely…

Old School. New School.

Researching analogue processes this week for work has lead me down a veritable rabbit hole of information. I am teaching a process that requires a certain level of finesse and attention to detail. Also this is a particular part of the process that I have not had to draw on in my own practice for some…