photography

… on condemnation…

/ mobius faith

Condemned Area

When everything we do is monitored – everything is condemned
Where everything is condemned – nothing is permitted
Where nothing is permitted – there is NO freedom.

Now’s the time to YELL FIRE!

…..on the story of our lives…..

/ mobius faith

I once saw a sign and my first thought was, “Hmmmmph, that’s the story of my life!”…..

In the past few months I’ve noticed that has been my reaction to more and more signs. These signs just seem to be coming into focus of my awareness in a way they haven’t before. In fact there almost seems to be an oppression by signs. Some are just general informational signs. Things that announce operating hours, directions to a place, time it takes to get somewhere, who to call (and it ain’t Ghostbuster’s), and other general announcements. But I’m finding, and maybe it’s just my growing awareness, that more and more signs are dictating things. Signs that tell us to do one thing or another, telling us what we can and can’t do. And there are signs that are used to threaten and control…..

That is the focus of this new photo project I’ve started. These signs make up the story of our lives and can tell us things about ourselves, our culture, our perceptions and misconceptions about the world in which we live. So while one may dismiss these images in this project as just pictures of signs. I am asking the view to go further. To go beyond the obvious. To ask questions and let these signs bring new understandings.

Here are eight of the 20 odd images I’ve collected so far (in no particular order). Enjoy.

….on….bored with color….

/ mobius faith

Is there such a thing as too much color?
In a world where saturated color and manipulated images have become the norm is black and white more real?
In our so-called modern society, and culture, image saturation is not only 360 degrees around us but also gets embedded in us as it’s imprinted on our minds. Technology now is primarily image based and all of it is in color; brilliant, vibrant, glowing, saturated color. Printed matter whether publications or advertising is 99% image-based.
Is there such a thing as too many images?
By having so many images do we become desensitized to the image and color?
Or, are we still in the process of becoming desensitized?
How much is too much?
I read a recent article in a publication that people today prefer to look at art online than actually going to a museum. Does this devalue art?
 

Well, these are just some of the things floating around in that vast empty space between my ears….. I had these thoughts as I have found that color images no longer interest me. I’ve gotten bored with images – specifically color images….. As a result, all my newer work is strictly in B&W. For me B&W feels more real. I find greater nuances in the images when I’m working in B&W. The image in B&W does not bore me – it makes me look closer. Will that change? Probably, at some time. But then, again, maybe not as long as our world is – the way it is.

Here are some recent B&W images I’ve created. Enjoy.
As always you can click on an image for a larger view and then use the arrows to advance to next image.

….on never taking another photograph….

/ mobius faith

So, here’s the truth. I like to create. It’s no secret that I have no desire to be a professional photographer. Wedding, party’s, people, journalism, marketing, or industrial work is just not my “thang”. And if the truth be know I may never need to take another photograph as long as I live. As long as I have a computer and I strip down, tear apart, reassemble and create new things from the images I’ve already taken there really is not reason to take another photograph. As you already know I call my process “visual glossolalia”. It’s a term I’ve stuck to for years now and still best describes (at least in my mind) my process for my creations.

Here is a recent photograph. An abstract look at a broken down sign from an abandoned gas station. I called it BROKEN LANDSCAPE. Pretty straight forward.

Broken Landscape smlr

But then what happens when I start taking the image apart and reapplying it on a blank digital canvas. Well here are two of the results. I’ve printed these on metal and they look very nice together.  The dark image is titled NIGHT VISIONS and the light one is titled THE MORNING AFTER.

Again these two images both came from the one photograph. And there is still more I could do with that including a completely different design which I may do at some later point. So do I really need to take any more photos? I could actually just sell my camera and just create new things from my catalog of thousands of photographs. At any rate. Hope you enjoy these.

….on dirty ice….

/ mobius faith

So I decided to play up the notion of dirty ice. Four images that I envision presented in the following manner. Definitely work viewing in full screen (in my opinion).

Dirty Ice I - IV smlr

… on “thin ice”…

/ mobius faith

As many of you know visually, I “see” in abstract.   It’s just the way my mind works.  Some people see gorgeous sweeping mind altering landscapes but I like to get to the “nitty-gritty” of things.   Looking at the common in a way that makes people stop, question, and consider what they are looking at and how they feel about it.

Abstraction is often confused with surrealism but it is not the same thing.  Surrealism, in my opinion has more to do with pictorialism.  Surrealism shows easily recognizable things in fantastical setting[s] setting up uncommon and at times illogical relationships.  Abstraction on the other hand tends to zoom in on details to the point that the viewer is not sure what they are looking at.  It purposefully alters either in presentation, or creative manipulates the subject to the point of no return focusing on shapes, lines, patterns and spaces which results in more of an emotional/psychological connection for the viewer.  Even if the viewer dismisses the work as balderdash, crap, f’d up, worthless, pointless, etc,  they still have had an emotional response to the work.

The two series I am posting today are examples of my abstract way of seeing nature.  This latest project focuses on images from a frozen lake.  This first series involves subtle manipulation of the image by increasing contrast, desaturating color etc.  It consists of 6 images simply titled Lake Ice – .

The second series is the result of trying to figure out what to do with the “bad photos” from that frozen adventure.  I always try to salvage my so-called bad images.  And that salvage process usually involves manipulating them to the point of oblivion.  This series is titled LAKE ICE EXTREME -#9 and tells us some valuable things.

  1. There are more “bad” photos than good ones (that’s why there’s 9 in this series and only 6 in the previous series.)

  2. The acronym for this series is L.I.E.  which basically says that what you are looking at is a lie of the mind caused by extreme manipulation of crop, color and exposure.

  3. While you may not recognize what you are seeing; I think we need to ask ourselves, “What is missing?”, “Does what’s missing matter?”, “Out of sight, out of mind?”, and “How does this increase or change our understanding of nature and the world around us?”  And those are questions each individual has to answer for themselves.

  4. Other considerations are “Why square?” – I was able to crop out a lot of the unmanageable parts of the image and the square crop helps us center our focus (in this instance).

  5. Color is a tricky thing.  If I’d left it natural they all would have been a dirty blue with some brownish tones and white.  When I decided to change the color to make the image a little more disorienting  I was surprised to find that each individual image had its color preference.  For example if the image is green (as in #) it’s because that’s the only color that “felt” right.  Honestly the red/purple/blue/yellow options just didn’t fit.   I always find it amazing how once you get started  the artwork seems to dictate it’s own color palette.   I’m curious if painters and other artists feel the same.

  6. I also envision these 9 images displayed together in the following configuration.

    (you can “right click” then open in a “new tab” to view larger versions of individual images for more details.)

…..on recently….

/ mobius faith

…one morning while in a foggy state of mind….I wandered the local hills as nature gave visual credence to my mood….in the fog when thoughts are distilled into the fine wine of wisdom, courage and faith….preparing one for action….

[fyi: after you click play for the music – if you right click on the first photo and open in new tab you can view larger versions while the music plays]

Luminous City

/ mobius faith

This is a selection from a series of images (so far totaling 30). In this series I am exploring the edge of image through over-exposure. All these images were taken on a photo-walk in downtown Akron one Sunday morning. Just more of my further adventures in Non-representational, non-pictorial and non-objectivism with the camera as my paintbrush. It was interesting when I submitted these to my printer they contacted me and were reluctant to print them because there was so much white. I assured them that this was intentional as I want to explore the very edge of photography and question what we define as a photograph. I’m glad I insisted. I just got the prints and they are gorgeous!
I’m imagining them all hanging on a wall next to each other much like this presentation here where they create details of a much larger work.

One of my favorite poets is Philippe Jaccottet; from Switzerland (the country of origin of my ancestors). Here are two quotes that Fit this series and the soundtrack that I’ve selected for this presentation.

“White as the absence of colour, or death;
white as the essence of color, or, perhaps,
life transcended.”

“Things can fall apart again at any moment.
I can barely hold on to them, if I hold their shadows.
What I devour like a desirable meal is perhaps no more than absence.”

~ Philippe Jaccottet

The soundtrack I’ve chosen for this is An Ending (Ascent) by Brian Eno.
Enjoy.


It’s NUMINOUS

/ mobius faith

The continuing exploration of over exposure. This adventure began in my previous series “LUMINOUS IMPRESSIONS” [which can be seen here https://www.behance.net/gallery/24471909/Luminous-Impressions ] In some ways I think over exposure is a perfect metaphor for the internet era. When a photograph is over exposed it leads to “white out” situations where details become fuzzy and unrecognizeable. I wonder if that’s what will happen to us on the internet. Will too much exposure lead to a sort of personal and cultural blindness? And, is this a bad thing?

On the other hand – because of over exposure where things are not easily identified we are left to explore other realms of the over exposed image. It can give us new feelings and be an almost spiritual exploration into the non-pictorial and non-representational image. In other words, because we cannot readily identify something we are free to redefine it on our own mental, spiritual and emotional terms. Ten people can look at a photo of a kitten and all agree that it is a kitten they are viewing but when the image is over exposed each individual can come up with their own interpretation of what they are looking at.

Click “play on the video” then click on the first image and you will be able to see it large and then press arrow button to go to next image.