Strangers

Below you will find three simple videos which show three different photographers at work: Garry Winogrand, Bruce Gilden and John Chiara.

Gilden is almost aggressive in his behavior—leaping out in front of startled New Yorkers and blasting a huge flash in their face. His hard-bitten reaction ("I didn't know you own the street!") when someone complains to him is comical in that particular offended-New Yorker way, but also instructive: at some level, he seems genuinely surprised that anyone would question his behavior.

For another "street" shooter (that word will always have to appear in quotes) Winogrand is more subtle in his behavior. Even so, he appears out of place wandering around the streets of Los Angeles, snapping away at bemused pedestrians.

Chiara is notable for his dedication to an obviously impractical process for creating images—he uses a gigantic self-built camera which he has to tow behind him.

The "reality" of any photograph is an open question—Winogrand has some insight here—but the bodily reality of these photographers cannot be denied. They were all "really there" making these images. It is striking to see the basic strangeness of this activity. It would not be surprising to hear a casual observer label these people as "crazy," albeit in the un-serious sense. The things they do to impose themselves on their subjects are not "normal." But there's an internal consistency to all three, and when a method produces high-level work—WINOGRAND, all caps—it's beyond any questioning.

Winogrand:

Gilden:

Chiara:

Back to basics

The concept of the "use" of the image does not refer only to usefulness in relation to painting or the enjoyment of art. (Rather, its purpose is to help us decide precisely what such uses are.) It is impossible to construe the notion of use too broadly.

-Walter Benjamin, "Letter From Paris (2): Painting and Photography"

The last sentence here secretly underpins everything related to MCV MCV: the relation between "use" and "image" is always open to question. (This blog is not teleological.)

Really

psycho is an inspiration.

edit: just to be clear, these are not my photos.

Montauk openings

Finding a photo

From a 2point8 article about sending Magnum photographers to South Korea:

At least one theme—religion—featured a few larger prints, as well, including a picture I wondered if they’d find, of churchgoers with their eyes closed and hands in the air at one of the more fervent Christian churches in Seoul.

So, how much of making a photo is just a matter of dropping a photographer into a certain situation? Is there really that much "work" to be done once you're there?

(I'm thinking here only of "street" photographers, by the way.)

There can be improvisation, but it is only a bodily one—the work of getting oneself to the right position (concretely: perspective) to take the picture, such that it aligns itself with your broader collection of photos (vision, in the most basic sense possible).

Photophlow

Photophlow is the most exciting site I've found in a while. Back in the day, I used to use IRC chat, a really simple text-based chat client, to kick it with other random people on the internet. Photophlow is like a fancy IRC chat room customized for flickr users. Everything is tied to your Flickr ID, so you can look through your favorites, search flickr, or browse the photos of the other people in the room with you. It's not just text-based, either: you can post images for the whole room to see, and the entire interface is very graphical. Rooms can be associated with an existing flickr group, with a single person, or you can just make your own room.

photophlow room (image in the room by nicksantan)

If people actually use this, it could easily become one of the most productive online photo communities. There's a real possibility for discussion and criticism.

Check out the site! And drop by the Golden Half room if you do!

Also, I want to say this: productive online interaction should always be pointing towards something "in real life"—there is no point spending all your time behind a screen. I always hear about how great the Flickr community is, but I have the feeling that it takes too much effort to get anything out of the forum style of interaction that currently exists on the site. Chat is different; it's much more direct and much more human. Photophlow has the chance to create real-life communities, if for no other reason that that they'd necessarily take place in real time. That seems like a good starting point to turn a purely online interaction into a personal one.