Photographers on Dirty

[MikeyC]

Originally Posted by kid cue

this wasn't my experience in the art school where i took classes -- there, the photography students were the stars of the program, got most of the attention, and benefited/suffered from the most in-depth critiques. i feel like photography (along with video) is the trendiest medium in the art world now, at least in America.

where did you go to school? the school i attended and many ive seen around here while shopping for a grad program are all pushing conceptual art. so if youre dedicated to a specific medium youre looked at as a bit foolish. especially so as a photographer.

Originally Posted by kid cue

i skimmed through that enormous book maybe last year ... i really like him in writing, and a lot of his work. i like a lot of japanese photographers though, i think because there, photography seems totally distinct from the other arts, especially in book form. there doesn't seem to be as huge a difference between "art" and "amateur" photography there.

if you like his thoughts on things, check out "arakimentari." its a dvd with him giving his views on photography and life. theyre all over ebay, though prices on it seem to be continually rising (got it for ten dollars about 2 months ago. now they seem to be at about 30.)

postwar japanese photography is just incredible. although a lot of was born out of american work, they took it and ran with it. much of it is years ahead of the work being done in other places. its funny to see some of the foremost critics give some "new" philosophy on photographs, and some japanese photographer had said the same thing 15 years earlier in some little magazine. but the world of japanese photography was not that familiar to many outside of japan for some time so it's understandable.

japan just is apparently a culture that is a perfect environment for photography. it seems so bipolar. you have the traditional japanese customs and values and how they work next to the westernization that has been creeping in. the major cities in such close proximity to the small little towns that seem to have not changed for such a long time. the level of dedication to work and the absolutely insane ways of partying and stress release. and of course as with any culture you have class struggles.

[kid cue]

Originally Posted by MikeyC

where did you go to school? the school i attended and many ive seen around here while shopping for a grad program are all pushing conceptual art. so if youre dedicated to a specific medium youre looked at as a bit foolish. especially so as a photographer.

i wasn't enrolled there, but i did some classes at Yale--it's an ultra traditional program, especially wrt photography (Friedlander, diCorcia, and Crewdson are regular critics there), so it made sense that they'd be hardcore with the photo kids. i've heard what you're saying about conceptual programs, in California mainly, where people look down on you if you actually want to make paintings as opposed to locative art, or whatever. it's dumb

if you like his thoughts on things, check out "arakimentari." its a dvd with him giving his views on photography and life.

yeah, it's been on my Netflix queue for time now! thanks for reminding me, i'll bump it up.

postwar japanese photography is just incredible. although a lot of was born out of american work, they took it and ran with it. much of it is years ahead of the work being done in other places.

who do you like besides Araki? i'm really into Daido Moriyama and (more recently) Rinko Kawauchi and that guy who photographs the Tokyo underground tunnels.

japan just is apparently a culture that is a perfect environment for photography. it seems so bipolar. you have the traditional japanese customs and values and how they work next to the westernization that has been creeping in. the major cities in such close proximity to the small little towns that seem to have not changed for such a long time. the level of dedication to work and the absolutely insane ways of partying and stress release. and of course as with any culture you have class struggles.

how do you see this as being good for photography? i'd love to live there ....

[MikeyC]

Originally Posted by kid cue

who do you like besides Araki? i'm really into Daido Moriyama and (more recently) Rinko Kawauchi and that guy who photographs the Tokyo underground tunnels.

moriyama is without question THE photographer i respect most. he and leonard cohen are the only two famous artists that i have ever wanted to meet and just have a talk with. his work in both style as well as content hit so close to my own feeling on many things. i had always been attracted to work that dealt with this sort of helplessly futile view on life ("100 years of solitude" and "on the road" for instance. "on the road" of course being a major source of influence for moriyama himself.) and so seeing moriyamas photographs for the first time (stumbled upon while looking through the japanese work from william klein, who is also a favorite), they just felt instantly familiar to me. sort of "this is what it looks like in my head."

aside from moriyama im a bit all over the place. and it also depends as very few photographers consistantly do work i like. so it is pick and choose.

takuma nakahira is amazing. was in the provoke group with moriyama. was working in the same bure boke style as moriyama was at the time, but eventually began shooting much more color and "regular" pictures. though i really enjoy that work from him as well.

anton corbijn is a big inspiration for me. ive always hoped that hed somehow end up shooting underworld. he would be my personal fav commercial photographer. his lith prints and blue prints are gorgeous.

william klein as earlier stated. the man who sort of kicked off the whole notion of not trying to get sharper clearer images but instead going for the feel of the scene and the energy in it. his new york book is fantastic.

i like a lot of robert franks later work where he began working in film and doing collages of photos and others materials. the book "storylines" is really beautiful if you havent seen it. i think its much more interesting than "the americans."

the native american photos from edward curtis. they have a similar feel to the work of corbijn. he was working with his own methods of printing and the results are really nice.

and then of course "the ballad of sexual dependency" from nan goldin was THE book that made me go from liking photo to becoming obsessed with it. her later works gets a bit blah.

but aside from moriyama i actually think that the writings of leonard cohen inspire me more than photographers do. occasionally they make me want to kill myself too.

Originally Posted by kid cue

how do you see this as being good for photography? i'd love to live there ....

i suppose id boil it down to the place has a huge energy to it. and i think a good deal of that energy comes from the push and pull in the culture. and then simply that theres such a large number of people in the cities. any time you have something like that, for me at least, you cant even put the camera down for more than a few minutes. new york is the same way. every time i go there i come back with a good bit of work.

ive gotten carpel tunnel and no work done today from all the typing on here.