I have been thinking a lot lately about digital versus film.  It seems to be the predominant water cooler issue among photographers.  Which is better and why?  I have absolutely nothing to add to this argument that hasn’t been written better already but working today something did occur to me…

Digital is a Man:  If you are wondering what exactly you are dealing with it will tell you.  It has a screen and a histogram and tons of technical readouts to tell you exactly what is going on.  It’s all about new gadget’s, the latest and greatest.  It likes to go fast and and not spend too much time on any one thing.  It’s results are instant and unsurprising.

Film is a Woman:  First off there are a million things affecting the moment.  The temperature, the film, the exposure, the metering, the processing, the scanning… all of this has to go just right before you ever even see what is really going on.  If you have to ask what is going on it’s certainly not going to tell you.  Just the sheer amount of unique chemistry involved is terrifying.  However when you get it all right it’s the most beautiful thing in the world.

I’m just saying.

In other news I’m pretty sure my super best friend Violet is looking more and more like my favorite super model ever.  What do you think?

I have never quite understood where quotes come from.  I’m sure most are pulled from writings of said person, but I am truly fascinated by the ones that were not.  Was Descartes sitting on the toilet and muttered “I think therefore I am”  what followed that? possible …”damn that was brilliant! I gotta write that down. No I gotta get someone else to write that down.  Great now I am going to spend the next two weeks trying to drop that line in an epic fashion at a toga party. sigh”

With that in mind here are some quotes that have really inspired me art wise lately:

“In asking the artist to have courage, we must ask the same of industry. The impetus to conform, so widespread today, will, if not checked, kill all forms of creativity, scientific and technological included.” – Paul Rand

This one is huge for me.  I have a bit of personal style, I have a vision of what my work could become, but I also have a local clientele who want nothing to do with it.  Who want safe, non threatening non thought provoking “art” What to do what to do…?

“I often feel that people come to me to be photographed as they would go to a doctor or a fortune teller–to find out how they are. So they’re dependent on me. I have to engage them. Otherwise there’s nothing to photograph. The concentration has to come from me and involve them. Sometimes the force of it grows so strong that sounds in the studio go unheard. Time stops. We share a brief, intense intimacy. But it’s unearned. It has no past…no future. And when the sitting is over—when the picture is done—there’s nothing left except the photograph…the photograph and a kind of embarrassment. They leave..and I don’t know them. I’ve hardly heard what they’ve said. If I meet them a week later in a room somewhere, I expect they won’t recognize me. Because I don’t feel I was really there. At least the part of me that was is now in the photograph. And the photographs have a reality for me that the people don’t. It’s through the photographs that I know them.”  - Richard Avedon

Amazing words of insight into the mechanics that make up a photograph.  An aggressive reminder to be the artist, not just the recordist.

“Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.” – Salman Rushdie

I’m not sure I have ever read a line that more personally described my own work to me.

What quotes inspire your art? I want to hear?

A Whole ‘Nother Blog (‘n website!!)

Wow a brand new blog, I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility.  Gone, like an unloved first child is my blog of yesterday and here arrives the new flashy upgrade.  I suppose I should tell you a little bit about myself and then maybe you can tell me a little about yourself.

1. I love making lists almost as much as a love photography.  I’m not sure where the love of list making comes from as I am one of the most unorganized people I have ever met.
2. I love mustard.  I bring this up a lot and I question how high I should place this but it’s a pretty prevalent piece of info about me.
3. I have been shooting with artistic intent for about 3 years.  I am currently a photography student at UVU where I have 2 photography and 1 art history professor that I absolutely love.
4. I am not that skilled at writing.  I am spastic and scatterbrained, I write massive run-on sentences and test comma’s patience.  Please be patient and I will try to be interesting.

Well that seems like enough listing for the first post.  Thanks for stopping by!