horenstein on animals.

http://www.horenstein.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=2

final project.

There are places unmanaged by human interaction. Places where dust falls and settles undisturbed and nature has an unchecked influence on the layout. These places have an atmosphere unlike that in which we live. I am going to find these places, they are everywhere, tucked into the crevices and corner of the space we inhabit.

lighting demo put on for intro darkroom: some resultant portraits.

maintenance tank resetting/reuse.

http://churchillphotographer.blogspot.com/2008/03/reusing-epson-4800-pro-inkjet-printer.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_7645000_reuse-epson-maintenance-tank.html

the currier museum, manchester, nh.

Brett Weston, Mountains and Clouds, 1980

The Currier Museum's A New Vision: Modernist Photography exhibit offers a collection of over two hundred prints, mostly black-and-white, many contact printed, and the majority of which are nothing short of fantastic. There are absolutely some outliers and some that don't quite impress, but for the most part they are excellent to observe. One of my favorite artists in the collection is Brett Weston, the son of Edward Weston, who absolutely inherited his father's mastery of photography. He does not deviate much from his father's subject matter, I wish he did more, but continues in the tradition of Edward, shooting landscapes, abstractions of natural items, some excellent sand-scapes, and much other work that could pass as his fathers.

Brett Weston, Oceano, 1985

I would choose either Brett Weston's Mountains and Clouds or his edition of Oceano for my wall. He accomplishes the same feat as f/64 photographers, excellent depth of fiend and simultaneous contrast and detail. I appreciate all of this work both for its technical achievement and for its frequently excellent subject matter, both images move the eye across long organic lines. Mountains and Clouds has a sense of motion in the cloud, that feels to be barreling forward, and Oceano feels aptly named in the rolling curves of the sand, it is organic and sculptural, this image does not do it justice.


Laszlo Moholo-Nagy is going to receive some criticism for his image, Fish Drying, 1925, as an outlier and a technical failure compared to the majority of the exhibition. This is an image that, unfortunately, cannot be found on the internet. It did not seem like a complete compositional failure, but was dark and flat, and the subject matter would be lost for identification if it were not for a title. Titles should be supplementary and secondary to an image, and should not be necessary for identification or appreciation. In a room filled with the work of photographers who frequently went to great ends for their images, this image is unsuccessful. The subject matter may have been interesting if better lit and clearly printed, but I have to suspect we are missing little. I am not trying to discredit Moholo-Nagy as an artist, he has some sculptural work that I can appreciate, but this particular image stood out to me as of the weakest at the Currier.

Frantisek Drtikol, Le Nus de Drtikol plate XXVII, 1925

Two very different nudes stood out among those in the exhibit. Drtikol's nude, like Minkkinen's, crops the body in an interesting manner. The first obvious difference is what each artist chose to crop. Drtikol's emphasis is on the torso, the brightest lighting is from the neck to the knees, with highlights on the left hip and breast. Minkkinen emphasizes limbs, hands and feet, the later of which are omitted by Drtikol. Both artists found excellent environments in which to shoot, Le Nus was shot among what is assumably an abstract sculpture. Foster's Pond Millennium was shot in what might be my favorite environment ever, millimeter deep water. The play of the reflection and the mist creates a dramatic sharpness in the foreground and allows the leanness of the figure to contrast with the soft background. The illusion of poise on the surface of water , the negative space, and the range of tones in this image are all fantastic. Driktol was at an obvious disadvantage technically, and can't be held to the same standard as someone who shot in the year two thousand, but should be recognized for his composition and the play with shape.

Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Fosters Pond Millennium, 2000