Equivalence: The Perennial Trend [Archive] - Page 2

Darryl Baird

8-Jun-2015, 15:34

...like walls,
or other, things that brings different feeling of oneself !
When one dares, existence becomes tangible...
what is next ?

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=135120&d=1433796107

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=135120&d=1433796107

nice. this one really speaks to me… age, fragility wholeness (with scars), experience, stress…

Miguel Coquis

18-Jul-2015, 01:38

Summer shot.
Generally, one do not knows what is behind...
It might depends on which side attention is being placed.
First levels of attention could be my eyes over the ground glass and all different kinds of "technical thoughts"...
On another step, a particular quality of attention may appear offering an entry to experience esthetics through my camera eye...
who knows or can say better or worst ?

johnmsanderson

27-Jul-2015, 22:31

http://www.john-sanderson.com/files/gimgs/39_motel-and-street-tracks0007.jpg

View of tracks from Motel, Ohio

Looking out from inside, blue pole creates an internal diptych, numbers with arrows give suggestions to the railroad's direction leaving the frame.

Miguel Coquis

5-Jan-2016, 02:00

The Perennial Trend
there are things one is much less aware off...
pains, joys
gardens, prisons
lenses on my camera would not make any difference,
nor does the neg film or chemistry
January 2016

Miguel Coquis

7-Jan-2016, 03:32

...If the individual viewer realizes that for him what he sees in a picture corresponds to something within himself—that is, the photograph mirrors something in himself—then his experience is some degree of Equivalence.

Miguel Coquis

6-Apr-2016, 04:57

Mirrors
Narcisos
Stagnant waters...

Miguel Coquis

26-Mar-2017, 10:36

Still trying equivalence the perennial trend.
Shadows often surprising.
Suddenly viewed by oneself, recorded instants from "une autre dimension"...

swmcl

26-Mar-2017, 15:30

Miguel,

You are very talented at this. Keep up the good work.

26-Mar-2017, 16:23

Still trying equivalence the perennial trend.
Shadows often surprising.
Suddenly viewed by oneself, recorded instants from "une autre dimension"...

I really like this.

David Hedley

27-Mar-2017, 05:14

An alternative angle on the shadow and light in Miguel's last image;

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7349/16409749595_5b5146e291_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/r15fRa)

Miguel Coquis

16-Apr-2017, 03:22

Great strenght !
Thank you David !!!

Recently, during a visit to Pikillacta*, piles of stone seem to be "alive" and ready to transform into New forms.
This remind me times when projects are ended and one starts to be invaded by the strange feeling of emptiness...
Happy Easter guys !!!

*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikillaqta

Miguel Coquis

21-Apr-2017, 04:36

...waiting ?
Faithful to...

Miguel Coquis

23-Apr-2017, 02:28

Walking through the ancient constructions visiting famous Incas monuments, several details happen to retain my attention.
Suddenly something, stones, walls, started to unfold. A moment of great intensity.
A feeling of being mirrored, of being shaped on oneself.
Lines, forms, shapes, volumes, light&shadow..., giving the sens of movement, of aliveness !
Here is it, to be shared.

Miguel Coquis

25-Apr-2017, 08:40

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6799419143_dceb9cf8d0_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/bmQNqx)Sculptured Beach, Point Reyes (https://flic.kr/p/bmQNqx) by austin granger (https://www.flickr.com/people/60005435@N08/), on Flickr

This beautiful visual reminds me, brings memories to the present moment.
Wood is particularly symbolic in my visual/imaginary world.
Sometimes, they show traces of some kind of open wounds, or even wound on it self !
Sometime ago, du to health issues, my ULF was stop down. Little by little, I left all the ULF equipment beside.
Finally decide to give completely up and start to look and find someone who would like to experiment ULF.
Not many people out there ready to step in !
Spring came and with it some new energy floating in the air, three or four candidates write me to inquire about...
The asking price was from far more then fair, one of them jump into the offer asking what else can he obtain for the price...
The complete set went away. In return, the new owner start reproaching this and that. Moving his magic wand he wanted to make appear more and more for what he did not paid.
At the end the friendly transaction became like mirror or reflexions of an invisible nightmare.
I better understood that one can not give what one does not..., have.
Good luck with your ULF project dear candidate to ULF universe !!!
ลาก่อน

chassis

25-Apr-2017, 09:15

Miguel thank you for sharing your words and image.

DaveF

5-May-2017, 13:44

Very interesting thread. Here are a couple from me.

The first was taken in November in Kinlochleven, Scotland:

https://dwfnaturephoto.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/kinlochlevenbullabstractv505x4small1.jpg

Linhof Technikardan S45, Fujinon 90mm SWD
Fujichrome Velvia 50
2" f/22, 20mm front fall, 2º front tilt back

The second, with broken greenhouse glass as subject, is part of my growing 'Traces of Botany' series, taken more recently:

https://dwfnaturephoto.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/brokenglassedit2v505x4small1.jpg

Linhof Technikardan S45, Nikkor W 210mm f/5.6
Fujichrome Velvia 50
340mm bellows,
19mm front shift left and 3mm rear shift right for composition,
6º front tilt, 19mm rear rise
17" f/32

David Schaller

5-May-2017, 18:13

Both beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

Very interesting thread. Here are a couple from me.

The first was taken in November in Kinlochleven, Scotland:

https://dwfnaturephoto.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/kinlochlevenbullabstractv505x4small1.jpg[/

Linhof Technikardan S45, Fujinon 90mm SWD
Fujichrome Velvia 50
2" f/22, 20mm front fall, 2º front tilt back

The second, with broken greenhouse glass as subject, is part of my growing 'Traces of Botany' series, taken more recently:

[IMG]https://dwfnaturephoto.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/brokenglassedit2v505x4small1.jpg

Linhof Technikardan S45, Nikkor W 210mm f/5.6
Fujichrome Velvia 50
340mm bellows,
19mm front shift left and 3mm rear shift right for composition,
6º front tilt, 19mm rear rise
17" f/32

Randy

6-May-2017, 05:36

I see a charging bull?

https://dwfnaturephoto.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/kinlochlevenbullabstractv505x4small1.jpg

DaveF

7-May-2017, 11:54

Indeed! A sort of homage to work by both Minor White and David Ward.

7-May-2017, 16:31

The second, with broken greenhouse glass as subject, is part of my growing 'Traces of Botany' series, taken more recently:

Linhof Technikardan S45, Nikkor W 210mm f/5.6
Fujichrome Velvia 50
340mm bellows,
19mm front shift left and 3mm rear shift right for composition,
6º front tilt, 19mm rear rise
17" f/32

Super nice. Color is harder with this subject of equivalence, but you've made it work.

DaveF

8-May-2017, 00:20

Thanks!

DaveF

8-May-2017, 00:24

Thanks, yes. Has to be said that I'm relying on simplification here. The richness of Velvia colour helps too.
The 'bull' image was a bit of a fluke (a lucky spot, esp. as I had to rotate the scene 90º), though I knew from some researching that I was in a 'target-rich environment'. The broken glass shot comes of extreme familiarity with a specific location, i.e. you've explored basically almost every inch of a place over a number of years, and see it change.

Miguel Coquis

9-Jan-2019, 12:10

Refreshing oneself, trying to re-discover aliveness through camera work.
This is one from "les Vaux de Cernay" near the abbey (XII century) of same name.

Mark Sampson

9-Jan-2019, 19:48

Nicely done, Miguel.

Joe O'Hara

21-Jan-2019, 15:27

https://www.josephoharaphotography.com/img/s/v-3/p3265621047-4.jpg

Lebanon, 2019.

Tin Can

21-Jan-2019, 15:35

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4583/38079307405_d44bb3cd9c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/211WpqR)Atomic Bomb (https://flic.kr/p/211WpqR) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

Joe O'Hara

21-Jan-2019, 18:26

This, I suppose, might be one of those "black light" bulbs I heard about in the 60's?

Neat picture in any case.

Tin Can

21-Jan-2019, 18:42

No, it's a normal white light bulb shot at 3-1 and reversed to a enlarged negative print with an internegative.

I thought it related to your image. As your image made me think of mine.

This, I suppose, might be one of those "black light" bulbs I heard about in the 60's?

Neat picture in any case.

Joe O'Hara

21-Jan-2019, 18:58

Some things do look very strange when presented as a negative.

Others, as a positive ;-)

Drew Wiley

21-Jan-2019, 19:17

I think it's actually an incubator for little alien embryos. Sigourney Weaver is probably somewhere in the background. Nice one, Randy!

Pieter

21-Jan-2019, 19:18

I'm sorry I have not heard of the concept of "equivalence" as it seems to pertain to photography. I started to read the link in the first posting, but it is rather obtuse. Is there a clear definition of equivalence? I like the photos shown, but I am not getting the connection.

Joe O'Hara

22-Jan-2019, 08:10

Pieter, that word was I believe first used as a concept in fine-art photography by Alfred Stieglitz (1865-1946), an American photographer, gallerist, and critic.
Like most terms used in the discussion of art works, it is murky and obtuse indeed, to me at least. It seems to refer to the idea that a photograph can evoke
in the viewer concepts or feelings that are completely independent of the subject matter. Stieglitz, for example, titled a number of his cloud photographs "Equivalent".
Naturally, exactly "what" they are supposed to be equivalent to, is never stated.

Not everyone considers this idea meaningful or helpful. Edward Steichen, a contemporary of Stieglitz, scoffed that "They aren't equivalent to anything. They're
just clouds". (Actually, they aren't even that. They are just photographs of clouds.)

You will probably get many other points of view on your question in this thread. My personal opinion is that aesthetic discussions, including that of "equivalence", are futile and inherently content-free. Don't feel that you're missing out on anything important, though. You aren't.

Jim Galli

22-Jan-2019, 14:32

I thought religious discussions were taboo.

Drew Wiley

22-Jan-2019, 17:11

The term "Equivalents" is what Stieglitz actually used. I've seen his master set, and these indeed represent striking emotional "equivalents of what he saw and felt" at the time of the shot. It was a major theme in early to mid 20th C photography, and was preached by Minor White as if it were a religion; but he too did it exceptionally well. It differs from Surrealism, which was also popular around the same time, but try to simulate perhaps weirder or more deliberate responses of the subconscious, often unfortunately with a bit of pre-hippie non-darkroom chemical help.

Tin Can

22-Jan-2019, 17:16

Many here https://www.google.com/search?q=Equivalents&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CU4z5tfh29w6IjjbhYR3YZto50X9KF9q-c0xwIjzie7vkgqB8dtngGqQpO3kQx6JElPfgB-h9qXqeQWZclxMUohaQCoSCduFhHdhm2jnEbJI25ZGYVmvKhIJRf0oX2r5zTERz7IstC9uaVYqEgnAiPOJ7u-SChF1fjJMkRO2ByoSCYHx22eAapCkERnSvotWbCRzKhIJ7eRDHokSU98Ri8IMxIsRMBQqEgmAH6H2pep5BRGb_1EF79D7mfyoSCZlyXExSiFpAEZAdmQ4eedkv&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD4YDcz4LgAhUm9YMKHZhRBhwQ9C96BAgBEBs&biw=1396&bih=692&dpr=1.38

22-Jan-2019, 18:39

White remarked, “One should photograph things not only for what they are but also for what else they are.” and “Equivalence is a function, not a thing.”

from : http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/11025/equivalence/
JPC son/student of Paul Caponigro, student of Minor White, etc...
Carries it even more forward describing resonance as the consequence of equivalence.

I make an effort to understand it, but realize it's all a bunch of inadequate words. We work in the realm of photography because words are often inadequate in some manner.

Joe O'Hara

22-Jan-2019, 19:08

Thanks for the link, Randy. Many wonderful images there. I will have to make more of a study of Stieglitz
than I have so far.

Equivalence is "a thing", but it is better to do it, rather than talk about it.

After all, that is what cameras are for.

Pieter

22-Jan-2019, 22:23

JMO

23-Jan-2019, 15:46

As discussed above, the concept or process of "equivalence" as articulated by Stieglitz and Minor White may be fairly obtuse. But I have experienced equivalence reactions, and sometimes rather strong and surprising ones, as I have viewed certain prints made by other LF user friends. I think one of the more important aspects of this consideration for photographers is to be aware that people who view your images can sometimes react very strangely, strongly and emotionally to a print, and in ways that make clear the viewer replaced his/her perception and experience of the print with something that may not be very close to the physical subject matter of the photograph. So don't be surprised or taken aback when this might happen in relation to one of your photographs, and consider that the equivalence reaction is probably a good thing, and may be a mark of success.

Tin Can

23-Jan-2019, 16:00

I fully agree and wish we stopped writing, talking, pontificating, and communicated solely by images to and for images.

As if images could speak their own language without words to each other, but images are inanimate and we need to 'see' in our ever morphing minds.

Symbol for symbol, semaphores...are not the correct analogy.

Do images exist or is it just our imagination?

...Equivalence is "a thing", but it is better to do it, rather than talk about it.

After all, that is what cameras are for.

Miguel Coquis

24-Jan-2019, 14:05

Lets put some light on...
What can be the connection between us while giving a look at this visual ?
It is just a moment of attention. Energy is there, manifesting presence.
Presence of seeing, no matter what associative intellectual moves will take place.
To see, directly, straight, one seeing oneself seeing..., and making a photographe at the same time !

Miguel Coquis

16-May-2019, 05:53

Equivalence is an "experience" that enveloppes one's visual impressions, that nourishes a visual project with several intuitive levels...
Connecting with higher energies...
Pinhole, 4x5"
Creative Process series

Miguel Coquis

17-May-2019, 11:20

Vue over the Bay
Seeing intuitively
Pinhole 4x5"
Creative Process series

Miguel Coquis

11-Jul-2019, 23:34

Keeping "alive" the perennial trend.
Developing ones own craft opens new paths...
While maintaining open minds, continuous experimenting and letting one self being caught by surprise by unattended discoveries.
Pic:Pin-hole selfies "en mouvement"
4x5" Kodak B&W negative film
Dev N-3
Sunlight ;)

Tin Can

12-Jul-2019, 00:07

Like all 4 posts Miguel!

austin granger

14-Oct-2019, 17:48

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48900793811_8d13570b39_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2hvcmjF)Scarecrow, Sauvie Island, Oregon (https://flic.kr/p/2hvcmjF) by Austin Granger (https://www.flickr.com/photos/austingranger/), on Flickr

tuco

14-Oct-2019, 18:54

Do scarecrows really scare away crows? I hear they are very smart. Smart enough to know if something is alive or not I suspect.

austin granger

14-Oct-2019, 21:36

Crows are not fooled by scarecrows for very long. I gather that there are moving "agri-lasers" which work better at keeping birds away from crops. I'd be interested to see one of those in action, although I don't imagine they're nearly as charismatic as a traditional scarecrow.

Miguel Coquis

2-Dec-2019, 15:46

8>)

Greg

2-Dec-2019, 16:15

from my reflections series...
6x9 image on 120 film

Peter De Smidt

2-Dec-2019, 16:18

Terrific, Greg!

Greg

2-Dec-2019, 16:43

Adding another one from another series, but this series photographed in color
4x5 Chrome from around 2003

Colin Graham

3-Dec-2019, 20:50

http://www.colinflanarygraham.com/No75/public_html/No75/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/headfache.jpg

Well, my headache thought so.

Andrew Tymon

4-Dec-2019, 04:38

https://live.staticflickr.com/8569/16108285968_e0c5acf296_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qxrbdq)Sun symbol (https://flic.kr/p/qxrbdq) by Andy (https://www.flickr.com/photos/silverphotons/), on Flickr
'Home' Mamiya 645, 80mm lens, T-max 100, Rodinal

Paul Ron

4-Dec-2019, 06:44

198127

Ducks landing on water

Tin Can

4-Dec-2019, 06:51

Like!

198127

Ducks landing on water

Miguel Coquis

15-Jun-2020, 03:15

A separate reality: now ?

Miguel Coquis

26-Jun-2020, 13:38

Separate Reality series II
Vaux de Cernay, France
8x10" X-Ray

Miguel Coquis

29-Jun-2020, 08:09

Low, middle and high keys..., together.
Sounds like a sweet symphony !
8x10" film neg.
Exposure and dev. D23: by feeling
Enjoy our photographic universe !
Garnes, France

Miguel Coquis

6-Aug-2020, 01:14

In presence of moments of vision
Light&Sound together offering silent apertures.
8x10"negative, D76 (diluted 1/3)
Senlisse, Garnes
France

Miguel Coquis

10-Aug-2020, 06:59

Reminiscence At the Old House,
Coussegrey, France
5x7"
two baths dev, D76 1:4 and Borax bath.

Miguel Coquis

10-Sep-2020, 00:58

...of the Mountain its clothes
Chez G&G home
Le Travers, Cévennes, France
5x7" Xray film green sensitive
D76 intuitive development.
Enjoy our Planet

Tin Can

10-Sep-2020, 04:14

Love image!

Like Intuitive Development too

drewf64

10-Sep-2020, 06:27

...of the Mountain its clothes
Chez G&G home
Le Travers, Cévennes, France
5x7" Xray film green sensitive
D76 intuitive development.
Enjoy our Planet

Love this photograph, Miguel!!
A beautiful melody ...

Miguel Coquis

29-Sep-2020, 07:43

...daily views pass in front over and over
Some, suggest themselves for a portrait.
When does one concerns with "the process" ?
When does it appears the "decisive moment" ?

(...extrait from "carnet de notes" from an unknown painter)

Senlisse 78720, France
5x7" XRay
Dev D76 1/1 dilution
Intermittent agitation

Miguel Coquis

4-Dec-2020, 03:02

Mirrors
Dim light moonscapes,
Parc naturel régional de la Haute Vallée de Chevreuse, Ile de France.
12x16" negative film.
Nonchalant exposure (+/-120min)
Two bath dev.

Tin Can

4-Dec-2020, 05:23

This is NOT a Critique of any image posted in this thread

Which definition is https://www.kimmanleyort.com/blog/2013/03/19/equivalence-photography/

or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalents

http://www.josephjamesphotography.com/equivalence/

or?

or is it so vague my mind cannot grasp it

4-Dec-2020, 06:27

Look for first source material of Minor White, Stieglitz and in-person students of those artists.

Furthermore, there is a lot of BS that photographs did not convey emotion before this, and that's just BS which confuses the situation of equivalence.

I think most of us have a weak grasp on it and if we had a strong grasp on equivalence, few would be able to recognize that.

Ben Calwell

4-Dec-2020, 06:48

Mirrors
Dim light moonscapes,
Parc naturel régional de la Haute Vallée de Chevreuse, Ile de France.
12x16" negative film.
Nonchalant exposure (+/-120min)
Two bath dev.

I like that.

austin granger

4-Dec-2020, 09:21

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50679579206_6328d5d2dd_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kdo6fo)Vancouver Lake, Washington (https://flic.kr/p/2kdo6fo) by Austin Granger (https://www.flickr.com/photos/austingranger/), on Flickr

Miguel Coquis

6-Dec-2020, 05:54

Austin Granger[/url], on Flickr[/QUOTE]

...very interesting visual,
it brings to my individual lecture, an strong feeling of firm stability and serenity in front of the unidentified, enclosed background.
it remembers me the importance of self balance, physical, emotional, intelectual..., while practicing "seeing" through the glass ground.
This is only my subjective lecture,
thanks for sharing

techs.
pic one 8x10" and pic two 5x7"
Lomo 160mm f:2
Two bath dev

my contribution..., roses at the end of the idyll
Vaux de Cernay, France

Bill Burk

6-Dec-2020, 10:55

Tin Can

6-Dec-2020, 11:35

Yes (Stieglitz), Yes (Stieglitz), No (Einstein).

My second link does go to Stieglitz!

From that link

"Man (looking at a Stieglitz Equivalent): Is this a photograph of water?
Stieglitz: What difference does it make of what it is a photograph?
Man: But is it a photograph of water?
Stieglitz: I tell you it does not matter.
Man: Well, then, is it a picture of the sky?
Stieglitz: It happens to be a picture of the sky. But I cannot understand why that is of any importance.[8]"

I don't think emotion is really it, or I would post images of nooses...but will not!

Miguel Coquis

29-Jan-2021, 13:35

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8628/15810678233_ae3bee8796_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/q68RNz)Portland (https://flic.kr/p/q68RNz) by austin granger (https://www.flickr.com/people/60005435@N08/), on Flickr

Great shot ! I can see it once and again... it always say something new, something ethereal.
Thanks for sharing Austin

Miguel Coquis

4-Feb-2021, 13:19

Confined
In Situ series
Vaux de Cernay, France

Miguel Coquis

18-Feb-2021, 02:03

The impression of remaining connected...
The range of intensities being extremely wide, the option was take to keep the high values in place.
The high end was retained with a contraction, N-3 dev employing an almost "exhausted developper".
8x10"
Resting room at Midnight, Senlisse, France

Miguel Coquis

9-May-2021, 04:14

"glasses on the piano"
seize this moment that the light offers,
try to express it with a sober writing and let yourself be surprised ...
Garnes, France
(Views from the real world series)

8x10"
D76 1/1
Borax second bath.
enjoy it !

Miguel Coquis

21-Jun-2021, 07:08

space&time carved patterns
invisible light paths discreetly shown
flesh and bones inscriptions...
Coussegrey, France

Square bellows 13x18 wooden camera.
Voigtlander series VII (1890)
Intuitive exposure time
D76 + borax second bath
Dev +2

Miguel Coquis

7-Aug-2021, 05:14

It's raining for a while, continuously cloudy sky in August, not often in the summer season.
View of the forest, water that comes from above singing along the riverbed.
A moment to breathe deeply.
Petit Moulin des Vaux de Cernay

Rhyno214

7-Aug-2021, 08:55

Shot with my Chamonix 11x14 of my neighbor's rusty shed. Film was Bergerr 400 and the lens was my Nikkor 450mm.

218421

austin granger

9-Aug-2021, 07:09

Thank you Miguel, for your kind comments on my earlier photos.
Here is a recent one that I feel fits in this thread:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51367409938_6a6bfeebe1_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mgapmW)In an Abandoned Fortification, Oregon Coast (https://flic.kr/p/2mgapmW) by Austin Granger (https://www.flickr.com/photos/austingranger/), on Flickr

h2oman

9-Aug-2021, 09:41

Elsewhere I started a thread about what makes a photograph "good," and one person volunteered "If I like it, then it is good to me." I like this photograph (a lot!), so it is good to me. But I think I can go farther.

What I see here is a block of concrete, sitting in the corner of a room with a sand floor. The concrete is lit by light from two glassless windows and maybe, perhaps, by light from some other source. I like this photograph for a number of reasons, which I will give in no order of importance.

First, the photograph is executed with technical competency - sharpness and tonality are excellent. These things are not sufficient to make me like a photograph, but in this case I feel they are necessary to make this photograph work. Second, I'm pretty sensitive to symmetry and asymmetry in art, and I like the way this has both. Centering the corner of the room alone is nice, but the symmetry of the two windows are really icing on the cake! And then the block's positioning breaks the symmetry very nicely.

The photograph is very rich, texturally. There is the contrast between the hard concrete and the plants outside. The top of the block and the sand are very tactile. It is very nice how the walls are broken up by the two (wod?) strips on the walls, and the rolled-on paint on the left wall.

The image, to me, has mystery in spades. Where is the building, that it has all those ferns outside it? What was the function of the block? Who painted those hearts on the wall,and what did they symbolize for that person? (By the way, one heart would be interesting in terms of mystery, but in terms of the aesthetics of the photo itself, it is even better to have the two concentric hearts!)

Just an hour ago I had to make a difficult phone call regarding some annoying business, but looking at this image after that puts me in much better spirits. Thank you, Austin, for sharing this.

h2oman

9-Aug-2021, 09:58

And there is an additional mystery that just occurred to me, and would likely not occur to non-photographers or those not familiar with cameras that have movements: Was the introduction of distortion by pointing the camera downward without using fall intentional on Austin's part? It is likely I would have made the photograph either with or without fall, without considering the merit of doing it whichever way I did not choose. If I was more thoughtful, which I rarely am, I would shoot it both ways and decided after the fact which I preferred.

Tin Can

10-Aug-2021, 07:19

Equivalence: The Perennial Trend
Minor White, PSA Journal, Vol. 29, No. 7, pp. 17-21, 1963

https://www.jnevins.com/whitereading.htm

austin granger

11-Aug-2021, 14:14

Thank you Gregg, for your very thoughtful response.

I think I may have written about my personal interpretation of the idea of "equivalence" somewhere earlier in this thread; forgive me if I'm repeating myself. For me, equivalence occurs when the ostensible subject of a photograph seems charged with meaning beyond what it is on the surface. I guess another way to put it would be that pictures are equivalents when they evoke ideas or feelings that seem to transcend the subject matter. Of course, in some ways, it's a bit of slight of hand, but if the viewer is of a certain receptive mental/emotional bent, it can work, at least sometimes. Anyway, for me, the concrete block seemed like a treasure chest, or a box of mementos, or even a small sarcophagus. It seemed...important. And those graffiti hearts were most definitely related to whatever was inside. This is how my mind works. :-)

As for the distortion, it's funny you should mention that. My first instinct when I'm using my view camera is to level everything and use rise and fall and so on, but occasionally, and definitely here, I'll think to myself, "well I don't HAVE to do that. Why not just use it like I would my other cameras?" So that's what I did here, and when I saw it on the ground glass, I decided that the distortion helped emphasize the importance of the block/chest/sarcophagus by stretching it toward the viewer.

As to what purpose this place originally served, I honestly have no idea. This might sound strange to say, but when I'm photographing, I'm often not interested in reality, or I suppose I should say that I am interested in it, very interested, but more as a kind of vessel than anything.

Thank you again.

Tin Can

12-Aug-2021, 03:32

For me gazing into reality... and/or Astral images are equivalent examples

Is it what we think it is

Where is reality

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?43423-safe-haven-for-tiny-formats&p=1610401&viewfull=1#post1610401

Joe O'Hara

15-Aug-2021, 15:18

Thank you Gregg, for your very thoughtful response.

[snip]

As to what purpose this place originally served, I honestly have no idea. This might sound strange to say, but when I'm photographing, I'm often not interested in reality, or I suppose I should say that I am interested in it, very interested, but more as a kind of vessel than anything.

Thank you again.

I also like this picture very much both for the quality of the light, and the enigmatic nature of the whole scene taken together. To me that is one of the most intriguing aspects of photography, the way the camera treats every element in the field of view equally-- unlike human vision, where the eye skips around constantly and spends most of its time on the "interesting" parts. As a result, the juxtapositions in photographs can be highly evocative and sometimes rather mysterious.

As an example of how my mind works (if that's the word for it), at first glance the pipes underneath the concrete block looked like toes to me. Possibly the result of watching too many Road Runner cartoons as a kid.

Joe O'Hara

20-Aug-2021, 14:30

https://www.josephoharaphotography.com/img/s/v-10/p2761541078-5.jpg

Waterford, 2018

Tin Can

20-Aug-2021, 14:58

No idea what it is

Perfect

Best

https://www.josephoharaphotography.com/img/s/v-10/p2761541078-5.jpg

Waterford, 2018

h2oman

23-Aug-2021, 21:06

218907

Miguel Coquis

14-Oct-2021, 02:01

218907

...turning ? Some signals become big interrogations...
Like the river offering its sweet faint melody while secretly obeying the invisible law of gravity.

...putting it in words, it is our measure of "time" that makes nature appear as she does to us.

Miguel Coquis

31-Oct-2021, 10:44

the convergent simultaneity of the same gaze, of the same mind building in advance what could be, linking the various moments into one. Putting together a before with a now and an after to realize a visual project
... an early Sunday morning at the end of October
Xray 5x7 "green sensitive
D76
Garnes, France

Miguel Coquis

5-Nov-2021, 03:48

On Equivalence and creative process, essay
With the senses we see very little...
When the mind sees inwardly the truth of something for the first time, this seeing is of the same quality as the seeing of something outside in a new way. Such traces of active mind are own one's experience; they always give deeper understanding, momentarily; they are difficult, or impossible to describe; they remain in a special part of the memory and have special associations; they are affirmative and undeniable at the moment of experience (though later we may doubt them, because the passive mind takes away their meaning).

Tin Can

5-Nov-2021, 03:54

Helpful

Thank you

On Equivalence and creative process, essay
With the senses we see very little...
When the mind sees inwardly the truth of something for the first time, this seeing is of the same quality as the seeing of something outside in a new way. Such traces of active mind are own one's experience; they always give deeper understanding, momentarily; they are difficult, or impossible to describe; they remain in a special part of the memory and have special associations; they are affirmative and undeniable at the moment of experience (though later we may doubt them, because the passive mind takes away their meaning).