Aesthetics: Framing vs. Pointing

[j.e.simmons]

I don't believe that modern film-makers can frame their shots any longer - making pointing a necessity. Why? A film-maker can no longer know what aspect ration the viewer will see the fim in - whether on a standard movie screen, a 4:3 aspect ratio traditional television, one of the various wide-screen DVD formats, or HDTV. The film-maker simply cannot know where the edges and corners will be. The only thing imporant becomes the center, which will be in the center in all formats, so pointing is necessary.

We don't have that problem with large format photography - we know (if we care to know) where the edges of the print will be at the time of exposure.

[paulr]

"Those images to me look like the snapshots you see in virtually anyone's file box when you are going through their closet. "

Well, if that were true it would certainlymake looking at people's snapshots a lot more interesting.

But seriously, if you get a chance, take a good look at "The Democratic Forest" ... possibly his best known book. Most of the images are less austere than the ones in those links, so it should be less of a stretch to see what's really going on in them. You might get a sense what Szarkowski meant with his wild claim that Eggleston "invented color photography."

[paulr]

" A film-maker can no longer know what aspect ration the viewer will see the fim in - whether on a standard movie screen, a 4:3 aspect ratio traditional television, one of the various wide-screen DVD formats, or HDTV"

I wonder how many film maker's really take this into account. I suspect that most shoot for one format, resigned to knowing that most people watching on t.v. will see a wrecked version.

And I think that the "pointing" esthetic is not the same thing as the "framing" esthetic wrecked or done sloppily. It's more about a theory of how to put an image together ... one that serves certain ideas about how to look at a picture and understand it. It's less about the limitations of a particular medium, or even the working style of the artist. A pointing style image may actually be meticulously composed and structured ... but it will very deliberately not draw attention to this aspect of itself. Like someone else said, it's an alternate esthetic frame, not truly the lack of one.

[Steve J Murray]

Good points, Paul, and I will definitely check out The Democratic Forest to see what you guys are talking about.

[paulr]

Steve, I just found some nice links, on the Eggleston Trust site ...

here are some of my favorite images of his ... some from the dem. forest:
http://www.egglestontrust.com/df_c.html

and here are some more pointerly ones (if i can use this thread as an excuse to make up a terrible word ...):
http://www.egglestontrust.com/guide_a.html