Music for looking at photographs

[John Kasaian]

Just curious---do you like to listen to music when looking at photographs? Does certain kinds of music lend itself better to different kinds of photography? Landscapes, still life, abstracts?

Listening to music while in the darkroom has long been favorite activity, but I find I prefer a much different kind of music when looking at prints. I cannot remember ever hearing music being played a exhibitions I've seen so I'm wondering if the general concensus finds it annoying or do others enjoy it as well?

FWIW I got this recording of Roy Allen Jr. who plays with the Dallas Wind Symphony, of W. Ferling's 48 Etudes for Oboe or Saxophone and I'll tell you, flipping through a stack of urban landscapes late at night while this is playing on the CD is quite a pleasure(stress reducer? I don't know how to describe it!) I also like Jay C. Easton's CD "So Low" for looking at abstracts(I'm a sax addict!)

What kind of music do you listen to when looking at photos?

[Ralph Barker]

None. Nada. Zip. I don't want the music to influence my response to the images, one way or t'other.

[wfwhitaker]

Country western and anything by Klaus Nomi.

[Mark Sawyer]

I'm with Ralph; I'd find it a distraction at best. If I'm at an opening and I like the work, I usually make it a point to return when there's no crowd around, too. In the darkroom, though, I find music a virtual necessity, and it's a near ideal listening environment.

[Christian Olivet]

The music is in the print. I don't think you can fully appreciate a print if part of your mind is focused in following the music.
Having a soothing kind of music that doesn't require attention may be of use but is not indispensable, at least for me.
Looking at prints demands a lot out of me and the process brings me pleasure. I guess it is kind of one pleasure at a time for me.

[Struan Gray]

When I go for a wallow in romanticism and take a particularly cheesy photograph I find it can help to gild the lily with the right music. In my more waking moments I reject such crutches as unmanly and impure. You've got to watch those bodily fluids.....

[Steve Feldman]

In a gallery setting, a little light, classical or easy jazz in the background is ok. In my darkroom, my timer is a metronome, so music is a distraction.

Struan - nice music. Who is it? Oh and have we been watching "Dr. Strangelove again"?

[Jellybaby]

For looking at prints I find music annoying. But for working on a picture I enjoy hearing Glenn Gould or John Coltrane...

[Struan Gray]

Curmedgeon, the group is called MacKenzie (www.mackenziemusic.com). Three sisters from Lewis who sing in Gaelic. I forgive them their tendency to backslide into Country or Gospel harmonies because they have a nice way of mixing in a little acid just as things get too sweet.

Now you'll have to answer to the Coca-Cola company....

[Ben Calwell]

Gregorian chants -- it gives my photos a perceived aura of importance that they don't necessarily deserve.
I also used to listen to music in the darkroom, but since I finally installed a darkroom exhaust fan, it drowns out the music so much that I would have to crank up the volume to an uncomfortable level.