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 (http://www.apug.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2062) I find it can help to gild the lily with the right music (http://www.mackenziemusic.com/mp3s/mackenzie13.mp3). 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.

[neil poulsen]

The combination of viewing images along with listening to music can be quite effective. Bruce Barnbaum experimented with this. We viewed images while a pianist played classical music in the background.

I know a person who put together a group of family photos with music recorded in the background. We viewed the photos with and without music. The music made a big difference.

Two pieces that I think would be interesting are Debussy's La Mer, or for something less tranquil, Tzigane by Ravel.

[paulr]

The stock selections that come with iPhoto on the Mac, of course.
In just one click yesterday, I created the most serene slideshow of my latest ebay pictures, accompanied by a guitar rendition of a Mozart minuet.

[jnantz]

i like a little bit of white noise - very relaxing

[David A. Goldfarb]

One thing at a time for me, unless obviously it's intended to be a multimedia thing.

[jose angel]

John, you wrote this thread for me. A lot of times I think my images must include a musical background. Sometimes music, or sounds, even noise. When I see at my own photographs I always remember a song or a sound. When I´m hearing music, I always think on images, generally photos I have taken or the ones I would like to take.

Probably it doesn´t work for others. What I love in Photography is their power of abstraction, where the imagination travel in the stage of each photograph. Music helps to fill even more my capacity of sensations. I don´t know if it seems pretentious, but is my motivation about photography.

If the photography I´m contemplating doesn´t makes me to take that plane, it is not worth it.

Samples of this music are assorted; Mike Oldfield, Jimmy Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Crowded House, Shawn Calvin,etc.

[Al Seyle]

I am amazed (and pleasantly surprised) to see that most of you don't like the "distraction" of music, given the ridiculous overwhelming preponderance of audio and visual stimulation in today's world. I was beginning to think it was just me. As a classically trained musician turned commercial/fine-art photographer, I find it impossible to divide my attention between the arts. Each takes all the concentration I can muster.

Now thumper cars around town...
(... Don't get me started!!)

[Paul Butzi]

I match the music to the images.

So, for instance, if it's a set of fairly classical images, I might pick a Mozart flute concerto. For something a little earlier historically, it might be some Telemann or some other baroque thing.

For Joel Peter Witkin, perhaps some Schonberg, or Hindemith, or Webern.

And for really, really boring photographs, something by Philip Glass.

[John Z.]

It may be of interest to some that Bruce Barnbaum actually has a photography book that includes a CD of music included with it; presumably to have both auditory and visual stimulation all combined to maximal effect. I have not seen it personally, but I thought it was an interesting concept.

[Stephen Willard]

I worked for HP as an R&D engineer for many years, and we actually conducted an experiment about the impact music has on people. We had 10 engineers port the same software code to a new platform. Five of the engineers listened to music with their head sets, and the other five listened to no music. All of the engineers ported the code successfully in about the same time. However, those engineers that listened to NO music actually figured out what they were porting, while the other engineers who were listening to music had no idea what they had ported. Interesting. Clearly, this is not conclusive, but from our test music does consuming thinking resources. So if you are doing creative things, I recommend that you do not listen to music. It could compromise your creativity.

[Bill_1856]

I almost always put on a CD, but apparently pay no attention to it once I've got the darkroom set up and start printing. When everything finally goes into the wash water and I can relax, I suddenly notice that it stopped playing a long time ago.

[domenico Foschi]

sex pistols and Bach cello suites.

[John Kasaian]

Interesting responses, thats for sure! I wonder how many of us enjoy music while looking at paintings and how many of us find music a distraction while looking at paintings as well?

Anyone into Adrian Rollini?

[Anne Williams]

I don't listen to music when I'm viewing prints, but I definitely do when I'm in the darkroom. It helps the time go by and keeps me from being tempted to pull prints out of the developer too quickly. I do a lot of photography related to music since my daughter is an aspiring oboist, so naturally, I listen to recordings of things she's played in.
I like the music I'm playing to match the mood for the prints I'm working on, so I'm thankful for my Ipod and the speakers that my husband gave me for my darkroom.

[Ted Harris]

Whenn I am reading this Forum I often listen.

Right now it is Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Red River Amphitheater .... Morrison, CO 6/19/1985

[Don Wallace]

I think this is an extremely cheesy idea. But if you must, I suggest either "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead, or "You Really Turn Me On" by Ian Whitcomb.