Having coffee with my Lawyer...

[John Kasaian]

...brings up all sorts of topics, some of which I try to convey in photographs. Even if I never get around to shooting them it is a mental exercise I enjoy because my Lawyer is a really cool guy (for a lawyer;) ) and knows how to seriously tweak my grey matter.

Here is a concept which once upon a time was given great value but in the political and legal world,(in the U.S. anyway,) and in post-modernist societies is now meaningless. Of course for those relics of the 13th Century, or even the 19th Century (but more strongly in the pre-Industrial Age) it still has great importance:
How would you go about making a photograph which defines or illustrates the term "Fidelity?"
Nothing sentimental allowed since Fidelity is in it's essence incompatible with sentimentality. "Borrowing'" from other artistic media isn't allowed. It has to be original and in execution unique to photograhy.

I've been thinking about this...and thinking about this ...but so far nothing really registers. Copies of the photograph, if there every is one, will go to a local elementary school to be put somewhere the students can see it because "Fidelity" is not part of any curriculum---at least not in my neck of the woods.

See what fun having a cup of coffee with my Lawyer can be?:D

Any ideas?

[Duane Polcou]

Expose the film using a "Fidelity Elite" brand film holder. Duh.

[jb7]

Reminds me of the record label for 'His Master's Voice'-
(someone will be along with the name of that doggie in a minute...)

Not sure if that was meant to represent 'Fidelity' of Hi-Fidelity though...

But just to show that it's not really incompatible with sentimentality...

j

[Robert A. Zeichner]

Reminds me of the record label for 'His Master's Voice'-
(someone will be along with the name of that doggie in a minute...)

j

That would be "Little Nipper"

[Once]

It reminds me of a winning picture (a South African contest, won by a young Czech photographer) I saw 30 years ago - an old couple, both wrinkled in their face, holding their hands, looking at their own picture in a framed mirror. Their faces were peaceful, as if remembering all the past life... A very touchy picture.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I thought I'd see what the Fidelity Investments website used to express their corporate identity, and got mostly spreadsheets and graphs.

Here are a few photographs, but they aren't particularly about "fidelity" so much as they are about reasons why one might want to save money, some of which may involve fidelity--

http://personal.fidelity.com/misc/gettingstarted/whyfidelity.shtml.cvsr?refhp=pr

[DJGainer]

Reminds me of the record label for 'His Master's Voice'-
(someone will be along with the name of that doggie in a minute...)

Not sure if that was meant to represent 'Fidelity' of Hi-Fidelity though...

But just to show that it's not really incompatible with sentimentality...

j

Nipper. The RCA mascot, still on the original building in Camden, NJ.

[Ralph Barker]

It seems to me that "fidelity" is a rather absolute term that can be applied to many things. Sound-wise, the best we've been able to do is "high fidelity" - which might be better descried as "good-enough fidelity". I don't think kids would get the Nipper connection.

As applied to inter-personal relationships, which may be the most important application of the term for kids, sentimentality starts to creep in. Pictorially, a pair of wedding bands might get the idea across. Or, a photo of a particular politician in a slashed circle, to present the negative example. ;)

[matthew blais]

If I recollect my art history days, a painting that depicted a matriarchal/patriarchal figure would have a small dog included which was representative of fidelity then.

The old RCA mascot utilized that concept probably as a double entêndre.

[Louie Powell]

Fidelity roughly equates with exactness.

I would find a subject with very pronounced, exactly repeating patterns. My objective would be to make a contact print, 1:1 scaling, using a 20x24 camera (for exact detail).

Too literal?

[domenico Foschi]

Having coffee with a lawyer? WHy?!

[Louie Powell]

Having coffee with a lawyer? WHy?!

And who paid?

[GPS]

Having coffee with a lawyer? WHy?!

The answer lies in what you put in his coffee...

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

And who paid?

The lawyer paid, but John is getting an hourly invoice next week.... :)

[John Kasaian]

Having coffee with a lawyer? WHy?!

Because it was too early in the day for whiskey!:D

[aduncanson]

The US Marine Corp makes a pretty strong case for their unique claim on fidelity.

Although I am more of a Sempre Libera guy than a semper fidelis one.

[Brian Ellis]

That would be "Little Nipper"

Just in case anyone cares - the dog used to be quite famous, name was "Nipper" (not "Little Nipper" I don't think but I could be wrong). The logo was taken from a painting made in the late 19th century by somebody whose name I forget. The painter noticed that whenever he turned on his gramophone the dog would run to it and cock his head. So he made a painting depicting that scene, the painting was sold to the manufacturer of the gramophone, and I forget how RCA ended up with it, maybe by acquiring the gramophone company. RCA LPs with what are known as Red Dog labels were highly desired by audiophiles, which I used to be until I came to my senses much the poorer for the experience.

[Michael T. Murphy]

Short answer:

First, go read (or re-read) "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Just don't follow the argument quite as far as he did. :D

Then, go sit meditation for 1 year (20 minutes 2x a day, not continously.) I think the second answer will please you more.

I have a degree in philosophy. I find that all fairly tedious nowadays though.

I think much more of "who we are" resides in the older regions of the brain, especially the pre-verbal, than we are usually willing to admit.

Good luck!

[Kuzano]

That's it... just

Semper Fi