Jeff Wall in the WSJ (with his Linhof)

[Lenny Eiger]

gee, XIX century discussions...

i ran!

You're right. I shouldn't be discussing this... ignore my previous post.... gotta get outa this thread... should have never commented int he first place.

[Peter Lewin]

Conceptual art, the category in which we are placing Wall's and Soth's images, is about ideas. There are some ideas which will appeal to us individually, and others which we consider boring. I suspect a lot of the criticism of Wall's images is based on the fact that many find the underlying ideas to be boring, hence not worth the work necessary to produce the image. When I read this thread, the photographer who came to mind is "Alex From Holland" who posts in the "LF Image Sharing - Collodian and Wetplate" category, and was recently the subject of a portfolio in View Camera Magazine. I, for one, find Alex's constructed images simply much more interesting than Wall's, but what I am trying to express is that what I am reacting to is the underlying concept; Alex, Wall, and Soth are all expert technicians, so our judgment has to be based on our response to the idea behind the image.

[ruilourosa]

Do you think wall is a conceptual artist? well.. not quite! look at Baldessari works and compare, no closed fields but...

art and artisany are different things...

view camera magazine and moma are also different

[Drew Wiley]

Ho hum. Looks like a retread of 70's stuff to me.

[bob carnie]

I do not remember any 70's stuff looking anything like Jeff Walls work.

Ho hum. Looks like a retread of 70's stuff to me.

[Drew Wiley]

Tons of it in SoCal. That's where it originated. Maybe not circulated as much in the East. Interesting awhile, then I got sick of it. But as long as he enjoys what he's
doing, that's all that counts.

[bob carnie]

I thought it was mostly rocks , trees and water out there...

Tons of it in SoCal. That's where it originated. Maybe not circulated as much in the East. Interesting awhile, then I got sick of it. But as long as he enjoys what he's
doing, that's all that counts.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, I was above the trees much of last week, and had more than my fair share of water (coming from the sky), and had quite a variety of splendid rocks everywhere. Saw a chipmunk at the edge of a marble (karst) sinkhole and talked him out of jumping. Saved a life. Then back into the forest. So I guess somebody like Jeff Wall would comment, Ho Hum, another rocks n' trees type. I'll admit it. That's what I am.

[bob carnie]

Nothing wrong with that Drew, I am sure Jeff would be gracious about rocks and trees .

Well, I was above the trees much of last week, and had more than my fair share of water (coming from the sky), and had quite a variety of splendid rocks everywhere. Saw a chipmunk at the edge of a marble (karst) sinkhole and talked him out of jumping. Saved a life. Then back into the forest. So I guess somebody like Jeff Wall would comment, Ho Hum, another rocks n' trees type. I'll admit it. That's what I am.

[ndg]

I like Jeff Wall's work but then I really admire conceptual work and one day when I grow up, that is what I want to do. It is really not for everybody but then that's what makes the world go round, right? Another conceptual photographer whose work I like is Erwin Olaf, another Dutchman.