Printed and bound in Italy, same as Refuge.
Mike
Printed and bound in Italy, same as Refuge.
Mike
Thank you
Originally Posted by mpirie
Tin Can
I get the impression it was told as a romantic adventure story so to speak. Ie, it wasn't meant to be a straight, literal telling of ones life work. If it were, it would be a very antiseptic and boring story. Imagine the story of a US Marine on Guadalcanal or Okinawa during WWII. Sure, we could tell the story exactly as happened. Got in landing craft, approached island, door flung open, bullets came in killed most everyone in landing craft, I made it to the beach, then made it inland lost a lot of friends.
Or, the story could be told to convey the emotions, fears, etc of the Marines as they prepared, landed, fought and died to take a rock in the South Pacific that most likely no one would ever visit or give a sh&t about after the war. The story for those involved are so much more than the sterile telling of the facts, especially for those who lived it. Would all of it be a literal fact? Most likely not, but from the emotional impact, it would be and it would still be accurate to the telling of the heroism and sacrifice of those Marines and the contribution they provided to protecting the US Constitution and the citizens of the US and of the people and their way of life around the globe.
So is this story a literal truth? Not really, rather a romantic telling of facts that were embellished to hopefully put the reader in his shoes.
Or, its just pure bullshit.
It is a story long in the making. Thomas has had to sell this story many times over the years in order to get funding and all of that. How can it not get romantized in his own mind? A touch of Don Quixote, tossed in with a strong artistic vision, an active mind, and skilled. I saw a mutual friend of Thomas' at the local COOP today (not surprisingly, she works there). I trust her photographic judgement, she was greatly impressed with Thomas' present show in LA...I do not think I can make it that far south in time.
Here is a video of Thomas talking about his work (along with the curator of the show in the video). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifzatCLgTZs
He confuses Antartica and Arctic a couple times.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Emotion is fine and interesting, but dramatic stories do not need to be so embellished that they become non-factual. When I see a lot of obvious embellishment or outright lies, I start to doubt the whole story.
TJC's story about his trip to Prime Head is a good example. His claims of uncharted waters, sounding from a dinghy, three weeks to get there, finding new islands, etc. is total BS, or the ship captain who took him was incredibly inept.
With just a little searching, it is easy to see that:
1. Edward Bransfield charted part of the AP in 1820; I don't know when it was completely charted. The nearby South Shetland Islands were charted in 1829 to 1830. The Bransfield Straight is regularly traveled by cruise ships -- hardly uncharted or a place where no rescue ships would go as TJC claims, and it is about 6000 feet deep -- no sounding needed. One particular cruise ship route passes very close to Prime Head. Please see the map at https://www.polarcruises.com/antarct...tic-pioneering Prime Head is near the bend in the route at the Antarctic Sound -- scroll down to see the map.
2. There are two permanently inhabited research stations (Base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, and Base Esperanza) within 20 miles of Prime Head, so it would be a 20-mile trip along the coast, and even less overland from one of them (Esperanza), to Prime Head. In a cruise ship, it takes about two days to cross the Drake Passage to either of these places (probably 4 to 5 days with a sailboat). Some of the tourist trips use Zodiacs (motorized rafts) to get to the uninhabited Antarctic shore to look at penguins etc. and for photography. Maybe TJC was the 9th person to go to Prime Head, but it is probably not because of difficult access. The research stations have been around for over 65 years. I had an adventurous aunt who took pictures all over, and she went to Antarctica in the late 1960's. She showed us the pictures, and that was good enough.
Of course the Drake Passage is a crazy wind-tossed place, and the Antarctic Coast is quite rugged in places, but many people go to the Antarctic Peninsula every year, for a fraction of the cost and time that TJC supposedly took. The gross exaggeration ruins the story for me. There are plenty of true dramatic stories out there, so there is no need to make them up except for self aggrandizement.
For me, it's all the fuss about a 5X7 Agfa that wouldn't fetch $85 on Ebay. Told to the unknowing to make them swoon at such a thing. Grandson of the original owner. How marvelous.
I am taught and believe it's true that if the pictures were installed in a room without the story, they have to carry themselves. If I walked through that room without all the superfluous baloney, I doubt I'd be moved. Rather like the 100 year Ansel book I have with a thousand pictures of pine trees in Kings Canyon that all begin to look the same.
Not sure I'm entitled to an opinion, but that never did much to stop me before.....
I have to agree with Jim G. TJC's images really did not move me in the least - until his voice appeared in the New Yorker piece...telling us his story and what moves him to do what he does. Powerful on one hand...empty on another. It would have been interesting to have TJC reflect on this, and I am both surprised and disappointed that the New Yorker apparently dropped the ball here. Then again...this piece was not a critique.
What puzzled me is that he took only one picture at one place which led me to think the whole expedition experience was more important than the ultimate image which most other serious photographers are seeking.
Well, I am going to see his show later this month and see what this is all about. BTW, I have read the New Yorker profile twice and watched his video. Quite an interesting character! Paid $3.99 for one of his used books with Paul: Dialogue With Photography and these interviews are not bad.
I've thought about that aspect of his work for a while, but anyone using sheet film as their medium will (by the very nature of using sheet film) be using one sheet/image at a time. We only have TJC's word that one image is made at each location.
If you take a cynical look, you would need to define "location". There are a number of places around me that i visit regularly where i could create many images from within a few footsteps. If i said they were from different "locations", who could argue with me, other than those who know those locations intimately? If you tell people that your images are made in unusual locations like Antarctica.....few would be able to refute those claims. If i dig out an image of (say) Half-Dome........everyone knows where it is and that it is Half-Dome. If you look at some of TJC's images, can you tell whether it was taken off the rocky shores of Scotland or the rocky shores of an uninhabited island on an Antarctic peninsula....because i couldn't.
I have to agree with Jim too......there seems to be a lot of romanticism attached to the fact that he uses an 1898 Ansco......i'm pretty sure there are many in this place who use even older cameras.
I wish i could visit the exhibition to see the real prints as he has undoubtedly had an influence on my work. I'll hopefully get to see some of his work if/when he exhibits in Scotland.
Mike
I didn't state it clearly enough: he would travel many days or weeks to a location and make a single exposure. Just one exposure.
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