April 2009 Portraits

[Armin Seeholzer]

"Whats she measuring with the ruler Frank?"

The distance of the nipples I think! ;--))))
Or is she just waiting to measuring the penis of Frank :

[Frank Petronio]

You Doug...

So far all three guys who have mentioned it have thought it was to measure men.

So far all the women think it was to measure themselves, not us.

It's not a micrometer Armin!

[Ken Lee]

"What's she measuring with the ruler, Frank ?"

I presumed she was measuring the Universal Heliar "Handles"

[Blueberrydesk]

Nothing as nice as Frank's. Just a family portrait shot with the fedora shutter. 8x10 Tachihara, 12" petzval, on FP4+ in PcatHD, lith printed with hot LD20. Selenium toned, 1:9 for 5 minutes.

Jim, the guy on the right, turned his head while the hat was coming down.

[Allen in Montreal]

.....

This is probably the best straight one:

I have not had time to post much, just catching up.

Sorry Frank, I just can't see beyond all those piercing!
She doesn't work for me.

[Kerik Kouklis]

And the horrible ink job.... Oh, well.

[Frank Petronio]

You know, if someone commented that somebody's subject looked ugly or too fat or that they looked like they were printed with mud smeared onto a cheap metal plate... it would be offensive.

And just not polite.

Criticize my photos, not the models please.

[Ash]

Man that's kinda rude. Should I balance it by saying the piercings look hot, she's a stunner and the inking isn't too bad - I've seen a lot worse- ? Cos that's my opinion.

Then again I'm young and a lil bit eccentric so I like Frank's models, and I like his style as well.



I was going to develop and post my photos of metal man Ringo, he's covered. But if a couple piercings and a tattoo upset people I think a man with about 30 in his face, shoulders and arms covered in old school Brit tattoos and genitalia that jingles would probably cause heart attacks.

[Allen in Montreal]

Ash and Frank,

I certainly did not mean to rude (if you were referring to me), but perhaps too brief while assuming you would follow my train of thought (which cyber land is not conducive to!).

Frank, she has perfect skin, it appears soft as a baby's bum as the saying goes, she has absolutely perfect breasts! And then she has several piercing, you can not help but look back and forth and struggle with that a little, there is a form of contradiction ingrained in our heads by society (right or wrong) that feels not to have been explored with the images as they are. I really feel the pictures could be so much more if you explored that further and use that subliminal tension that she has created.

It was not a criticism of the model as such but, but a question of what is being conveyed in that image, and what could be conveyed! The second image starts down that road, but again, it feels like it needs to be taken further and could achieve something really interesting.


Just a thought.



Ash,

Your example follows my train of thought of this, the heavily armored or painted, the better and more graphic. The contradictions of Leah do not apply to your pix, I would love to see the ones fit for public consummation.

Man that's kinda rude. Should I balance it by saying the piercings look hot, she's a stunner and the inking isn't too bad - I've seen a lot worse- ? Cos that's my opinion.

Then again I'm young and a lil bit eccentric so I like Frank's models, and I like his style as well.



I was going to develop and post my photos of metal man Ringo, he's covered. But if a couple piercings and a tattoo upset people I think a man with about 30 in his face, shoulders and arms covered in old school Brit tattoos and genitalia that jingles would probably cause heart attacks.

[jb7]

Frank, I'm a big fan, and I'd never comment on the model in a portrait-
not even if they were in a news item in a redtop rag-

I do have some issue with the ironmongery in these pictures though-

I'd imagine that you'd control all the elements in the picture,
but the background is just a bit cluttered and banal, found and not composed-
She is really quite perfect, but I'm just wondering what's behind what's behind her?

A picture doesn't really need to be dissected, but what it portrays can often be as important as how it's portrayed-
particularly if it is being discussed by those who may not be photographically or pictorially conversant.
Critique is always as dangerous to the critic as it is to the artist, if they're not careful-
perhaps that's one reason why their language is so impregnable-

The domestic setting for this single portrait is something of a new departure, from what I've seen of your work-
the (seemingly) low rent motel rooms depersonalize (or contextualize) the sitter, and make the picture into more of a fantasy-

In a way, I'm wondering if you are yourself making a comment on that which you say is out of bounds for comment...
I'm being quite convoluted here, but I'm familiar enough with your pictures to expect that everything is there for a purpose...
So I'm wondering if the kitchen knife block, among other things, was a considered part of the piece,
and if its inclusion as background clutter might be in some way a comment within the picture-

If it were anyone else's picture, I might not be wondering at all...


joseph