New Figure magazine

[Brian K]

Yes, it is easy to show ugliness, but weren't the artists who rose to the apt at finding beauty in those messy (Ed Burtinsky, Chris Jordan) places or ordinary (Shore and the new topographics) places ?

Qt, I enjoy both of their works, the key is that they find beauty. Beauty can be found anywhere if you have the talent to find and capture it. However for many it seems that the only way to succeed in the arts is to merely capture the messes or the mundane while not having the ability to transform it into something more and then to rely on rationalization and art speak to justify work that lacks beauty, true meaning or heart.

[QT Luong]

Sorry, I think I mangled my post after editing it. What I meant was that while there are many who try to make artistic statements by merely capturing the messes or the mundane, those who rose to the top have generally been successful in creating beautiful images, and it might be that this ability is what made the difference.

[Mark Sawyer]

Sorry, I think I mangled my post after editing it. What I meant was that while there are many who try to make artistic statements by merely capturing the messes or the mundane, those who rose to the top have generally been successful in creating beautiful images, and it might be that this ability is what made the difference.

Odd, isn't it, how W. Gene Smith could make a beautiful image that would suck you into the suffering or tragedy of a situation... (thinking of his work at Minamata...)

[Brian K]

Odd, isn't it, how W. Gene Smith could make a beautiful image that would suck you into the suffering or tragedy of a situation... (thinking of his work at Minamata...)

Mark there are very few who can do that today. Partly because WG Smith would live with his subjects, as in the case of Minamata he moved to that town. It's that exposure to the people that earned him their trust and allowed him to be part of the intimate aspects of their lives. Today it seems that photographers rarely do this and their work lacks that intimacy and depth.

[Mystery Jig]

Mark there are very few who can do that today. Partly because WG Smith would live with his subjects, as in the case of Minamata he moved to that town. It's that exposure to the people that earned him their trust and allowed him to be part of the intimate aspects of their lives. Today it seems that photographers rarely do this and their work lacks that intimacy and depth.

You're right, I think, in explaining why Smith's work has power, but wrong about other photographers today. There are plenty doing great, in-depth work but there are no American papers or magazines publishing anything challenging anymore. They'd rather publish pictures of celebrities.

[Bill_1856]

I wouild not classify the images as soft porn, or any other kind of porn. The issues I have seeb have contained very well lit and photographed female bodies but they are certainly not erotic, or sexually stimulating, or porn of any kind.

Sounds like it would hardly be worth checking it out.

[domenico Foschi]

Mark there are very few who can do that today. Partly because WG Smith would live with his subjects, as in the case of Minamata he moved to that town. It's that exposure to the people that earned him their trust and allowed him to be part of the intimate aspects of their lives. Today it seems that photographers rarely do this and their work lacks that intimacy and depth.

Drinking ferricyanide helps too....

[Mark Sawyer]

Sorry if I wandered off-topic by thinking of how a beautiful image can be used, but Smith's work popped into my mind as a poignant counterpoint to the "Carrie Leigh's Nudes" approach of "aren't beautiful women beautiful/aren't sexy women sexy" approach.

And no, I wouldn't put all nudes into that category...

[Barry Trabitz]

IMHO, Weston's nudes are landscapes and not erotic at all. On the other hand the peppers and shells are among the most erotic works of art I can recall.

Barry Trabitz.

[domenico Foschi]

Weston was famous for cheating on his women with veggies.
In a moment of vulnerability he confessed that for him there was nothing more sensual than a cabbage.
Jokes aside, I agree with you in part.
The intrinsic value of still life and nudes in Weston's work was interchangeable and I see a strong spiritual component in the tackling of both subject matters.