Tim, Thanks for the post of gallery shots. Fun to relive the moment.
Of the three I submitted, the one I personally felt most likely to succeed as a piece of art, was neither in the book or gallery. Based on past experience, I wasn't really too surprised though. What does that say to me? I more or less submitted (on relatively short notice) what I considered possibly my three best shots of '09 (or more accurately the three I felt most likely to succeed). As photographer I simply supplied the raw material. The book compilers and curator(s) did the selection of material. There were some images hung that were not my favorites either. However being essentially a non-themed gallery, I suspect the curator was 1) subjective as we all are, and 2) attempting to be objective so that images chosen for display would appeal to a wide spectrum of the general public. I remember "Rowboats, Padstow" which was outstanding and "Tree in Field" without even looking at the book again. Both outstanding photos and worthy of high praise, IMO. Maybe they just failed to speak to Sue as much as others, or it could be she was attempting to display a wide variety of subject matter, in a limited space. In any case, I'm positive the curator cannot please all people (put ourselves in her spot). Irrespective of my own personal taste and predilections, the book and gallery had a majority of shots that appealed me. Some shots that did not appeal to me at first, grew on me as time passed - to my surprise. I'm not saying anything you didn't already know, just blathering. Tom C. On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 10:17 PM, Tim Bray <[email protected]> wrote: > > OK, here's the controversial opinion. Well, perhaps not, because it's > a matter of personal taste. But, anyhow... I quite strongly disagreed > with the selection from the book for the show. Yes, they were very > good - a tribute to some combination of the PDML talent pool and > Mark's outstanding curatorship and printsmanship. But as I picked up > my book for the first time and leafed through it after having orbited > the gallery a couple of times, time after time I found myself shaking > my head thinking "Why the #%$~! is this wonderful piece not on these > walls?" > > Here are a few that I particularly regret not having seen lovingly > rendered on those walls: > > "Help" - AnnSan - intensity and grace > "Surf Club" - P.J. Alling - the exposition of space is pure poetry > "Holy Water" - Pasvorn Boonmark - a totally astounding picture; I keep > going back to look again > "Rowboats, Padstow" - Cotty - an uncluttered hymn to curvature > "Tree in Field" - Steven Sharpe - it's a haiku > "Piano Player" - Dario Bonazza - almost too intense to look at, > illustration by subtraction > "Ratlines and Rigging" - Paul Sorenson - infinite detail at perfect rest > "Deputy" - John Andrew Celio - what a face > > The lady who did the selection used criteria that were not, in my > opinion, essentially photographic. > > But hey, as I said, it's just an opinion; worth what you paid for it. -Tim -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
