> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Bruce Walker > > I want to isolate one statement and ask a question, especially of the > list members grounded in fine arts: > > "The greatest artists know how to create a distance from their > subjects." > > Is this considered a fundamental truth, a given? Or is this merely one > man's (likely quite learned) opinion? Was old Leonardo truly distant > from his subject in the Mona Lisa (just to pick one old chestnut). Or > is > that not an example of a great artist? >
I read his statement as being about street photographers, not about artists in general, although I may be wrong. Any given statement about what art is or what artists do will receive an immediate fusillade of protest & challenge from everyone else who takes an interest in the subject, regardless of their actual grounding. No harm in that - it is only opinion and a pleasant way of passing time until we hear the scratching sound of the Reaper honing his scythe. In some ways this is what art is: a long argument about what art is. Every statement about the nature of art necessarily limits it, puts a boundary on it. In response, someone else will produce a work that refutes it, breaks the boundary, yet is still undeniably art. Trying to define art is like trying to pin quicksilver to the ceiling. I think he means something similar to the notion that every writer has a splinter of ice in the heart. That whatever situation you are involved in, however closely, there is still a part of you that is watching ironically from the shelter of a doorway, and laughing quietly at the foolishness of it all. I do think this is present in some of Maier's pictures, and I think it may be a necessary condition of great art, but not a sufficient condition. B > Seems to me that in street photography there's been a movement lately > to > get in close with a wide angle and "get involved". Are none of those > practitioners any good? OK, good, but not great? > > What about the famous portraitists, like Canada's fave, Karsh. He > would > spend hours puttering around and getting to know his subject, even > affecting him (eg Churchill and the cigar incident) to get what he > wanted. > > What about that famous line about "the camera looks two ways"? > > I'm not trying to preach, btw. I'm quite interested in this as my art > history education is sorely lacking. -- 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.
