Question

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Question? Have you ever noticed how some images seem to just stay in your mind.Then ask yourself why.After thinking about this for some time I have come to the conclusion that as well as being great shots they do not date themself.HBC young boys playing in the rubble the one boy on crutches his shot of the French boat people. Then there is Smiths Minamatal Madonna.There is absolutely nothing in them which gives you a clue as to when they were taken.For all intent and purpose they could have been taken yesterday.They are all 30+ years old now.Just thaught I would give you something to tkink about.

-- Al Henry (J Henry @provide.net), November 07, 2001

Answers

Your comment cuts to the heart of the meaning of "photographic art" in my opinion..."Timeless images." Even landscape. I even try (emphasize: "try") to do this in my small wedding business...that is: to avoid new fads and cliches...and produce photos that will be appreciated 20 years from now. I think the "greats" in photography captured the raw emotion experienced by all people at all times in all parts of the world. Eisenstadt's "Kiss" on VE day comes to mind. Yes, you are correct. That gives us much to consider before we press the shutter.

-- Todd Frederick (fredrick@hotcity.com), November 08, 2001.

I don't quite agree. I think that the HCB photos you mention do look like they were taken in a different time. Further, I think that this quality gives them much of their strength. They show aspects of their subjects that are, in some ways, universal or timeless, but it's part of the photos' power that those universal qualities connect us to a different time and place.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), November 08, 2001.

Well Then.

The strange thing is a friend of mine just got back from a deployment in the Balkins.While there he took a load of pictures. While going thru them there was an image of some young men playing with a soccerball no levies no decorated T shirts the only basic thing that had changed was they were all wearing Nikeys or some shech.That is what started me to thinking about it.Some more food for thaught. The way we see and interpat images is by imposing our relivent social thinking on them. So in the images he took we see the 1950s they see last summer.This response is in no way meent to imply your thinking is in any way questionable it is only intended to give another point of view. Also truly enjoyed your web site especially the B&W shots of the people around Nashvill.

-- Al Henry (J Henry@ provide.net), November 09, 2001.

Expanding on the comments above, I think, for example, Jeff's recent image "One Among Many" (the little girl tugging on her mother's coat) reflects this timeless quality. It's only after some study (the clothes) do you realize it is recent. However, the image is very much strengthened by it's execution - it does seem to bring you (at least me) back to another age.

-- Brad Evans (bevans@best.com), November 09, 2001.

The dominant aesthetic always works hand-in-hand with the dominant hegemony: the idea that great "Art" has timeless value is a very effective way of depoliticizing it and therefore acquiescing to the status quo.

-- John Kantor (jkantor@mindspring.com), November 09, 2001.


John, that one sentence has more syllables than I can cram into a paragraph.

I guess the question here is what constitutes "timeless"? Is it that the modern world disappears? Or that there are "universal" themes that transcend their time? The question seems to imply both - that something just "stays in the mind" but also the shots "don't date themselves." These are two different things.

I often strive to eliminate things that tie photographs to a specific time, quite intentionally. For example, I almost never have cars in photographs. I avoid landmarks. I do look for things that are almost out of place, anachronisms, because it dislocates them in time. On the other hand, many of the people I show could only be from the present, yet the setting is not defined to be in the present.

On the other hand, if it is about truly timeless themes, well then we are talking about the ability to transcend the objects in the photograph and move to some other plane. That's a lot tougher, I'd love to think I could do it by just excluding signs of the modern world, but I don't really believe it.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), November 09, 2001.


As to HBC's young boys playing in rubble. Aren't the other boys really taunting the boy on crutches? The boy on crutches looks anguished, as if he's crying, while everyone else is laughing.

-- Leicaddict (leicaddict@hotmail.com), December 06, 2001.

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