Robert Adams at the VAG

I went to see a Robert Adams retrospective yesterday at the Vancouver Art Gallery (wiki page here). Although Robert Adams is a bit of a heavyweight amongst the new landscape photographers of the 70's, I was unfamiliar with his work before last night. After viewing the first two series of photographs I realized that this was the work of a master of the medium. I've never seen such an experimental yet successful use of exposure, and it blew me away how at times he had no middle grey in his prints, his skies all dazzling highlights and the shadows inky dark, but both still rich in texture and detail. Each series contained from 5 - 15 photographs and in each I found photographs that brought me to a climax of artistic wonder and inspiration. The photographs were so good that by the time I was 1/3 of the way through the extensive (200+ photographs) I couldn't go on anymore. The best way to describe it (however also decidedly low-brow)was that I blew my load early and after was too overwhelmed to enjoy the rest of the work, and so me and my gallery partner walked upstairs to see an installation by Song Dong, which acted as a perfect pallet cleanse for the night. Both shows so good that I will be back next week to pick up where I left off.


Robert Adams (Unsure of title, most likely something like "Looking East From Ridge, Bewton Colorado, 1973)


Song Dong - Waste Not Want Not

Are Flowers Soft Photography?

In my studio lighting class last week we had several assignments critiqued by Professor Greg Blue. I put effort into each and everyone of these assignments and assumed the rest of the students would do the same.
Whilst tearing into one slacker's photo of flowers on black velvet, Greg got into a brief discussion on the integrity of flowers as subject matter. Has this subject become exhausted? Can a subject become exhausted? Can ones artistic integrity remain intact when exploring subjects such as flowers, trees, portraiture, nudes... etc?
I think the key is exploring. When you pass by a blooming Rhododendron bush it's easy to pull out a point and shoot, dial it to macro mode and catch the right light. You might even get something worth printing, but once someone starts to look beyond, within, and around those blossoms, leaves, twigs, and branches then they are starting to explore.
It is when I find something new and exciting that I encounter another of photography's decisive moments: can I translate my emotional reaction of excitement, newness and realization into a longer lasting medium? Can I show how I felt about these shapes and colours and textures? Or have I failed to convey or even find that excitement.
Is it art or is it soft...?