Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/01/17

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Subject: [Leica] Photorealism
From: lew1716 at gmail.com (Lew Schwartz)
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:50:52 -0500
References: <721308355.562672.1389519073906.JavaMail.www@wsfrf1310> <CEF86BEC.16617%mark@rabinergroup.com> <CAFuU78cTNtpRwy8A3puhfQ6oE_cLf=PxkO24yvQyBrqGcjwwwg@mail.gmail.com> <FF3BE616-6BE8-48D0-BBEF-6F79AFB3A371@icloud.com>

These are ad hominem tautologies. A dot is not any more or less
"expressive" due to the pedigree of its creator be it Rembrandt, Richard
Estes, Chuck Close or Epson 4800. You may prefer a dot of the former
because you fancy its provenance, but that's a matter of connoisseurship,
not a critique of the object itself. I do concede that the artists, when
asked, express different things. My 4800, for instance, is fond of saying
"Non-genuine inks may damage the printer," but I take this with a grain of
salt in view of the expressive results I obtain with it.

Here's a case in point:

http://www.artnet.com/usernet/awc/awc_historyview_details.asp?aid=139829&awc_id=880&info_type_id=4

or

http://tinyurl.com/l7cqaq6

The catalog reviewer for Estes' Whitney show notes the importance of the
difference between the way an artist sees vs the way a camera "sees,"
however, the particular aspect of his vision which she cites has now been
duplicated by focus stacking and HDR. I leave it to you to determine if
this undercuts the artist or frees him.

-Lew Schwartz


On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 6:28 PM, George Lottermoser <
george.imagist at icloud.com> wrote:
>
> On Jan 12, 2014, at 9:30 PM, Lew Schwartz wrote:
>
>> I wonder how those among us who feel that the final print is the only
>> thing that counts, not equipment,  feel about this issue. Photorealism,
if
>> it's limited to the definition Mark found on Google, is pretty much a
>> printing technique.
>
> I believe one really must SEE the painting itself
> to determine on which aesthetic levels these works of art actually
function.
>
> I've seen a number of these created when the approach first hit the
galleries.
> They take your breath away in scale and technique.
> As you move in and examine the surface of the painting
> you may discover that they're indeed "paintings"
> by talented painters (not mechanical printers)
> with actual "expressive" brush strokes;
> not unlike the old masters.
> The difference being that they're taking into account
> a significant knowledge of "how photographs look."
>
> There's another level of "photorealism"
> which uses airbrush techniques;
> creating a very different aesthetic experience;
> much more "photographic" appearance.
>
> Having worked with pencils, brushes and airbrushes
> I certainly respect the best of the works, artists
> and their place in the history of art and painting.
>
>> Some years ago there was a darkroom guide (by
>> Fenninger?) which suggested that you could turn your photos into artistic
>> drawings by projecting your negative onto a sheet of drawing paper and
>> shading in until you had a uniform grey on the paper. Then, by turning
off
>> the enlarger & subtracting out the negative image, you're left with a
>> positive drawing. The paintings in the article are what I'd call inkjet
by
>> hand.
>
> Curious if you've seen the actual paintings?
> or only the little pixelated copies of the paintings?
>
> As with photography:
> Content, composition, color use, scale
> all must come into the discussion
> and any critique of the art objects
>
>> Doesn't apply to Chuck Close, imo.
>
> While I agree with you about Close.
> I'm curious as to why you draw a line here with him?
>
> Regards,
> George Lottermoser
> george at imagist.com
> http://www.imagist.com
> http://www.imagist.com/blog
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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Replies: Reply from george.imagist at icloud.com (George Lottermoser) ([Leica] Photorealism)
In reply to: Message from philippe.amard at sfr.fr (philippe.amard at sfr.fr) ([Leica] Photorealism)
Message from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] Photorealism)
Message from lew1716 at gmail.com (Lew Schwartz) ([Leica] Photorealism)
Message from george.imagist at icloud.com (George Lottermoser) ([Leica] Photorealism)