nigel_turner Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Having heard so much about Mr. Struth, I'd be really interested to know your views on the image below? Is this art? or is this the current state of LFP? I'll not go any further, as most of my posts get deleted by people that don't like my views. http://www.artnet.com/ag/fineartdetail.asp?aid=16228&wid=165273&page=4&group=&max_tn_page= Thanks.Nigel Turner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 That is a very bad reproduction ofthat iamge. In general I suggest you look at a lot more of Mr. Struth's work before you start passing judgements on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce watson Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 I don't know if it's art - you have to decide whether it's art to you or not, and only you can make that call. What I do know is that it's big. If nothing else, it sure puts the "large" in LFP doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce watson Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 What Ellis - you don't like the specular reflection from the gallery owner's flash in the upper right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 And I'm not impressed in the slightest. Or are all the reproductions as bad and I'm missing something here? Is there some kind of print quality that goes beyond fantastic, that makes up for lack of subject.. poor composition, poor light, lack of anything to keep the attention..or what? Ellis.. you didn't give a reason for what you see in this image apart from the fact that you feel it is 'not reproduced very well.." Just wondering.. what is it that you like or dislike about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photodon Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 The Emperor has no clothes Kind of reminds me of the old saying about rock bands. "If you can't be good, be Loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_jordan5 Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Nigel, here's something to consider, if you're willing to try an experiment. Try adopting the possibility that all the people out there who say Struth is one of the most important photographers in the world right now, might possibly be onto something that you aren't. And, having taken that chance, then go out there with a curious mind to try to find out what that thing is. Singling out one badly-reproduced JPEG shot with a crappy camera from Struth's wall-sized original, and posting it with a thinly-veiled bad attitude about it, won't get you there. Instead, find Struth's books and take a long look at them, and read the essays, or maybe start with the Bechers' books, and also look at Andreas Gursky's work and read the essays by Peter Galassi, the MoMA Curator who curated Gursky's recent show. Try to figure out what the German school of photography is about, and why it is relevant in the art world right now. And after all of that, if you still don't get it, then keep the possibility in mind that the thing you are missing is so cool that it is worth really working for, and so keep trying. I'm not saying you ever have to LIKE Struth's work, but at least try to make a real effort to get what it is about, instead of taking the easier road of fishing around for others who will team up with you to belittle it. ~cj (Seattle) www.chrisjordanphoto.com Quote of the day: "Consider the possibility that there is something that you don't know, and you don't realize that you don't know it, and if you did know it, it would radically change the way you view the world." --Peter Ettel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul moshay Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 I agree with Don, the emperor has no clothes. We know that all the work of good photographers can't be superb, but this is "f8 and be there", just larger than life.I will have to see a lot more of his work to even try to understand this one.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 Here's another one.. just can't see why people rant and rave over the guy myself? http://www.artnet.com/ag/fineartdetail.asp? aid=16228&wid=165273&page=4&group=&max_tn_page= He maybe somewhat good at urban photography, but he's nothing special. There are and have been far better! What is it that gets many of you going about him? I just don't see it! And as a landscape photographer, my 4 year old could do better! Sorry, but that is just the way I see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorge_gasteazoro4 Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Well given that this is what appears to be a photograph of a photograph, and allowing for the most magnificent colors and a full range of tones, I am with you Nigel. A boring piece with no cohesion and certainly no apparent composition. To me looks like he came to the end of a trail and took the pic for the hell of it, just so all the walking was not wasted. But of course since it probably is a big ink jet print it has to be good, similar to Gursky`s work. Some people might claim you are "not getting it" but the other side of the coin is that you "got it" perfectly alright and are not deceived just because it is a big ink jet print. I say trust your judgment and don't let it bug you, after all you are not buying the print, are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 Is that what photography is all about? I'm Thomas Struth.. so anything goes? Or should we wait to get the light, composition, color, subject and exposure right.. and then be real proud of the work we did that 'split' moment in time. Or should we just do anything,regardless and not give a ferk? I know what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triblett_lungre_thurd Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 i'm with ya nige, i'm wondering though, was the struth spread in the may/june issue of VC the gantry fer yer wonderings? it wasn't my introduction to struth, but it affirmed what i had always felt about him. see, i had an instructor of photo history that was enamored with him(it's no slight coincidence that the instructor didn't have much of an eye for comp either). my instructor managed to spend 3 class periods on struth to my dismay... and had many, many words to back his words to butress his queer feelings for struth. all of which i thought were unadulterated bullshit. the saddest part... he coulda used those 3 days for Brandt, Koudelka or any of struth's contemporaries that possessed an eye for composition. call me bitter and ill-educated, but i label my struth-like compositions, 'tossers, culled cows, wastes of film'... me p.s. i'd even proffer that struth and similars might very well be the cause as to why i've no interest in pimping my photos out to galleries, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triblett_lungre_thurd Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 p.p.s. gursky is what struth could never be... a photographer with a fine eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_shanesy Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Struth is a superb craftsman and one of the finest photographic artists ever. How the chrome of this picture ever made it past the darkroom trash can is beyond me. It is in no way representative of Thomas Struth's work and it's a shame it ever got published. Don't let this tragic mistake of a "photograph" keep you from seeing and appreciating his good work, some of which I can only describe as sublime. I find his work far more powerful than that of Gursky, his fellow Becher protege. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 Its just not one.. but loads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_gittins Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 I'll second Chris Jordan's comments and add that I haven't seen better portraits. I saw his show at the Metropolitan Museum several months ago. I didn't care for the 'concepts of Eden' landscapes at first - too green, blown out highlights - but they grew on me. They had a rich, lush, intense, borderline chaotic feel to them which I liked. They weren't easy images, but they were worth the effort. His portraits are wonderful - honest, empathetic, unsentimental. He has an amazing skill for conveying the humanity of his subjects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 You bought TWO of his Landsapes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d._kevin_gibson Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 you guys just don't get it do you? to the sound of the hockey arena organ... trol troll troll troll, Troll Troll Troll Troll, TRoll TRoll TRoll TRoll, TROll TROll TROll TROll, TROLL TROLL TROLL TROLL nada daa dadaaa! Just a sad lonely trouble maker.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 And your reply is to whom?? At least you could be somewhat effective.. rather than humming a song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d._kevin_gibson Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 It's a bogus exercise Nigel - you just set it up so you can knock it down and hopefully get a few people arguing. Friday nights must be pretty lonley for you I would imagine. Anyone with a life is out watching a movie with their friends, having dinner, going to a party - whatever - not sat on Photo.net (and before you bring it up I'm in Vanuatu for the weekend and it's already long been Saturday here - I had a very fulfilling Friday night thanks) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conrad_hoffman Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Curious what the fuss is about, I looked at all the images on the site. I'm not really interested in essays, either the images stand on their own, or they don't. If you have strongly held about rules and composition, I can understand the frustration with most of these. That was my first reaction too. If you can let go of the rules, get out of your head and into his, the images start to say something. They're extremely subtle, maybe too much for some, and there are a few I still don't quite get, but these are no random snaps. I don't think he's the most important modern photographer, but no one really is. Look again without trying to force your frame of reference on the images. You may never want one in your living room (I don't) but there is pleasure in understanding why the content is arranged and presented the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 jeez.. is that what you really think? I spend more than 20 weeks of the year away from home.. and you feel that I 'troll' through theses pages because I have no life to live? Has it ever occured to you that I might actually care about what my work is, care about my clients, and the ethics of what I do? I'd like to see your committment to photography before you question mine Kevin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_turner Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 Has it ever occurred to you that some people are very happily married and like to be together at home, and don't need to go out and party?? In other words.. they don't need to find 'other' company to keep them happy. Just a thought you might like to keep somewhere safe for a later date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armin_seeholzer Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Hi I also not like the "Bechers children" but I like the Bechers itself. But they get a lot of money I would also like to get! I shaw one of the first big exipition of some Struth portraits about 15 years ago in Zürich Switzerland I was a bit shocked at thad time because the people looked not really nice. But I have to say it was a bit of honesty in thad pictures and thad was what I liked in them. But I have more a problem with his landscapes. But Nigel he is duing it very successfull, so why should he change something. Did you see his newest book project where he is taking very unsharp pictures of porno scenes from videos on his TV! I don't like it but it sells like mad I think! Because he has a name now! So he did something better then you and me in the past! If on the long run, he is the winner is not sure yet! Do your work as good and true for you as possible and I do it also and maybe on the long run we are the winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_ellis3 Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 In order to understand the Struth phenomenon you have to understand the world of high end (say $100,000 and up per peice) art. It's a tiny, self-contained, self-centered world consisting of a handful (literally) of critics, publications, museums, and most of all galleries, all of whom feed off of each other in a parasitic relationship that produces profits for all. It's very existence depends on constantly "discovering" the newest new thing so that he or she can be promoted, written about, exhibited, and sold. Read Tom Wolfe's "The Painted Word" or Calvin Tomkins "Off the Wall" and then you will understand Struth (not his work itself, which is the least important thing in the whole equation, but why he's so big at the moment). So relax, look at his work for what it is, not as art that you should be concerned about appreciating but rather as a product (of course it might also be very great art, it's just that whether it is or not isn't the point). Again, Wolfe and Tomkins explain all of this much better than I can here so I recommend that you read their books. It's a very liberating experience to never again worry about why you don't "get" someone who the art world is telling you that you must "get" or else be considered an unsophisticaed, intellectually inferior oaf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now