'the paradox of negative emotion'

[samstevens]

The New Topographic photos might offer different emotional inputs and outputs to landscapes …

https://monovisions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/robert-adams-the-new-west-06.jpg

https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/04/12/LID7SHVFSEKRLH5ODJ4AQO56VA.jpg

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/07/15/arts/14adams-photo-review1/merlin_209760270_fc5953c5-e354-48b6-8961-633eb6e41c59-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/DJPDADHTGII6ZKOHZPBHIZE5CU.jpg&w=1200

https://s3.amazonaws.com/icptmsdata/a/d/a/m/adams_roberts_3425_1992_417745_displaysize.jpg

[inoneeye]

Some of those photos remind me of Billy Kenrick. I still miss seeing him around here. He does have a captivating website with some great examples ….

Edited February 17 by inoneeye

[Ricochetrider]

I feel like there’s something primordial in all of us that recognizes darkness as our own. We relate on a deeper & personal subconscious level because darkness is inherent in the entire history of humanity. Darkness touches us, it sparks unknowable things in us. It’s a major component in our makeup. Who can even acknowledge this inwardly, much less openly admit it? But when we see it or feel it… we already know it. 
We probably all know by now that going deep into ourselves is one of the scariest, riskiest things ever. Few of us are really capable of honesty about our deeper selves. Honesty is one of the most daunting of all emotions- of course there’s risk there! 
Maybe when we are sparked by the dark, the negative, it’s akin to cracking open the proverbial cellar door. How many of us will open that door fully and descend into their personal depth of being? Darn few, I’d wager.  

As for angst…. Totally different, IMO unrelated. Angst in the 21st century context has gone on to be something different than what we’re talking about here. Not to say that dark sh*t won’t spark angst; there’s angst in risk and there’s risk in honesty. 
 

 

 

 

[inoneeye]

"I feel like there’s something primordial in all of us that recognizes darkness as our own." 

"As for angst…. Totally different,..."
True that angst itself is not a negative emotion. It is the surface we often see of many negative emotions... fear, anger, sadness, guilt, jealously, hate etc. It can effectively leave an open door for interpretation in a photo narrative. Often the first indication of a darkness ... to outwardly, from within to manifest. A visual cue. The spark 👍 of the story.

[samstevens]

Here’s a pretty good summary of angst:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angst

 

Two relevant Kierkegaard quotes …

“To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”

“What is a poet? An unhappy person who conceals profound anguish in his heart but whose lips are so formed that as sighs and cries pass over them they sound like beautiful music.”
 

And he really outdoes himself with this one …

“Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth - look at the dying man's struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.”