Tragedy

Sevrage

It is spitting with rain through the womb of the night
at midnight,
I hear the moth fluttering through the rain drops -
Besetting noise.

My mind is empty but overwrought
I feel lonely and secluded
I`m thirsty -
it rains,
I`m shivering,
it burns!

It smells like geranium, sage and like gore
- they are all just shadows...
I`m closing my eyes.
Reddish black,
Blackish red...

I can`t see you, I can`t feel you; you are not here.
Today I`m not human...

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Please read the poem and critique! &copy Darius Tulbure 2006

Was this shot with film? Digital? Was it severly edited in photoshop?

The Aesthetics of the Ugliness is the title which you use in your portfolio. Do you mean the beauty of ugliness and if you do then it is a contradiction in terms. Beauty is a gift which seen in its through light points to something greater that oneself the creator. Whereas, ?Ugliness? is a privation of beauty so, therefore fails to point towards the creator. In the picture Tragedy only points to the privation because it distorts the meaning of something that is beauty and here ugliness appears. One can see the statement, which you make, but it is the poem that concerns me more because of the last line. This line suggests that the writer has lost their humanity. If this is what you are saying it, too, is a contradiction in terms. One can never lose their humanity; to do so would say that humanity does not exist. This is only a very small part of philosophical and theological viewpoint. One could write more but I do not want to take up to much space. My words I hope, will stimulate the minds of others who look and read you poem. I am interested to see if there are any other comments on this.

God Bless.

 

I like both the image and the poem, although I don't quite see the relation (except for the black and red). Never mind, there needs be no sense in art... Most impressive and extremely interesting is the theme of the forlder. As a geneticist, I study disease in order to understand normal biological function. The study of ugliness is, by analogy, a good way to study aesthetics and beauty. As far as human image is concerned, ugliness reminds disease (shivering?) or abnormality. More challenging is the ugliness of objects, landscapes and constructions; subjects that you also treat. The subject becomes even more complex when it comes to ugliness that is attractive (like here) rather than repulsive. Your folder provokes thought. I will sleep later tonight.

 

By the way, you might be interested in this folder: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=417237 and its BW photographs in particular (read some of the comments under the photographs if you have time)

Thank you all for your comments!

Brittany, all the answers to your questions are in the "DETAILS" section...

Peter, thank you for taking your time to make such a thoroughly comment. I need to clarify some things though. In my opinion, for instance, aesthetics doesn`t mean beauty all the times. For example, you can photograph a very old frowning man/woman with the skin all wrikled. Now, you can`t say the photo is a "beautiful" one, like if it were a photo of a "good chick" smiling but, if you use the right lighting and the subject has a good expression, you might achieve a really "aesthetic" effect...

About the poem... Well what I intended with the last line is far from saying that I`ve lost my humanity. Actually, I wanted to say that my sorrow was so acute that I felt my condition is way below the "average human condition". I wanted to say I need to be with her to feel that I`m living...

Manolis,the relation between the photo and the poem is the face`s expression and yes, the black and red. I`m really glad that my folder had such an impact on you. You are one of the few who really likes and understands this kind of pictures...

Yes, I see the face's expression now! I guess it is difficult to capture all the elements of an image when one, or some, of them is so prevailing (here the colour and the special effects). Nevertheless, with your help, I now see the expression first. And, yes, the expression of sorrow is 'ugly'='repulsive' because it evokes situations where we humans must run away from; like the feeling of burning that pushes us away from the danger of fire. What is 'prety' in all this is the ability of the human body (and all living things) to transmit and capture messages through image semiotics. Poetry plays the same role while it bypasses reason.

Beauty and ulginess are great themes. Is Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' beautiful? Just about anything ugly can be portrayed as beautiful, using techniques that enhance 'beauty', like harmonious color combinations, flowing linear designs, etc. This photo of yours makes me feel horror, despair, and yes- tragedy. I can appreciate this kind of work, but I couldn't hang it on my wall, because the 'ugly' subjectmatter would bring me down. I feel the same way about other great art, like a lot of German Expressionism, or an artist like Max Beckman. Yes, I think The Scream is beautiful, and about ugly subjectmatter.