Godzilla - 12

Forgot my most important thought, Carl.

 

You said...."How can a mirror image manipulation somehow transform a photograph into

art, as some of you claim?"

 

To me, ALL photographs ARE art, except those that are only meant to record some useful

information (and nothing more), such as images of documents or items for record-

keeping purposes. Many people consider "art" photographs those that have been entirely

or nearly entirely "created" in post-production, rather than in-camera, while an image with

traditional exposure/aperture/framing/burning/dodging/sharpening is "photography", as

opposed to art. I was only making a distinction based on that generality (though I

personlly think it's rubbish).

 

Ehh.....I'm tired and likely not explaining myself well....

The fact that the yellow above and below drew my eye away from the darker central

portion of the image caused me to wonder for a brief moment what this was. Usually

that is not good, but here it works for me as a semi-abstract rendition of a reptile,

which has been further enhanced by the mirror-image. I like this very much, as a

photographer and as a biologist.

"Many people consider "art" photographs those that have been entirely or nearly entirely "created" in post-production, rather than in-camera, while an image with traditional exposure/aperture/framing/burning/dodging/sharpening is "photography", as opposed to art."

 

This naive view would be easy to dismiss, except that the selection process of images on this site seems to be convincing more and more people that it is a valid interpretation of photographic art. I speak from the experience of having had a heavily manipulated image chosen from a portfolio of hundreds of unmanipulated shots to be featured for POW discussion (which incidentally won an award in an art gallery in its unmanipulated version.)

 

Here you take a head on shot, pick the side with the good lighting, cut out the side with the poor lighting, and a few minutes later, you have what you think is "instant art". By promoting this image as "art" you demean all his other work, some of which actually could be shown in galleries.

Art = the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of

what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

 

michele decided that this thing, his expression, was beautiful (or appealing) according to

his own subjective aesthetic principles, and thereby was of more than ordinary

significance.

 

Granted, there is talentless "art" which I cringe when I see. I can't call a pile of orange

cubes in the middle of a white room "art" because it doesn't take any talent to create said

art. But this photo did take talent (though as you point out, his technique of mirroring the

thing allows him to disregard the bad side and create something out of the good side).

 

If you look at my portfolio (I'm no professional), I have no mirrored photos in there. Nor do I have any photos with major

manipulations (other than changing to b/w, or other color/tonal adjustments). It's not my

thing. It's not to my taste. But this is still an interesting shot, in my personal opinion, and I

do see it as art, as it is a person's own original expression of his own vision. That's art.

I don't deny this is art. It surely is, in every sense of the word, and it's possible that in 2000 years, maybe archeologists will discover it and point to it as representative of our time. Michelangelo had his share of critics, but none of them can stop modern day historians from directing out attention to his work as some of the best "art" of all time. This is all to say: It'snot up to us to judge whether this is art, or not art. That task is best left to posterity and all the diggers that will inhabit it. Our mission today is to enjoy this colorful divertissement. As mentioned before, I would love this if it were 5 feet square, glossy and hanging in my living room.

As artistic photography, the image is excellent but I would not attempt to use the technique for scientific documentation of wildlife.

Doug, I'd even say, that "it's possible that in 2000 years, maybe archeologists will discover it and point to it as representative of our time'S TURTLES." :-) I think this is, for once, a well executed manipulation based on good observation, and on a fun and smart idea. I like the (fake) lighting, the colors, the angle, and even the mirroring effect, which really adds something in this case. Whether this is art or not really isn't my concern: I don't mind a little fun piece as a POW once in a while...

Just to add to the discussion, here's another mirrored image of a totally different kind, and which I like a lot, by Chris Blaszczyk: http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2042014

 

The only thing this POW and Chris's picture have in common might be the stiffness, the rigid feel, that comes with a straight on angle combined with the effect. Put to good use in both cases imo.

When I first saw this POW appear I had to chuckle. I been reading a PN forum that was really quite funny and related to Turtles and the Fear the Turtle campaign alluded to by David Crenshaw. Then I saw David's post and began to wonder if the Elves had found the best turtle, yet, to fear!

Mostly I fear getting lost up this turtle's nose. I don't think I would want this 5 feet across and hanging on my wall. It would definitely give me nightmares. Sucked right up that turtle nose was my second thought. The focus on the nostrils is very sharp and the rest seems rather out of focus. Charming?

I did not see the mirror effect, at first. I thought it was top shell and bottom shell of the turtle. To have the darker part of the turtle emerging from out of the lighter surrounding halo of a shell is rather a fun look at Godzilla.

I like this image because it is amusing, and just a little bit scary, even though that wee beastie was only 4 1/2 inches long. That fact makes the image even more fun.

I wonder what the life-span of one of these turtles might be?

And then I noticed that Michele used the 50mm lens on his Canon. This is what you can do with one of those lens? Mine is sitting collecting dust at the moment. So, for me, this POW is also incentive to get out there with my 50mm lens and try to find some interesting things to shoot.

"As mentioned before, I would love this if it were 5 feet square, glossy and hanging in my living room.

Ah, yes of course, the "it's art if it matches my couch" test.

Personally this doesn't move me at all. I recognize the diversionary aspect of it, but it never rises above that. It's simply a Photo-shop exercise.

I noticed the symmetrical Photoshop aspect of this image theinstant I looked at it, I also noticed the washed out beak.Forgive me but as art this is much the equivalent ofa midi tune played on a SoundBlaster 16 card.

 

Micheles Godzilla - 8 in his Godzilla Foldermakes much a strong statement about the creature. Ive lookthrough Micheles portfolio and find this pretty much theleast interesting of all. There is much to like about majority ofMicheles work.

 

Beautiful!

Liked the composition...the top part of the shell has turned out very well.. the slight glow adds a punch to the photo.

Congrats!

Can a turtle be threatening? Definitely, yes!

Great shot! I love the lack of texture.

As you mentioned, the surreal qualities are hightened because of the impossible light.

This image moved me the moment I saw it. Reading the comments I realize itis a manipulated image. Whatever. To me it speaks of the wonders of the universe.

And now on a lighter note- From the Ontario motor speedway... where Michele Ciofalo is going for his 1st NHRA Summer Nationals win. Seen here in his distictive yellow helmet piloting his Mach Turtle nitroburning funnycar, Ciofalo claims his Turtle "can't be beat". Judging from the look on the Turtles face, we tend to agree. Good luck Michele you really have one mean ( and fast) machine.

The PS mirroing is very distracting and likely takes away from the image. If it's a nature shot why mirror the image?

 

If it's a special efx shot then, he could have done more with the eyes, and the overall look and feel of the "monter-like" creature (Godzilla).

Whatever, he's feeling pretty smug about it. Holding his head high and troubling to hit the centre line, it is clear that this fella's just completed a very satisfactory job and right at this time can only see and aspire to perfection in the world. How nice when everything clicks into place, and for a fleeting moment all the problems in the world just seem to resolve themselves.

 

What I like about this photo is that the end result is as playful as the means to achieve it. Mucking around with photoshop opens our eyes to possibilities beyond conventional photography, and when something jumps out of the exercise which makes us feel we have created something intriguingly different, we get that momentary sense of pervasive satisfaction, which as it happens is exactly what this picture portrays!

This is a great photo, love the expression and the colours. Tops.

A great image I like it very much!