At 12:04 7/2/02, AG Schnozz wrote:
Don't forget, he was a successful marketeer. There were better
photographers in his era, but non as successful as he was in
developing the reputation, connections and product.
Regarding A.A.
I believe his success came in his last years, a long time in coming for
him. IIRC he made his living doing commercial photography during most of
his professional life. I have not seen his "commercial" work done as a
"gun for hire" but from what I've heard about it, they are nothing like his
landscapes. It likely represents his doing the former to put bread on the
table and subsidize his passion for photographing the latter.
John Lind mentioned "The Wall". I've seen the one in DC many
times. I never go to DC without visiting it. Why? I have no
relatives or friends names on the wall. Doesn't make sense,
does it? The Wall is an emotional experience for all. In an
artistic sense it is so drawing, so demanding upon your psyche,
so stark, so focused. It's the names--each one representing a
soul. You can hear the roll-call in your mind--names called
out, but no answer. The sons and daughters that never returned
home. The parents suffering the never-ending ache of losing a
child. Holidays that never will be complete. In war, the
victor gets to write history and we end up with these memorials
to a victory, to a battle, to a cause, to an event. With
Viatnam we honor not the successes but the sacrifice. The Wall
isn't a place to cheer, to praise, to self-indulge--it's a place
that demands whispering, a gentle touch of the stone--your
fingers tracing out the names of people you never got to know.
Tears.
That is Art!
When I decided to photograph The Wall (travelling version) I went out the
evening before to view its orientation and determine what time(s) of day
would provide good light angles. The next morning I had to spend some time
with "The Wall" before getting the cameras out of the car trunk. The main
reason was knowing a couple of names on it, and knowing the details about
one other name. It was something that had to be done before shooting
it. Otherwise the brain could not fully concentrate photographing it.
For a while I wasn't at The Wall, but was transported in time and space to
several places 30-35 years ago. Afterward I noted the glassy-eyed look of
several others standing there motionless, recognized it as the same glassy
stare in the eyes of 75+ year-old spectators about a year ago while
watching a B-17 and B-24 land at a small airport, and then realized mine
must have looked the same for a while too. It was other people moving
about and the sound of the state flags flapping in the strong breeze that
finally brought me back to May, 2002, in Kokomo, Indiana. To understand
that "look" is one thing; to *experience* it is another. It was then that
I felt "one" with The Wall and what I would attempt to capture while
photographing it crystalized.
Ken, next time you go to DC, watch the others in their late-40's to
mid-50's who are by themselves and not with family or friends. You'll see
some become motionless with a glassy stare for a few minutes. They have
become part of The Wall itself, spending some time with someone whose name
is there, in another place at another time, because it's the only way they
can now. If you have an opportunity to see the Korean War Memorial,
observe it for a while too. It has a similar effect on some of its
visitors who become one of the sculptures there for a while.
-- John
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