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Re: [OM] Happy Home

Subject: Re: [OM] Happy Home
From: Andrew Fildes <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:58:31 +1000
It ain't class, Chris. It's character. Met more than my share of lower class 
smartarseholes in my time and many admirable uppermiddles.
And vice versa. But indeed it is easier to be smug when you've got the 
resources to fall back upon.

Of course Avedon was an outsider - as am I. He travelled with a team who set up 
the shots for him - he was shooting the American West series in 10x8 for a 
reason. As a celeb/fashion photog he'd have had nothing in common with his 
subjects. He kept at arm's length. Some of those portraits  scare the crap out 
of me. And they are not all poor, mad or sad. Those aren't the scary ones. He 
needed large negs because he printed them to life size on hanging metal slabs 
and free hung them - in from of middle class New Yorkers. As alien to them as 
to me. I have no time for the 'exploitation' argument - no, he documented them  
and barely captioned the images, some with their own words. You make up your 
own mind. Arbus would be more open to such a charge but I haven't seen it made 
with any conviction. 
I used to deconstruct some of the Avedon portraits with 16 year old photog 
students as an exercise in visual thinking.
I treasure my copy.
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.soultheft.com
Author/Publisher: The SLR Compendium - http://www.blurb.com/books/3732813



On 17/06/2013, at 5:09 PM, Chris Crawford wrote:

> Andrew and Bob,
> 
> Thanks for the kind words on the photo. I've been out shooting a lot the
> last few days now that school is out, so I haven't been fast on responding
> to the list.
> 
> I like Avedon's portraits of the west, but I think he missed out in a way
> by being an outsider who really didn't understand the culture he was
> photographing. A lot of people accused him of exploiting the downtrodden
> people of 'flyover country' for the enjoyment of his rich east coast
> audience.
> 
> I am photographing my home and the people and culture I grew up in. I like
> most of the working class and poor people here, they are honest and
> hardworking people. Its the middle class here I cannot stand, with their
> false religiosity, hatred of anyone who thinks for himself, and outspoken
> disdain for education.
> 
> I grew up in a family that had become middle class not long before I was
> born. My father was the second person in my family's history to graduate
> from high school, and he landed a good job with the phone company as soon
> as he graduated. He and my mother adopted all of the middle class's narrow
> minded prejudices, except, thankfully, religion.
> 
> I have never, ever had a working class or poor person in Fort Wayne tell
> me I was an idiot for getting a masters degree in the humanities or a
> bachelors degree in art (they are impressed by it and often express regret
> that they never got to go to college). I am told I wasted my money and
> time by getting an education that wasn't purely vocational by middle class
> people every f--king day. Then the fools wonder why the middle class is
> being destroyed by our elites.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Chris Crawford
> Fine Art Photography
> Fort Wayne, Indiana
> 260-437-8990
> 
> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
> 
> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
> Become a fan on Facebook
> 
> 
> On 6/13/13 4:43 PM, "Andrew Fildes" <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>> Can I second that remark?
>> Chris depicts ehat is for me  an 'alien' culture, much of which is
>> mysterious.
>> I like the sharp ordinariness of so much of those little, empty, urban
>> landscapes.
>> And some of the portraits remind me of those Avedon western images.
>> Plus it got me interested in square 120 again.
>> Goodonyermate (as we say around here when very drunk).
>> 
>> Andrew Fildes
>> afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> www.soultheft.com
>> Author/Publisher: The SLR Compendium - http://www.blurb.com/books/3732813
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 13/06/2013, at 11:52 PM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
>> 
>>> Nah,  I'm not cutting. Chris has a very clean, honest and distinct
>>> style. I click on every image he posts, and I visit his web site from
>>> time to time. I don't always comment on what he posts, but I see them
>>> all. I would not say that happy is the first word that comes to mind
>>> when I see the bulk of his images. Besides, this one had a freakin'
>>> happy face in it. <g>
>> 
>> -- 
>> _________________________________________________________________
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>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> _________________________________________________________________
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> 
> 

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