10
INFORMATION
Camera May I971
l.We are one generation away from the twenty-first century.
2. We are closer to the future-i. e. the twenty-first-than to the past-i. e. the nineteenth century.
3. We exist in the last third of this century.
4. We exist in the last thirtieth of this millennium
This is information. a compilation of facts to explain an idea.
The first two points are relative according to the Individual's own time of birth and to the question. which decade is more important for him. As the first two points vary as much as our individual names, point three and four are relative to all at this moment of time Information has expanded at such a rate in the first two Thirds of this century that is now only a matter of minutes for news of international importance to be relayed to all corners of the earth.
The last decade has also seen a new development of the arts
and the advent of new art forms which relied on photography or the transmission of its ideas. It was not only land art. arte povera. conception art, earth art, happenings) and fluxus which thought in terms of photographic recording: the pop artists also utilized the medium in their serigraphs. lithos and etchings which constituted a renaissance of the graphic arts. In addition, the propagation and reinvention o/f Dada's 'objects' and the creation of 'ready mades'' forced many artists to employ photographic reproduction techniques. The
multiple art forms are in reality a normal development stemming from Gutenberg's movable type influence on our communications and series reproduction techniques. Many artists were trained in painting and sculpture by means of reproductions in books and by one by two meter large slide reproductions of paintings and other works of art projected in darkened rooms. the originals of which were thousands of miles away. Size and scale became lost in this second- and third-hand information presentation. The necessity for two-dimensional surfaces forced the artists to avoid textures and
seek materials which would convey their message in flat planer surfaces. The contact with photographic enlarging equipment enabled the artists to reproduce objects and images in gigantic proportions, and the dissemination of information in the art world underwent changes equivalent to the great metamorphosis that Picasso's Demoiselles· d'Avignon perpetrated in the early part of this century. (Or will future history be more influenced by the transition of art represented by the .ready mades'' of Marcel Duchamp!) In reality, 'Information' has existed in all forms of art since the ·time of prehistoric man and, whether in Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphics or the configurations of Renaissance and modern
culture, it has always been innately important.
The communication of the modern artist has become more cerebral, and in our new art forms it often happens that the actual product is of less value than the execution and the preparatory stages used in developing a more all-encompassing work of art. The environment. problems and events become both the studio work and the work of art or execution and finished product combined.
The cultural stresses and political demands made on society and the individual have resulted in a rejection of provincial art by younger creative persons and the emergence of a more all-encompassing reality and a new sense of seeing and evaluating. This new sense may result in minimality. in banality of approach, and in a formulation bordering on the incomprehensible; be that as it may, this new style of expression may well be necessary to the creation of a new information and a new formulation and approach of the basic
need to inform.This phenomenon has been present in photography from its early embryonic stages, and it may be that too much time
has been wasted on the definition of the medium. In the first
informative images created by Niepce. and later by FoxTalbot our world began to be recorded by photographic means. and a new information was born. As time went on.men sought to record the phenomena of movement. travel.war. etc., and all through this evolution there have existed photographers who have quested for new ways of seeing and recording with the camera. It was not so much a style for which they searched as a new formulation of perception, for an intrinsic activity or inactivity of the image before them.
Atget, Riis. and Hine were among these searchers for information. then Stieglitz. Steichen. Weston, Renger-Patzsch. August Sander. and Cartier- Bresson became aware of the total technique and use of information in this medium. Important personalities such as Walke· Evans, Otto Steinert, Robert Frank. Aaron Siskind, Minor White. and Harry Callahan evolved\ still other ways of seeing. and now that we are in the second third of the fifth generation of photography.
new signs are appearing which in their turn branch out and change again the information concept in photography.
It is an interesting fact that, despite the shortness of its history. there exists at the present time an undoubted interrelation between photography and art, an interrelation which.although it has been apparent over a decade has been overlooked as if it did not exist.
photography was marking time in preparation impetus which was to result in photographic museums and exhibitions on an .,I·V. the public was indoctrinated the twentieth century). and flourished in all previous and new mass media communication structures. Thus new ways of seeing became imperative
, and the medium of photography was equal to the task.
Young men sought new ways based on their ability and the
short history of the medium in which they worked. observing
what had gone before in museum's galleries and publications,
digesting what they saw and responding to the new needs and the new forms of information.
But is there really a new form of information ! No· actually it
is not new, but merely different. The fact is that we are so used to seeing newness and change that even slight nuances create the impression of newness in our minds.It is a strange but indisputable fact that that which seems new today often appears tomorrow as a mere nuance of the times. Critics as well as editors may sometimes be to blame for the extremeness of their presentations, but it ;s their duty to create an excitement which arouses an interest in the public. The 'oneupmanship' of the editor or critic often keeps him ahead of what is taking place and enables him to feel the pulse of what is shortly to come. The form of information presented here is not a cross section of what is happening. but the work of five younger photographers working in various aspects of photography within
the framework of today's meaning of information. This form of information will no doubt predominate in the coming years. and new searches will result in new approaches and eventually in new introductions to seeing. A few issues ago, we presented the number entitled 'Sequence' (Camera No. 2, 1971) which contained many of the conceptual elements included in this issue. The issue 'Signs'
(May 1 968) and 'Another Sense' (July 1969) both contained the beginnings of this new form of information which we now present in this number. In a sense, what we have before us is a new reality and a new realism as perceived and conveyed by these young photographers, a reality and a realism which are significant enough to affect portraiture. landscape and other aspects of photography in the near future if they are not already doing so today.
All these photographers provide us with visual information. and in each case we are confronted with a new experience of information which relies not only on the factual image but also on the presentation of the images as regards color, form. style, and placement. This is visual informationvague, perhaps, or new to us at the moment. but which nevertheless tries to inform us visually and in which each photographer has accomplished his search. There is a new way of seeing, and photographers are creating new visual concepts throughout the world. For they are by no means alone in their pursuit of this new information. but are part of a new and international development. Although they are not mentioned in books in the history of photography or represented in commercial journals or advertising, these photographers all over the world are making a great contribution to photography, and there can be no doubt that their influence will be felt and absorbed in due course.
There is a different form of information in the making. and this is natural enough: for information will always change with the times and with the knowledge of mankind.
11
ACADEMIC
Camera August 1971
The Pedagogy of Cogitation Through Psychosynthesis
The Postulation? for Psychosynthesis
Psychosynthesis, or theory through introspection. may be described as a creative sociological and/or psychological study which abandons the analytical realm in order to deal with the creative element and thus to synthesize, or build.This results in a diligent thought process by the individual and reduces the retrospective point of view: the predictive. or unknown. element becomes a challenge to the synthesizer.
Here we encounter the phenomenon of the 'third eye' (the objective element) which, although it may cause some uneasiness. presents a challenge which will be accepted by the individual synthesizer. Science fiction is an example of a reality which becomes manifest as one analyses the synthesis in the present of the future and perceives reality in an accepted unreality.
The photograph is the synthesis. the photographer the synthesizer, and the viewer the analyzer of the synthesis.
Hypothesis for a Psychosynthetic Study,
The Third Eye
Everyone is to a certain extent able to crawl out of himself and see himself with the third eye; or, to put it another way, to observe himself as the actor rather than to participate in a given situation.
in the case of 'Mr. X, this facility has been developed to such a high degree that he has become a person who is super aware of himself as a participant. He is the executor of a situation. and he alternates between periods in which he executes a motif when presenting a theme to the public and periods when he ceases to relate to others and is not occupied in presenting a motif. The public is always present
during, a presentation. although not necessarily physically,since the presentation is public and the public is the audience.-
The presentations always occur when he is relating and cease
when he is not The force of his awareness of himself is some-
times picked up by others. usually on an extra conscious level.and this results in a disruption of their own system of relating to others In most cases they are aware of the essential artificiality of the establishment of contact between individuals, but the basis of their communication with others rests on an 'awareness impulse' which is partially sacrificed to the element of participation and results in a fundamental reassessment of the self. Thus when these individuals become aware of the continuing process of reassessment induced by Mr. X.'s presentation of a motif. they feel themselves profoundly involved. The force and impact of Mr. X.'s presentation depends on its uninterrupted and dramatic delivery, and if he should allow it to be interrupted the impetus would be diminished and the inter-
ruptions would consequently occur more frequently.The preceding text is an attempt to explain the construction of the thought process In a complete objectivity in which the third rye and the self-awareness are incorporated. The pedagogical and academic approach of this issue is justified by the fact that it presents the young generation in a direct and immediate manner and. although the previous numbers dedicated to young photographers had a different approach, they too were basically pedagogical.
There is. however. a distinct difference between the last two August issues and this one, for here the selections are disciplined in the extreme and the technical ability of each and every young photograph verges on perfection. The themes are simple. direct. almost banal. and in each case the photograph presents an exact and considered study of the subject. They are images of the world about us as seen through careful objective eyes. and they are for the most part devoid of the subjective imagery so frequent in average reportage photography They show us the world in a piercing and perceptivedocumental manner which is at times almost presumptuous.and all of them contain the elements of design, structure and tone which are essential to good photography. Most important of all. however, is the element of light-its source, its penetration. and its plasticity.
12
IN SEARCH OF NEW IMAGERY
Camera December 1977
In photographic circles throughout the world today, a search for
new imagery is becoming manifest. After all the 'isms' and
'neos' of the pop and op movements of the sixties and the
searching which went on in the fifties in all of the art forms. it
may seem unnecessary/ to make such a statement but the fact is
that ;It this particular time the search for new imagery is new in
that it seeks its impetus and momentum from the two dimensional
) print itself)f rather than from the technical innovations that
produced visio-audio combinations. holograms with laser beams
and the other mixed media of the 1960s.
The four photographers whose work appears on these pages are
also printers. directors. recorders and critics. They are not
obsessed by the concepts of art or non-art and they use their
media as their means of communication. The form of communication-
cation which emerges may be new, and a stylization issues
from the continuing search. There is a thread of photographic
history running through the work of each of these photogra-
phers. a thread which becomes unfocused and indefinite due to
the intensely individual nature of the pictures. There is an
element of familiarity in all these images. a feeling of the
presence of something which existed previously. the exact
components of which it is impossible to trace.
Why is it necessary to create a new imagery? Have we not
enough already! Perhaps the search may be explained by the
fact that photography is the last of the media personal and
exclusive to man. It may even be the last medium to be
manipulated by man from beginning to end-from the original
conception to the finished product without interference? from
outside sources. Perhaps it is also· the last of the economical
means of communication which needs no museum. gallery or
book to manifest itself. And maybe in only a few years the
word 'perhaps' will have been removed and these conjectures
will have become facts. The premise that the wording and style
of a writer are individual is generally accepted; and photogra-
phy. with the use of its own tools. can also achieve an indivi-
duality in a multitude of variations. The solutions found by a
creative person always form a personal image. and the possibili-
ties of individual photographic expression are as great as the
number of original creative personalities who seek them.
Our retentive abilities tend to neglect the period between the
beginning and ending of an event, since the absolute doctrines
which have been instilled in us have forced us to concentrate
on commencement and finale. F·r example: a lead ball is
placed in a transparent container of water. Our visual sense is
so trained that we see the ball approaching the water. and then
in the water. We are unable of thinking of it partially above the
water and partially submerged-we do not stop time in our mind's eye. We know of the existence of the fractions of seconds in between. but we do not visualize them. And this particular imagery which can be achieved by stopping a film sequence or by using a high-speed camera presents us with new fascination.
This particular example is a physical one, but the same phoneme-
non also occurs in other areas. and the adaptation of this
visual experience to photography is perhaps one of the most
significant points throughout the history of the medium. New
imagery emerges through presentations of this kind which might
be called not 'sleight-of-hand' but ·sleight-of-mind'.
The work of the four photographers presented here contains
that magic which forces us to look directly and brings about an
emotional or intellectual rebuttal of the imagery. This causes a
certain predicament at times, for that which seems to be above
reality or out of our mental reach is in reality that which we
see. a fantasy which supersedes logic and intellectual consider-
ration. Bizarre imagery of this kind may have an almost painful
impact at first glance; but when we have retained our compo-
sure, the images themselves invite and compel us to peruse
them more intently.
13
LIVING MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
PART 1
Camera January 1972
In July of this year,'Camera' reaches its fiftieth year of existence.
It was not always an international publication as it is new, presented in three separate editions in English, French. and German. for it started out as a letter press magazine dealing mainly with photographers from the German speaking world. English and French texts were added in 1946. and in 1957 the multi-language edition was converted into three separate editions and finally reached its present form.This is, of course. a special anniversary year, and it is our
intention to celebrate it throughout the entire year. a year of
contemporary photography combined with important historical
aspects. Over the past years.'Camera' has covered a range which other magazines cannot or will not do due to their
commercial obligations, and it is a range which seeks out and
detects talent in both undiscovered historical sources and
contemporary photography. 'Camera's' present role is both pedagogical and historical. and although the two spheres coincide at certain points. the distinction must be adhered to because of 'Camera''s. contemporary status.The historical aspect has the mission of rectifying the some-times somewhat hastily written histories of photography by discovering unknown episodes and important photographic personalities who may have been overshadowed or neglected due to national chauvinism or lack of publicity at the time.
The pedagogical task is to present the trends of contemporary
photography and the various methods and educational styles. A
single issue of a monthly magazine can never be conclusive and
complete in itself. for each number forms a chapter of the yearly
volume.
At the turn of the century, in 1900. photography was just sixty-
one years old, and the photographers presented here were born
in and around this period. Naturally· at the time of their birth.
the medium was in a stage of early development.Interested persons from neighboring or entirely distant professions started to occupy themselves with this medium new and create an art form which was dramatically to change the visual art of this century. While periodicals. institutions and historians were busily expounding on the new history of art and the modern movements, a new visual form. for the most part excluded from museums. was being developed by primarily anonymous individuals. But it was not until after World War II
that a position of any real and international importance was
allotted to photography. and at the turn of the century the
prospects for those who had set their sights on this new medium were far from encouraging.
This introduction to Part One of Living Masters of Photography
becomes more explicit in the light of the biographies of the great photographers and the ideas which they perpetrated.There is no magic formula for what makes a master. but there do exist criteria which it is sometimes impossible to state in a few words but which are in fact essential. The combinations of criteria vary considerably. and the qualities which go to make up one master may be entirely different to those which constitute another. Intention, Invention, Craftsmanship and Contribution are the four basic elements. and although the percentage of each element varies from case to case. the sum total is in every case 100 percent.
Intention:
The photographer.s purpose and aim in the pursuit of his medium. his motive. plan, design, ambition. and desire. Invention: originality. inventiveness of The photographer's conception. style and technique.
Craftsmanship:
The photographer's skill,art. technique. and procedure in his approach to his medium.
Contribution:
The photographer's art of contributing and donating to the historical and pedagogical areas of the media.
14
PSYCHOSYNTHESIS
Camera July 1973
I do not mean to infer that the camera lens is the 'third eye·,
but that the eye that looks through the lens may be the silent seeing aspect of Mr. X. Mr. X. has the ability and opportunity of learning how to see-not in the mystical sense. but in the sense of a new reality which was previously a mere fleeting moment, an uncaptured instant. He is able. in due time. to see the image on the film plane at the moment of exposure, whereas previously he was obliged to
wait until he saw his results. He may begin to work in this direction, and if he continues until he has mastered the technical aspect, his involvement with his scope of seeing and vantage point becomes intense. This is not a 'seeing' as it was previously taught in photography regarding the arts and graphics. but a seeing of concealed, uncanny perspectives and attitudes which is solely photographic. In order to write with light one must learn how to read as well as to write. and it is this basic reading of light which enables a photographer to see.
To be the one who presents to the public as well as being a member of the public to whom the presentation is directed is an aspect of psychosynthetical behavior. The awareness and control which the photographer employs during the whole span of the making of a photograph (in color or black and white-from the first instant to the moment when the final print appears) is an inherent element of the creative process. We have restricted ourselves to the black-and-white image because the photographer's control from beginning to end is at hand. and the transcription of color to monochrome
values is a valid form of manipulation and seeing. In black- and-white. we become more aware of the non-form. or negative, aspect of a positive image in the gray scale as opposed to the color scale. The conscious seeing of the entire positive con;position and the determination and inclusion of nothingness as an existent characteristic in the image Is an Important aspect of a photographer's manner of seeing. We discussed so-called 'ultrabanality' and the commonplace some years ago (Camera No. 8. 1970). and since then the
way of seeing of the younger photographers has progressed by leaps and bounds.
'This bit of evidence indicates how aware children are of the
things around them. even though they may make no comment at the time-true of Dibs and of all children. True of us, too. We do not comment verbally about everything we hear. see. think. infer. Probably only a very small percentage of our individual learning experiences are verbally communicated to others.' (From: Dibs-ln Search of Self. by Virginia M. Axling.)
This was true of the 'children' of the visual language of photography until this new generation was able to master the tool en masse. The new photographers are occupied with commenting visually: on everything they hear. see. think. or infer-at least those among them who have trained themselves to see and hear. It is also true that they have achieved an anonymity through the medium, and whereas a verbal commentary can be immediately rebutted, the visual image is
studied. scrutinized. and analyzed until the convincing or unconvincing elements emerge. Seeing is not believing, as we were previously led to believe.for we only believe in that which we have
seen-our seeing is superimposed upon another imposed image. The logical mind tends to believe in what it wants to believe, in what it
wants to see. and in what it has been taught to see.how can I stop talking to myself?'
"First of all you must use your ears to take some of the burden from your eyes. We have been using our eyes to judge the world since the time we were born. We talk to others and to ourselves mainly about what we see. A warrior is aware of that and listens to the world; he listens to the sound of the world." I began the exercise of listening to the sound of the world and kept it up for two months. as Don Juan had specified. It was excruciating at first to listen and not to talk to myself. By the end of the two months I was capable of shutting off my internal dialogue for short periods of time and I was also capable of paying attention to sounds.
(Extracts from Carlos Castaneda·s A Separate Reality.)
The perceptions of all the senses are tantamount to the human being himself in the way they are employed. It is only when we begin to control and regulate each individual sense that we realize how little control we have and how prejudiced the education of your senses has been. and we become aware of our preoccupation with seeing. The young photographer has begun to open up his mind and expand his seeing. This is bound to have an effect on the coming generation and may perhaps result in an extensive motivation among the present established generation of photographers. A synthesis of seeing is more important than an analysis of what we have seen or what we are seeing.
15
GENERATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
Camera February 1975
In photography. as in painting during the Renaissance and in
the architecture of Michelangelo, it is common for the teacher
and the practitioner to be one and the same person. Ideas, methods, insights, concepts and performance were the result of the teacher student association. and this style of education lasted in the arts for several centuries. The relationship and sharing between the teacher and the student represents a slow but exact process of learning and understanding for both parties. The substantial fundamental growth and development builds up a security in the student and allows him to approach his domain with surety and confidence. In the mid 19th century. the entire western world was concentrated on the scientific and industrial revolution then in progress. This was also the time of photography's development after its Inception a few years previously. Among the most Important aspects of this time of revolution were the expansion of communication and the emergence of new philosophies. and it was inevitable that the communicative
evolution and the new philosophical. ideological and sociological transformations would oust the existing old systems.
The roots that formed the basis of ancient learning were now
developing branches which out-numbered the roots themselves. and these branches of the arts and sciences grew in knowledge. creativeness and inventiveness. Unfortunately.however. the branches. although dependent on the nourishment they drew from the roots, no longer communicated with each other. Although more and more people became active in the fields of art and science. they tended to become specialists in their own area rather than working hand in hand with the other rapidly growing branches. The authoritarian education process became more important than the established
teacher/student, master/apprentice system of education. There
were. of course, philosophers. theologians and educators who called upon the people to take heed. but the new system was far more rationalized and thus more convenient and economic than the older system. The concrete thinker was of more importance to the 'today' society than the previous abstract and ideological thinker. When an English gentleman made the statement 'from today on, painting is dead' he could just as appropriately have said 'from today on, painting will change'..And so will everything else, as it always
has done. All the arts and sciences, including photography,have undergone a metamorphosis. and this is something which cannot be checked or altered. Photography's communicative powers were manifested in all the known media and gave rise in their turn to new inventions. The procreative, or generative. processes of photography incite the subconscious minds of artistic and scientific personalities to instigate.construct and derive new forms, methods and ideas. Before we approach the subject of generative photography. I
should like to return to the theme of teacher/student. A lesser known American philosopher and educator. John Dewey (1859 -l952). wrote the following passages which are taken from his diary:
"If the teacher is really a teacher and not just a master or authority, he should know enough about his pupils, their needs, experiences., degrees of skill, and knowledge. etc.. to be able (not to dictate aims and plans) to share in a discussion regarding what is to be done and be as free to make suggestions as anyone else. (The implication that the teacher is the one and only person who has no individuality or freedom to .express would be funny if it were not often so sad in its outworking.) And his contributions. given the conditions stated. will presumably do more towards getting something started which will really secure and increase the development of strictly individual capacities than will suggestions springing from uncontrolled haphazard sources.
"The point is also worth dwelling upon. that the method leaving the response entirely to pupils, the teacher supplying. in the language of the day, only the stimuli. misconceives the nature of thinking. Any so-called end or aim or..project which the average immature person can suggest in advance is likely to be highly vague and unformed. a mere outlined sketch. not a suggestion of a definite result or consequence but rather a gesture which roughly Indicates a
field within which activities might be carried on. It hardly represents thought at all: it is a suggestion. The real intellectual shaping of the? end or purpose comes during and because of the operations subsequently performed. This is as true of the suggestion which proceeds from the teacher as of those which "spontaneously" spring from the pupils. so that the former does not restrict thought. The advantage on the side of the teacher-if he or she has any business to be in
that posltion is the greater probability that it will be a suggestion which will permit and require thought in the subsequent activity which builds up a clear and organized conception of an end. There is no more fatal flaw in psychology than that which takes the original vague fore-feeling of some consequence to be realized as the equivalent of a thought of an end. a true purpose and directive plan. The thought of an end is strictly correlative to perception of means and methods. Only when the latter becomes clear during the setial
process of execution does the project and guiding aim and plan become evident and articulated. In the full sense of the word, a person becomes aware of what he wants to do and what he is about only when the work is actually complete.'
'The fuller and richer the experience of the teacher. the more adequate his own knowledge of traditions. the more likely is he, given the attitude of participator instead of that of master, to use them in a liberating way. Freedom. or individuality. in short, is not an original possession or gift. It is something to be achieved. to be wrought out. Suggestions as to things which may advantageously be taken, as to skill, as to methods of operation, are indispensable conditions of its achievement. These by the nature of the case must come from a sympathetic and discriminating knowledge of what has been done in the past and how it has been done.'
...'The same considerations explain the fact that works of art of a new style have to create their own audience. At first there is experienced largely the jar of dissonance with the superficial habits most readily called into play. But changes in the surroundings involve correlated changes in the organism. and so the eye and ear gradually become acclimatized.
The organism is really made over, is reorganized in effecting an adequate perception of a work of art. Hence the proper effect of the latter is gradually realized. and then what was first condemned as outre falls into its serial place in the history of artistic achievement.·
The theme 'Generative Photography' stems from a group of photographerinstructors, and along with their development and concentration on generative photography. the teacher/student relationship has been largely employed. This new form.this image construction, is a result of the phenomenon of the teacher as practitioner. Work by most of the contributors to this issue at an earlier stage of their development has already been published in previous numbers of Camera. Now, as a preview of work which is scheduled for book publication this spring, we provide our readers with an insight to this new development which has taken place over the past few years
16
COGNITION
Camera August 1975
Instruction employs signs and things signated to lead The mind
from sensible things and images which are similitudes of such
things to the education of ideas which are interior reflexive acts
of man.
The Signs
1. Natural-preformed things of physical nature. These are multi-referential as elements in a complex analogically ordered world system. Preformed signs are intrinsic to the substances in the order of divine creation as it operates in the intricate network of material and changeable things.
2. Cognitive or formal-a formal act of cognition by virtue of which that which is signified (the signifiable) is signified. These interior formal acts or signs in cognition exist and signify in and through a formal (or analytically determinate) act of cognition. Thus a sign of this sort is a formal act or regulated habit of signifying the thing which is signified. There is in general a double origin of cognitive signs: natural preformed things exterior to the senses, and reflexive acts of thought.
3. Conventional-imposed by convention as, for example. written marks or notations. audible syllables. mimetic patterns or gestures. and also parts of discourse: nouns. adjectives. verbs, etc. A conventional sign does not stand for a natural thing signified but for a kind of notation and its definition; a conventional sign has no real reference except through the medium of cognitive acts or signs. Hence conventional signs are partially based on arbitrary association. which is not true of cognitive signs which simulate the natures of things.Cognitive and conventional signs are products of voluntary
rational operations or distinctions:
a) cognitive signs as impositions or intentions; e. as formal acts of understanding in conjunction with things sensed, images and reflexive acts of thought;
b) conventional signs as notational factors just as, for example. in the science of grammar: spelling. punctuation. or parsing of parts of speech in a secondarily imposed language,etc.
From "Concerning the Teacher and on the Immortality of the
Soul' by St. Aurelius Augustine, Appleton-Century-Crofts Inc..
New York.
Young Photographers 1975
"Only that Picasso's were rather awful and the others were not."
"Sure". she said. "as Pablo once remarked. when you make a
thing, it is so complicated making it that it is bound to be ugly,
but those that do it after you they don't have to worry about making it and they can make it pretty. and so everybody can like it when others make it. Only that Picasso's were rather awful and the others were not."
These words, spoken by Alice B. Toklas, refer to the painting of
the portrait of Gertrude Stein by Pablo Picasso and are take from 'The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas', by Gertrude Stein.
it is too bad that in those days no-one thought of taking a photograph of the picture as it was then, and that no-one else in the group remembered what it looked like any more than Picasso or Gertrude Stein did. To see a picture is not an easy thing to do. Of course, many criteria have been established over the centuries, most of them based on the evolution of painting. Although photography and painting have each had a great mutual influence on the reality of the other. we have now reached a point where the criticism-or should we say the appraisal-of painting and photography must be approached in different ways. The main reason why critics of photography are usually first and foremost art critics is because the study of art history has been established longer than that of photography. and also because the discipline derived from studying art history is perhaps one of the most important qualities necessary for photographic criticism.
It is an undeniable fact that the more often an image is reproduced. the more acclimatized we become to it. It becomes familiar, and sometimes the point is reached when we accept it as an important image even when it is not, simply because it constantly crops up before our eyes. Galleries and museums play an important role in this context because they are in a position to decide what is good. important and eventually valuable for the public.
There are. of course, certain images which have a universal appeal, but these are usually subjectively appealing rather than objectively and critically acclaimed images. We are constantly confronted with visual cliches. brought to us by publications, galleries and museums, and this becomes to a certain extent a vicious circle since the publications cater to the galleries and museums in order to obtain material. the museums cater to their benefactors and do their best to establish their possessions as important works of art. and the galleries· chief interest is in selling rather than displaying or choosing really good pictures.
As regards publications. the main interest here is usually the
aspirations and desires of the publishers and in following the
requests of the advertisers. There are. of course, varying degrees
in this motivation of selection by galleries. museums and
publications. and varying degrees in the inevitable subordination
to which they allow themselves to be subjected.
This is all very pertinent and important to young photographers.
for it is true to say that a steady sameness tends to prevail in the schools and institutions of photography. If we take a serious look at what is being done today and recall the remark about the work of Pablo Picasso quoted above. we cannot fail to be struck by the fact that many of the younger talents seem to want to be ugly and crude and unique in order to follow the rule of art history that 'what was scorned before will be accepted later'. Just what a tragedy this is has become apparent over the past thirty years. much of it is related to the Victorian severity and strictness in the training of our parents and grand-parents. So, we have had our sexual revolution: we have
had our cultural revolutions, and our extremes have become commonplace. our bad taste has become elegance, and our scorn has become love-because of conditioning. Many of our artists, gallerists. curators and editors have had scientific minds. either trained or intuitive. and they have manipulated the concepts of right and wrong. good and bad. excellent and worthless, fruition and waste. And most of the systems and methods they used are based on nothing other than Pavlov's theory of conditioning.
The theories of conditioning and the laws of obsolescence have
permeated our society to such an extent that most of us are unaware of it. The use of media to convey news and information has been infiltrated by the commercial needs of industry to the average individual sitting in front of his television set and to the graduate student working on a grant supplied by industry. Of course. industry has benefited culture considerably in a great number of cases, but the division between the benefit and the conditioning has been to a great extent camouflaged. The anonymous benefactor' has played a great role in our educational institutions and our media, and this has had an inevitable effect on the student, and subsequently on the instructor. The oneness and sameness' now seem to be part of an insidious plot. and the plausibility of individualism has been sacrificed.The real philosophical problem of how to see a picture has become a victim of manipulation. and we are in danger of losing the communicative and informative meaning of:
1) natural signs; 2) cognitive signs; and 3) conventional signs.
To recapitulate:
1) Natural signs, belonging to the analogical network of nature. are preformed things or sensibles which invade the senses. They are not made by man, but are said to have been discovered.
2) Cognitive signs. which are formal acts of signification by
which distinctions are made in that which is retained in
sensation. These explicate the formal import of acts of sensation- .
3) Conventional signs, which are factives or notations associated with cognitive signs. such as written letter combinations. spoken syllables, gestures, etc. These have real reference only through the cognitive signs and their modes of signifying that which is signified (the signifiable).
Our training in sound and in the written word is excellent. and
yet the most-used of our senses has been widely neglected in our modern civilization. 'Seeing is believing' is a much quoted phrase. yet often the things that we see and believe are no more than propaganda and manipulated images. and science and technology have to some extent made a lie of this accepted hypothesis. More often than not, the media systems of communication make seeing a deception.
17
VISUAL PERCEPTION
NINEISM
To explain and determine the dimensions of the world in which we live and perceive, we must relegate as much as possible our yet taught theory of the world of dimension and allow ourselves to start with the zero dimension.
This explication and pedagogical exercise is set forth to make clear that in photography we are dealing with the two dimensional world, although we simulate three dimensions on a planar surface.
Let us take the non-dimensional world and consider it for our particular needs as a point. In reality this point is nonexistent, but for all due purposes we allow ourselves to use this graphic form to understand the various dimensions.The point represents the zero dimension.
No dimension =the sign .
If we take this point and continue it,or if we start to draw a line from an imaginary point, we find this emerging into one dimension, right to left,left to right,up to down, down to up and so forth. There is only one direction and therefore one dimension.
One dimension= the sign -
To continue this line at a right angle and form a square we arrive at a space constructed by the line(one dimension) thus this area defines another dimension. This is the second dimension and a two dimensional world. This flat and area,planar world-which is also the world of photography and the graphic arts.
Two dimensions= the sign square
To extend our two dimensional world so that it can contain and achieve volume we create another dimension-the third dimension-and space is created. This third dimension is the world about us and the volume in everything we hold or see. Its natural existence and perception makes it one
of the easiest dimensions to comprehend.
Three dimensions= the sign cube
To evaluate and perceive the second dimension nineism is presented in a visual and scientific way in order to provide you, the reader, with an exercise which can be practised and executed at your leisure.
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ninesim
Nineism is a kinetic and graphic visual experience in which the ever-changing square-organized whole has each of it changing square alike parts affect every other part. Each separate and alike constituent, of which there are nine, is an asymmetrical two-dimensionsl composition in color and form. Each one of the nine identical asymmetrical components has a movement to the north, south,east or west and a juxtaposition in all of the nine positions. Through mathematical calculation, the total visual possibilities are four to the 9th power or 262,144. Physical possibilities can be calculated by factorial nine and bring us to a total of 362,880. With factorial nine times four to the ninth power we can calculate the enumerable physical and visual possibilities; we however, are mainly concerned with the visual. Nineism functions as an instructive and educational element to the creator-performer and the viewer-participant through its non-permanent and anonymous virtues. ap 1960
End of Part 1.2