The Test of Time


I had an interesting conversation with a patron of mine the other day. We were discussing the current state of photography as a medium, why are photographs getting bigger ? ,the impact of digital, the persistence of trends.....and the mediums general state of mediocrity.

I had no answers. It seems to me a subject that is un-important, as I have always had a blue-collar approach to my own work. " Just go out and look, take a picture, print it, live with it, and once you feel good about it.....do it all over again ! "......its really rather simple.

Getting back to that conversation ......a few names came up. One that I mentioned was that of Robert Adams. Bob's work has always been important to me. I consider it a bit of a touchstone. Being a photographer of the land myself,and also once a Californian, his work stands out .

The work is very deeply seen. His newer work really hits home . What he sees with his 35mm camera is by far the most honest portrayal of place. The vertical orientation took me a while to grasp, but now it is all clear.

I look forward to seeing his new work at Matthew Marks in NYC.


Artists in my list:

Alfred Stieglitz
Robert Frank
Harry Callahan
Nicholas Nixon
Ralston Crawford
Julia Margaret Cameron
Sean Scully
Agnes Martin
Brice Marden
Manuel Alvarez Bravo
Paul Strand

The only criteria for my list is that the work still invigorates me after 20 years of looking at it.

There are some Bravo images that have made me wept.