Morning scenes at Japanese-style garden in Grand Rapids, Michigan at various distances and detail.
Scale matters in composing a photo, but also when displaying it in print or projected onto a (very) large screen. Bringing the camera in for a close view draws attention to details that would be lost when the composition is an overview or wide-angle look at the subject and its surroundings. But no matter if the picture is taken close in or from a distance, if the image is presented in a way that is too small in scale then the viewer will not readily perceive detail. The reverse is also true: projected onto a 20-foot cinema screen allows a great degree of detail to be studied. Of course the resolving power of the lens and quality of film or digital sensor also determine how much detail can be distinguished – on modest display or on a gigantic one. The extreme case is the Gigapan technique of merging hundreds of exposures into a single composite image that allows magnification much beyond that of a single photo; for example, a luxury car advertisement showing the Golden Gate Bridge and its surroundings, then zooming in to see the featured car, then zooming in to show the brand mark embroidered onto a headrest of the passenger seat, visible through the car window on the bridge surrounded by the headlands and Pacific Ocean.
The limits to seeing because of scale limitations may be true not only of photos but also when it comes to the limits of thinking because of scale limitations. In other words, if the matter being discussed is framed up close then the conversation can go into great detail (at the expense of perceiving the larger patterns and relationships). But even when composed and curated for a close-up view of the subject, if the occasion for expressing the subject is too small or lacks the right amount of free space, then the experience of engaging in the matter could be frustrating. Therefore, in photo compositions and in conversations of intellect and analysis the scale matters: there should be a close enough view to capture needed detail. And there also should be a venue or occasion to display the viewpoint that is big enough to make the existing detail visible.
The 15 people murdered in Porvenir, Texas in 1918 are represented in art form by Ed Moralez (2021)
At the Fountain Street Church venue at the 2021 ArtPrize international competition the theme of their 17 artworks from 7 countries is social justice. Each artist puts injustice, pain, and destruction of lives and minds into visual form. This photo shows the artist taking on the subject of racist murder that touched his own family history. While there are no bodies, he does show the aftermath: bloodstains in orderly rows, expressing compliance before the execution. The canvas is filled with the wide landscape of quiet. The Porvenir, Texas crime was on January 28, 1918, so to visit the site in 2021 things might look and sound much different in this west Texas ghost town on the Mexican border. Ironically, ‘porvenir’ in Spanish means “future,” yet for the people robbed of life it was no future. But the power of artistic license and creator’s imagination makes the crime come to life for 2021 viewers to think about.
Anthropologists of the past (archaeologists, physical anthropologists) have documented much violence between groups of different people and among a single group of people. Ethnographers observe much violence in people today. Such primitive legacies do not excuse injustice like Porvenir 1918. While the scale of harm varies widely, for the biggest examples of destroying human life and natural habitats, The Great Big Book of Horrible Things by Matthew White tallies 100 of the ones known about; other (ancient) cases have left no witnesses or record-keeping, though.
In principle a person could pilgrimage to sites of human and natural disasters that have resulted in large-scale death or long-term destruction. But after many lifetimes, perhaps only the echoes of the place name can evoke a shred of meaning from that time. Movie recreations and artist interpretations, though, can sometimes engage modern-day seekers of long-ago times and lives. Much like the thematic scope of this blog, it is “seeing” that can spark “thinking.” In order for the mind or heart of the thinking person today to be touched by distant people and events, traumatic or quotidian, first there must be a visual subject to seize upon and to begin the process of reflecting in wider and wider circles, delving steadily deeper into the place and time. This painting by Ed Moralez (ArtPrize 2021 voting number 69696) is one example of a visual subject that opens the door to a distant moment of great consequence.
Some years ago a German car maker advertised its latest models with billboards and advertising in print and TV using the expression “Fahrgnügen,” defining this neologism as “loving to drive.” This is different to the English expression, “pleasure riding” or “scenic drive” since the emphasis is in all three parts: the activity of operating the motor vehicle (riding), the feelings from effortlessly racing over the landscape, and the sense of purpose or accomplishment in having made the trip or reaching the destination. Something like this multilayered delight of driving can also be said for photowalking, setting off on foot (or maybe bicycle, too) with the goal of noticing something worth composing a picture of and capturing the subject as experienced. Maybe there is a German word for ‘loving to look’, for that matter! With so many languages in the world not yet extinct, surely there is a word that means to take pleasure in looking at something – and now by extension also the pleasure in recording and then spreading it widely on social media to gain wide currency or to attract ever more followers.
box elder tree in mid-November just before daybreak at 43 degrees N. – so fluid the curves
The English words involved in visual perception are so many, each with different emphasis or effect: See, observe, notice, detect, perceive, discern all concern the awareness that may be derived by eyesight. Look at, watch, view, witness, regard all have to do with spectating. Gaze, respect, admire, appreciate, countenance are about approval or valuing the subject in sight or in mind. Perhaps the compound expression, “visual pleasure” is the closest way to express the satisfaction that comes from feasting one’s eyes on a person, place, or thing – with or without camera at hand.
fallen color of a tulip tree, November 2019
Looking for the roots of this love of looking, this brief list of English words does not shed much light. Instead, perhaps the sequence of events that contribute to the overall positive visual experience will give clues to the source of looking for fun. There are probably some ways to complicate the steps, but for starters these six components can be pointed to. (1) Intention to hunt for a subject =anticipation, (2) delight in owning and holding a powerful gadget with precision design, (3) thrill of recognition in spotting a potential subject, (4) satisfaction that comes from solving the compositional problem to record the scene, (5) joy from executing the capture by mastering the settings so that the camera approximates the human visual experience (or shoot by trusting the auto-setting to point and shoot), (6) approval from sharing the (edited) picture with others in digital form, either addressed personally by direct message or email, or by using a social media outlet for others to browse.
According to this sequence the overall arc begins even before picking up the camera and culminates with the successful capture or final distribution electronically. Each phase has some sort of positive charge, so combined into a complete cycle there is indeed a lot of delight that comes from the aggregate of actions pertaining to picture taking. Perhaps a newbie will weigh the amount of pleasure for each part differently to a long-time enthusiast or by comparison to a working, paid professional. And the sum total of pleasure may also differ for one person compared to another. But however you may look at this question of the sources that contribute to composing and capturing pictures, it is clear that there are many ways to derive some satisfaction in the pursuit, no matter the depth of one’s experience or breadth of opportunities to spend the time, money, and effort to engage in this way of being in the world.
I wonder if similar “looking pleasure” existed before the time of cameras (and camcorders), when visual representation was by pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, watercolor, oil on canvas, or another medium requiring hand-eye coordination. Then, too, poetry and prose can be imagistic since authors have been described for their ability to “paint pictures with words.” Maybe they also like to look at a subject or scene for no other purpose than to see it, to dwell with it present in the moment, and then possibly to capture and to display it for others to view.
see2think 