He is dead. His work is art history now. Don't get me wrong, as a former photographer, a university level computer based art teacher, and large museum, I respect his work.
The simple truth is that he was a product of his time and that time was glass and emulsion. Yes thats right, glass. He started out shooting as someone who has hung Ansel Adams work in a photos on glass plates. Later he changed technologies and shot on the flexible film we all use today. Ultimately his time has past.
Were Ansel Adams alive today he might be creating art in code as many of us are doing now. He might be working with neural nets or a network of wifi nodes and location aware technology.
One might just as pointlessly ponder whether or not he would be producing Marxist institutional critique or gender based work.
To suggest that he would like digital photography is pointless. If he were alive today producing the same work he did in the 40's (no matter how beautiful) in any format we would say he was irrelevant and anachronistic.
Next up... Raphael loves Photoshop, Rembrandt digs Python and the Bauhaus goes over to OSX.
signifier-signified
www.34n118w.net
mining the urban landscape
Isn't this the point of text books?
More to the point, think of William Gibson's Neuromancer. Back in the early days of the internet, the creators of VRML cited that important work as being the inspiration for developing a 3D standard for the net. Thats only one example of the impact that wonderful piece of literature has had.
Go back a little earlier to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. For a time it literally became a model for how Los Angeles should be developed. Its a frightening thought I know, but do a little research, read some Mike Davis. http://www.rut.com/mdavis/aboutMikeDavis.html
Many things end up in play at any given time in any given culture. We take bits and put them together. Literature and art have always played important roles in synthesising ideas.It always helps to go back to the source and see where the ideas originated from.
I have the flu so I'll end now before I ramble.
Slashdot Mirror
He is dead. His work is art history now. Don't get me wrong, as a former photographer, a university level computer based art teacher, and large museum, I respect his work.
The simple truth is that he was a product of his time and that time was glass and emulsion. Yes thats right, glass. He started out shooting as someone who has hung Ansel Adams work in a photos on glass plates. Later he changed technologies and shot on the flexible film we all use today. Ultimately his time has past.
Were Ansel Adams alive today he might be creating art in code as many of us are doing now. He might be working with neural nets or a network of wifi nodes and location aware technology.
One might just as pointlessly ponder whether or not he would be producing Marxist institutional critique or gender based work.
To suggest that he would like digital photography is pointless. If he were alive today producing the same work he did in the 40's (no matter how beautiful) in any format we would say he was irrelevant and anachronistic.
Next up... Raphael loves Photoshop, Rembrandt digs Python and the Bauhaus goes over to OSX.
signifier-signified
www.34n118w.net
mining the urban landscape
Isn't this the point of text books? More to the point, think of William Gibson's Neuromancer. Back in the early days of the internet, the creators of VRML cited that important work as being the inspiration for developing a 3D standard for the net. Thats only one example of the impact that wonderful piece of literature has had. Go back a little earlier to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. For a time it literally became a model for how Los Angeles should be developed. Its a frightening thought I know, but do a little research, read some Mike Davis. http://www.rut.com/mdavis/aboutMikeDavis.html Many things end up in play at any given time in any given culture. We take bits and put them together. Literature and art have always played important roles in synthesising ideas.It always helps to go back to the source and see where the ideas originated from. I have the flu so I'll end now before I ramble.