Paul Grecian - Photography

I listen carefully to what show attendees say to me when seeing my work. At this last show in Hawley, as in many others, a regular comment is that I must be a very patient person. I often hesitate at this because I simply feel it misses the mark on how I approach making an image. Truth is I’m not a very patient person.  I don’t just stand or sit waiting for something to happen or some creature to pass my position.

I think the confusion is that many people equate wildlife photography and nature photography in general, with hunting. I am not hunting with a camera. Maybe a better description is that I am exploring with my camera and then communicating with as much emotion as I can, the visual experience. Sometimes my images are the result of pre-visualization, maybe for months or just seconds before making the image. Sometimes I just walk around and allow myself to respond to what I see and feel. Other times I do stand or sit in a spot where I have pre-visualized a certain image or type of image I want to make. Usually though, I am on the move observing and thinking about color, form, perspective, and compositions, but mostly letting myself respond to the visual experience I am having.

It is more often true that any image I make was made as I came upon a subject or situation in the field. Many of my images are the result of planning to be in a certain location under specific conditions in order to attempt to make an image I had already considered. This means being in the desired spot often while it’s still dark with the needed equipment and a predetermined creative approach. In fact, this approach may be considered the exact opposite of patience. I’m not saying I never exhibit patience, it’s just not my strongest character trait (at least with regards to making photographs).

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I often read artists assert that their best work is yet to be made and if they knew then what they know now, their work would have been better. Maybe photography is a different medium in this respect from others. I’ve never felt that I was waiting for my best work to be created. In fact much of my favorite work and many of my more popular pieces are ones that represent my earlier visions and efforts. That is not to say that I have stopped growing as a photographer and artist, it’s just that I feel much of my growth is lateral. That is, I believe my style has changed over time and will continue to do so as I change in interests, and discoveries, and personality. But, is this work necessarily better than work I’ve already created? Or is it different and new.

Certainly I learn new things about the medium and what I can do with it all the time. In this way my growth is definitely vertical. But again, I’m not sure that knowledge of the medium equates to better images. If that were true, wouldn’t we all be the best photographers who ever lived because we would have more knowledge and experience than any of our predecessors. The fact that we are not necessarily better image makers because of increased knowledge, expereince, and better tools is because photography is still and primarily so - an art form.

This is an image I made some ten years ago and has found it’s way into over 100 homes, an Audubon calendar, and a book project. It’s one of my earlier pieces. Had I made this image last week, I’d be equally pleased with it.

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A question I am sometimes asked at shows is “Why does this image have the look of being 3-dimensional?” The image that receives this question most is Blue Bird, an image of a bluebird on fall arrowwood.  The explanation is that there are two elements of this image that lend it a sense of being 3-dimensional. The first is the limited depth-of-field. That is, the foreground (including the bluebird) are perfectly in focus while the background (distant trees) are rendered only as impressionistic form and color. This situation implies distance and the mind interprets the scene as having something close and something far away. The other element contributing to the 3-d effect is the colors in the image. Warm colors (some of the leaves and stems of the plant) appear to the eye as advancing, while cool tones (the bluebird here) appear to recede. That combination of advancing and receding color right next to each other are interpreted as subjects being close and more distant.

There are other ways that a two-dimensional image can have a three-dimensional look. But of the ones that I place in my booth, this particular piece receives the most remarks.

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Last night I was pleased to serve as juror for the Churchville Photography Club in Churchville, PA. This club has an active membership with a variety of backgrounds. Lana from The Dreaming Tree asked in my previous post, what I look for/consider when acting as a juror. It’s a good question.

The qualities that I believe make a good juror are exposure to a variety of images and styles, being well read on critiques of a variety of art mediums, being open minded to styles that are different from your own, being analytical of the creative process. I think it also requires a bit of self confidence to speak what one feels and a willingness to suggest that an image can be improved.

My personal approach to being a juror is to talk freely about what I feel works and doesn’t work in an image. I find that an audience, even if they disagree with my assessment, are amenable to it if I can explain clearly why I choose one image over another. Most audiences I believe are very aware if you’re insincere and/or derogatory. I look for creativity first, visual impact, clear intension of content, and lastly technique. To me technique (focus, exposure, etc.) is only a means to an end. I look for technique sufficient to convey the visual intent. Primarily, I want the image to move me. I’ll give more weight to imagery that seems to break new ground or is out of the ordinary. However, I don’t appreciate different for the sake of being different.

Ultimately, I want the audience to take away that my choices are only that, my choices. I feel comfortable with my style as I keep getting asked back and always have a good number of people approach me afterwards thanking me for providing helpful input - even if I selected against their images.

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I had the good fortune to be able to spend some time with an artist friend of mine. She is a fabric artist, a visual artist. In our discussion I mentioned how sometimes my wife is jealous of the passion I feel about my medium and what I do. I love that feeling of passion I have for photography and the visual arts that I work in. Its a feeling I haven’t felt toward any other work I have done. My friend expressed the same feelings for her medium and that she has been on the other side of the issue, that is, being a bit jealous of someone else who had the passion before she found hers.

Then my friend said something that surprised me a bit. She feared losing inspiration. It occured to me that an artist’s biggest fear is really a loss of the passion and inspiration to create new pieces more than anything else. If we don’t sell our work we can still create it and work at finding our patrons. But to lose the inspiration and the passion is to lose the very core of our creative beings. Even if we were to continue to sell our work, the feeling of self worth as an artist would be gone. That would be very hard to take I think. 

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I bought a new pair of shoes today - a pair of Rockports that I will use for outdoor shows. Since I stand for the entire show, I can be on my feet for 12 hours. This makes the comfort factor of any shoes I wear really important. If my feet aren’t happy, my sales could suffer as I become irritable. Actually, just looking uncomfortable can be a turn off to any prospective customer. So I don’t mind putting some money where my feet are. If I find these shoes really work well, I’ll buy another pair. Heck, I have a back up camera, why not shoes?

I use a different shoe outdoors than I do indoors. The outdoor shoes need to be comfortable, but also waterproof. The challenge is in finding a pair that don’t look too hiking boot like. I try to maintain some level of professional dress even in outdoor shows. Sometimes, it’s just impossible. But, if it’s a wet show, or the grass is damp with dew, I need at least a weatherproof shoe.

I have scheduled four outdoor shows in a row starting next month and well, at least the shoe issue is covered. Now, I could really use some new show shirts (with my logo).

I’ve been actively working a fox den about an hour from home. I’ve become rather attached to the little guys and anticipate more visits. I’ll work up some images soon for posting.

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I hadn’t been out in the woods to photograph for weeks! That’s why getting out today was so important. I didn’t expect to create anything special, I just wanted to hike around and see what spring was bringing. After trudging around for a couple hours with a heavy long lens and tripod, I had had enough. The gear went back into the van and I drove off. It was cloudy, but not cold so I parked at a new location and started back into the woods. This time, I brought no camera. I just wanted to visualize the potential imagery I could make next time. I walked around for about an hour taking in the textures and colors of the ground, trees, old stone walls, and lines of a creek that winds through the woods.

Sometimes it is best for me just to walk and “see” without any gear. It’s something I don’t do often enough. My approach was to ask myself, if I were to make the image I’m visualizing, how would I do it and what gear would I need? When I walk around with a camera, I generally think about what type of imagery I can make with that particular gear. It’s limiting. I have several new ideas for series of images and feel that my time was well spent.

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My wife and daughter have been trying to pull me into their American Idol viewing. I have resisted but am weakening, mostly because I like David Cook. I have however watched various episodes of reality shows dealing with creative competition. These have included fashion design, cooking, and interior design. Mostly I find it interesting to see how creative people deal with often ridiculous tests and restrictions.

I do think though that these shows have heightened the appreciation for the various creative endeavors that they feature. It strikes me that no show has dealt with photography or any two-dimensional visual art. I could easily see a show where photographers are given assignments and restrictions on time equipment, method, etc and then evaluated for their problem solving and creativity. Is there just no interest in this kind of competition or is this a feasible idea? Would such a show heighten the appreciation by the public in general for the medium or diminish it in some way?

I tend to think that any coverage would be beneficial. Ask most people to name a famous photographer and other than Ansel Adams, most would be stumped. Of course it’s probably worse for other mediums. But since most people can name famous painters, authors, singers, actors, and a cloth designer or two, maybe photography would benefit from some pop culture.

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I received an e-mail last week from Jen, a young woman who is getting married soon. She wanted to use a coffee-table book for guests to sign-in to at the wedding. She found a book that I contributed to, a photo rich book on Bucks County, Pennsylvania where she lives also. I thought this was a unique and neat idea. So after a bit of emailing back and forth, we agreed to meet at our local Starbucks (where else) so she could see the book and determine if it would work.

The book itself was published in 1994 and has been redone and published twice since, each time selling out. These are small production run books and very nicely printed. I have 24 images in this edition, including a double-page spread. What makes the book work for the guest sign-in usage is the generous white area around most of the pictures.

I met Jen this morning, we talked, looked through the pages, and she bought the book.

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Photographers have had controls for rendering color for some time, but no where near as much as today. When I first started using color slide film, the selection was relatively small. I used Kodak film, mostly Kodachrome. When Fujichromes hit the market with there vibrant renditions, I switched to it for most of my work. Other than film though, color is determined by the actual subject, the kind of light (temperature, or Kelvin) falling on the subject (and the surrounding colors in relation to the subject), the exposure decisions I make, filtration, and printing. I never liked enhancing or color filters, but do use a polarizer often.

Then of course there were color controls involved in the printing. From slide film, an internegative had to be made from which a traditional C-print was created. The original slide being a positive image allowed for close matching of colors, or at least a reference point for making color decisions.

Now with digital image controls, color is more of a creative decision than ever before and I think that is the way it should be. No other medium is constrained by color choice as photography seems to be. I came across this line on Luminous Landscape (Reading Tea Leaves) and believe it to be a truism. Michael writes “Colour exists in our heads, it is not an absolute, and it therefore demands interpretation by our minds and hearts.” While I am personally interested in rendering colors that represent my subject closely, it is my creative decision to do so, not a rule I follow. Color is such a powerful conveyor of feeling that to take the control of it away from the photographer is to limit the emotional range they can express. That being said, I’ve been enjoying doing some black and white renderings lately as well. Oh yea, with some sepia toning

Buy this 11×14 print double-matted to 16×20 for $79.00 plus shipping

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