Paul Grecian - Photography

Yes, day 8. The EverReady Bunny of shows keeps going and going. Tomorrow is the last day. Today was a fun day in that I met some interesting people. I met a man who tagged butterflies for migration tracking, an RN that used an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants for her research, and a man you needed a piece of mine because it had iron in it. I’ll explain that one. A gentlemen came into my booth saying he had a “strange” question and proceeded to ask me if I had any pictures with “iron” in them. Any iron in any form by any stretch of the meaning of iron. I thought of an image I made at Longwood Gardens in the orchid room that had pots hanging on ironwork. Well, that was perfect. Turns out he needed a gift for someones 6th wedding anniversary - yea the “iron” anniversary!

Today’s first sale was to a couple with my work already. This time they purchased Foot Falls, an image I made on the trails at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, PA. This is a medium format image made with a Pentax 645 camera. I enjoyed this camera and especially the larger transparencies I was able to make with it. I no longer have it, but I do still have the images.

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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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I’ve studied biology most of my life. In college, my major was Psycho-biology which translated into animal behavior. When I worked as a biologist in Philly, I used the train commute to read, but always fell behind. Now, over four years after leaving that career for this one, I have finally caught up in reading my magazine subscriptions.

So here I am reading a December 2000 issue of Natural History magazine and I come across a fascinating article entitled Birth of the Arts by Ellen Dissanayake. In it she begins to explain her theory of what lies behind the human urge to elaborate and embellish. She suggests that it basically derives from the “emotionally evocative and compelling features of mother-infant interaction”. Further, she places high importance on ceremonies rich in art as efficient means of arousing interest, compelling attention, and conveying important messages. And she provides a purpose for it all - “through being especially riveting, beautiful, rare, painstaking, and astonishing, a people’s arts are emblems to themselves of how much they care about the sacred beliefs that bind and preserve them”.

For me this describes not just the urge to create, but the reason that we all buy and support the arts whether visual, musical, theatrical, or otherwise. And it does so in a biological construct of evolution and anthropology. I’ve just discovered her writings, so there is more I want to read of her (she has at least three books out).

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This is the week, first show of the year. Starting off the year at a Sugarloaf show is jumping in head first. This is a 3 day show with good attendance. Set up is hectic, but at least the show doesn’t start until the next day.

Here is a link to the Sugarloaf Somerset website so you can see the full range of info about the show and even get a coupon off admittance - Sugarloaf-Somerset

One of the new images I will be showing at Sugarloaf is a black & white rendition of “Vermont Dream”. This is a picture I made during a fall workshop a couple years ago.  The final matted dimensions are 16×20″ and the print is made on a professional matt paper.

The image was made early morning during a heavy fog on the property of Jenne Farm. I enjoy the moodiness that the fog imparts on the landscape. It adds a sense of mystery and solemnness. The birch trees take on an almost ghostly feeling, yet there is a calming in the rounded shape of the hill in the foreground. 

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I often find myself wanting to listen to a more peaceful, soulful music when I’m matting or framing my prints. When such a mood strikes me, I head to station 77 on XM radio - Audio Visions. The name of the station strikes me as interesting because of the use of the word “Visions” in its title.

I often read that photographers try to create imagery that has a musical sense about it. To make an image with a visual experience as palpable as that elicited by music is a great challenge. Some great photographers studied music before picking up a camera. How much of Ansel Adams’ success as a photographer can be attributed to the fact that he was also a gifted pianist?

So when I see a music station seemingly suggest that their music selection should elicit a visual experience, it makes me wonder. Does every artist try to elicit a response from senses not immediately involved with their medium? Smells and taste can powerfully evoke memories (a visual experience?). Writing can be so descriptive as to allow the reader to perfectly visualize a scene or even elicit a Pavlovian response. Then again, photographers talk about imagery that is poetic.

Maybe there is a certain insecurity artists have about their chosen mediums that make them want to test the success of their endeavor against the responses people have to other mediums? I don’t know. But I do find it intriguing how often those working in a certain medium discuss their work with vocabulary of other mediums.

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A lot of excitement in New Hampshire last night made me think of my one and only visit there in 2006. I really enjoyed the two days I had photographing in the White Mountains area during the fall of that year. Senator Clinton is the come back kid they say. Well I wouldn’t mind “coming back” to New Hampshire for some primary……….primary colors that is.

The image below was made after coming back out from a trail off of the Kangamangus Highway. The light was soft from heavy overcast and the colors were strong. I composed to strengthen the contrast between dark and light trees and the kind of symmetry that their positioning created. This is an isolation landscape. That is, I used a telephoto perspective to create the composition, isolating just those elements that I wanted to emphasize. The lens I used is my favorite landscape lens - a Canon 28-300mm L which is big and heavy, but gives me the freedom to compose as I please without having to constantly reposition myself.

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If there was any doubt that photography is a life style, this weekend put that to rest. Yesterday I was able to make images both in a pumpkin patch and a Moroccan restaurant. It was actually a beautiful day yesterday and so a local pumpkin festival here in Bucks County, PA was the place to be to pick a wheel barrel of pumpkins. And so we did. My wife, daughter and I walked through the pumpkin fields to find and pull from the ground, pumpkins both large and small. This also gave the opportunity to photograph the field with a sunny, blue sky. The contrast between the orange pumpkins and blue sky was wonderful. With the help of a polarizer, the color all came through.

That evening we all went to a Moroccan restaurant to take in a feast and some belly dancing. My sister-in-law is part of the troupe and they put on a great show. The place was packed and the music and dancing were brilliant. Of course this too gave me an opportunity to do some image making quite different than my norm. I went prepared for low light and a bit of action. Working with a digital SLR allowed me to see how I was doing and try different approaches. It was a lot of fun and I expect I will try it again.

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After finishing 2 of my 8 shows scheduled for this fall, I actually have no event to attend this weekend. I am though preparing for the remaining 6 shows - all of which are in a row. I do plan to find a perfect pumpkin with my daughter this weekend, and I’m looking forward to a special dinner out and some belly-dancing (more on that later).

This is a relative calm period in an otherwise rather heavy schedule. I am still calling people who made special framing orders at the past two shows and printing pieces to replace those that sold. Next week is a short week as I will be setting up for the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen State Show at Tyler Park in Newtown, Bucks Co., PA.

With this show schedule, I work well into the evening so that if weather permits, I can also get out into the fields and woods near my home to create new autumn images. The colors are beginning to show up, but I also see a lot of dried leaves and suspect that I will need to look at the landscape in isolated sections more than grand vistas. I enjoy making images that are really vignettes or as often termed - intimate landscapes.

This is a fleeting period of relative calm for me, soon things will begin to happen at a fast pace. For the time being, I’ll try to enjoy the time and prepare for the craziness.

This image below was made the last morning of our recent trip to the Outer Banks, NC. It was the calmest of the 8 days we were there, most of which were very windy with a raging surf. It’s the image that I can associate with this brief respite.

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This is the second year that this art show has been held at Cabelas (intersection of PA routes 78 and 61). We will be on the first floor this time and set up in Deer Country. The Cabelas venue is an interesting one with lots of outdoors enthusiasm and lots of visitors. The Hawk Mountain Art Show itself has a long tradition now, I’ve been doing it myself for about 10 years.

This show accepts artists by invitation and so I was pleased to be included in this event for 2007. I enjoy photographing at Hawk Mountain which is only a short distance from Cabelas. And while Hawk Mountain is best known for it’s raptor migrations in spring and especially fall, I have found it an inspiring location to make landscape images. I will have several landscape pieces from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary at the show, including the one pictured here.

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We first started spending our summer vacation on the northern Outer Banks in 1990 and have only missed 2 trips (the year my daughter was born, and after hurricane Isabel). Otherwise, we have enjoyed 15 years of different weather, shopping, houses, and for me personally, photography.

This year was a mixed bag of weather. At times it was very windy, during the end of the week it was very still. We had days of clouds, bright sun, cool temps and heat. It was just what I would want from a visual point of view. I balance the fact that it is a family vacation, with the desire (dare I say need?) to create new imagery. I work at image making most often in wooded areas, so being in an environment that has many more horizontal elements is actually quite a big deal for me. With the ever constant wave action, I can work with motion as well.

One of my favorite spots on OBX is Pea Island. There wasn’t much bird action when I went so I spent some time on the dunes. I have not been able to work the dunes visually in the past, so this was an opportunity. Since we knew we were coming back to NC this year, and since I have been to Pea Island before, I have had time to think about the imagery I would want to make. I was prepared mentally and tool wise to make graphic images of sand and sky. The wind was blowing fiercely though and seeing was difficult, both literally and figuratively. This image was very much what I was trying to achieve but I really feel that I’d like to go back and explore the Cape Hatteras Seashore more fully.

Anyone who has been to one of the shows where I exhibit will see various pieces made at the Outer Banks. This is some of my more popular work, and better art if I can say so. We are planning to go back next year on a slightly different schedule, so I’ll be thinking about new imagery all year.

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