Strawberries and Lupine
Bozeman, Montana
2014
I know some of you are probably wondering why I switched from color to monochrome for some of these recent flower photos. Good question; I wish I had a definitive answer for you.
Another interesting question is why, whenever I post bright colored flower photos, they probably get more comments than any other subject matter I cover in monochrome or color. As a fine art photographer, to get more comments on what I see as “fluff” than on substance that is a little bit frustrating. (Not terribly frustrated though as all attention is appreciated!)
Everyone, me included, can’t help but appreciate a brightly colored flower I guess. But I tend to get tired of the eye candy fairly quickly. I guess that’s one reason I switched to the monochrome presentations.
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I for one like the monochrome better. Says something that resonates with me better. As I scroll through the last few images, the color hits me in a completely different way. A nice way but different. As for fluff, I agree. When I put up an iphone shot where the app did everything, I get frustrated at the compliments I get. I’m coming to realize though that the image is what is important, not the way it was made. That said, my recent dabbling with film experiment is officially over.
Bruce, I have to backtrack a bit on my “fluff” comments. I think great beauty in an image doesn’t have to be pure fluff or eye candy. That said, I like what might be best described as the intellectual appeal of monochrome images. I appreciate the amount (or lack of) work that goes into an image; but in the end, as you suggest, that really doesn’t matter. What matters, or what mostly matters, is what is the appeal to the viewer. A fine piece of hand made furniture built with no power tools is a thing of wonder. But for someone to view a piece of furniture with no idea as to whether or not it was built by hand or a computer controlled machine, it’s a whole different kind of evaluation. You either appreciate the end quality and design or you don’t.
One of the “interps” (persons portraying characters from Philmont Ranch early days) at Hunting Lodge was a fine arts student from CSU. He was in graphic design (yes he reminded me of Doug a little) and his job as near as I could figure was to help the other interps with their roles and play the guitar during social hours. I asked him if he thought he might have to “suffer” for his art ( I was mostly thinking of financially – or possibly having to do art that seemed crass and commercialized ) but he responded that he hoped he would live pretty much like Picasso, who in his opinion did all right…. Ah youth!
Steve, certainly I’d rather live a life like Picasso as compared to Van Gough!
I completely agree with your sentiments here! I like black & white images but have a hard time getting friends/family to appreciate them as I do.
In this image I like how the strawberry blossoms “surround” the lupine leaves and how the white flowers make me notice the glistening water drops on the lupine more due to their similar shape & brightness. Nice seeing!
Kathy, the issue of appreciating black and white vs color photography is a complicated one, more so than I originally thought. I wonder if appreciation of black and white photography is a learned response, whereas to color it is (or can be for certain images) something that everyone reacts to on a more basic level–one that doesn’t take any training or study to appreciate.