Wynn Bullock: An Appreciation

I recently purchased a small book of photography by Wynn Bullock. I got much more than expected. Not only did I get a book of photography, I received a whole new perspective on the art of photography. Bullock, considered a master of the art, was 42 years of age when he began making photos after realizing the camera records much more than that which is visible: The medium of photography can record not only what the eyes see, but that which the mind's eye sees as well. The camera is not only an extension of the eye, but of the brain. It can see sharper, farther, nearer, slower, faster than the eye. It can see by invisible light. It can see in the past, present, and future. Instead of using the camera only to reproduce objects, I wanted to use it to make what is invisible to the eye, visible. This philosophy places Bullock in the company of such photographers as Ed Weston, who approached the art with an almost metaphysical mindset.

That photography is a powerful emotional tool is a foregone conclusion; one need only to look at the impact of photojournalism during a time of war to see that the art can sway public opinion by appealing to the emotional side of the psyche. Bullock sought the mysterious, the hidden, even the whimsical in his work. He succeeded brilliantly.

Comments

In Memorium: Shaun Mullen, A Most Generous Man

Author, editor, blogger, and so much more Shaun Mullen has passed. Noting his blog Kiko's House hadn't been updated in a while, I did a search and discovered his obituary . My friendship with Shaun goes back to 2006. While living in Australia, I'd discovered his blog when searching for informed commentary on US foreign policy in the Middle East. Sadly, much of that policy remains unchanged 14 years later, but that is for another post. Shaun had noticed that his blog wasn't rendering correctly in Internet Explorer and asked if anyone could suggest a fix. I, being a bit of a tech head at the time, suggested Firefox or similar browser, and the problem was solved. We kept in and out of touch, finding common ground in music (I mentioned my love for the Grateful Dead and Shaun sent a dozen CDs of concert recordings. By International mail. The man was generous to a fault.), worldview, and more. My old site got its greatest number of hits when Shaun linked to a few of m

The World In Which We Live: Safety Is An Option Edition

In a world in which Fight Club , The X Files , and the complete works of Phillip K Dick have collided into one twisted reality we call normal (with a dash of Black Mirror and The Big Short for flavor), we now learn that software upgrades that could have prevented the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max passenger jets were available... at a price . "Want your passengers to live to fly another day? Sure, but it'll cost you." And I'm unsure who is more evil, the manufacturer for making safety features ON A FLYING MACHINE optional at additional cost or the airlines for declining to install the features. This is a stunning failure of human decency in the eyes of this writer. Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. This is business as usual in our extortionary economy. In the US, medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy , a real-world manifestation of the "your money or your life" ethos of the street thug in literature and film. The hand wringing over w

Diving Back In

After several years on a Chromebook, I've made a return to Linux. Truth is, I'm on a Chromebook that now runs Linux. Support for my Lenovo reached End Of Life a year or so ago, meaning it no longer received security updates. It also seemed a bit slow compared to earlier times, and so the research began. I knew I wanted a Debian-based distro but it had to be lightweight enough to run on the Chromebook's modest hardware. After consideration, PeppermintOS was chosen. Installation was a bit of an adventure, as I had to take the 'book apart and remove an internal screw to disable Write Protect in order to install an alternate operating system. Once the hardware hack was complete, it was time to test with a live session, which went well. Time to install. Installation was a nonevent. PeppermintOS is fast, light, and actually runs better than ChromeOS. As with all things Linux, I have access to programs far beyond those offered by the ChromeOS platform. My favorite is Gn

www.markholder.org

Search This Blog