Fine art vs. Editorial: Is There Really a Difference in 2010?

In this economy, I have been struggling---like many people---with making ends meet, especially as I have made the decisions in life that: 1. I am a photographer. 2. I am an artist---not necessarily in that order. In fact, these 2 sentences are one and the same, as I have an MFA in photography and am a photographer. However, I have been coming across an attitude lately that these are not in fact one and the same, that a photograph is either editorial / commercial OR fine art. This seems like a curiously antiquated view, but I have been giving it some thought. For my own work, I look both to the high and mighty art-photography gods and goddesses as well as photographs considered more 'editorial.' As I photograph mostly architecture and architectural subjects, I have spent a lot of time researching such creative masters ad Ezra Stoller and Julius Shulman. I feel through their technical execution and passion for the subjects they photograph, the work is both fine art and editorial. It is a document and it is concept, as well as being exemplary of certain schools of thought on modern architecture and the built environment.



© Robert Polidori


Other photographers whose work I greatly respect are Robert Polidori and Andrew Moore---they also execute extreme technical precision while alluding to contemporary topics through their choice of subject. I guess ultimately for me, one must master technique in order to show concept; otherwise a photograph can be a sloppy snapshot with a whole lot of theory and photography history lumped onto it. And I just don't buy into that. I feel that ultimately, if passion, knowledge, and technical ability all come together in a photograph, it is a success, and can therefore be labelled editorial or fine art or whatever, but it works as an image. Isn't that what is most important? Interested to hear your thoughts on this one, my dear readers.





(Here is a new picture I photographed of Erie Basin, a beautifully curated little shop in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Is it art? Or is it editorial?)

Chicago 1893 World's Fair Site (a picture from the archives for your viewing pleasure)

Iannis Xenakis at the Drawing Center

Okay---it's 2010---and I've already had two extremely inspiring art experiences! First James Turrell, and now, Iannis Xenakis at the Drawing Center. Iannis Xenakis, for those of you who haven't heard of him, was an architect, musician, engineer, and amazingly inventive individual. In the way that Buckminster Fuller was a mad genius with geodesic domes, Xenakis's specialty was a parabolic shape, out of which emerged abstract sound pulses based upon mathematical formulas, as well as actual structures. I first learned about Xenakis doing research for my world's fair project; in 1958, he designed the Philips Pavilion for the 1958 world's fair in Brussels, Belgium, collaborating with Le Corbusier and the composer Edgar Varese. Essentially the first video installation piece, one can only imagine how blown away people in 1958 must have been. The Drawing Center will be hosting a curatorial discussion this Saturday the 16th, as well as a performance of Edgar Varese's Poeme Electronique.

JAMES TURRELL'S MEETING AT PS1

James Turrell's Meeting at PS1 was one of the most transcendental art experiences I have had in quite a while. Imagine: you enter a small, simple squarish room. There is a wooden bench built around the perimeter, leading into simple wood paneling about 1/3 up the wall. The rest of the wall is white, and curves gently toward the ceiling. However, the ceiling is actually a square cut out of the roof, framed by a bit of white wall. The sky is the canvas. The room is the frame. It is perfect. Upon entering, one could see people lying on their back on the floor, looking up. People on the benches, looking up. When people look up, there is a beauty and innocence about their gaze. They appear meditative, in another realm.


The work itself was, quite simply, a wonderful experience. I gazed upon that blue sky just before dusk, and the first hues were of a gradually deepening cyan, until finally any traces of green were replace with a richer, more magenta hue in the blue. At one point, it was the exact shade of Yves Klein blue. EXACT shade. And the effect of the slight golden cast on the white walls from the subdued lighting and the Yves Klein blue sky was that of an actual canvas protruding from above. Space and time collided in that simple installation. It was magic. No matter how carefully you studied that opening into space, it was impossible to visually grasp the exact hue for more than a moment. Then----it was gone.

MUSIC MAKES ME LOSE CONTROL

I have always felt there to be an integral connection between my photography and music---prior to shooting large format architecture and landscape, I studied classical piano for a mere 23 years. For the holidays, my darling esposo bequeathed upon me a piano. Every day, I play exercises rigorously, then get to work on two pieces: Debussy's Pagodes and Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13. No, it is nothing like Bohemian Rhapsody---although I'm sure Liszt was an arena rocker for his time.

2010

Okay---this is a bit belated, I admit it. I'm a bad blogger. However, onwards and upwards. 2009 was a struggle. It was not a light-hearted year. My life mirrored that of the doomed art-economy, and the many ups and downs involved with such a thing. But through it all, I keep making work, staying in touch with my friends and colleagues who also keep making work, and hope for the best.

Winter

Upcoming March Show

I'm putting together a small group show at Gallery Three in South Oxford Space in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, a non-for-profit organization---The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York or, A.R.T./New York---committed to theatrical production. The show thus far will include my work, plus Matt Schenning, Chris Rodriguez, and Sarah Palmer. I'm looking forwards to this small, collaborative exhibition. Stay tuned...

MORE INTERIOR WORK

Things have been moving along---I've photographed several more interiors which have come out really great.

Happy holidays to my readers, and here's another new picture for your viewing enjoyment.

INTERIORS

These last few months have been a struggle, as art sales have been very, very slow and I've had to give massive discounts to even sell anything---my life has been basically a perfect mirror of the economy lately. I console myself with the thought that Edgar Allen Poe was found dead a pauper in a gutter and Dickens was often quite broke. However, this situation has been giving me time to assess what I should focus on in my art and photography career and be ultra-productive: shooting, grantwriting, etc. Specifically I have been photographing architectural interiors to beef up my commercial portfolio, and studying my Julius Shulman books like crazy. Here's one of my favorites so far, of a kitchen in a charming Fort Greene brownstone.