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|  Image credit: Amazon
Like my title of this blog states, because i've placed Martin Parr's Think of England right beside HCB's biography. Perhaps he is turning in his grave now, but sorry grandmaster, there are limited spaces on the shelf and you'll have to make do with it until more Capa and Moriyama is back from my grandma's place.
I was quite torn between buying Think of England, or Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection. However, my choice was cut short when i realized that the last copy of Capa's book wasn't on the shelf anymore at Kinokuniya. I might as well be scolded for splurging at the Japanese bookstore when PageOne is having its warehouse sale now, but, oh well.
Back to Think Of England. I first saw this book in Paris when i visited one of the galleries that was exhibiting this set of works. I was quite tempted to buy, but after purchasing 2 William Klein books, 1 Daido Moriyama, 1 Nan Goldin and some posters, i didn't have much cash left. Which is kind of weird, because when i saw the book then, it was about 30 euros, and today, i bought it for slightly more than S$30 after a nice 20% discount. Back to my plight in Paris. I didn't have much money left, so i could buy this book and probably eat pastry for dinner, or i could save and have a nice meal with my companions. My stomach won but in the end i wished i bought the book instead of eating horrible chinese food.
I flipped through the book just, and agreed with the introduction written by Gerry Badger. Martin Parr's pictures is probably the worst example any photography instructor would use for demonstration. Instead of making the subjects look attractive, Parr went against the rule and showed us the "real" world. Some people call them ugly, but i prefer the term realistic.
The picture which remained in my mind most would probably be the plastic bride-and-groom figurines wrapped in plastic, with a smile permanently fixated on them. On the top is a price tag which states 4.67 pounds. I just find this brilliant, and it is totally a Parr piece of work. Witty yet political, and it drives the point straight to your face without being shy.
I've heard of other photographers commenting on Martin Parr's works before at a bookstore. One of them was holding on to Martin Parr by Val William, and as he looked at the pictures, he got increasingly agitated and finally told him companion, "Wah lau, this kind of pictures i also can take. Like that i can join Magnum already also la!"
Well, i agree that Parr's pictures are simple, but i think it is more deceptively simple than anything else. There is hardly any framing or composition to speak of, and most of the time, it is just one subject and the background are blurred or unimportant. I guess many people can make the same picture as Parr, but would probably never be able to deliver the same level of wittyness or humor to it.
Well, next up on my list is Robert Capa's Heart Of Spain. Till now i haven't been able to find it in bookstores, so if anyone has seen it somewhere (except Amazon), please tell me. Thanks!
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| Was it last week? Or was the week before? I cannot remember, what i can recall was that i had a great afternoon shooting at Vivocity. Although the duration wasn't very long, and i was looking very unglam juggling a cup of Americano and my dSLR, i had a lot of fun looking at scenes and framing pictures.
It's been a very long, long, time since i had so much fun shooting. The last time i can recall shooting so happily would be many years ago when i was still in school and would go out with han and loiter around the city area, shooting scenes to make it look as un-singapore as possible. Those days may be long gone, but i still remember them fondly as i guess they were the basis of the photography i do these days.
Then comes By Night, a project i did some time ago because i just couldn't sleep. After i entered the military, i stopped at it for a long while and it was only recently after acquiring a very nice SLR then did i gather enough strength to look at it again. Hopefully by the end of 2009, i will have some results to show people.
Much as i can, i try not to be bogged down by all the specification talk. It doesn't bother me, and i have to admit it was through most of them that i did learn new things. However, i still like to just take pictures, and not have to think about the camera i am using.
peace. | | |
| I've always thought that in order to "level up", i need to be within the scene. However, i realized now that it is not necessary, and by stepping back one step, i see a bigger picture and clearer view of what the industry is like, and part of me is glad that i don't have to fight like starving vultures with the rest.
perhaps i didn't level up, since this ambiguous term doesn't define the meaning or duration or act that is suppose to come with it. but i do know that i understand the craft i used to hone better. i still take pictures, but now i am more selective and can concentrate on what i want to take. also, i have more time to plan for something big next year, for myself, and a body of works which i felt is time to end.
maybe it'll never end, but who knows?
by night, coming soon. | | |
| on this bus this afternoon, i was going through the songs in my ipod. the last song in the list, by alphabetical order and hence numbers were last, was 20th Century Boys by T-Rex. I got this song only after watching the japanese movie by the same name, and even though an associate told me the lyrics were ridiculous (and hence, i assume not as meaningful as Strawberry Fields Forever), i found the tune to be quite enjoyable.
somehow, music from the past have some kind of special way to hook me to it. just like how i was infatuated with the beatles and bee gees while in secondary school, now, i am trying to find rock music from the past. so far, jimi hendrix is on top of my list. the opening tune for American Woman is probably going to be recognizable (at least for me) for the next 30 years or so, and maybe even longer.
on a side note, i realized i can never configure my room to be like a setting from a murakami's story. now, it really looks like a scene from carver's shorts and i hope my life won't be like that.
and for that not to happen, i think oldies rock will be the best cure. i can already visualize myself listening to 20th Century Boys as i drive already.
but before that, i need my license first. anyone has need for speed: parking edition?
20th Century Boys by T-Rex
Friends say it's fine, friends say it's good,
Everybody says it's just like rock'n roll.
I move like a cat, charge like a ram, sting like a bee,
Babe I wanna be your man.
It's plain to see you were meant for me,
Yeah I'm your boy, the twentieth century toy.
Friends say it's fine, friends say it's good,
Everybody says it's just like rock'n roll.
Fly like a plane, drive like a car, Ball like a hound
Babe I wanna be your man.
Well its it's plain to see you were meant for me,
Yeah I'm your toy, the twentieth century boy
20th century toy I wanna be your boy [x4]
Friends say it's fine, friends say it's good,
Everybody says it's just like rock'n roll.
Move like a cat, charge like a ram, sting like a bee
Hey babe i'm wanna be your man
It's plain to see you were meant for me,
Yeah I'm your toy Your twentieth century boy.
20th century toy I wanna be your boy | | |
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Picture credit: Amazon.com
I had the luck to flip through the first print of The Americans by Robert Frank when i was in Paris, and it was just thrilling to thumb through the pages and seeing how the original book looked like.
The Americans was published in 1958 and most notably, Frank is not an American. He is Swiss, actually. In 1955, after securing a Guggenheim grant, he traveled across post-war America and through this lens, documented the life of the citizens with the eye of a foreigner. Almost. The result? A book that spoke of the residents in the country which now has to balance the economy crisis.
When i started taking pictures, The Americans was just another photo book. I saw it a few times but never had the curiosity to see its contents. Then, i was more interested in the technical books which teaches how to compose and such. But as i grew more familiar with the art (i hope i can call it one), books that had prints of foreign land and scenes interested me more.
By luck or by chance, The Americans was spoke of at a workshop i was attending but even then, i didn't have the urge to hunt for the book. Call it a happy accident, i was once infatuated by Jack Kerouac's works and googled his materials online. Turns out, he wrote the introduction for The Americans. For a writer that created the Beat Generation to look at a set of photographs and feel good enough to write about it, that was something i had to see. Unfortunately, by then, there were few copies, or should i say, none available for me to see.
As time passes by and Kerouac faded from my mind, The Americans, was too, shelved somewhere.
Until i reach Paris, the city where romance and photography had a good history.
Pardon me, but i forgot the name of the library i was in, but that building had 99 percent of all the photo books that were published, and rare materials like first edition of book can be retrieved and drooled over. The Americans was one of the books i asked the kind librarian for, and i guess it was quite a popular choice as she didn't raise an eyebrow, unlike later when i asked for Daido Moriyama's Hysteria.
That was my first experience with The Americans, and it stuck in my mind since. One particular photo depicts the view from Frank's eye when he was in the elevator. That image registered in my in my mind the most and frankly speaking, once in a while it will appear when i am in the lift.
50 years have passed since the first edition of The Americans was published, and STEILD has put out a 50th anniversary edition of The Americans. Sure, i can get a mint, first edition copy of this book on eBay, but i will need to win lottery first. Till then, i am very contended that i got the revised print, and it comes with the introduction by Kerouac.
Right now, i am still deciding if i should unwrap the book from its shrinkwrap, or should i leave it as it is. Decisions, decisions.
I will like to end this entry with a quote from Frank.
"When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice." Robert Frank, LIFE (26 November 1951), p. 21
peace. | | |
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