Saturday, January 3, 2009

First Photo Of 2009

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It's appropriate to start 2009's cavalcade of images with a picture taken on New Year's Day. As I mentioned, my wife and I went to the St. Louis Art Museum (which has the wonderful acronym SLAM) on Thursday. After we saw the Action/Abstraction special exhibit, we wandered around some of the galleries. It was pretty quiet. With no crowds and their policy allowing photography in the general galleries, I got a few good items. The picture in the background is an early work by Chuck Close, an artist I admire. The image is disconcerting, like so much of his work. The man's chin is misshapen, perhaps scarred. He gazes up, avoiding eye contact with the viewer. It looks like he is wearing about 60% of a bad wig. Close's portraits of Philip Glass, another favorite, are easier on the eyes.

More pix from SLAM in the coming days.


WHAT I'M WHINING ABOUT:
every month or so I have to go to the ^#$!)%$!#@ Arch and shoot more material for both of my photoblogs. What on earth to say about it that I haven't done already? Hmmm. Think... think... Hey! How about some left-handed polarized Lensbaby shots squeezed through Photomatix into HDRs while I drag the shutter with slow flash sync? That could be really cool. Come back Thursday for Arch Series day and see if any of these cockamamie ideas worked.


TOMORROW:
how many photographers can you count? Oh, and a new Arch photo on Gateway.

7 comments:

Julie said...

That's a young Philip Glass. I like the way you have framed the misshapen chin portrait ...

Virginia said...

Nice one Bob. No flash at the SLAM right? I'd like to know the stats on this one. And there's really no telling what that arch is going to look when you have run it through all that!

Victor said...

Love the way you've put Mr. Close's work into a frame. Looking forward to more SLAM photos. And as for the arch, it's all about the light right?

Wayne said...

Kudos to SLAM staff for the positioning of this piece. As I've mentioned, every time I get the chance, I'm a fan of photorealism. C.C. is not my favourite of the genre. I've seen quite a few of these Chuck Close works and they are always slightly unsettling to me.

I'm with Snapper, I think you've done a fine job of framing this one Bob.

Pat said...

I agree totally with Wayne on this. Bravo to SLAM and bravo to you for showing this portrait to us.

Anonymous said...

Hey don't whine about you having to go to the arch and shoot material. Some of us really enjoy those photos and can't wait until you come up with something new. If you are getting bored why don't you try some cheesy postcard looks just for the heck of it. You might be surprised.

Bob Crowe said...

Dear Anonymous:

Well, turns out you're in luck. I made enough cheese this weekend to fill a big warehouse in Wisconsin. Come back around on Thursday here and to Gateway. More mouse meals to follow.