ANOTHER TINTYPE

When the streets are too hot to go out, it’s good to have some inventory in the archives. Here’s another shot from the Tintype app, https://hipstamatic.app/app/tintype . The view is under the viaduct that carries Interstates 44 and 55 into downtown.                  

A TINTYPE

I needed a bit of filler  before a major photo event later today (the circus is in town). A year ago I learned about a $1 iPhone camera app called TinType. It produces images reminiscent of 19th Century low resolution snaps with striking effect. I go out and shoot with it once in a while. You can just see the Arch in the haze.               

LIBERTY

 

I usually consider myself an even-tempered guy, getting through the ups and downs of life pretty smoothly. However, I can’t remember when I last felt as depressed as I have been the last couple of days. No motivation to go out and photograph something so I pulled out this image, taken earlier this year. It’s a iPhone shot using the TinType app.                

WHITE GHOST IN TINTYPE

 

Yoshitomo Nara”s White Ghost, https://citygardenstl.org/art/yoshitomo-nara/, needs a background note, which I think is a problem with some contemporary art. Your experience when confronting the piece is essential, of course, but there may be layers of meaning that require more information. Nara’s work often represents children or dogs, or, as here, something of a blend. The note on the Citygarden website linked above, if it is accurate, expects too much from the viewer.

Hope to get much more color and excitement in the next few days. This weekend is the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, https://greatforestparkballoonrace.com/. Tonight is the balloon glow. At dusk, the balloons stay tethered but periodically blast up with flame. creating an otherworldly experience. It’s going to be packed but my granddaughter and I will give it a shot.                 

BUSINESS CASUAL IN TINTYPE

 

Just the thing for a St. Louis man to wear to a late summer social event. But it makes me think of the words of a certain native St. Louis writer: We are the hollow men/ We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw. 

Austrian sculptor Erwin Wurm’s Big Suit, https://citygardenstl.org/art/erwin-wurm/#, asks a lot of questions. I like art that pokes. Many people walk past something like this and think it looks weird/cool/stupid/baffling, then keep on movng. I’d rather stop and wonder about what’s going on.                         

SAINT LOUIS SCULPTURE IN TINTYPE - PINOCCHIO

 

These images seem like they come from another time, which I guess is the point. Still in Citygarden, Jim Dine’s Big White Gloves shows Pinocchio exultant, although I’m not sure why. He seems to be some way from his goal of becoming a real boy.

There was an article in the local newspaper yesterday about prominent public sculpture in our town. I know some but not all. Lots of ideas.                    

SAINT LOUIS SCULPTURE: A TINTYPE SERIES

 

When I did my New York street photography program in May, everybody was experimenting with a camera app for iPhones called TinType, https://hipstamatic.app/app/tintype. It is Inspired by daguerreotypes, tintypes, and other photographic processes from over a hundred years ago. We got some pretty cool results.  Since St. Louis has lots of outdoor sculpture and I have nothing better to do, I decided to use it for a series. Other than the Arch, this is our emblematic sculpture, the Apotheosis of St. Louis, standing in front of the art museum.