My father, as he whittled an amphibian out of red cedar, perhaps paraphrasing Michelangelo, advised me thus: "Just whittle away everything that doesn't look like a frog."
I thought of incorporating historical pieces like you did. Lange was the most obvious for me, though I would have chosen a different photo, and I had not thought of Stiegletz. But in the end I'm not a historian of the art and have decided to stick with what I know. I've done a few overview pieces, but they make me feel like a fraud. So I stick to what i know, Which ain't much beyond what's in my catalogs! 😢 I let the smarter ones here go in that direction. And...I can't tell you how many times I have found myself writing through an idea for a post when that same idea popped up in my feed! The Substack community is too small sometimes!
Great post Alex, I love your attention to detail even with your phone pics. As a food photographer, I pay special attention to hands working with ingredients. I like to think that without them, there's no food as we know it.
Thank you, Depswah!
Wow. I had no idea. Just looked it up. https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-handbook/
Thanks for the tip, George!
Interesting post and photos Alex! I have not attempted photographing hands as such expect maybe a couple of times.
Thank you, Shital!
What an exquisite essay.
Thank you, Patris!
Hands definitely tell a story ✍️
Thank you, Lori.
Often I love the challenge drawing hands (or carving them in wood).
I wish I could do that, Jeff. Carving anything in wood, for that matter.
I'm sure with a knife, a hunk of wood, and a practiced tolerance for getting your fingers cut, you'd bring your talents to it.
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'll give it a whirl.
My father, as he whittled an amphibian out of red cedar, perhaps paraphrasing Michelangelo, advised me thus: "Just whittle away everything that doesn't look like a frog."
Well done essay. 👊🏼
Thank you, Mark. Your hands photos take the cake, though.
It's pretty uncanny that both of us dropped posts on hands independent of each other.
I thought of incorporating historical pieces like you did. Lange was the most obvious for me, though I would have chosen a different photo, and I had not thought of Stiegletz. But in the end I'm not a historian of the art and have decided to stick with what I know. I've done a few overview pieces, but they make me feel like a fraud. So I stick to what i know, Which ain't much beyond what's in my catalogs! 😢 I let the smarter ones here go in that direction. And...I can't tell you how many times I have found myself writing through an idea for a post when that same idea popped up in my feed! The Substack community is too small sometimes!
I'm no art historian either, but venture into that territory once in a while, and don't mind embarrassing myself.
And yes, the Substack community is small sometimes, but that's the beauty of it. It has the energy of a thousand points of light. :)
Great post Alex, I love your attention to detail even with your phone pics. As a food photographer, I pay special attention to hands working with ingredients. I like to think that without them, there's no food as we know it.
Thank you, Xavi! Good point. I've always loved photos of people's hands preparing food. Some day I'll make it my photo project :)