Above: “This Photograph is my Proof” by Duane Michaels. Click to make it a bit bigger.
By Paul Goldfinger, Photography editor, Blogfinger. 2014.
Duane Michaels, an important American photographer, is 80 years old, and there will be a retrospective of his work opening in a few days at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
Michaels has been a pioneer in photography by doing two things. The first was handwriting narrative text on his images. He says that the writing “gives information that the photograph could not convey.”
Well, so much for a picture being worth a thousand words. His words usually consist of poems or brief stories as seen in the photos above and below.
The second advance was to place multiple photographs in sequence to relate a story. Duane Michaels is a storyteller. We do that on Blogfinger.net.
Here is a quote from the Carnegie: “Michaels is cited as being seminally important in his willingness to bend the rules of the medium to suit his own ends. He is credited for broadening our understanding of the philosophical dimensions of photography from the 1960s to today. ”
The picture on top is called “This photograph is my proof.” I think it is enjoyable to read his brief narrative which adds an extra dimension to appreciating his images.
Paul says:
In general, I like my own images to be self explanatory to the point of rarely giving them titles. Just documenting the place and date is usually sufficient for me. However I actually am drawn to the notion of adding handwritten meaning to a photographic print per Michaels.
It is a fascinating and original idea. And photography collectors always prefer a signed print. During my darkroom years I always loved the tangibility of a finished product on light sensitive paper. But I rarely made prints to write on.
So lately I have been showing my images on computer screens, and the quality is marvelous, but it’s not the same. For one thing digital prints are made with digital cameras, while classic photos are made with negative film and film cameras (still in use.)
I sometimes turn my photo files over to a specialty lab where fine-art digital images can be printed onto classical papers. So that is sort of a compromise, and that is how modern day professionals who shoot digital are able to sell photos in galleries unless they continue their darkroom methods which many do. Or they just go with the times, where all art work in fashion, for example, is obtained digitally.
One of the beauties of creating an actual darkroom photo print, mounted on a mat board, is that you finish with a tangible work of art that you can hold in your hand, unlike one shown on the computer. A handwritten note by the photographer adds a hand-made touch. I like to display my actual paper photographs without frames—just the image on a mat board leaning against the wall or on some sort of easel.
But to hold a darkroom print in one’s hand adds a precious quality to the enjoyment of a fine photo. I have many of my original darkroom photos in boxes because they are something special .
In my blog, I usually add music (“soundtrack”) to my photos to provide an added dimension. Like Michaels, I want to enhance the appreciation of the photograph, but, at least online, I do it with music, which is less specific than a written note–actually it is something different. It’s like the soundtrack for a movie. Most movies have music which usually have no direct connection to the visuals but provide an emotional dimension.
My idea of accompanying still photographs with music is fairly original, although there are precedents.
In 2011 we posted a piece about a museum show which featured the photography of Disfarmer accompanied by live music with Bill Frisell. (link)
DON’T MISS THE DISFARMER POST AND PHOTOS AND VIDEO BELOW. YOU WILL NEVER FORGET……Paul Goldfinger.
WARREN VACHE´ and BRIAN LEMON with Harry Warren’s “A Love Affair to Remember.”
