Here's a thought…

HT2124 - Montage

In 2016, we launched the idea of six-image projects we called Seeing in SIXES. We presented them in book format with one image per page in a six-page sequence. A variation of that idea has intrigued me of late. Why not place six images into a montage layout on a single sheet of paper?

HT2125 - The Stunning Image Has Been Replaced

If we look back at the history of photography and concentrate on what we now call "fine art photograph," we see that a great deal of the success of a photograph was its technological accomplishment. We'd look at a print and say, "Wowee, how did they do that?" In my youth, that question launched a pursuit of knowledge and craft that consumed many hours of my young photographic life. These days, I rarely see anyone receiving accolades for their print quality.

HT2126 - About Backgrounds, Sort Of

We need a new word other than "background" to describe what I want to discuss in today's commentary. We normally think of the background of a photograph as that part that's not the subject but is still inside the borders of the image. But every photograph has another background that is either the mat board of a framed print, or the margins around the image in a book.

HT2127 - Tiny Prints

I remember visiting the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1980s and seeing on display a collection of tiny prints in very large frames. As I recall, they were 35mm contact prints presented and framed in 16x20 matboard. The exhibition was unusual, but watching people view these prints was especially interesting. I noticed that everyone got very close to see the images, probably as close as they were comfortable focusing.

HT2130 - The One Perfect Size

I've witnessed numerous discussions in which a photographer has proposed the idea that there is one perfect size for every image. Making that image smaller or larger somehow diminishes it. I don't bring this topic up to attack or defend it, but rather to ask the simple question how do they know? In order to determine that there's one perfect size for a given image we would need to make it in every possible size to determine which one is the best! I don't ever recall anyone actually doing this. Perhaps the best size is the one you make.

HT2131 - Framing Is a Decor Decision

There was a period in my creative life in which I sold prints matted and framed, ready for the wall. I regularly received the most curious feedback, however, that people would unframe my print and put it in a frame of their choice, a frame that matched the decor of their room. I've even had people removed my print from the mat board and re-mat it in a style and color of their choosing.

HT2132 - Focus and Sharpness Are Not the Same Thing

Perhaps there are technical definitions for focus and sharpness I should know, but my intuition tells me there is a difference. Focus is an optical relationship between the lens and the sensor or film plane. Sharpness is a visual sensation about the smallest details.