Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/01/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Phil: I just found this in my junk mail folder, probably due to something weird. :-) Ok, ok, ok... I'm outvoted and I'll post no more on the subject. I'll be gone a little awhile, "The Quiet Man", one of the phoniest films about Ireland, but enjoyable anyway, is on AMC now. Jim, "McMahon" Hemenway Phil Swango wrote: > At 02:18 PM 1/4/2005, you wrote: > >> But BD, did you see _incongruous_ juxtaposition when you saw those >> large prints? >> >> And... there isn't any "weird" in HCB's work... at least none that I can >> remember. I've always thought that any surreal art needs to be a little >> bit weird. > > > I've been looking through some of his books today. I think without > question his early pictures involved incongruous (and weird) > juxtapositions -- some of them are quite shocking and visually > subversive -- very much in the spirit of surrealism as Breton laid it > out in the "Manifesto." The notion was to "find" surreal juxtapositions > in the ordinary world and disrupt the habit of conventional seeing. > Artists like ParkeHarrison and J-P Witkin construct surreal tableau and > photograph them, but in the early days of the movement much was made of > exactly the kind of discovery that HCB was doing. Some writers have > said the first 2-3 years of his career were the most > surrealist-influenced, but you can still see it in a lot of the later > work. He was first shown in the US by Julien Levy, who also was showing > Max Ernst and Dali, so the surrealist connection was well-established. > > One problem with HCB is that he has described himself in various ways, > for various reasons. He wrote an essay (1952) explaining his work as > "photo-reportage" and then later denied it was ever any such thing. As > someone here pointed out earlier, he said was advised to call himself a > journalist because no one would pay him to do surrealism with a camera. > > BTW, Jim, thanks for the ParkeHarrison links. I noticed that they will > have a show here in 2005. I'll have to tell my daughter, who is a > student (photography) at UNM, and a fan of ParkeHarrison. Robert PH > received his MFA here in '94. Some of my friends were his classmates. > > > > Phil Swango > 307 Aliso Dr. SE > Albuquerque, NM 87108 > 505-262-4085 > 714-908-7846 (fax) > pswango@att.net > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >