[LargeFormat] Re: Some more large format digital infrared images

[Michael Sullivan]

Dear Diane,

Why does infrared *NEED* to look like infrared?
If I hadn't told you they were infrared would you still "mind"?
Why must color photographers be pigeon-holed into representing 
*EXACTLY* what they see?
I find such arguments the main reason color photographers "get no 
respect" (think Elliot Porter).
Whereas B&W photographers are free to interpret -- quite a double 
standard don't you think?

Further, it is not my intention at all to represent reality.
The negative is the score, the print the performance -- remember?
My images attempt to describe a subtly surreal world of common things.
Things that are at once familiar yet no longer representationally 
"real" -- that is the surrealism I seek.
And I achieve that look in the darkroom -- just like Ansel did. (only 
my darkroom is Photoshop)
For now, I'm just experimenting with my new "film" and learning its 
secrets.

Ironically, one of my inspirations is Christopher Burkett -- his 
zen-like 8x10 color prints are so real they border on the unreal for 
most people. He takes them to a place they likely will never go. In 
short, his breathtaking images are powerful precisely because they 
represent another world. It just so happens to be nature. And he just 
so happens to use exact color to further the effect. The fact that he 
is a pure representationalist and is distinctly anti-digital is not a 
problem for me, for I too approach my photography from a spiritual 
point of view.

Michael


On Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 07:36  AM, Diane Maher wrote:

> I guess I'll be the one to say that I don't like it.  The colors look 
> too 'normal' to me.  I like the originals much better.  At least 
> there's a hint of it being IR in the originals.
>
> Diane
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Message: 15
> Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 20:26:57 -0800 (PST)
> From: Brock Nanson <brock@nanson.org>
> To: largeformat@f32.net
> Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Some more large-format digital infrared 
> images
> Reply-To: largeformat@f32.net
>
> Hi Michael;
>
> I'll risk a pummeling and say I like what you're doing without film! 
> ;-)
>
> Not exactly what you want on a day with even a breath of wind, but it 
> does
> produce some interesting results.  I especially like the weeping cherry
> tree from your earlier effort.  The Brandon Street house has some 
> really
> nice tones on the wall.  I find the bottom a little dark however.
>
> Keep posting!
>
> Brock
>
> On Tue, 9 Mar 2004, Michael Sullivan wrote:
>
>> Dear List,
>>
>> Here are some more large-format digital infrared images I just shot in
>> Bristol UK last weekend:
>>
>> http://www.haywood-sullivan.com/photography/IR-land/IR-land2.html
>>
>> Cheers
>> J Michael Sullivan
>
>
> -- 
> Brock Nanson
> Kamloops BC Canada
>
>
>
> --__--__--
>
>
>
>
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>
Michael Sullivan

J MICHAEL SULLIVAN PHOTOGRAPHY
Marshfield Hills Massachusetts
***************************************************
http://www.haywood-sullivan.com/photography

"It's as though there's a wonderful secret in a
certain place and I can capture it. Only I, at
this moment, can capture it, and only this
moment, and only me." -- Walker Evans