A few photographs from holiday

Every time, on holiday, so many photos were taken. Most of them were just snaps. You don't have much time to arrange things or simply don't have much time to think for photographs. But I am so appreciated the photograph unit we took last year. At least, when I took photos, I have those knowledge (although not much, but still helpful) I learned on my mind. After edited, a quick snap may turned out a quite good photograph!

My daughter, I like to take photos for her when she didn't know. You can get the most natural pose, the purest motion, it doesn't matter happy or sad, you are recording the most truthful life itself when people don't know they are aimed by a camera. But If she knows knows she always give me a big smile if she is in a good mood.

I like this one and like it in color. I like the brother is at the background and also the far away yacht. I did see it when I took the photo. I didn't change anything apart from cropping a little a bit.

This one was a really quick snap, the man was pushing the little train we were sitting on. I felt so sorry for him, but managed to get my camera and took a photo in a second.

I started to feel really interesting to photo people. Did not do much this time. I was not confident enough and felt maybe quite rude without asking.

My shadow on the beach. I was holding my camera and suddenly noticed my own shadow, thought it was maybe interesting, so took a few photos, quite like this one, with the footprints going forward.

These two were taken in the summer. I remembered the work from Phil Borges, the photographer I looked at last year and I liked his photographs using sky as background. Here we go, I got the chance, the kids were high up on the top step on an old ruin. 

I quite like the viewpoint of these last two. 

Thomas Bewick

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), English engraver. He is best known for his A History of British Bird which contains a lot of wood engravings. A lot of his works used for illustrations for books.

Back to two and half centuries ago, I think engraving is very efficient way to produce multiple works, especially for commercial purposes. It requires high drawing skills. In Bewick's case, he used wood rather than metal. A lot of his work are about animals. Some of them showed very detailed aspect. Before camera invented, this was a good way to keep record of life .

To be honest, his work doesn't inspired me very much although they are really good work and has high skills involved which I couldn't possibly do it myself. Probably I think it is the subject matter which I am not  quite 
interested in. 

Chris Orr

Chris Orr Born 1943 London

Chris Orr is a narrative artist whose work ranges across variety of subjects and ideas. Drawing and painting are a key part of his output, he also produces a lot of original prints in traditional mediums.

When I opened his website, the first image popped out. I really got a surprise. The work is so busy but in a great order and details are everywhere. It must be so amazing if you can see the work instead of see it on computer. When I looked through, some familiar  pictures came into my eyes which are his Shanghai work.

His website is great which allows you to magnify the picture so that you can see every detail. Just look at this, how many buildings are there and how many people! I was so amazed that how this can be done by printing. If you just magnify any part of it, the work is so beautiful and highly detailed. From the top, we can see buildings, rivers, boats in the river, writings on the building, viaduct bridge with full of traffics, advertising board, traditional buildings, some of them even with air-conditioners on, street with shops and crowded of people who are walking or on their bikes,  even utility poles with tangled wires. Oh, all of these make me feel miss China!

Looked at the video which tells you how he produce the prints. This type of print called lithography, he draws on a large piece of stone which with very smooth surface. He designed the whole picture on paper first, cut them out and positioned them on the stone and then work his way through on drawing on the stone. No correction can be made! For such a complicated drawing, you need to be right at every step. It just seems impossible! He printed black and white first, then work out the colors. I did not quite understand how he put the color in. It looks like through screen printing.

I noticed the price. This one is on sale for £1000. It had 30 editions which means one drawing can make £30000 if it all sold. 

I think his work is very interesting. Need to find sometime to have a good look. Also found some of his talks on Tate. They are quite long. Need to find time to listen. 

Edward Hooper

Edward Hooper (1882-1967)

I finally finished reading Edward Hooper. I have to say the language in this book is quite a challenge for me to fully understand even if I used dictionary a lot of times. I think each field has some particular words. For example medical language or law language are both having a lot of particular vocabularies. Now in art, it must contain art language.

By reading this book, it does improve my knowledge about art. I think I understand a little bit about Edward Hooper’s work which I knew nothing about before. And most of all, I like his work.

Some quoting by Edward Hooper in this book I really like:

“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.

The inner life of a human being is a vast and varied realm.”

 “My aim in painting has always been the most exact transcription possible of my most intimate impressions of nature…I have tried to present my sensations in what is the most congenial and impressive form possible to me. “

I think as great artists, they are not only artists, but also philosophers, thinkers. It is not their hands or mind makes the art, it is their spirit, something deep in their heart makes the work. They are talking and expressing themselves by using another form of language. This language is silent but powerful, simple but beautiful.  Only thing I think in this world, only a small group of people understand this language while the majorities could not understand and be connected. The great artists, they are far beyond their period.

He also said “If you could say it in words, there’d be no reason to paint. “ A simple sentence, tell us exactly why art exist. There is something, in any culture, in any language you can’t express by using words. No words can describe it, you can only feel it. And I believe it must be a wonderful thing once you can feel it. To feel the beauty and purity which somebody using their life time to tell you.  I am getting a bit anxious now. I didn't understand anything about art before and it didn't border me. But now I think I push the door open, I see light but no more. I know I need to be patient.

Come back to Edward Hooper’s work. I used quite a lot of time to read this book, I wrote down something which I interested and can also understand.

First of all is his subject matter which are people, place and architecture. When I first saw his work in the book, I did feel the still, I noticed the light, bright and cheerful. But I wondered why his figures are all not happy, even feels lonely, every one of them. I understand better now. Here are some explanations from the book.

“Most of Hooper’s characters are so immersed in thought that they seem completely unaware of their surroundings. They are posed in dramatic scenes of distraction, absorbed in private thought and sober musing, where Hoppe’s graphic drama creates a thrall of spectatorship that makes potent the compelling mystery of their mental state.”

“Hooper’s major painting do not refer to specific places, but are ‘types’ of places-the projections of his imagination, his ‘interior vision’ . Like his contemporaries, he was committed to finding a way to picture modern life that could best express the contemporary issues in which he was interested. He was intent on achieving his ambition, expressed so succinctly by Geothe, to reproduce ‘the world that surrounds me by means of the world that is in me.’”

It is a bit scary to find that Hooper has a kind of depression which called Melancholic.  After reading the book, I do agree that his characters maybe feel tense, but it is not depression.  In such a world, sometimes, you do need that little moment, forget the surroundings and find yourself.  

There is also something about death. I feel shivered even when I write down this word. It said in the book that “Many commentators have noted that the theme of death in Hopper’s work is connected to the empty space or void. Two Comedians, the long awaited performance finally materialises. Edward Hooper and his wife Jo take their last bows beside artificial foliage and darkness.”  After reading this, look back his work, the empty room even with cheerful sunshine make me feel sad and cold. The Two Comedians makes me feel want to cry, last performance, last bow, last applause, curtain down, what mood was he in when he was facing death? 

Albert Durer

Albert Durer (1471-1528) was a German painter, print maker. His high-quality woodcuts established his reputation and influence across Europe when he was still in his 20th, and he has been regarded as the greatest artist on the Northern Renaissance ever since.

Had a look through his work. There are so many. Drawings, paintings, watercolors, woodcuts and engraving. He must be a very intelligent man.

This was his self portrait when he was 13. A 13 years old could produce such a great work!

He has lots of wood cuts work and engraving. Engraving is something like lino but using a hard plate, such as cooper plate. I can imagine how difficult it would be to make marks on the cooper plate and how high skill it would require.

 Melencolia I Engraving 1514

This is one of his master prints. I first saw this work in Edward Hooper's book I borrowed. I could not quite understand it when I read the book. But I knew I liked the work. Especially when I saw it was a print. It is such a high detailed work. Dark and light worked so well. So many objects in the picture, all well positioned and well depicted. The more I look at it, the more I feel it is very still. I also notice the size of this work. It is only 24cm*18.8cm. It is so small. How difficult it would be to put so many details on such a small cooper plate! 

I found some information about this work. After reading it, I understand why it appeared in Edward Hopper's book. But I feel a bit scared. I don't like seeing dark and death in a picture. Artists suffer from different kind of mental illness is also a very scary thing.

it says that this work is  an allegorical  composition which has been subject into many different interpretations . The following is from Wikipedia:

One interpretation suggests the image references the depressive  or melancholy state and accordingly explains various elements of the picture. Among the most conspicuous are:

• The tools of geometry and architecture surround the figure, unused
• The 4 × 4 magic square, with the two middle cells of the bottom row giving the date of the engraving: 1514. The square features the traditional magic square rules based on the number 34, and in addition, the square's four quadrants, corners and center also equal this number.
• The truncated rhododendron with a human skull on it. 
• The hourglass showing time running out
• The empty scale (balance)
• The despondent winged figure of genius
• The purse and keys
• The beacon and rainbow in the sky
• Mathematical knowledge is referenced by the use of the symbols: compass, geometrical solid, magic square, scale, hourglass.

An autobiographical interpretation of Melencolia I has been suggested by several historians. Iván Fenyő considered the print a representation of the artist beset by a loss of confidence, saying: "shortly before [Dürer] drew Melancholy, he wrote: 'what is beautiful I do not know' ... Melancholy is a lyric confession, the self-conscious introspection of the Renaissance artist, unprecedented in northern art. Erwin Panofsky is right in considering this admirable plate the spiritual self-portrait of Dürer