By Greg Gentert on March 3, 2010
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about 363 miles from Albany, New York on theHudson River to Buffalo, New York at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. First proposed in 1808, it was under construction from 1817 to 1832 and officially opened[1] on October 26, 1825.
In 1918, the Canal was replaced by the larger New York State Barge Canal. The new canal replaced much of the original route, leaving many abandoned sections (most notably between Syracuse and Rome). The expansion allowed barges up to 2,000 tons to use the Canal. This expensive project was politically unpopular in parts of the state not served by the canal, and failed to save it from becoming obsolete.
-Wikipedia
-Greg
Posted in blog |
By Greg Gentert on October 22, 2009
Editing older and newer 35mm stuff, trying to make a small book dummy for a printing class, we will see
Hi Buddy
Posted in blog |
By Greg Gentert on September 23, 2009
I spent some of this summer staying at a friend’s house in Levittown PA. After I found out Levittown was one the first planned communities in America I started taking pictures of it. Simply put, I’m interested in how this plan has changed.
Glad to be back.
-Greg
Posted in blog |
By Greg Gentert on June 10, 2009
This idea was inspired by Shane Lavalette’s old “Phoetry” posts. In which a single photograph was presented alongside a poem or song.
So I have a lot of records. And I’ve realized its often difficult to listen to an entire record outside of the car, which is often the case as most of my records are on vinyl. I have a lot of photo books (mostly from the RIT Library). Which take an hour or so to go through depending on the book. So I’ve been experimenting putting the two together, here’s what I’ve come up with so far.
Harvey Milk’s Courtesy and Goodwill Towards Men, and Torbjørn Rødland’s White Planet, Black Heart
What links these two works for me is the attitude; constantly shifting between sincerity and farce, functioning on their hidden and seemingly perverted logic. Rødland is a Norwegian photographer whose work typically deals with photographic cliches and their function or lack thereof. His 2006 book, White Planet, Black Heart, is collection of obvious yet incoherent images. Landscapes, objects, models, these expected photographic subjects are presented alongside oddly potent imagery such as the black banana and WWJD sharpied onto a dick. The question “why?” almost goes without saying, what has always interested me about this work is how effectively Rødland coerces his audience into asking this question. And thus raising suspicions about the motives driving commercial and artistic photography.
Harvey Milk is also the name of a sludge/drone band from Athens Georgia. The 1995 release Courtesy and Good Will Towards Men was their masterpiece. It combined heavy and endlessly repetitive guitar work with ambiguous emotional outbursts. Like Rødland they dissect cliches by transforming them into massive complicated statements. The cliche of heavy metal in the case of Harvey Milk. Loud, pointless, un-musiclike music performed by bestial men. Why? To put these cliches and expectations to work. In this instance used for sheer force of the music. I always feel slightly pummeled after listening to this record. Harvey Milk and Rødland are both masters of repetition, using it like an unfunny joke. You are aware of how the thing is supposed to work because it doesn’t work.
-Greg
Posted in blog | Tagged Courtesy and Goodwill Towards Men, Harvey Milk, Torbjorn Rodland, White Planet Black Heart |
By Greg Gentert on May 31, 2009
After a quarter of shooting large format for two classes shooting with a 35mm slr feels absolutely vital. There are times I don’t care enough to look. Never mind photographing. This is when photography is more about traveling. Walk until you find something. Shoot until it means anything. At all. Its not that I’ve been uninspired. I’ve been resisting inspiration for my own good. Just using the muscles. Here are some photographs I had to find and some that simply occurred.
Next week I’ll be starting twonew projects. Trying something a little different, very narrow subject matter. Thinking about american identity and the quality of light and heat in summer, separately. Or together. We’ll see what happens, until then.
-Greg
Posted in blog |
By Greg Gentert on May 24, 2009
Hello. I think I should start with introducing myself. So this is that.
For me the most challenging aspect of writing about my work on the web is revealing the process. Without secrets a magician is just an idiot in a cape. However, I have not encountered this type of blog before. I think much more could be gained by giving the trick away, so to speak. I see it as a way of combating the quick consumption of photography that photo blogs seem to breed. I like i heart photograph as much as the next photo student. But I can honestly say that I look at the work on there only as long as takes to accept or reject it. Then the picture is consumed but not digested. And I imagine this is not a unique experience. This is what needs to happen. As viewers and creators we need to demand more of each other. This space is the perfect area for that conversation to happen, lets start a better pile.
This is from my most current series of work. I had started photographing interiors in the winter which led to an interest in the utility of decoration in modern life. There is a thought that decoration signals a lack of substance or is used as a way of obscuring something. While I do not completely disagree with this view, I still wanted to challenge it. I wanted to take these obvious visual objects or places and photograph them in way where I felt I was taking them seriously while still questioning the function and politics of the object. I let myself be amused easily when I make these pictures, really let joy into the process, then I cut that joy with skepticism. The whole process of making a visually pleasing photograph and print is a crucial part of this project. Craft is where the responsibility of representing the visual is realized.
For Wednesday, something fun
-Greg
Posted in blog |
