With apologies for some simplification, art encompasses all endeavors that try to use symbols to communicate with others to affect their emotions, senses, and sensibilities. It may take various forms depending on the medium used and qualities dictated by the formal (related to form, not the opposite of “casual”) constraints of the medium.

This being the case, my puzzlement stems from the willingness of the photographers, photographic writers and magazines, software producers to separate photography from art, photographic from artistic. It is common to see references to “straight” and “artistic” photography, even two versions of the same photograph. Does that mean Edward Weston’s landscapes or nudes are not artistic? Of course not!

For some, a photograph with the formal qualities of the medium; like frame, tonality, texture, line, shape, focus, vantage point, etc, etc; it is not enough for the work to be art, and the expression, artistic. If, however, one takes the same photograph, smudges the colors, adds more grain and lines, stretches and distorts the photograph, and subjects it to many other treatments it becomes “artistic”. This sort of sensibility is similar to many photographers’, what I call, “brush-envy” by trying to achieve “painterly” results in their photography. (See earlier related post) Now, let me be clear, I am not objecting to the idea of using photography in creative ways, to explore the effects of movement over time, interplay between colors and framing, and many other types of photography. I am primarily against calling these results “painterly” or “artistic” while snubbing the medium used to create them: Photography.

I am a photographer, I understand and accept what photography can and cannot do, and am perfectly happy within the boundaries of its formal qualities. My photography is my art and my photographs are as artistic as one that is converted to neon colored fields plowed by aggressive brushes. I do not believe that art and artistic need to be exclusively in the domain of strange, bizarre, distorted, reshaped, smudged, and smeared. All these may create a different artistic result without diminishing the artistic value of the original photograph. Look at photographs, photography, and photographers in the same way that you do for paintings, painting, painters; or sculptures, sculpting, sculptors. All represent art work, their medium, and their artists.

I think, but I may very well be wrong, the problem can be traced to two things. First, photography is “so simple, anyone can do it.” Second, people seem to limit the “signs of artistry” to brushstrokes, chisel marks, and imaginary works. Yes, the mechanical production of a photographic image is indeed very simple. But, the knowledge of the medium and its qualities elude many photographers let alone many who view their work. Also, photography does not leave a mark of distinction when it is practiced to high levels, like brush marks, thus is more difficult to discern between an accidental snapshot and carefully executed photograph. Some think Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Lee Friedlander, Gary Winogrand  took snapshots. But, make no mistake about it; a well executed photograph is a work of art without glowing edges or artificial brushstrokes, and its expression, artistic.

The more we photographers allow this practice of misuse, the more we will be marginalized to the edges of art and even pushed outside of it. My belief and practice, and suggestion to other photographers, is this: do not refer to any special treatment as “artistic” or imply or state that only that result as “art.” Do not underestimate the “artistic” value of your “straight” photography that may be “realistic” in its “representation.”

Related posts:

1. Macunagasi Izzet Efendi Mansion, Safranbolu
2. Pawtuxet Abstract in Monochrome
3. Painterly? No, thanks!

I can copy as many files as I want, back and forth just as I do with any drive. Not only that, I can delete the file from my PC without worrying that it will be deleted from my mobile device. And, and this is the real kicker, I can connect my Samsung Captivate to any number of computers without fretting over special software or messing up the contents.

Captivate is a gorgeous device with a 4″ bright AMOLED screen, easy to read and look at. It shoots 720p HD video, sports a 5 megapixel camera with many adjustments, integrates with Google Voice, and many more features.

It is a great feeling not to be told “don’t hold it that way” by a megalomaniac. It’s my phone and I can hold it any way I want. And, I get “honest bars” for signal strength.

Do it! Make the switch, feel free, you won’t regret it.

No related posts.

1. Cancel, or do not renew your Prime membership at Amazon, it seems to cost you more than you think
2. Don’t allow Amazon to track your shopping habits, frequently delete Amazon.com cookies from your browser
3. Do not log in to your account before you decide to buy an item, logging in tells Amazon more information than you think
4. Turn your browsing history off at your Amazon account. Yes, it will have some inconveniences to you like not keeping track of the items you have viewed, but Amazon will not know them either. That will make it more difficult for them to develop a profile for you and adjust the prices accordingly
5. Dynamic pricing on the Web, especially highly tech savvy places like Amazon is very real. You will likely pay a different price for a product than I based on our browsing and online product research habits
6. Contrary to what your intuition may tell you, loyal customers may very well be charged higher prices than transient ones, more of a reason to cover your tracks
7. Did I mention that you should frequently delete cookies from Amazon.com in your browser?

Pay attention to these, don’t be a sucker like I have been by buying an Amazon.com Prime membership. In the long run, you will be (and I would have been) better off taking the free shipping option for most products and paying the extra shipping charges when we need to have an item in a hurry.

This has been a disappointing lesson to me, I am disappointed in myself that I did not look into this any sooner, and disappointed in Amazon for stooping to doing things like jacking up the prices for items that qualify for Prime shipping.

Live and learn, and trust no one on the Internet. (More to come!)

Related posts:

1. Shame On You Amazon!

In the last couple of days I have lost much confidence in Amazon.com. I have been a customer of Amazon from their first days, they were just struggling start up. Over the years, I have purchased many, many books, and many more other items from electronics to optics. I have also been an Amazon Prime member where the members get free 2-day shipping for a fixed annual fee.

A couple of days ago I wanted to buy a memory card and the offer on the screen was not honored, neither the price nor the free shipping. On top of that, the item showed two different prices. The big price on top of the page in red was $28.10 and later on in “Frequently bought together section” the item was listed at $26. I called the phone support, and the agent tried to explain to me that the item was sold by an Amazon vendor, they don’t control the price, yada, yada, yada… I indicated my displeasure to the agent and added that they were using double pricing or allowing their participating vendors to do it. Later, I indicated the same in a survey they sent to me.

A few hours later an e-mail arrived apologizing for the inconvenience, etc. and asking for me to provide the item number. I replied to the message with a detailed explanation, a link to the page, and a screen capture. Then I noticed that they wanted me to provide this information online, which I used to tell them that I had sent an e-mail. This morning an e-mail arrived, apologizing again, but telling me in no uncertain terms that I had to provide the information on their form. Which I did.

Yet another message arrived, profusely apologizing for the inconvenience and offering me $5 credit as a goodwill gesture. Thank you, but … read on. I went back to Amazon site, searched for the same item again. This time, I found the same item at $23.11 and clicked on the link. Oh, what happened? The price went up to $28.10. Hmmmmm! I noticed that I was logged in to my account. After logging out I went to the product listing page, the $23.11 was still showing and a click on it brought me to a page where, lo and behold, the price was $23.11 and the seller was different.

Hypothesis: For Amazon Prime members the item is priced higher and a different vendor is promoted to make the sale.

To test the hypothesis, I logged in again with my Amazon credentials, reloaded the product grid page, clicked on the $23.11 item and sure enough, the price went up to $28.10 and the vendor switched again. So the test confirmed the behavior I saw a little earlier. I seemed to be charged different prices and directed to different vendors based on my login state. In short, part or all of the shipping costs seem to be added on the price of the product. I felt like screaming: SHAME ON YOU AMAZON!

Now, in case you think I am making all this up, I have the links and screen captures to prove it.

Link 1 http://amzn.to/cZZneo (logged out, search result, the first item is $23.11)
Link 2 http://amzn.to/a15jTM (logged out, clicked on the product link and see the same price)
Link 3 http://amzn.to/cZZneo (logged in, the same product and $23.11 item shows)
Link 4 http://amzn.to/dsWwx0 (logged in, clicked on the link of the above item and I see the price $28.10)

I was able to replicate the example on a totally different browser, Google Chrome which I had not used to look at these items before, ever.

Stay tuned, I will be posting more screen captures and recorded video of this unethical behavior. Needless to say, I stopped my auto renewal of Prime membership, $79 a year down the drain!

Related posts:

1. Smarter Shopping at Amazon.com

Below are the specifics:

Touching The History: Photographs From The Dome Of Hagia Sophia

Dates: September 8 – October 22, 2010

Location: Providence College Hunt-Cavanaugh Art Gallery

Gallery hours: 9 AM – 4 PM Monday-Friday

Opening reception: September 16, 2010 5 – 7 PM, Gallery talk at 6:00 PM

I may be able to arrange off hour visits for those who cannot make it during the gallery hours, contact me for special arrangements.

Here are some of the photographs in digital format.

[Show as slideshow]

Related posts:

1. Hagia Sophia Exhibit Opening
2. Hagia Sophia Exhibit, Cleveland, May 21 – June 21
3. From the roof of Hagia Sophia