Winogrand: Figments from the Real World - commentary Szarkowski

A well put together overview of Winogrand's work over his working life, from his early years to the less well known later period.  (Amazing that he died with 3000 rolls of undeveloped film!)
Some interesting points in the commentary:
- his acknowledged debt to certain aspects of Frank's work in The Americans
- his comment that he photographs things he finds interesting to see what they look like in photographs
- the discussion of his use of leaning lines (ie. non-vertical and non-horizontal to the frame) in composition - it strikes me that this is the solution to the problem I have struggled with in regard to shooting in cities and other man-made environments where everything is too geometrical - two things bring the kind of hidden order beneath chaos that is easier to find in wild environments:  1) the lean and 2) use of wide-angle lens, which Winogrand talks about
- his comments on wide-angle lenses and how they allow him to include more things, more information in the frame, while at the same time maintaining the presence of the subject - the wide angle introduces more information, which then becomes the overlay of chaos that masks, but not quite, the compositional order in the photo - this tension between chaos and order  p. 21 "He had a special affection for those of his pictures that were almost out of control, the pictures in which the triumph of form over chaos was precarious.  He believed that a successful photograph must be more interesting than the thing photographed..."
- p. 29 "As Winogrand grew older and his ambition grew more demanding, the role of luck in his work grew larger. As his motifs became more complex, and more unpredictable in their development, the chances of success in a given frame became smaller."

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

A book recommended to me by Talia.

A very emotional book, so emotional it is hard to focus on some of the subtler messages in the book.
Big themes on the surface seem to be death, dealing with mortality, overcoming adversity, etc.  But I think underneath it all, it is really about living your life well.  The dad in the book has, for me, the best line:

(Remembered prof. comment) "Sometimes it seems the universe wants to be noticed."

(Dad) "That's what I believe.  I believe the universe wants to be noticed.  I think the universe is improbably biased toward consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed.  And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it - or my observation of it - is temporary?"

Here's another good section from Augustus' last letter at the end of the book:

"We are like a bunch of dogs squirting on fire hydrants.  We poison the groundwater with our toxic piss, marking everything MINE in a ridiculous attempt to survive our deaths...

Hazel is different.  She walks lightly, old man.  She walks lightly upon the earth.  Hazel know the truth:  We're as likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we're not likely to do either.

...

The real heroes anyway aren't the people doing things; the real heroes are the people NOTICING things, paying attention..."

Ways of Seeing - John Berger

A reread from quite a while ago.

An interesting discussion of the nature and permutations of images in the west.
Some interesting points about how text changes the perception of the image - how language turns the image into an illustration of the words, nailing down a meaning instead of being a more open extra-lingual (?) experience.

He also points out the frequent cultural referencing of classic paintings in modern advertisements.  The classical images have a reference, a weight, a story, a value, that advertisers want to carry into their advert., associate with the product.  As if this almost unconscious collection of classical images is a language in itself.

An interesting chapter exploring the nude in western art - inherently voyeuristic.  This comes out of a larger tradition in western art, possibly because of its emphasis on realism.  The painting as a metaphor of ownership, and thereby of social status.  This implies an inherent awareness of the viewer, almost as if the painting is a way of speaking to the viewer.  There are some interesting indian illustrations of sexual activity as a contrast.  The indian images simply show - the subjects in the images show no awareness of the viewer.  This is in sharp contrast to many of the classic nudes, where the subject is looking out directly at the viewer, or presented as if offered to the viewer.  This is possibly a mirror of the awareness of self as individual that is so strong in western tradition since at least the Renaissance.

Is there a way to create images, and yet stay outside that tradition that has been so co-opted by the advertising industry.  I still feel we have too many images loaded with subliminal fantasy messages.

Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny

Another mystery with Inspector Gamache.  A great read for a reading holiday (a day when you read a book cover to cover without stopping except for tea and a bit of food if necessary).  I think her style has improved - a bit surer, more solid.  Some good observations about people and what makes them tick.

The Overcoat and Other Tales of Good and Evil - Nicolai Gogol

I remember reading Dead Souls and finding it a good read, but perhaps my tastes have changed.  While some of the stories carried me along - the famous Nose story is in this collection - I found the style too overwritten for me.  I guess I'm into a sparser writing style these days.  The book just seemed to go on and on...  Cultural sacrilege, but what can I do?  The social criticism, while perennially valid, is just set in a context a bit too distant from me at this time.
Not Gogol's fault.  I recently tried reading some Balzac, which I have enjoyed in the past, and gave it up for the same reasons regarding writing style.

Balkan Ghosts - Robert D. Kaplan 2005 edition

Balkan Ghosts focuses mainly on the period around the transition from Communism to independence, at least as a travel narrative.  Included are many historical asides which shed light on how and why each Balkan country has ended up in its particular situation.  Well-written, informative, little detectable bias, although at one or two points there are some highly charged statements about Ottoman rule.
The chapter on Greece is quite interesting, as I know very little about Greek politics, the various 20th century Greek wars (aside from Anatolia), the various coups and dictatorships.  A real eyeopener in terms of how the country became such a mess.  Worth exploring further.
An interesting source for off-beat travel information on the various countries.  Of particular interest to me are Macedonia and Romania.

To find:

Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Rebecca West

Judgement on Delchev, Eric Ambler

Crowds and Power, Elias Canetti