Comments
It is hard to imagine that in the early 1900s debate raged over whether photography was an art or just a mechanical, objective way of recording reality. Alfred Stieglitz led the movement for photography as art by starting a gallery named 291 in New York and by self-publishing his own work and that of his friends and acquaintances in the subscription quarterly magazine Camera Work. The focus was primarily Pictorialism, which involved special lenses and developing processes that lent a dreamy slightly unfocused look to the photos, in stark contrast to today’s interest in sharp digital images. (There is a place for both). It ran from 1903 to 1917 and was hand produced by Steiglitz on heavy fine art paper. Some of the many great artists of the time were featured: Steichen, Clarence White, Paul Strand, Rodin, Matisse, and Picasso among many others. In his gallery 291 he also showed paintings on canvas such as those by his wife Georgia O’Keefe.
There is a nice publication by the publisher Taschen that reproduces Camera Work. It is much smaller than the original magazine but very nice. It includes the articles and images from the originals. I highly recommend it.
Pete Hendley
www.petehendley.com
If you know of anyone who would like to receive this blog, please have them go to
www.petehendley.com and sign up!.
I hope everyone is well out there!
'Keefe
Blog Episode #8
April 14, 2022
Carl Bernstein's New Book: Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom
In Carl Bernstein's new book Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom, he mentions my father Coit Hendley a number of times. They were friends and colleagues and "newspapermen" back in the day together working on the Washington Star in Washington D.C. It is a great book, very evocative of those days when opinion was confined to the Editorial Pages, and journalists prided themselves on reporting the most factually accurate story they could. Of course they weren't perfect, but no one threw around accusations of fake news in those days of the 1950s to the 1980s, through the civil rights movement, Kennedy assassination, the moon landing, Watergate. Quite an era. It is full of details about how a newspaper gets the job done, using phone booths, carbon paper, and your feet to track down leads. Bernstein's love of his job comes across wonderfully. It is amazing to see my father and his world portrayed. I sent Bernstein a complimentary copy of my book about my father's World War II experience at D-Day, LCI-85: The Military Career of Lt(jg) Coit Hendley During the Invasions of North Africa, Italy, and Omaha Beach on D-Day: His Papers and Photos, and I never heard back, which is fine. Well, I guess he got it. He also mentioned me and my book. I even made it into the index, next to my father. Quite exciting!
My thanks go out to Peter Alexander who alerted me to my presence in this book before I’d had a chance to read it!
Buy your copy now!
If you know of anyone who would like to receive this blog, please have them go to
www.petehendley.com and sign up!.
I hope everyone is well out there!
I am happy to report that my book The World is Beautiful: Two Years on the Road (Photos) is a 2021 semi-finalist for the North Street Book Prize! It is nice to be recognized and hopefully it will help more readers find the book. (Available on Amazon).
"Honoring the best self-published books of poetry, children's picture books, art books, graphic novel & memoir, genre fiction, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction & memoir." My book was entered in the Art Book category. "...We admired The World is Beautiful...and your final rank in our 2021 contest is Semi-Finalist." - Adam Cohen, President.
If you know of anyone who would like to receive these blogs through email, please have them go to
www.petehendley.com and sign up!
I hope everyone is well out there!
www.petehendley.com
Film vs Digital?
Blog episode #6
It was a huge debate when digital cameras first came out - does one switch to digital or keep using film? As time went by it became easier and then a necessity to go digital. If you do still use film, you have to scan the negative into the computer to make it digital, so you can then post it online, sell prints online, use editing software like Affinity Photo (which I prefer to Adobe) Lately, a lot of people have returned to using film, though rarely ever exclusively. I shoot both, depending on the situation. Film has a unique feel to it which creates a “grainy” look, depending on the type of film you use and the conditions. With digital, photographers are usually looking for a much cleaner, slicker look, though software editing does offer a way to try to imitate the film look, with varying degrees of success. If I am in a situation where I need to shoot a lot of frames, like tracking an eagle across the sky or attending a sporting event, I will use digital. It doesn’t cost anything to shoot a lot of images. If I can be more selective, I will usually use film. I also like the developing process, which has gotten easier than in days of old. The Manhattan photo here is an example of digital and the Lone Boat on the Beach in Goa is a film shot from my book The World is Beautiful: Two Years on the Road (Photos). They both have their purposes.
You can view these more closely on
www.petehendley.com
Is It Ever Okay For a Photo to be Blurry?
January 05, 2022
Today, the tack-sharp image is the expected. It is more possible than ever with autofocus and digital cameras. But is it ever warranted to have any blur in a photo? In the image below, titled “The Amish and Me”, I was in the car with a camera in my hand (a manual focus 35mm Pentax Me Super), when the horse and buggy sped by. I quickly snapped a shot. The young girl’s expression makes it worth it, in my opinion. In the second photo on the right, titled “Sometimes It’s a Lot”, I think the blur creates a feeling of unsettledness (taken with an autofocus 35mm Canon 1V). It is from my book 55 Photos: Baltimore 2021. It helps to see it in context. We were helping Lydia move to Baltimore, find an apartment, start a new job, settle in, and it was sometimes “just a lot” to deal with.
Of course, in the end, it’s up to personal taste.
Both of these photos can be found in the People section on
www.petehendley.com.
Pete Hendley
Fine art prints now available on
www.petehendley.com
Pete Hendley
Blog edition #4
This is one of my favorite photos of my mother, brother and sister in the 1950s. I assume it was taken by my father and probably in South Carolina where he was from. I love the retro details, fish for $1.25, the front of the car, the simplicity of the snack place. Susan Sontag said, “Time eventually positions most photographs, even the most amateurish, at the level of art.” We are interested if for no other reason than the historical details. Does that mean every photo becomes art? Maybe so, if we wait long enough.
Pete Hendley
Fine art prints now available at
www.petehendley.com.
Also, check out my new book "55 Photos: Baltimore 2021" or my first book "The World is Beautiful: Two Years on the Road (Photos)"
Pete Hendley
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Costa Rica
November 03, 2021
When I first took this photo, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I was disappointed in it. I had set in my mind that I wanted to show the jungle around us in this Costa Rica city of La Fortuna. I took another look at it recently and changed my mind. I like the patterns and negative space of the roof tops and then, of course, there is the cat on a hot tin roof. Makes me laugh. There’s just enough of a hint of jungle to help make it more interesting, in my opinion. I often run into this, that I can’t see a photo for what it is until some time has passed and my sight isn’t blocked by my expectations. I guess that can apply to many things in life. Lesson as a photographer? I often now stop and try to make myself see differently, make myself drop any ideas I have about what is in front of me. Oh and wait awhile before deleting anything.
This and other fine art prints now available at
www.petehendley.com. Look in the Animal section for this one.
Also, check out my new book "55 Photos: Baltimore 2021" or my first book "The World is Beautiful: Two Years on the Road (Photos)"
Oh and please sign up for my email list to receive this blog if you aren’t already on it. Thanks.
Pete Hendley
