tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62384152091186469222024-03-05T04:43:29.420-08:00Ed FreemanEd Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-34859347476781498572011-03-04T16:39:00.001-08:002011-03-04T18:38:14.812-08:00DESERT REALTY - GALLERY OPENINGFINALLY! After much hemming and hawing and God knows how many tentative dates and cancellations, my first absolutely firm, won't-be-changed, carved-in-stone One Man Show in Los Angeles - Saturday, March 19. Here's the official notice:<br /><br /><div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western"> <div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><big style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"><big><b>Desert Realty at 945 Chung King Road</b></big></big><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"> Ed Freeman's award-winning series, "Desert Realty," which has been the subject of a widely reviewed book, numerous magazine articles and a dozen museum shows across the country is having its West Coast debut on Chinatown's famous gallery row - at 945 Chung King Road in downtown Los Angeles.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"> The large format, saturated color prints are an uncanny amalgam of straight photography and seamless computer manipulation. Pictures of mostly abandoned and decaying buildings in the California desert have been scrupulously retouched and enhanced, their backgrounds stripped out and replaced with flawless surroundings and perfectly matching skies. The resultant, hyperreal images tread a fine line between believability and fantasy, between unflinching documentary and surreal perfection. Limited and open edition prints in various formats, a poster suitable for framing and individually printed, signed greeting cards will be available for purchase.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"> Opening and artist's reception is on March 19, from 6 - 9 pm. Chung King Road is a walk street; parking on surrounding streets is free after 8:00 pm.</span><br /><br /></span><img src="imap://ef%40edfreeman%2Ecom@mail.edfreeman.com:143/fetch%3EUID%3E/Sent%3E1681?part=1.1.2" alt="" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iQBW3IZ0GF3O3v5lwfed4Te8OQ7nbheUhXd8wMsEtn2KR8x0kOtXfCwHVWz7IuHfBpgLADZ-U1GrGavTHyAe3keWVYMZ4ZG_l_QtVj8KimSZyfKDCBH6YsCljeP4PKylPSVRMtYtLlYe/s1600/60271.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iQBW3IZ0GF3O3v5lwfed4Te8OQ7nbheUhXd8wMsEtn2KR8x0kOtXfCwHVWz7IuHfBpgLADZ-U1GrGavTHyAe3keWVYMZ4ZG_l_QtVj8KimSZyfKDCBH6YsCljeP4PKylPSVRMtYtLlYe/s400/60271.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580394571211313698" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaenwZBUjU3XToAZjb_jgqcv_y1pa6KXLSsDE9QfK3WdI0YdH64aOgE-_0R_PRuKFBTagq1WZdt_YkajqiXZ9PNBwkzgtnCoiGNgcke0wbXBVgQIk119yxpkv0uebQUh834QJtXlQcMpM2/s1600/60841.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaenwZBUjU3XToAZjb_jgqcv_y1pa6KXLSsDE9QfK3WdI0YdH64aOgE-_0R_PRuKFBTagq1WZdt_YkajqiXZ9PNBwkzgtnCoiGNgcke0wbXBVgQIk119yxpkv0uebQUh834QJtXlQcMpM2/s400/60841.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580397895450280274" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4jEkbLX9rgurWDEQgfg3Samemwlajseuf-fkj2EEEyM8mbrO84S0lQtqWq39cYCTZjHUcE4VXpcHW8WA_ZX1GA-liXqmvMAx_QvA13YwEeP8nktw7rRbsgVB6WBLzKUc0T1omVdn1es6D/s1600/60180V2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4jEkbLX9rgurWDEQgfg3Samemwlajseuf-fkj2EEEyM8mbrO84S0lQtqWq39cYCTZjHUcE4VXpcHW8WA_ZX1GA-liXqmvMAx_QvA13YwEeP8nktw7rRbsgVB6WBLzKUc0T1omVdn1es6D/s400/60180V2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580397896428160786" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div> </div>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-46981185271017197662010-10-03T10:51:00.000-07:002011-03-04T16:41:52.967-08:00Back from TibetI'm back - fifteen pounds lighter but otherwise, none the worse for wear. Many, many beautiful and fascinating things to show and talk about; right now, however, I'm in the midst of remodeling my new studio in Los Angeles and barely have time to breathe, let alone blog. But here are a few samples (btw, you can click on any of these pictures for an enlarged view - you probably already knew that, but being the computer-challenged old fart that I am, I just figured it out moments ago...)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6PgzDO0TnaZxTppHV2QC1Ch0e_Ac7Mpx_N9iGvCKOj0kF_L5A7_-IuSsQ2HcaB7IpR5XcgrZB_ofxQP4RGmIl3ChpI0h88P6gACeCeiFWhdYhvxZ3AJazkyNLGfkUPvObD5TvUy3yg_A/s1600/BlogphotoA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 349px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6PgzDO0TnaZxTppHV2QC1Ch0e_Ac7Mpx_N9iGvCKOj0kF_L5A7_-IuSsQ2HcaB7IpR5XcgrZB_ofxQP4RGmIl3ChpI0h88P6gACeCeiFWhdYhvxZ3AJazkyNLGfkUPvObD5TvUy3yg_A/s400/BlogphotoA.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523879816007626098" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The Potala Palace in Lhasa - pretty sad shape inside, but the outside is still imposing and majestic.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GfuoOxAd9_M31bzPydmXLPcTzRvLsnRFIv4qXIoyyWh55Y-S-77SrIe5lHVZYSMknOVWh7WeyFlXM-7xS-0mY3OvjY8fTVeest_84Fs7ESiO4D8bx7TgJyw1zxV_aZMwsz2yFZem_a6n/s1600/BlogphotoC.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GfuoOxAd9_M31bzPydmXLPcTzRvLsnRFIv4qXIoyyWh55Y-S-77SrIe5lHVZYSMknOVWh7WeyFlXM-7xS-0mY3OvjY8fTVeest_84Fs7ESiO4D8bx7TgJyw1zxV_aZMwsz2yFZem_a6n/s400/BlogphotoC.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523881020274228162" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Pelkhor Monastery - one of the few monasteries in Tibet that allows photographs to be taken inside the temple.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPL848Q-ad_oJ4LoNX05rmQm7bmtviQa24qqX6UA58QOxPJ93lQiuSByqyS1Vzqau4GrvX7TO_2V-vqIClog06rqGbLi4jzunCFbOoRavyJeTqLvULQyiXOYIt8xmJGTuNgxW3kaXEaU0/s1600/BlogphotoB.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPL848Q-ad_oJ4LoNX05rmQm7bmtviQa24qqX6UA58QOxPJ93lQiuSByqyS1Vzqau4GrvX7TO_2V-vqIClog06rqGbLi4jzunCFbOoRavyJeTqLvULQyiXOYIt8xmJGTuNgxW3kaXEaU0/s400/BlogphotoB.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523881823559070914" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />On the road to Mt. Everest - hundreds of miles of mountains like this.Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-19029658795079076242010-08-17T13:36:00.000-07:002010-08-17T13:50:31.855-07:00Smuggled out of China<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;font-family:arial,sans-serif;" >Yo. Can't access my blog (or Facebook, or any number of other sites) from China, where I am now, so this post is being smuggled out of the country encoded on the wing feathers of migratory birds…<br /><br />Great country, but if the term "bureaucratic overreach" did not exist, you'd want to invent it for China. You have to get fingerprinted just to get into a national park. Driving through Tibet requires a fistful of permits and standing in line at interminable checkpoints. And God forbid that you should have a picture of the Dalai Lama on you, or take one of some village people, or of the omnipresent military who have turned the whole place into an armed camp, or try to discuss politics with anybody - not that they know much about it, because the media is so censored. But it's all worth it to see scenes like this - here's Mt. Everest on a rare, clear day:<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixr4JqU_sfVElEeJUjgKgQRrqJkuUU4QR4XvwVcyWehE44t-yfgt-0K7NJLDCW-PH_hRFuD2D2xlEk-GfX-kK0AOrBgCXNLL6no83vTGGvyMplzQWk6FOcR84vkzh8ObdjIjYZ2pA9rVel/s1600/Picture+A.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixr4JqU_sfVElEeJUjgKgQRrqJkuUU4QR4XvwVcyWehE44t-yfgt-0K7NJLDCW-PH_hRFuD2D2xlEk-GfX-kK0AOrBgCXNLL6no83vTGGvyMplzQWk6FOcR84vkzh8ObdjIjYZ2pA9rVel/s400/Picture+A.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506483209013060434" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;font-family:arial,sans-serif;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And here's a picture of the restaurant in my most, uh, memorable hotel / flophouse: no running water, no doors on the rooms, no sheets on the beds, no sanitation of any kind, about an hour of electricity at night, but surprisingly, the food wasn't all that bad…</span></span><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmOPjuoIjcdyGgp4OdltmqxEEgpycmf3cBAMFpPOMObomaW0ACm59K59QB0tbTfTUttrGV9fNQABQDyoci9an476tN7iOxm7V01MgbZp-cFJtkcVp3HqsQPvA-Pd-h5v8jYEbsS3USzbR/s1600/Picture+B.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 437px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmOPjuoIjcdyGgp4OdltmqxEEgpycmf3cBAMFpPOMObomaW0ACm59K59QB0tbTfTUttrGV9fNQABQDyoci9an476tN7iOxm7V01MgbZp-cFJtkcVp3HqsQPvA-Pd-h5v8jYEbsS3USzbR/s400/Picture+B.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506482366687062754" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;font-family:arial,sans-serif;" ><br /></span></span>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-20902081041448741162010-06-02T13:37:00.000-07:002010-06-03T08:58:08.998-07:00Freeways<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPt7mFjg2zwpvD6YdjwhXviG27NVTxKs9nVA-oRs7ImIsOddKS-N_3_Oj0PWPHrduJEA-fMtXdi_Ag460mzmcrTLtqp__KkvzqproFyoJvzkb5G1IlfG0InSSwZRfsmmcovvzNNISPbH2k/s1600/Freeway-Nightmare.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPt7mFjg2zwpvD6YdjwhXviG27NVTxKs9nVA-oRs7ImIsOddKS-N_3_Oj0PWPHrduJEA-fMtXdi_Ag460mzmcrTLtqp__KkvzqproFyoJvzkb5G1IlfG0InSSwZRfsmmcovvzNNISPbH2k/s400/Freeway-Nightmare.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478281603761504322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Freeways have a kind of horrible beauty to them, if you observe them dispassionately from a distance and as long as they're not going through <span style="font-style: italic;">your</span> neighborhood. I badgered a friend with an open convertible to drive through my favorite interchange repeatedly while I aimed up and shot as fast as I could, then composited four or five pictures together in Photoshop for this nightmarish image.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7F-T6aoWvMdnww6_FNtIC78Ygi4neattT7F4kBi3usbTRemDBmiIADLZXTjGZoRWJUPx1ynKIL7S_vkKfNJBwZHnQazQvCyxr-6s1cwar5grd20xbLX17eHfRkYLalG9xL8t004CeukEj/s1600/LAX-Freeway.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7F-T6aoWvMdnww6_FNtIC78Ygi4neattT7F4kBi3usbTRemDBmiIADLZXTjGZoRWJUPx1ynKIL7S_vkKfNJBwZHnQazQvCyxr-6s1cwar5grd20xbLX17eHfRkYLalG9xL8t004CeukEj/s400/LAX-Freeway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478281838307666402" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This one, on the other hand, is very real. It's the interchange between the 405 and the 105 Freeways near Los Angeles airport. These pictures are both part of my "Urban Realty" series.Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-78232365454755846252010-05-25T11:14:00.000-07:002010-05-25T21:33:59.102-07:00Self Portrait<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdyvIxa79p4lelZCfip3mENmK5Wt3DA3El3ha08Xl8nVDZhHYRhfonXMUHZuijHBOWd-CJj0zVStLuQp-K2Vaf_HEkJqQb-D1HZigbPriqTVsf6zwTzuElgs8PrRnY1924EoKcUxePxG1e/s1600/SelfPortrait.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdyvIxa79p4lelZCfip3mENmK5Wt3DA3El3ha08Xl8nVDZhHYRhfonXMUHZuijHBOWd-CJj0zVStLuQp-K2Vaf_HEkJqQb-D1HZigbPriqTVsf6zwTzuElgs8PrRnY1924EoKcUxePxG1e/s400/SelfPortrait.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475276755409787506" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Posting this picture is probably committing professional suicide, but what the hell, live dangerously. I'm they guy in the center, and no, I don't look like that naked; the other guy is Steve Chen, one of my favorite models, with my head spliced on his shoulders. This is one of a series of self portraits I've been doing with Steve, examining issues of body image, aging, sexuality, ego - all those uncomfortable things we don't like to think about. As far as technique is concerned, it's just a matter of taking lots of pictures, cutting them out very carefully in Photoshop and painting in a few critical shadows. BTW, Steve is a good deal taller than he appears to be; I was thinking about Egyptian tomb paintings and how people are sized according to their importance, and of course if you listen to my wildly inflated ego, I'm way more important than anyone else, even my much better looking alter ego...<br /><br />:)Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-80880398267350760822010-05-07T16:36:00.001-07:002010-05-07T19:19:54.258-07:00New work<span style="">Okay, I'm back - after a four month hiatus. No particular reason for the long silence; I just can't think of anything to say. But I thought you might be interested in seeing what I'm working on these days - both the weird stuff and the not-so-weird stuff.<br /><br />These pictures probably aren't going to make it onto the website any time soon, so they're a little extra reward (or punishment, depending on how </span><span style="">you look at it) for searching out my blog.<br /></span><br /><span style="">I have this enduring fascination with the borderline between recognizability and abstraction, and also between photography and whatever unnamed art form lies beyond it, between photography and painting. I've been playing with displacement maps and mirrors for several years now, and this is what it's looking like these days:<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg03mRZ3MwhAn47uZQ6-mXhHl1Z3pL8vTD4A2z7dgZGpP_AtpQR8I5cipC2ACVbCrLfqMNf2anreys7w1w6eV5bE8LZtkFh7CUYydZSc4UzfyukOVKnGPclKdz6zj-uCRog2AMEtsomT0Da/s1600/234KHubner.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg03mRZ3MwhAn47uZQ6-mXhHl1Z3pL8vTD4A2z7dgZGpP_AtpQR8I5cipC2ACVbCrLfqMNf2anreys7w1w6eV5bE8LZtkFh7CUYydZSc4UzfyukOVKnGPclKdz6zj-uCRog2AMEtsomT0Da/s400/234KHubner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468678984448486242" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaQ4VdAgUfGoFIpxrx1YAh2az88oyessMYQu3tmWu-GTHZGYVfmZfygWUJXuQc17MAV4cyeD_9OvXipMbsoCro_TJlXKAikL2A1QlSYD1sL6kEpr0qpnwPMuSyIt_SD2HlCRu1q-0VAly/s1600/53SChenMIrror+5-2-10.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaQ4VdAgUfGoFIpxrx1YAh2az88oyessMYQu3tmWu-GTHZGYVfmZfygWUJXuQc17MAV4cyeD_9OvXipMbsoCro_TJlXKAikL2A1QlSYD1sL6kEpr0qpnwPMuSyIt_SD2HlCRu1q-0VAly/s400/53SChenMIrror+5-2-10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468677081204848098" border="0" /></a><br /><br />If that's not your cup of tea, how about these ones from my recent trip to New Zealand (and no, don't ask me if they're real or not. You should know by now...)<br /><br />:)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCXQc6qpR1UEKOYhS0JQ8Wwi40HULQuMUQ_8x3tz-RN6wmtBNP5n3oAznHG_l7oGDOU1CExudKw1t13QY2-_8REzqSOnBa0PPe7ujsZlZq3ElMBsBd_G4pnzeh8MmL2DKqT_b3aRSz1Tu/s1600/++++NZ.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCXQc6qpR1UEKOYhS0JQ8Wwi40HULQuMUQ_8x3tz-RN6wmtBNP5n3oAznHG_l7oGDOU1CExudKw1t13QY2-_8REzqSOnBa0PPe7ujsZlZq3ElMBsBd_G4pnzeh8MmL2DKqT_b3aRSz1Tu/s400/++++NZ.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468717290617802658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdZwQ8FMeK2AIyLIM13-4_4t19AJuxDHcWzmDvoNZ4GYUqyGFD__QCWa_HaBVi1QrZbErVuULKPoNPh63ciLS-BZs-65tUlnZ1gStDWrHjnfjuIm7hGXB_1w0w6BgawTNRqTHQu7o0_8Y/s1600/+++_M2B4049.CR2OmaramaMtCook%2B%2B+1-25-10carlos.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdZwQ8FMeK2AIyLIM13-4_4t19AJuxDHcWzmDvoNZ4GYUqyGFD__QCWa_HaBVi1QrZbErVuULKPoNPh63ciLS-BZs-65tUlnZ1gStDWrHjnfjuIm7hGXB_1w0w6BgawTNRqTHQu7o0_8Y/s400/+++_M2B4049.CR2OmaramaMtCook%2B%2B+1-25-10carlos.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468679970283661074" border="0" /></a>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-21381387474554997452009-09-10T15:06:00.000-07:002009-09-10T16:19:14.241-07:00OUTSIDE MAGAZINEThe October issue of Outside magazine has an article damning manipulated photography in general, with me as its principle target. You can see the online version of it here <a href="http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200909/digital-photography-1.html" target="_blank">http://outside.away.com/<wbr>outside/culture/200909/<wbr>digital-photography-1.html</a><br /><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">The author, Rob Haggart, a former photo editor at Outside, makes the argument that manipulated photographs "devalue the work of photographers with the skills and patience to capture awing images in real time. Even worse, modern photo manipulation is seriously screwing up our concept of reality and our willingness to believe what we see in magazines like Outside." He quotes natural history photographer Kevin Schafer as saying that manipulation "waters down the power of real documentary photography."</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">As a deeply committed photo manipulator, you would expect me to take exception to these arguments – but I don't. I think they're entirely valid. Photo manipulation IS seriously screwing up our notion of what reality looks like. In fact, that's its intent. Any photographer who opens up Photoshop is doing so with the express purpose of lying, cheating and stealing. That's what the program does – that's what it exists for.</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">So – is that bad? Are we manipulators morally bankrupt? In the interests of honesty, respect for "real" photographers and everybody's healthy relationship with reality, should we pack up our computers and slink off shame-facedly into the night? Should we be the first artists in history forced give up the use of a technology for moral purposes? That's like asking car manufacturers to stop production because cars are screwing up our concept of distance and speed and watering down our relationship with horses. Might be so, but it ain't gonna happen.</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Rob Haggart thinks that we – I assume by that by "we" he means everybody on the entire planet, simultaneously – we are "finally getting fed up with all the tampering." He says that digital creations are "bad for photography" – which is sort of like saying the Beatles were "bad" for rock 'n' roll. As if there's some inherent "goodness" to straight photography. As if you could not listen to and appreciate "Maybelline" and the "Sgt. Pepper" at the same sitting. Rob thinks "there's a growing hunger for truth." Nonsense. There's a growing hunger for even bigger lies that we can use as role models.</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Because that's what idealized imagery serves as - something to aspire to. Fifty years ago, nobody looked like Superman in real life - now every gym is full of Superman lookalikes. Fifty years ago, extreme sports were the stuff of cartoons - now they're everyday, real life events. Rocket ships to the moon existed in films a long time before they existed in real life. Manipulated photography, like comic strips and and movies back then, creates fantasies that are a leading light in our evolution. We need more manipulated photography – not less – to open us up to new possibilities and inspire us for the permanent state of future shock we all must learn to survive in.</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">What there DOES need to be, however, is a clear distinction between what we photo manipulators do – work that is increasingly an art of the imagination – and the work of documentarians and photo journalists, who record life with a straight, sober and hopefully, not too creative an eye. I'm sure they don't want to be confused with me, and frankly, I don't want to be confused with them, either.</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Here's the picture Outside Magazine published under the heading "This Photo Is Lying to You" –</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcvPaGgeFJgjlgd0dQyS0UXyhiLXFBuFT8-8H1QalWLvY1m-lwSyO_p_oBYgLIUxKJ3PPlQKnO7IGCsmpbFZfA501BVhbJS8-cTf1WvSXatgds-19x3485-Ml_GYX6rjdy7oMvYCS_EMzk/s400/After.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379968216290887426" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 359px;" border="0" /></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">And here's the original, unmanipulated version; not such a big lie after all – just took out a couple of extraneous bodies, made the waves a bit bigger, added a few rocks and some more waves in the background, darkened the sky a bit – a lot of my other surfing pictures are MUCH bigger lies!<br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wI-3E4Wj9i33A2M5EDLro1kuZgmKkcGQ5v0OEfNWKbY9mLZqrSX5vTmJrgM-5CRvS1toQQK2vpNRuWWEhXuYk4xZTyTjcRQnoSpcBxdjGscUpmQTkErZ05tzS7m8UqIjJqmREyvr81dw/s1600-h/Original.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wI-3E4Wj9i33A2M5EDLro1kuZgmKkcGQ5v0OEfNWKbY9mLZqrSX5vTmJrgM-5CRvS1toQQK2vpNRuWWEhXuYk4xZTyTjcRQnoSpcBxdjGscUpmQTkErZ05tzS7m8UqIjJqmREyvr81dw/s400/Original.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379968093689694674" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" border="0" /></a></div>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-67870954442248632372009-08-25T13:01:00.000-07:002009-08-25T13:27:52.931-07:00The F Stop Mag Interview On my Surf SeriesHere's an interview I did a while back with <a href="http://thefstopmag.com" target="_blank">thefstopmag.com</a> - an online blog. Besides just me, they have some really interesting photographers on their site - worth checking out.<div><br /></div><div><div style="margin-top: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"><h3 style="color: rgb(93, 148, 178);"><span style="color: rgb(93, 148, 178); font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;"></span></h3></div> <div class="boxarticle" style="padding: 10px 1px 10px 10px;"> <a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/?p=572" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The Showcase: Ed Freeman" class="h2"><h2>The Showcase: Ed Freeman</h2></a><small> by: <a href="http://www.zackseckler.com" target="_blank">Zack Seckler</a></small> <div class="entry"> <p></p><p><strong>“The Showcase” is a weekly publication featuring a photographer that has caught our eye here at The F STOP. I’ve asked <a href="http://www.edfreeman.com/" target="_blank">Ed Freeman</a> to answer a few questions about his surf photography, some of which is featured in the new <a href="http://www.pdnphotoannual.com/" target="_blank">2009 PDN Photo Annual</a>. </strong></p> <p><strong>These aren’t conventional surfing images, please explain what you’ve done to create these images.</strong></p> <p>They’re shot conventionally with the same equipment all surfing photographers use; a digital SLR and a lens as long as your arm - literally. But then I do a lot of Photoshop work on them - compositing, dodging and burning, retouching. I’ve taken out waves and added new ones, enlarged waves, changed skies, erased extraneous bodies, even combined pieces of two bodies into one - I do whatever is necessary to create images that say what I want them to say. They aren’t “true to life” any more than a Vermeer landscape is “true to life.” What’s true about them is that they FEEL the way surfing FEELS - at least to me they do.</p> <p><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3287ed-freeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #1" rel="lightbox[group]"></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3287ed-freeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #1" rel="\'lightbox[group]\'"><img src="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3287ed-freeman.jpg" alt="Ed Freeman image #1" height="364" width="442" /></a></p> <p><strong>I don’t think your technique has been replicated often in the surfing photography world. Where did you get the idea to break off from the reportage style and turn these images into more conceptual fine art?</strong></p> <p>I’m not a reporter and I never have been one. If photography is about conveying faithfully what was in front of the lens, then I’m not even a photographer; I’m more of an illustrator. I don’t know anything about surfing, and I can’t - and don’t - approach it from the point of view of somebody who does. Surfers and real surfing photographers can spend hours discussing the fine points of one surfer’s technique versus another’s, one wave versus another. I’m completely blind to those subtleties. Instead, I’m interested in composition, lighting, the texture of the spray - I’m looking at it from a purely visual perspective. That makes for a very different emphasis, a very different picture.<br /><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l6282edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #2" rel="lightbox[group]"></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l6282edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #2" rel="\'lightbox[group]\'"><img src="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l6282edfreeman.jpg" alt="Ed Freeman image #2" height="398" width="377" /></a></p> <p><strong> What was your inspiration in creating this body of work?</strong></p> <p>I was in Hawaii shooting stock - your basic “palm-trees-swaying-in-the-breeze-at-sunset” stuff, and I happened to drive by a surfing beach one day - the first time I ever saw serious surfers confronting serious waves. And I was blown away by the real life drama of it - men, women, even ten year old kids - who risk their lives to have what surely must be a transformational relationship with the ocean. I couldn’t participate in what were doing - I can’t even swim - but I thought I could convey some of their peak experience in pictures, the adrenaline rush they must have every time they catch a good wave.</p> <p><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3746edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #3" rel="lightbox[group]"></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3746edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #3" rel="\'lightbox[group]\'"><img src="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3746edfreeman.jpg" alt="Ed Freeman image #3" height="276" width="438" /></a></p> <p><strong>How has the surfing community reacted to these images?</strong></p> <p>They’ve never been published, so I don’t really know. Many surfers are so caught up in the technical aspects of the sport that they look at all pictures analytically - how big is the wave, how good is this particular surfer’s form, what kind of board is he riding, and so on. But some have seen these pictures for what they’re intended to be - impressions, not recordings of specific events. The highest compliment I ever got from a surfer was, “yeah man, that’s what it’s like when I’m out there.”<br /><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/_m2b4143edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #4" rel="lightbox[group]"></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/_m2b4143edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #4" rel="\'lightbox[group]\'"><img src="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/_m2b4143edfreeman.jpg" alt="Ed Freeman image #4" height="372" width="413" /></a></p> <p><strong> These images were all done for a book project. What was the experience like of getting this book made?</strong></p> <p>This is still a book in progress - I don’t have a publisher yet, although I do have an book agent who’s waiting patiently for me to finish putting it together so she can go find one. I’ve published a couple of other books and I can say with some certainty that publishing is more work and less money than you ever thought possible. But it’s also immensely rewarding. There’s still something magical about the printed page - seeing your images on it, and knowing that people you will never meet will see and get value from what you’ve done.</p> <p><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3619edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #5" rel="lightbox[group]"></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3619edfreeman.jpg" title="Ed Freeman image #5" rel="\'lightbox[group]\'"><img src="http://www.thefstopmag.com/wp-content/uploads/xg7l3619edfreeman.jpg" alt="Ed Freeman image #5" height="430" width="354" /></a></p></div></div></div>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-12670075614576749312009-08-19T21:56:00.000-07:002009-08-20T00:28:20.637-07:00CD CoverWhen I get tired of stealing from myself, I steal from other people - preferably dead, famous ones. That way it's not called plagiarism, it's called an "homage." Copy Mickey Mouse or some unknown painter down the street and you get hit with a zillion dollar lawsuit. Copy Gainsborough or Matisse and everybody ooh's and aah's about how creative you are. Go figure.<br /><br />These pictures were done for a CD album cover (the photographic versions, not the paintings, dummy!) Legend has it that the Blue Boy and Pinkie were always in love, because their pictures stood side by side for so many years – never mind that they were painted twenty-four years apart by different painters. To play with that idea, we had lightning strike both frames, allowing both Blue Boy and Pinkie to break out of the prisons that had held them apart; the final picture was the two of them holding each other, together at last.<br /><br />Nice idea, until you start trying to combine a painting and a photograph.Getting Blue Boy and Pinkie costumes wasn't difficult in Hollywood; the tricky part was getting the photographs to look enough like paintings so we could blend the two together.<br /><br />Also, bench presses weren't really popular in the eighteeenth century, so the original Blue Boy has the chest and shoulders of a scarecrow; we had to stretch it considerably to match the buff rock star who was taking over his persona.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3y_wJwV8Bu5optsD9_1hu0EqlA3AZWnn5wn31g4WJyrKXjYwA56yHIDNnC_mNE5s1PZUlA-Q82giuWZb9Uvw3CeucfJz5sTaXKrzhn8u-eIugvyqWzylsGAXK_lJ3dKemg_r98673FFy/s1600-h/Picture+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3y_wJwV8Bu5optsD9_1hu0EqlA3AZWnn5wn31g4WJyrKXjYwA56yHIDNnC_mNE5s1PZUlA-Q82giuWZb9Uvw3CeucfJz5sTaXKrzhn8u-eIugvyqWzylsGAXK_lJ3dKemg_r98673FFy/s400/Picture+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371940916841180786" border="0" /></a><br />Blue Boy is mostly the original body, stretched and distorted; his head and right arm have been replaced, and most of the background is invented. Oh yeah, what passed for blue in 1770 doesn't cut it in the 21st century; we pumped that up a bit as well. Tasteless and garish, you say? Gee, I certainly hope so...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSKnCGjufAP8YX_M5pfqQc6yDHzW5z34EwRItsPhzNoh11rRvf_rTtDGhQrewZRLO-efsxqfZiXMVhwuttOs104APlUrpBf9TmmEbu6XEFEtKkxwM-CdzwQGOdGrOH1CU_PgQTHQ2ZAog/s1600-h/Picture+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSKnCGjufAP8YX_M5pfqQc6yDHzW5z34EwRItsPhzNoh11rRvf_rTtDGhQrewZRLO-efsxqfZiXMVhwuttOs104APlUrpBf9TmmEbu6XEFEtKkxwM-CdzwQGOdGrOH1CU_PgQTHQ2ZAog/s400/Picture+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371941326351095538" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Pinkie is the original painting from the waist down; from the waist up it's a model and rented costume, except for most of the bonnet and the tassels. The background is the original, only cloned and stretched; we got the frame out of a junk shop and broke it to pieces in Photoshop.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMlIKKpur8nN0szaa_wnNAZexiKfKNZK1VnLwcXjuIqltqP-xd0jiHNBSS2i4s9GqO2Hea-sX8nyVZy414VSzIsRpZvu880uj6fu5v7ePLvR9dQB9ylrMsggEa27rQOy010p2es8cASEu/s1600-h/Picture+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMlIKKpur8nN0szaa_wnNAZexiKfKNZK1VnLwcXjuIqltqP-xd0jiHNBSS2i4s9GqO2Hea-sX8nyVZy414VSzIsRpZvu880uj6fu5v7ePLvR9dQB9ylrMsggEa27rQOy010p2es8cASEu/s400/Picture+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371942030101523074" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I think the lightning bolt was from New Mexico; if it wasn't, it should have been. Never saw more lightning in my life than in NM...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxeTTk_uWM5T1HsYej3YdElWFXc7HiCryFQvT61hJZzFnBFHbOeBMqEwah_BlCiLz4fhsv4FJ8l_OIrBJ2agKcWBv0z2ojl8c7UR4M66z7Oq6wfI-mhZmMWnse3TmySO6cIhmrXdANA-u/s1600-h/Picture+4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxeTTk_uWM5T1HsYej3YdElWFXc7HiCryFQvT61hJZzFnBFHbOeBMqEwah_BlCiLz4fhsv4FJ8l_OIrBJ2agKcWBv0z2ojl8c7UR4M66z7Oq6wfI-mhZmMWnse3TmySO6cIhmrXdANA-u/s400/Picture+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371942411979156370" border="0" /></a>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-22429093047914183232009-08-10T17:48:00.000-07:002009-08-20T00:27:13.769-07:00Retouching:I took a picture of myself once, and I really got depressed seeing it; I looked old and wrinkly and tired (of course I AM old and wrinkly and tired, but that's beside the point...)<br /><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, it was pretty depressing. So I took the picture into Photoshop and retouched it, taking about twenty years off my face. And I felt much better about myself! Amazing, the power of the photographic lie to convince you that something is true when it's not - even when you know what the lie is, because you're the one who told it!</div><div><br /></div><div>So does that mean we should never retouch anything? No. When was the last time you grabbed somebody, put him or her under a spotlight against a plain background with no distractions and stared intently at their motionless, unblinking, silent face from fifteen inches away for half a minute? That's not the way we see people in real life, but that's what we experience when we look at a photographic portrait. Almost anything and anybody would wither under such ruthless examination; we retouch to make up the difference between what you see in real life and what the camera sees.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a perfect example: the first picture is what I supposedly look like (or did, five years ago) in the unforgiving glare of studio lights.</div><div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_-7sbup0N5PbsujD2HF_dvMPSPg8Vquk8goOFe5A0oUyLdEYJqIQjTZVPlP8GmgY4otxFQlxNIj0F7PfOkRRkfOprssQS3uqcPSlNcwSFUA25o10G8S1K8FDUgC7u2T_KiYTuazASV6c/s1600-h/EF+Before.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_-7sbup0N5PbsujD2HF_dvMPSPg8Vquk8goOFe5A0oUyLdEYJqIQjTZVPlP8GmgY4otxFQlxNIj0F7PfOkRRkfOprssQS3uqcPSlNcwSFUA25o10G8S1K8FDUgC7u2T_KiYTuazASV6c/s400/EF+Before.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368502190800434514" style="cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 400px;" border="0" /></a></div><div>But with only the SLIGHTEST amount of VERY SUBTLE retouching, that picture is restored to the way I REALLY look in real life...</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwi3h2p9EUD1-NxBITHeYHlvtsjLRgcJsBh4V7nZ522vD3i4uMOVeSkcakAIa-7m2XMVNRkNZC8O9fA1ieL5Faf85f-dJNB-FT0bDXBtSrEa7uXgW-b4G26989n2pXXJ7ScCWCt1GM4FC6/s1600-h/EF+After.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwi3h2p9EUD1-NxBITHeYHlvtsjLRgcJsBh4V7nZ522vD3i4uMOVeSkcakAIa-7m2XMVNRkNZC8O9fA1ieL5Faf85f-dJNB-FT0bDXBtSrEa7uXgW-b4G26989n2pXXJ7ScCWCt1GM4FC6/s400/EF+After.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368502465450299682" style="cursor: pointer; width: 330px; height: 400px;" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238415209118646922.post-29379990495628522009-08-04T12:29:00.000-07:002009-08-05T16:48:57.142-07:00Editing: before and after.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:24;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:Arial, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'm a photographer. That means I use a camera to make pictures. It doesn't mean that I subscribe to some unwritten set of rules about what you can and cannot do to the pictures once you've taken them. Whatever those rules are, I don't pay any attention to them. I manipulate the hell out of all my pictures.</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'm not interested in telling the truth. Truth and honesty are two entirely different things. I am utterly committed to being honest, but not truthful. For me, being truthful visually is recounting what you saw. Being honest is recounting what you feel. There's a big difference. I have infinite respect for journalists and documentarians who at least try to tell the truth, but that's not me.</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Photography is a unique art, in that it seems to have a set of values foisted on it from the outside that have nothing to do with its inherent nature. It's hard to imagine a piece of music where the musician was prompted to say, "this music was written without using electricity" or the preface to a novel that read, "written longhand without using a computer." But time and time again I see photographers who trumpet the fact that their pictures were created entirely in camera without the use of Photoshop. Why should we care? Is the point of photography just to see how good an image you can make with one hand tied behind your back?</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Supposedly, darkroom manipulation is OKAY - probably because it's been done since Day One, and besides, Ansel Adams did it. But using Photoshop is NOT OKAY - probably because a lot of people don't know how to use it and feel threatened by it. Frankly the distinction is utterly lost on me.</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:Arial, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If you want to limit photography to determining which horse won in a race, then I suppose it can be called truthful. But the minute you add any creativity to it, it is selective, subjective, interpretive and by definition no longer truthful. Does anybody really think Cartier-Bresson, or Stieglitz or Avedon were reporting on the way things looked? Oh, please.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:Arial, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>Here are a couple of before/after pictures to give you an idea of just how untruthful I am (at least I'm being honest about it).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This is the way the Great Wall really looks - not all that impressive on a miserable gray day with a bunch of tourists climbing all over it. I replaced the sky, took out all the distracting details and added some shadows.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuvlQES0CQv1t_nv-mSwyha7KtXVpl0b1vHOWDwOl7Pr5zaKN7xz1K55fmFzj-faatpVuSo3ZcXMZFAwuOAeGaOgha2yS27d26skx9Tix0sGNHscDXA7mL5ai1VlONHWoLY1BvuXUqKrx/s1600-h/A.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuvlQES0CQv1t_nv-mSwyha7KtXVpl0b1vHOWDwOl7Pr5zaKN7xz1K55fmFzj-faatpVuSo3ZcXMZFAwuOAeGaOgha2yS27d26skx9Tix0sGNHscDXA7mL5ai1VlONHWoLY1BvuXUqKrx/s320/A.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366194434799818210" border="0" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />Maybe it didn't look like this, but it COULD have...<br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K1k0WrX7p2CZAx6tyBdlhonby0tB2zgZr_8fM7dQt1pLxoxtkXNE_NByZ9SkuFZqjcHSfoooGwqHEzLWcrfF6GVphyqJN9t4j0FJLMVzOKujdrAE5fK_x1dMq_3hPTc170qQ1gyk2SQy/s1600-h/b+bis.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K1k0WrX7p2CZAx6tyBdlhonby0tB2zgZr_8fM7dQt1pLxoxtkXNE_NByZ9SkuFZqjcHSfoooGwqHEzLWcrfF6GVphyqJN9t4j0FJLMVzOKujdrAE5fK_x1dMq_3hPTc170qQ1gyk2SQy/s400/b+bis.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366586758029406866" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px; " /></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />This is from a series of pictures I did entitled Desert Realty. That's a play on words - it's Realty, not Reality. The building is real - in Darwin, California, a one-horse town in the middle of nowhere -<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLA0K6i-NfSHadGhjmM5PmYO9-0apEbLP07pQX0bHjA_FNOfK8drIiEbQ4CJ8KkbkP7h8sZIC_zxp_rPxKYtPNq5KMbBxa3aBdGc-aIgcXLRIvVSdBzou-hOpGJOxunQdnH2V07gfuIAdb/s1600-h/C.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLA0K6i-NfSHadGhjmM5PmYO9-0apEbLP07pQX0bHjA_FNOfK8drIiEbQ4CJ8KkbkP7h8sZIC_zxp_rPxKYtPNq5KMbBxa3aBdGc-aIgcXLRIvVSdBzou-hOpGJOxunQdnH2V07gfuIAdb/s320/C.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366194986757397762" border="0" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />but I cleaned up the location and changed the time of day to present it in a more optimal setting.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pL2T87jp7qlEGQ8YEw4T9BCoeB1skYIyyeIkWCH6nE9eUlE9KGT6SED013X3HpJGI1RUMX6rU43Ru0NVrokv89tSXViPWCYRt6riXiR9zYC93cd56R-nPJDM8vChACFPJbgDn311cQ50/s1600-h/D.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pL2T87jp7qlEGQ8YEw4T9BCoeB1skYIyyeIkWCH6nE9eUlE9KGT6SED013X3HpJGI1RUMX6rU43Ru0NVrokv89tSXViPWCYRt6riXiR9zYC93cd56R-nPJDM8vChACFPJbgDn311cQ50/s400/D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366195140460841586" border="0" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />This one was shot for stock - I loved the signs but I thought it needed more order in the composition.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeWRIA_dM2bwgxzDs47sHEmKgXZdezn1LxHF8yF7lbt_7pwQTAVtokpDzJQEJAeNs1HtayrA6K5GOO3165X9QVdsFr6wE4IACU8oeC4_cpMKbi3s7QN9WUhuk4t5hwYAHrewqop5Add6r/s1600-h/E.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeWRIA_dM2bwgxzDs47sHEmKgXZdezn1LxHF8yF7lbt_7pwQTAVtokpDzJQEJAeNs1HtayrA6K5GOO3165X9QVdsFr6wE4IACU8oeC4_cpMKbi3s7QN9WUhuk4t5hwYAHrewqop5Add6r/s320/E.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366196166847947474" border="0" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />So I drove down to another car lot, shot the cars there and combined the two. Might as well clean up the background, take out the other signs and put in a happier sky while you're at it...<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJe6Ey2Z9SyJxy5MGA4uaiKd-k1sAze5oyO0DpKdGLLrYaDCR8YqfQqbi43JelPB6wt_Vc5IZCMJvyjfhjh_5z01xkJZZMCL68JGs7MTh7GzAeqkFGvS4GrTto5zSDriURDwM0QfCTJMI7/s1600-h/F.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJe6Ey2Z9SyJxy5MGA4uaiKd-k1sAze5oyO0DpKdGLLrYaDCR8YqfQqbi43JelPB6wt_Vc5IZCMJvyjfhjh_5z01xkJZZMCL68JGs7MTh7GzAeqkFGvS4GrTto5zSDriURDwM0QfCTJMI7/s400/F.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366196304820307874" border="0" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'll probably have more to say about all this in the future. Once I get started on this subject, you can't shut me up.</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">:)</span><br /></div></span>Ed Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581999277771593613noreply@blogger.com6