"Paul Furman" wrote in message
...
Dudley Hanks wrote:
Richard wrote
Dudley Hanks wrote
I find it interesting that most artists I've talked to seem to say the
same thing, "I do this because I love it. If others share my pleasure,
great. If not, that's too bad, but I don't do it for them; I do it for
myself."

To me, this is the dividing line between a professional and an artist.
The professional does it to put food on the table, so he / she is more
interested in the opinion of others, so they subordinate their own
taste to the bottom line. The true artist, to his or her own financial
detriment, always gives free reign to personal taste.

In essence, this challenge is asking for "professional" shots. For me,
that will be a challenge, so I may just have to submit something this
time.

Errrm no. I see not the mandate for "professional" shots. But, anyway
hypothetically, are you attacking this one from your professional side
or your artistic side?

There's a shot I'd LOVE to do, but I know I'd be attacked for trying to
get points by using the "freak show" angle to my advantage. While I can
pretty much guarranttee EVERYONE would find the shot INTERESTING, I doubt
I'll take it, although I may chat with the fellow and see how he feels
about it.

That shot could be done either artistically or professionally -- I'd
probably go pro on it since the more artistic it got, the louder the
howls of outrage would be.

For me, the real challenge is to come up with a professional shot,
indistinguishable from something you might see from a sighted pro in a
newspaper or magazine, something that is interesting purely from it's
content, composition subject and traditional technical merit, so that's
the route I'm favouring -- at the moment.

But, that other shot is so darn tempting ...

Freak shows can be interesting but according to the 'is it art' definition
of interesting, pure shock value might not be interesting if it's too
blatant.

Commercial work is often not interesting, like advertising it may be just
appealing to a predictable response in the public. Some TV commercials are
genuinely interesting though, and as long as it isn't a lie, that's legit.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

That's what makes this one so tough. The fellow is a long-time, dearly
beloved friend of mine. Like me, he has RP, but he has taken his talents in
a different direction: he does fabulous carpentry work.

In addition to the RP, he has a physical mutation which isn't really
shocking, just interesting; it's possibly a preview of where the human race
could be heading.

Unfortunately, though, like myself, once noticed, the mutation invariably
attracts unwanted attention from others, and has caused him a rather lot of
ugly encounters.

The reason why I don't disregard the idea outright is because I know him,
and I think he'd like an opportunity to explain that he is just another
human being, and that while he is unable to "fit" into society in a "normal"
sense, there is really no reason why it is impossible.

Take Care,
Dudley