Monologue with Photography
Monologue with Photography
Cummington, Massachusetts
Thomas Joshua Cooper is among my photographic and intellectual heroes and surely is the ultimate “far field” photographic artist by my estimation. Cooper, over the course of 30 plus years had nearly completely circumnavigated the entire Atlantic Ocean basin for his famous Atlas of Emptiness and Extremity, The World's Edge, an exhibition of 65 images from nearly 700 exposures made with a 5x7 field camera—“a wooden box that was built in 1898”—over the course of 32 years, an epic journey. It is not only for his photographic excellence that I so admire Cooper, but for his groundbreaking work with Paul Hill—famed fine art photographer, teacher and lecturer—Dialogue with Photography. “Tracing the heritage of their art through its living masters,” Hill and Cooper interviewed, among others, Ansel Adams, Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, André Kertész, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Brett Weston, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Eliot Porter, W. Eugene Smith, Laura Gilpin, Imogen Cunningham, Minor White, and Beaumont Newhall. I cannot say that the book has left my bedside since I discovered it. And if imitation is the height of flattery and with the acknowledgement that I could never emulate their achievements, I will try my best at pale imitation through my ersatz Monologue with Photography.
Conway, Massachusetts
Monologue with Photography is intended to be, among other things, nothing less than a celebration of photographers, their work, work ethic, skill, dedication, output, and their ability to engage fruitfully with unfamiliar corners of the globe or merely stood in their “back yard.” Monologue is an opportunity to investigate and highlight those qualities in ways that will, hopefully, convey a deeper understanding of the abilities, temperament, approach and philosophy essential to landscape photography and creative engagement in general, whether in the far field or in the near field—whether here in the Pioneer Valley or across the globe. I hope to shine light on those individuals and the qualities that make for successful and sustained success in photography no matter how you define “success.” Success whether you photograph regularly in far flung, Instagram-able places or whether you amble about your local woods, lakes, beaches or parks, camera in hand, looking for a hidden gem not very likely to slow the incessant scroll of social media’s unremitting drumbeat. The working hypothesis of this exploration being that value, true artistic value, can be found in both the far and the near field, the big vista or intimate scene, the places of a million “likes” and the places of a one in a million chance even slowing the scrolling thumb, satiating the hungry disquiet of distraction. And to challenge whether, as John Dewey put it, "The local is the only universal, upon that all art builds".
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Shelburne, Massachusetts
Monologue will also consist of my thoughts on the art and craft, the gear and methods, the processes and protocols of photography as well as featuring profiles of the practitioners I admire and aspire to—wherever and however they engage with their image making, whether around the bend or around the globe including their insights, practices, and philosophies. I will also feature blogs posts on photographers whose success lies in more than just their image making including influencers, content providers, publishers/editors and writers on the craft, art and philosophical underpinnings of photography and creative engagement. While I aspire Monologue to transmogrify into a modern version of what Dialogue was and is, that is a repository of experience, wisdom, inspiration and the journey of the artist told by the subject themselves, for now, it will of necessity come through the filter of my lens, hence, Monologue. Some of the profiles I hope to include over time would be TJC himself, Paul Hill and some of my other favorites including Joe Cornish, Guy Tal, Lizzie Shepherd, Nigel Danson, Rachael Talibart, Adam Gibbs, Ben Horne, Oddbjørn Austevik, Paul Reiffer, Shin Ikegami, Jon Dragonette and Andy Mumford among way too many more the list here, including many who came before us. I plan to include those that could be called occasional hobbyists, ardent enthusiasts, professional, commercial, street and expressive photographers of all walks of life with the hypothesis that we are all in need of hearing from each other no matter our “station” as image makers, photographers, creators. Check back or subscribe to see more in Monologue with Photography.
—Doug Butler
Mt. Todd