11 favorites     38 comments    474 visits

1/1187 f/2.4 2.9 mm ISO 100

Sony D5106

EXIF - See more details

Location

Lat, Lng:  
You can copy the above to your favourite mapping app.
Address:  unknown

 View on map

See also...

Everyone's Photo Pool Everyone's Photo Pool


Tolerance Tolerance


Flickr Refugees Flickr Refugees


yellow yellow


Abstract Abstract


Contemporary Abstracts Contemporary Abstracts


See more...

Keywords

yellow
traffic
gate
lines
parking
perspective


Authorizations, license

Visible by: Everyone
All rights reserved

474 visits


Ed Ruscha made me take this

Ed Ruscha made me take this
Fifty-odd years ago Time magazine published a copy of one of Ed Ruscha's gas station paintings. It leapt off the page at me and made me look at it. Then I forgot about it for forty-odd years until I took up photography. I discovered then that that painting had been thriving in my unconscious and was influencing the photos I took. This photo is of course a long way away from Ruscha's painting -- it isn't a gas station, it has two perspectives instead of one, it's shot from above while the POV in Ruscha's painting was from below, and so on. The influence is seen -- at least to me, an entirely subjective judge, who has been wrong many, many times before -- in the concentration on converging lines and what I consider to be its hard-edge look. I know this was a largely self-indulgent digression but I had to explain the title, din I? Another homage to Ruscha in the PiP.

Technical note: Taken with my arm in a sling. My elbow is still recuperating, but I was able to take this without bending it.

====================
In my self-absorption I forgot that it would be a good idea to post a link to the painting -- thanks to Sarah Paris who has provided a link below. And here it is here:
www.moma.org/collection/works/76637

More tributes to photographers and painters:
www.ipernity.com/doc/fitzgerald/album/1294982?with=45547580

Marco F. Delminho, tiabunna, Robert Cabaret, Gisela Plewe and 7 other people have particularly liked this photo


38 comments - The latest ones
 Sarah P.
Sarah P. club
Admittedly, I would no have thought to make the connection to the iconic painting housed at MOMA www.moma.org/collection/works/76637 with this particular shot, though now that you point it out, I get the converging lines and edginess.
I actually find the PIP more evocative.

Elbow? I must have missed a previous note. Do take care.
5 years ago.
Andy Rodker club has replied to Sarah P. club
Thank you for showing the original, Sarah, without which I would have been struggling as I had never heard of the artist nor seen the painting, however 'iconic'.
Now I see exactly where John is coming from!!
I have to say I like both!
5 years ago. Edited 5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Sarah P. club
Thanks for posting the link, Sarah. I wasn't being very helpful. My ulnar nerve got pinched at the elbow so I had day surgery and am wearing a sling till at least tomorrow.

Interesting behavioural manipulation -- they dressed the wound in cotton batting, which sheds a lot, so you have to keep the sling on.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Andy Rodker club
My thanks to Sarah, too. As I said to her I haven't been very helpful. And thanks for seeing the connection, Andy. I did want to know if others saw it.
5 years ago. Edited 5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has added
The photo in the PiP is a bit closer to pop art, I think, because it's got commercial iconography in it.I like Bradford Collins' very persuasive idea that the pop artists were the first to acknowledge that iconography was no longer religious, political, or philosophical, but commercial. Not a new idea at the time (McLuhan wrote a popular treatment of it in 1948), but the artists did a good job with it when they got their hands on it.
5 years ago.
Sarah P. club has replied to John FitzGerald club
Your elbow, my foot -- I'm hobbling around after (very minor) toe surgery, wearing one of those fashionable velcro sandals that adds a note of octogenarian to one's look and feel.
Let's try and both recover soon.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Sarah P. club
I was at the hospital today to get the dressing removed, and had to wait with the fracture patients for a while. I felt very healthy.
5 years ago.
Sarah P. club has replied to John FitzGerald club
Indeed.
5 years ago.
 William Sutherland
William Sutherland club
Excellent capture and PIP!

Admired in:
www.ipernity.com/group/tolerance
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to William Sutherland club
Thanks, William.
5 years ago.
 rdhinmn
rdhinmn club
There is something 1930's art about this. Almost something revolutionary - like the barrier rod pointing at the yellow post like a rifle barrel, its shadow doing the same. Or is that too fanciful?
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to rdhinmn club
That actually may be the real source, Bob. I was reminded of a firing squad.
5 years ago.
 Ulrich John
Ulrich John club
Thanks for the text together with the picture ! Excellent !
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Ulrich John club
Tanks, Ulrich, and you're welcome.
5 years ago.
 Jean
Jean
I've just showered and cleaned my teeth and here I am finding out about a painter who somehow has passed me by. The wonders of the internet. Thanks to Sarah I was able to have a look at the painting which influenced you and yes, I can see the connection especially the hard edged quality. Glad your elbow is doing well and not holding you back.
5 years ago.
Andy Rodker club has replied to Jean
Me too, Jean!!
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Jean
Thanks, Jean. Ruscha would have passed me by, too, Jean, if I hadn't read that one issue of Time back in 1966 or so. I didn't hear about him again till 2008 or so, but the painting immediately popped into my head. And then it started appearing on the photos.
5 years ago.
 Andy Rodker
Andy Rodker club
Hi John,
I like it!
Please see my reply to Sarah Ps' comment.
I see Jean too has had the same experience!
Hope your arm gets better quickly.
5 years ago. Edited 5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Andy Rodker club
Thanks, Andy. I replied to your other comment, too.
5 years ago.
 J. Gafarot
J. Gafarot club
I like the picture, John; and thank you for telling us about its inception.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to J. Gafarot club
Thanks, José, and you're welcome.
5 years ago.
 Gabi Lombardo
Gabi Lombardo club
very well seen an done! I hope your arm is getting better!!
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Gabi Lombardo club
Thanks, Gabi. I have a check-up tomorrow and I think I will be relieved of the sling then. The elbow hasn't been much trouble at all.
5 years ago.
 Gisela Plewe
Gisela Plewe club
Herzlichen Dank für die Erläuterung. Ich werde mich mit Ruscha befassen.
Dir gute Besserung! Ich kenne das gut!
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Gisela Plewe club
Just noticed I thanked you, Gisela, but forgot to post it as a reply. My arm is out of the sling now.
5 years ago.
 John FitzGerald
John FitzGerald club
Thanks, Gisela, and you're welcome.
5 years ago.
 Robert Cabaret
Robert Cabaret club
...très belle illustration de " l'art de voir " et de celle de la " culture de l'oeil ".... !
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Robert Cabaret club
Thank you very much, Robert. La culture de l'oeil is an interesting idea. It seems like something photographers would do well to think about it. In all senses of culture. If you can recommend any sources I would be grateful.
5 years ago.
Robert Cabaret club has replied to John FitzGerald club
Tout d'abord, merci, je ne connaissais pas Ed. Ruscha ...! Par certains aspect de sa peinture, il me fait penser à Ed. Hopper, dont je suis fan ....
Pour la culture de l'oeil, je n'ai pas d'autres sources que celles de ma propre réflexion, de l'observation, de l'attention que je porte à la tentative de mettre en valeur tout ce qui nous entoure....! En bref, je m'efforce de " pratiquer " la photographie, plutôt que de " prendre " des photos .... Bien à vous, amicalement.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Robert Cabaret club
An interesting distinction, Robert. In English we often talk about capturing photos, as if they were butterflies. Something else for me to think about; thanks for the help. I've been thinking lately that one of the reasons I like photography is that it helps highlight features that otherwise are lost in visual noise -- I don't know how close that is to "mettre en valeur", but I think there could well be some relationship.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has added
Hopper did excellent work with light and set a good example for photographers, I think.
5 years ago.
 tiabunna
tiabunna club
I'm another who was not aware of Ruscha, so I've found these images and discussion quite educational. I hope your elbow is improving well, John.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to tiabunna club
Thanks, Keith. I'm now out of the sling and the wound is healing well.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has added
I mean thanks, George. FOr some reason I've become convinced you and Keith Burton are the same person, even though I'm aware you live on opposite sides of the world.
5 years ago.
Andy Rodker club has replied to John FitzGerald club
I couldn't help but laugh out loud!
Keith and George one and the same? Yes, I can see your point John!
Must be the nautical influence in their lives!
Pleased you are out of your sling and pleased you introduced some of us to Ruscha! I too see a bit of Hopper.
Best wishes,
Andy
5 years ago. Edited 5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Andy Rodker club
I don't think I confuse them so much, Andy, as their first names. The nautical influence, however, may play a role.
5 years ago.
 MaggsMep
MaggsMep club
Like several others I'd never heard of this artist before, but I too can see the influences. I like both the main capture as an extension of Ruscha's ideas, and the PiP, the more evocative of the original.
Are you trying out for the part of the one armed man the Fugitive has been looking for all these years? GWS.
5 years ago.
 John FitzGerald
John FitzGerald club
Thanks, Maggs. I'm very glad other people can see the influence. And I'm glad they like Ruscha, too.

I'm no longer wearing the sling, so Kimble doesn't have a chance now.
5 years ago.

Sign-in to write a comment.