loving memories in black and white

black and white

The last post was about color. It was brief and impressionistic. I had more to say, especially about some of the great artists I mentioned, but I got distracted with thoughts about the past.

Over the past two days, I’ve been looking at more old photographs and thinking about time spent at home (wherever that might be) and in far away places with strangers, friends and mostly family. When done well, the best of these photographs have captured special moments in time. The images are loaded with meaning for me. Today, these images continue to stimulate a torrent of memories from my past. They are single moment’s captured that, as Henri Cartier-Bresson said so elegantly, satisfy the heart, mind and eye.

To take photographs means to recognize — simultaneously and within a fraction of a second — both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one’s head, one’s eye and one’s heart on the same axis. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

The last post was about color. It was brief and impressionistic. I had more to say, especially about some of the great artists I mentioned, but I got distracted with thoughts about the past.

Over the past two days, I’ve been looking at old photographs and thinking about time spent at home and in far away places with strangers, friends and family. When done well, the best of these pictures capture unique moments in time–a shot of my lovely wife on my 30th birthday on a warm Austin afternoon, a summer vacation with my pensive brothers in Vienna, an aimless afternoon in Boston, and a forgotten alley in New Mexico. All of these are loaded with meaning or simple beauty.

Today, these images continue to stimulate a torrent of memories from my past. I’m glad these instants are captured forever in photos. And, as Henri Cartier-Bresson said so elegantly, photographs should satisfy the heart, the mind and the eye. I look forward to more satisfying shots, more memories, and more inspiration from moments and masters like Cartier-Bresson.

Speaking of inspiration, it’s time to lie back and reflect on a few of the many brilliant photos from the master himself.

Henri Cartier-Bresson. Hyde Park in the grey drizzle. 1937.

colors

seeing colors

Ingrid has been busy capturing the many vibrant colors of  spring on her blog. Her photos of flowers are loaded with color and life. She has nicely recorded mother nature’s elegant artistic expressions. In looking at her great snapshots, I’m reminded of some of my favorite artists who are now categorized as anything from abstract expressionists to color-field theory painters to  post-painterly abstractionists. Regardless of what they’re called today, folks like Rothko, Newman, and Stella all used color in important and evocative ways.

Above (and below) I’ve posted a few photos where color steals the show. I’ve slightly tweaked the original snapshots, but, for the most part, I’ve tried to keep true to the original subject.

wall in amsterdam, 2007

a restaurant in el paso, 2008

walls at mit, 2009

a poster in spain, 2007

stopping to smell the flowers

 

Ingrid's tulip

School is over so Ingrid and I have been able to enjoy some of the benefits of a New England spring. Although we miss the wildflower season back home, the flower show in Cambridge has been nothing short of stunning. Ingrid has snapped some beautiful shots of the flowers in our neighborhood and beyond. She has put many of her photos on her site, here.

I’ve also started a new project that I’ll post more about soon. For now, here’s a fuzzy teaser graphic.