Weather photography/ers

I sit here, safe, on my couch watching the Weather Channel track Hurricane Gustav. Several poor souls are reporting from the storm path and are being beaten down by rain and wind (one fellow just talked about being stung in the face by the rain).

There is nothing like weather to humble humankind. I too am fascinated by it. Weather was in fact the topic of my very first blog post.

I have often wondered, why do we crave such images? Besides the obvious ratings boost, is such weather watching a contemporary desire for the sublime?

I did a quick search and found a photographer "The Weather Paparazzi" and a stock agency "Weather Pix" that specialize in weather photography (visit the former to see his tag line). I share these links only out of curiosity. I hope that all of those in Gustav's path fair the storm. Be safe.

IMAGE: Hurricane Isabel, from here

Sick of being...

Apparently, this winter just wants to keep coming back. With each new temperature swing and snowfall, I get sick. Going to Miami, being on a plane, coming back to a big snowstorm, and burning the candle at both ends likely didn't help either. This couldn't come at a better time - not. Thus, announcing the results of the PRC's juried show has been delayed just a tad (sorry folks) and I go into installation of a pretty cool (but intense) show of interactive, kinetic cinematic work, Picture Show, with what appears to be a sinus infection. It's going to be fine, I keep telling myself, breath in, breath out. In the meantime, read this great preview of Picture Show--the PRC's Boston Cyberarts offering--by Randi Hopkins in the Boston Phoenix.

So, lying here on the couch, I decided to try on some new clothes aka a new blog template. I am getting spring fever and will likely be dabbling in a website and revamping the blog soon. Keep checking back, I might change my stripes. Forecast in Boston for tonight, snow...jeesh.

Erica von Schilgen's Mon Petit Espace, from Picture Show

Welcome to my new blog!

When I wrote this on Saturday, snow was falling. This is the first real snow in Boston and it was the beautiful kind, soft and quiet. I am inclined in part to dedicate this post to Alec Soth, in honor of "snow week" as he declared last week on his most excellent blog. For today's topic, I thought I'd share some musings about photography and weather.

I am reminded of comments Frank Gohlke made during a lecture for the PRC. Inspired by a cogent question, he got quite excited about addressing the concept of weather as seen in his images. Weather is as illusive as most moments we seek to capture in photography; its remnants are what we capture. In Gohlke's work from the Midwest, threatening clouds and lightening strikes often hover in the distance. In his Mt. Saint Helens work, weather becomes a method of healing and a welcome constant in a ravaged landscape. Gohlke's interest perhaps stems in part from growing up in Tornado Alley. As I learned while living in Texas and Tennessee, when faced with such potential fury, the weather takes on an increased significance. I also recall Ben Fink's "Shadow Realms" work from Silvereye's online gallery. Although I am not sure ultimately how I feel about the whole series, the issues the work brings up are interesting. Raised by a stepmother who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, Fink often photographs before a storm, enhancing them later, explaining he finds "comfort in revisiting these potential sites for disaster." Viewing some of these images, I am reminded of landscapes by Thomas Cole, Frederick Edwin Church, and John Constable--all of whom incorporated elements of weather, sometimes verging on the hyperreal, into their paintings. Of course, I would be remiss if I did not also mention J. M. W. Turner in this discussion, who could arguably be called "the painter of weather."

My partner Bruce and I discussed this while riding in the car to get ingredients for moussaka yesterday. He pointed out that weather is intrinsically attached to our emotions; during certain kinds of weather, we often get emotional or are reminded of an emotional time. Photography and weather for him are very connected and he finds that images that capture some kind of weather, or more broadly atmosphere, are the most successful. The sun has come out again, and thus I end my post.

From www.frankgohlke.com and www.benfinkphoto.com