Comments on: Zeroville, Robert Adams, Todd Hido, The Shot

By: thejamminjabber

thejamminjabber — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:44:50 +0000

Zeroville was fantastic. One of Erickson’s best. I recently conducted an in depth interview with Erickson over at ChuckPalahniuk.net
He gives some great answers:

http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/features/interviews/steveerickson/

-thejamminjabber
http://thejamminjabber.wordpress.com/

By: joe

joe — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:03:17 +0000

Hi John,

There are cliche photos in every sub-genre of photography – that doesn’t necessarily mean the bulk of the photos in a sub-genre are cliche. Is there really enough night photography out there for it to be a “tired old genre?” I mean if you throw out a few hundred people on Flickr who are trying to make photos like Troy Paiva, who is left?

Best,

Joe

By: John

John — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:23:53 +0000

I winced a bit, too, when I read 5B4′s “tired old genre” assessment of night photography, but what of his reasoning:

“The problem with most night photography is that the photographers get too seduced by the gimmick alone and fail to actually make pictures that transcend the technical process.”

Surely we’ve all seen NP that fits this description. Might he have a point?

By: joe

joe — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:26:30 +0000

Glad someone picked up on the 5B4 interview. Wish I had more time to strike up a friendly conversation about that perspective not being fair to my chosen genre.

– JR

By: Andy Frazer

Andy Frazer — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:05:29 +0000

5B4 doesn’t seem to be a big fan of the “tired old genre of night photography” (his words, not mine). Although I agree with his comments about Hido’s first two books.

By: Andy Frazer

Andy Frazer — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:46:37 +0000

“The Shot” is terrible photography, but great drama. I can’t get enough of it (honestly). If nothing else, I can mock and jeer and yell at the television when I’m watching it.