Night Photography (in five words or less)

Case Study House No. 22
(Julius Shulman 1910-2009)

From The [not so] Daily Nocturne

Quite a different type of Full Moon
Night Photography

It's been noted (everywhere it seems - from the Blogs, to Fox, and NASA itself) that today is the 40th anniversary of the launch (MTV moment here) of Apollo 11, with Armstrong and Aldrin's moonwalk occurring 4 days later, in 1969. NASA is streaming real-time audio transcripts of the mission and there are new (X-treme sharpening in play?) images from back in the day - it's like Woodstock: "Where were you. . ." You can even learn about some of the camera gear the lads used (and left) up there!



Which bring us to this little item - R.E.M. performing with Bruce Springsteen (!) at a Vote for Change concert in Washington, a while back.

Michael cleaned up pretty nicely, don't you think?

("If you believed . . . ")

The Continued Nocturnal Wanderings
of Lynn Saville

"In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down,
And cut him 'til he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
'I am leaving, I am leaving.'
But the fighter still remains."
("The Boxer," Paul Simon/Art Garfunkel)

Fulton Landing Warehouse

As Arthur C. Danto implies in his Introduction to Night/Shift - to appreciate Lynn Saville's new book, we first might look at her previous text, Acquainted with the Night. Which is a nice way to look at an artist’s work, we think – to get some sense of continuity, change, progress – the larger view, as it were. Luckily we have the vast resources of The Nocturnes Night Photography Library at our beck and call – so here we go! It’s no secret that Ms. Saville’s first book of NPy is a long-time favorite of ours, for I’ve included discussion of it in my History of Night Photography lectures (and, no, NPy wasn’t invented at TheNocturnes.com!) since its publication in 1997; along with two other landmark monographs of the 1990s - both b/w photography, as well – Luca Campigotto’s Venice Night and Alan Delaney’s London After Dark.

Much of the work in Acquainted with the Night appears to be shorter exposures, maybe even handheld, offering an immediacy, a reactance, almost a voyeuristic thrill to the scenes we are witnesses to. The book is a contemplative look into the mysteries of the night, coupled with timeless passages of poetry dealing with various aspects of the nocturne.

As Mr. Danto notes, Night/Shift presents a seemingly "abrupt discontinuity" in the continued nocturnal wanderings of Ms. Saville. The Shift most evident is the presence of color - Acquainted with the Night was all black-and-white NPy with plenty of supporting text, including a foreward by Bill Moyers. In contrast, Night/Shift "reads" more like a typical artist's monograph: large-sized, full page plates in vivid color, simply adorned with titles, many times on otherwise blank, facing pages. With the exception of the introduction and a brief commentary by Ms. Saville at the end of the book, no other text appears, relying instead on the images (with brief, mostly geographical descriptions for titles) to tell the story. A story we all know, filtered anew thru that unique lens, the eye of the photographer: lonely walkways at night, forbidden, forlorn passageways (to what? - more darkness?) abandoned sites amidst the glow of one of the world's great metropolises, solitary quiet moments amid the constant hum of the city. One other comparison/contrast: while I still consider Acquainted with the Night to be a memoir of discrete New York moments, that text did include images from other locales (I recently noted Dingle, Ireland!) - with the new book, there is no denying the source of Ms. Saville's nocturnal attractions – this is a "greater New York" tome.

In her commentary, Lynn points out that most of the work in Night/Shift was mostly done during twilight (either evening or pre dawn – straying again from most of the work in the previous text) - that elusive period which "is a kind of fluid boundary between daylight and full night." And, in a recent interview with Double Exposure she tells us that she photographed the images in this book with medium format film cameras - we assume another departure from its predecessor: most likely 35mm film cameras.

While Mr. Danto states that the images of Night/Shift remind him of “the Paris of Atget” - I would like to point out another possible point of linkage - between Lynn Saville's work and “the New York of Jan Staller,” another New York nocturnal who has been drawn to photograph the great urban center at night. Again, we know the story – but the Shift comes about with the uniqueness, the interpretation of the quietude - that is Lynn’s alone.

"Then I’m laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren’t bleeding me,
Leading me,
Going home."
("The Boxer," Paul Simon/Art Garfunkel)

Ken at George Washington Bridge

In addition to the above images, some particular highlights for this reviewer include:
On page 9 – Smith and Ninth Streets (elevated station, hauntingly lonely in its simplicity)
Page 13 – West 42nd Street (and the cover of the book)
Page 18 – Kentile Floors (also the back cover of book - subtle pastels and chain link fences – the best of the NPy world!)
Page 59 – Pepsi-Cola Sign (my fascination for the back of neon signs is validated!)

More images from the book (as well as other earlier work) can be viewed at Lynn's site and the Paul Kopeikin Gallery site.

Please consider purchasing the book thru this link or in the Books Section of The Nocturnes Web site.

The next Lecture and Book signing will be held Wednesday, July 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Tribeca, 97 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007 – more details can be found on Lynn’s site.

Lastly, Lynn has some 20 x 24 inch Chromogenic Prints from Night/Shift on view at Yancey Richardson Gallery, 535 West 22nd Street, NYC, NY - thru August 28th. Summer hours there are Monday - Friday, 10-6pm.

(From the desk of The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man;
for The [not so] Daily Nocturne)

Night Photography (in five words or less)

"Because the night . . ."
(Patti Smith)

From The [not so] Daily Nocturne

A Zircon-encrusted Nocturne . . .

The other day on the radio there was a segment, "The parade of States" - featuring songs that mention or allude to the various states of this frail union. Included some obvious selections: "Sweet Home Alabama" (Lynyrd Skynyrd), "Carolina on My Mind" (James Taylor), "Private Idaho" (B-52s), and "Massachusetts" (Bee Gees); but also some more obscure, darker choices: "Texas" (Chris Rea), and "Montana" by Frank Zappa. This last one, long a fave, sent me scurrying to YouTube for a performance video - and, great luck! - found this from Swedish Television (1973).




Forgot what a snappy dresser Mr. Zappa could be!

The [not so] Daily Nocturne, July 4th Edition

("Well I might / Ride along the border / With my tweezers gleamin' / In the moon-lighty night")

The Hound of The Baskervilles III

"Baskerville shuddered as he looked up the long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost at the farther end."

Moving on now, with these images, to a little darker scenario - considering the recent spate of Blog commentaries (on The Online Photographer and The Landscapist Blogs) re: whether or not "the gear describes the vision" or is it something else. I know first-hand that when I was first learning, "cutting my teeth" on the nuances of photographing the nocturne (with transparency film - remember that, kids?) - as I tell my students: "after awhile it seemed that the materials described the vision" (limited tonal range, the need to avoid blown-out highlights, etc.). Now, how is that any different in the digital age - with its multitude of choices - color or b/w, a selection of white balances (color balance in film terms), adjustable ISO (ASA) settings (with ever-improving quality at high ISO speeds)? The medium (film) is simply replaced by the gear, it would seem - hardly a shock there, in our frantic, technology-driven society.

"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" (Dr Mortimer)

About the time I was pondering the above photographic conundrum (I mean, the G10 can't walk the dog!) I was listening to this fascinating story on NPR about our human lives with canines (some 10,000 - 15,000 years, now) - interviews with Stanley Coren, author, "The Modern Dog: A Joyful Exploration of How We Live with Dogs Today" and Cesar Milan ("The Dog Whisperer") - about how things have changed markedly in the last 15 years in the relationships we have (and the care we give) with dogs. Susan and I like to kid that Tegwen likes to think of us as her 'management team" - a well-meaning, but not particularly efficient one!


"A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame. Never in the delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything more savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than that dark form and savage face which broke upon us out of the wall of fog."

Enjoy these images (up to 1 second in length exposures) - for, much like Conan Doyle's serialization of the book - more, darker ones to follow . . . (in The [not so] Daily Nocturne)

("So, the dog's and human worlds are really intermingling . . . " - from TTBOOK story)

Ruby Nocturne (but no more than two . . .)

Night Photography news/views from The [not so] Daily Nocturne:

First of all - this Paris performance (1969) by the Thelonius Monk Quartet: "Ruby, My Dear" - 'nuff said?




Page Two: this image - below - from The Nocturnes' good friend, Troy Paiva (whose second book, "Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration," was selected as the Best Special Trade Photography Book of the year at the recent New York Book Festival) - here exploring the connections 'tween NPy, music, irony, and the color red (originally pointed out courtesy of Andy Frazer's Blog). BTW, by now his Web site should be revamped with a new look - check it out!


Do check back in again, for these NPy/musical connections . . . (in The [not so] Daily Nocturne)

(Oh, Ruby, don't take your love to town . . . )

The Hound of The Baskervilles II

". . . I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted."
(Hugo Baskerville's document, read by Dr Mortimer)

"They say it is the cry of the Hound of the Baskervilles.’"
(Holmes, to Sir Henry after hearing the sound).

Continuing now, with the investigation (elementary?) of the text, the G10, the question of how much blur/noise/etc. is too much, and the hazards of working with a canine model, Eschewing a tripod, working hand-held, with shutter speeds hovering 'round one-half to one full second (or two) in length, likewise concerning oursleves very little with substantial depth of field (not out usual best practices) - with these images we started honing in on certain elements of the 'near nocturne' - all the while recalling passages of this most famous work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

"Life has become like that great Grimpen Mire, with little green patches everywhere into which one may sink and with no guide to point the track." (Dr. Watson)

More to follow . . . (in The [not so] Daily Nocturne)

("But now we have to prove the connection between the man and the beast.")