Christmas, 1969

[Karm Redland]

Comments welcomed.



Karm

[Shadowman]

We need some background on this scene in order to process fully what we are viewing. Assumptions are: teenagers room, just moved in or planning to move out. Then the assorted glasses and random bottle suggest someone a little older, perhaps mom and dad are using juniors room while he is away at college.

[kdoc856]

Hi, Karm

I also am unsure how to interpret this: not sure if it is artistic or documentary. The theme does'nt seem strongly communicated. Aside from the title and the Morrison poster, I don't know that there are enough era-specific icons to fix it in a time-frame. It was sufficient to give me a moment of panic that our youngest son had moved back in.

Knowing your work, I'm sure this is a purposeful consideration, but I'm slow on the uptake on this one.

[Mike Buckley]

I like it, Karm. I disagree with the others; there is plenty of information in the photo for me. It's a really messy room with a seemingly broken bed and Christmas tree lights. No more information is needed.

I actually wish the photo wasn't captioned to indicate Christmas, as omitting the caption would make me think that this is possibly well past Christmas. The attitude that would allow leaving the Christmas tree lights up for months would be consistent with the messy room.

Consider cropping the top to just barely include the top of the mirror frame.

[Daisy Mae]

I love it Karm...am fascinated by the detritus of daily living and old enough to see things that I remember from childhood.

It's like a 'where's Wally' game but more interesting and infinitely more attractive to view.

[Karm Redland]

I'll try your suggested crop. I really like your point concerning its title. I'll think about a new title.

Karm

[Karm Redland]

Thanks. I have multiple takes on this room. Maybe I will put together an "I Spy" set of photographs that bars can you use to keep their drunks entertained.

Karm

[Karm Redland]

John, I don't want you to fully process this scene in the sense of understanding its meaning with 100% certainty. I want you to do exactly what you did: wonder about it.

Karm

[Karm Redland]

Hi Kevin. I love your line that it triggered a moment of panic in you that your youngest son has returned. Maybe you missed the Christmas lights hanging over the bedroom's window. For me, this photo is both documentary and artistic. I don't want to share its documentary meaning. For the viewer, I treat this photograph as artistic. I want this picture to elicit in the viewer questions about the room, its occupant, the state of mind of the person whose choices reflect the room's appearance, etc.

Karm

[Shadowman]

John, I don't want you to fully process this scene in the sense of understanding its meaning with 100% certainty. I want you to do exactly what you did: wonder about it.

Karm

Well it worked, I've gone back to the photo and find other things I missed before. Regarding my previous comment, needing some background, I look at photography where it tells a story as similar to a short story. With the written word, the author has more elements available to tell their story and if the reader recognizes those elements then perhaps the meaning behind the story is conveyed. As a photographer you only have a few elements, the title and the image itself. And if some direction to the meaning is not conveyed in the title, or if it is misinterpreted, then the image has to provide the missing elements. The Christmas reference threw me off track to what was conveyed in the image and I thought perhaps you could provide more clues.

[Karm Redland]

John, well stated. Thanks for your feedback.

Karm