If I were an artist, I was the least of them. Try as I might, I've never been much of a drawer, painter, sculptor, or bedazzler. I hoped all of this might change after I first acquired my digital camera about seven years ago. Since photography is a legitimate art form and does not appear to be too difficult, other than pointing and clicking, what really stood between me and and the career of a brilliant artist?
About a week after I received the camera, I took it with me on a trip to New York City with Alice and Jessica. I thought I could take some meaningful shots of the gritty city, but lacked the inspiration. Every potential subject seemed cliched, which is obviously not my style, as evidenced by the the toilet paper. Late at night, as we walked the streets, we encountered a funeral home with sad elderly people shuffling out. This scene could be my first legitimately artsy shot! As I reached for my pocket to grab my camera, both of my friends attempted to stop me, shaming me for exploiting a sad situation. I didn't share their viewpoint. Would you discourage the Tiananmen Square photographer for being invasive? I happen to find the tiny women comforting one another after the viewing to be quite touching.
A couple of weeks later, I replicated the resulting photo to share with others. It's been called "tacky," "tasteless," and "sick." Instead of garnering me artistic cred, this photograph has been cited as an example of my bad sense of humor and judgment. Nevertheless, I still like it, and I'm sure I could find you a hippy-dippy art major who would think it is "brilliant," too.
3 comments:
Why do people condemn artwork associated around death? By the same token, what does a crucifix represent except mutilation and should therefore be considered grotesque.
I think your photo is beautiful, Kevvy. You're preserving a piece of history, not to mention human emotion and the ritualistic practices of our culture.
Ahem. I resent my representation in said story! Yes, I was at first repulsed that you were photographing the elderly leaving a funeral. And let's not forget that you were GIGGLING as this happened. This was no serious event for Kevo, my friends. However, I also indulged in a bit of voyeurism. I, too, took a photo of ye old Greenwich Funeral Home as well and blew it up to an 8 by 10 photo in the lab myself. So I think that my depiction as merely a friend attempting to stop you is inaccurate.
That is all.
I might have giggled, but that doesn't make me anything short of serious, it just means I take satisfaction in my art.
I didn't know you had a photo of the same funeral home! Do you still have it?
I apologize for characterizing you incorrectly, but I only remember being chided.
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