Top Ten posts this month:

On Photographs Of Mundane Things
Wat is it about the photograph that makes the mundane so interesting?

The Tactile Nature Of Photography
The shift from film to digital has made the distribution of photographs to a world-wide audience as simple as turning on a light switch.

Bus Stop, Chinatown
Stockton Street, Bus Stop. Chinatown, San Francisco, CA. August 2007.

There Are No Good Photographs Of Britney Spears
PDN felt the need to write about Britney, so I don’t feel like such a schmuck bringing it up.

Cityscapes: San Francisco
Coit Tower from Nob Hill. San Francisco, California. August, 2007.

Untitled
Scoma’s Restaurant, San Francisco, California. August 2007

Photo Blog Project: Blown Away
Brian Auer over at Epic Edits has started another photography blog project entitled “Blown Away”.

What Happened To Mostly Photography?
In a nutshell, it has been absorbed. Swallowed by another website which you are now reading.

45 Union Bus Stop
Union-Stockton Bus Stop. Union Square, San Francisco, California. August, 2007

Chinatown, Vegetable Market
Chinatown vegetable market, San Francisco, California.

For those of you who didn’t catch the last post on August 23rd, today is the last day to submit.

Brian Auer over at Epic Edits has started another photography blog project entitled “Blown Away”.

“The topic is overexposure and the subject is a photo of yours. I want you to post a photo that exhibits overexposure, or blown-out highlights. If you need further definition or examples, visit my recent post titled “Should You Expose For Shadows Or Highlights?“. The image can be overexposed by the camera (which is really the intent of this project), or through post-processing.”

“Once I post the final list, you will all have the option of posting other participants’ thumbnail images and links. You can post the images (with credits), text links, or any other creative method of linking out — just as long as you give credit to the photographer. You can post the entire list, you can post your favorites, or you can post none. It’s up to you. You can also link back to my final list if you don’t want to repost all the images, but it’s not a requirement.”

The entry deadline is tomorrow, September 1st, so don’t delay. Visit the project page for details or use the form to submit your photograph.

As far as I’m concerned, this is cheating…

What is it about the photograph that makes the mundane so interesting? Why do we hang these two dimensional representations of the world in our homes and carry them in our wallets?

Our obsession with the photograph is as old as the thing itself. These objects of our affection become irreplaceable heirlooms passed from one generation to the next.

What then, makes a photograph art? What is the distinction between a memento and a museum? What part, if any, does intent really play?

Intent aside, the camera will always see more than the naked eye. It is those details that give the photograph such immense weight and power. The printed image simply gives those fleeting moments permanence.

PDN felt the need to write about Britney, so I don’t feel like such a schmuck bringing it up. Things have gotten way out of hand. At left is a “likeness” of Britney Spears. If you’ve seen any photographs of Ms. Spears lately, you know that this “likeness” is in no way shape or form even remotely close to what the woman looks like these days. Fact is that there are no good pictures of Britney Spears anymore, because the girl looks like ten miles of bad road all the time.

Quite frankly, I’m not sure why anyone is surprised that she finally went off the deep end. Southern girl, sings a few songs, puts on a Catholic school girl’s outfit, makes a boat load of money, marries a loser, divorces said loser, makes out with Madonna, marries another loser, has a few kids, divorces second loser, all the while developing a nose candy problem, don’t we know how this story ends?

Tragic lives of mediocre stars aside, given the current state of Britney, how can we refer to the cover of Allure as a picture of her? When does a photograph stop being a photograph?

How far will the retouching really go? I’m no advocate for truth in advertising, but at some point, even the most mentally inept teenagers will catch on. After all, the pictures of this woman showing her true trailer trash colors far out number the computer generated artistry the we see here.

This is not a photograph, this is not a picture. This is a computer illustration. An illustration by a talented young artist. Kudos to you, Photoshop guru, wherever you are.

The question is, is this really what popular photography has been reduced to?

Brian Auer over at Epic Edits has started another photography blog project entitled “Blown Away”.

“The topic is overexposure and the subject is a photo of yours. I want you to post a photo that exhibits overexposure, or blown-out highlights. If you need further definition or examples, visit my recent post titled “Should You Expose For Shadows Or Highlights?“. The image can be overexposed by the camera (which is really the intent of this project), or through post-processing.”

Deadline is September 1st. Visit the project page for details or use the form to submit your photograph.

Stockton Street, Bus Stop. Chinatown, San Francisco, CA. August 2007.

This Image Is Available For Purchase From RedBubble.

Coit Tower from Nob Hill. San Francisco, California. August, 2007.

In a nutshell, it has been absorbed. Swallowed by another website which you are now reading. It’s still here, for the most part, at least the pieces of it worth holding on to.

Why did this happen? Running the two separate sites was just becoming too much of a burden, and I thought it was about time that I start pushing my own work a little more.

For the most part the idea of Mostly Photography will continue, although I don’t plan on resurrecting Top Five Friday any time soon. I won’t be featuring work from other photographers anymore. I’ve decided it’s time to focus on my own photographs. It’s long overdue.

The RSS feed address will remain the same, and comments as always are open.

Enjoy.

Salted glasses, Scoma’s Restaurant, San Francisco, California. August 2007

This Image Is Available For Purchase At RedBubble.