Month: November 2019

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Donald J. McKenna

DonaldJMcKenna.com

I think it is good to make photographs that may appear to have no deeper meaning or greater significance than the thoughtful examination of the subject.

I am delighted when a viewer understands my interpretation and agrees with my conclusion, but I am not disappointed if they do not. Realizing a mutually-meaningful aesthetic experience remains an elusive goal.

If my image makes some connection with a viewer and engages their imagination, I feel my photograph has successfully touched them.

— Donald J. McKenna, St. Louis, Missouri

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Larry Sykes

LarrySykes.cargo.site

One of my favorite texts, as an architect, is Martin Heidegger’s Building Dwelling Thinking. It asserts that without buildings we can’t really experience the world. The pause and refuge buildings provide give us orientation in a landscape, allowing us to “dwell” there. Buildings make landscapes meaningful to us.

Many old structures at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico — where Georgia O’Keeffe lived, painted and immortalized the incredible landscape — clearly demonstrate Heidegger’s poetic thesis. On the other hand, a group of mid-century bunkhouses I came across during a recent visit to Ghost Ranch are buildings few would accuse of adding any meaning to the landscape. What are in one sense jarringly banal structures also happen to be thoughtful designs in the best traditions of modernism: climate-attuned, economical, cleverly winking toward both old west grit and Palm Springs modern. Their peculiar relationship to the landscape only makes them more interesting to me.

— Larry Sykes, Denver, Colorado

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My Blog’s 9th Anniversary!

Nine years ago I founded the New Landscape Photography blog. It continues to bring me joy to share the work of talented contemporary artists.

As social media has taken over the photo-sharing world, I have fewer submissions and so am posting less frequently. But I believe my blog continues to be an excellent place for those who want to present multiple images and an artist statement for a project.

— Willson Cummer, Fayetteville, New York

PS: I made the picture above at Canal Landing, a small park near my home.