AV News 184 - May 2011
The brains expectation fires into the visual system determining how the missing
details are to be fed in.
Page 37 of the 'New Scientist, number 2778', dealing with the artists Monet
and the Impressionists, argues that the blurry shapes and splashes, mean we
have to draw on memories to supply many visual details. The blurred forms
speak directly to the ammygdala, a part of the brain involved in the processing
of emotions. The ammygdala is on the lookout for unfocused threats lurking in
our peripheral vision and tends to react more strongly to those things we haven't
picked up consciously. Blurred images seem to have privileged access to the
subconscious. The 'crude' strokes of Impressionist paintings delay our
conscious response and engage the brain's emotional centres
I think it is worth noticing that Julia Margaret Cameron broke all the rules of
the 1860's photography and was widely criticised for doing so. She deliberately
used soft focused images (or blurred) yet made some of the greatest portraits of
the 19th century. Her famous portraits of Thomas Carlyle have images so
blurred and out of focus that most people would have thrown them into the
dustbin. Yet her portraits of Carlyle exude an energy that is irresistible.
This may be an illustration of the process discussed above. (This paragraph
is taken from the book, 'The Genius of Photography')
I would very much like to know how many of the effects in 'Colour Wash' were
achieved. For example were you using masking in P2E. The only slight worry I
have with 'Colour Wash' is that I could not see why the commentary appears at
all, I found it something of an intrusion in my experience of the great visual
sequence. Many thanks for letting us see your work.' John Smith
Now, my main remote mentor on the art of seeing has been David Hockney.
About 25 years ago I was priviledged to meet him at the Bradford National
Museum of Photography Film and Television (now, sadly having had another
renaming!) when I took part in an International Competition of Photography
abandoning the We