[-= Sterebox & AngelZhou =-] A Photo A Day 2006

[AngelZhou]

"Elevator Ride"

This Picture was taken with Camera on 15 seconds-Mode while in Elevator, roughly the time it took for me to reach my floor .... "complicated" by over-excessive contrast pushing :sweat:

very straightforward :sweat:

Angel like also :lovegrin: but doesnt scream for simplicity to me :dunno:

 

[eikin]

... a 'simple' picture can be easily 'complicated' by external influences.

the external influences are part of the picture, and they are complicated, then how can the picture be simple in the first place? hmm ... ;p is the picture trying to be simple? or the maker trying to make a simple picture? or the viewer trying to see a simple picture? but it's complicated as it is :sweatsm:

 

[Stereobox]

looks like twilight zone ... :thumbsup: for the image ... abstract expressionism at work

thanks for the :thumbsup: hehehehe

but unfortunately, it is NOT abstract expressionism, although it 'looks' similar in 'style' to certain works of abstractions. the notion behind the picture is somewhat totally different from what abstract expressionism is about.

 

[Stereobox]

the external influences are part of the picture, and they are complicated, then how can the picture be simple in the first place? hmm ... ;p is the picture trying to be simple? or the maker trying to make a simple picture? or the viewer trying to see a simple picture? but it's complicated as it is :sweatsm:

exactly my point! :thumbsup:

the execution of the picture is very simple and straightforward ... a 15 seconds exposure of the elevator i was in. nothing more, nothing less.

the inherent motion blur makes the whole photograph looks 'complicated'. but does it mean the execution behind is any more complicated than explained above? i added in a further layer of 'complication' by tweaking the contrast...further removing the 'execution' from what the final output appears to the viewer.

as i have mentioned before in this post (there i go again hehehe), "we are somehow clouded by external sources and struggle to understand the essence of simplicity." this picture is also used to partly illustrate that point (though not a particularly strong example).

over the week, i will be repeating and re-quoting myself over and over, as i seek further clarifications on my thoughts on 'simplicity'. so bear with me :bsmilie: (hence i've earlier seeked forgiveness for my 'increasingly self-indulgent' explorations:embrass: )

 

[zhang3feng]

it might no longer be simple or simplicity due to the fact that your explaination made it complicated too.. :think:

 

[Stereobox]

it might no longer be simple or simplicity due to the fact that your explaination made it complicated too.. :think:

i shall answer this with my own quote hehe

all in all, the entire series will be an exercise in irony. isn't simplicity supposed to be simple?

 

[zaren]

exactly my point! :thumbsup:

the execution of the picture is very simple and straightforward ... a 15 seconds exposure of the elevator i was in. nothing more, nothing less.

the inherent motion blur makes the whole photograph looks 'complicated'. but does it mean the execution behind is any more complicated than explained above? i added in a further layer of 'complication' by tweaking the contrast...further removing the 'execution' from what the final output appears to the viewer.

as i have mentioned before in this post (there i go again hehehe), "we are somehow clouded by external sources and struggle to understand the essence of simplicity." this picture is also used to partly illustrate that point (though not a particularly strong example).

over the week, i will be repeating and re-quoting myself over and over, as i seek further clarifications on my thoughts on 'simplicity'. so bear with me :bsmilie: (hence i've earlier seeked forgiveness for my 'increasingly self-indulgent' explorations:embrass: )

i think there are two separate issues here.
firstly, the execution of the shot.
secondly, how the shot is viewed by the viewer.
a shot can be simply executed but look complicated.
just as a shot that is painstakingly executed can look simple.
to me, i look for simplicity in the image, irregardless of how easy or difficult it was to take the shot.
in this instance, both the execution and the look of the image are complex.
why do i say that?
for a start, executing a 15 second exposure is not a trivial matter of merely pointing and shooting, but involves shooting in manual mode, with a camera that allows you to do so. further tweaking of the contrast was also required. a "simple" shot for me would be to point and shoot, and use the image straight out of the camera.
secondly, the image itself looks complex, involving several different colours and forms.
would be interested to hear your further views on this.

 

[Stereobox]

the only way to free yourself of all attachments is not to see at all, for that also prevents you seeing with your mind's eye. speaking of which, an empty canvas holds a lot of meaning for some ppl, a fact which may not surprise u.

"to know all, is to know nothing at all"

just like the infamous tea cup example states (of which i shall use bruce lee's interpretation :bsmilie: ). a tea cup which is full cannot possibly contain any more (refering to a mind which is full of 'attachments')
if one doesn't empty the tea cup, how can more tea go in? (thus depriving urself a chance to taste new tea). in this case, "an empty cup is an useful cup"

regarding the canvas part...are you refering to this?:embrass:

------------------

If "Freeiing oneself of all attachments, attain ultimate simplicity" is what stereobox aiming for, Angel actually more toward "What lies beyond the simplicity."

Isnt simplicity supposed to be simple?
Perhaps.
But is that's all - is there any other possibility?
I do think so.

this reminds me of science and the 'discovery' of the atoms, subatomic particles sub-subatomic particles and whatnots that make up the elements. how far and how 'small' can we go? how simple can 'simple' be?

---------------

You reminds me of a story I read before.

One of the character said something like, "The older we get, the tendecy for us to lie grow more and more. We begin to lie to others - to ourselves also somehow. We are afraid of others' reaction and end up change ourselves to someone else."
Sad but true, but what I like is what he said next.
"However there will be a time when you meet someone. Someone whom you wont be afraid to be what you really are. Someone you can be completely honest too."

i thought the older we get, the lesser we lie to others and ourselves? i thought it is only during the younger days we tend to be confused about our identities and often 'conform' to fit in. wait..maybe i got it all wrong.

maybe to me, it's about how much i 'hide' myself from others. but yes! there will be a time i meet someone whom i will 'show' all hands :bsmilie:

--------------

I guess, "What know is what you see."

Agree with Zaren - people tend to relate their exposure with what they trying to understand. The first time i look at this pic, i thot it's a porcupine's hair.

i proofed the pic on my office Mac, and the subtle shape on the left seems to be lost. so i reworked a 'darker' version here


----------------

 

[zaren]

"to know all, is to know nothing at all"

just like the infamous tea cup example states (of which i shall use bruce lee's interpretation :bsmilie: ). a tea cup which is full cannot possibly contain any more (refering to a mind which is full of 'attachments')
if one doesn't empty the tea cup, how can more tea go in? (thus depriving urself a chance to taste new tea). in this case, "an empty cup is an useful cup"

regarding the canvas part...are you refering to this?:embrass:

"to focus on one thing, is to master it"

first savour the full cup of tea, understand and appreciate all the finer points and nuances of that cup of tea, then it will make the appreciation of all other teas that much simpler. a mind which knows one thing well admits no distraction, while the empty mind may only scratch the surface of understanding of many things.

 

[Stereobox]

i think there are two separate issues here.
firstly, the execution of the shot.
secondly, how the shot is viewed by the viewer.
a shot can be simply executed but look complicated.
just as a shot that is painstakingly executed can look simple.
to me, i look for simplicity in the image, irregardless of how easy or difficult it was to take the shot.
in this instance, both the execution and the look of the image are complex.
why do i say that?
for a start, executing a 15 second exposure is not a trivial matter of merely pointing and shooting, but involves shooting in manual mode, with a camera that allows you to do so. further tweaking of the contrast was also required. a "simple" shot for me would be to point and shoot, and use the image straight out of the camera.
secondly, the image itself looks complex, involving several different colours and forms.
would be interested to hear your further views on this.

ahh!! provoking questions raised :think:

hmmz..i have made it known in post #821 that "my interpretation of the theme 'simplicity' is not merely to take photographs of 'simple' topics, objects or even taking photographs 'simply' "

once i am able to 'excuse' myself from the above, i am 'free' to explore the theme as i wish.
True, true - it is very hard to distinguish between the 'nitty-gritty part' of executing the shot, and seeing the picture for what it is, the essence of which is 'a 15 seconds exposure of an elevator ride'. (my a80 only goes up to 15secs :embrass: )

agreed: the 'look' of the image IS complex, and the post-processing only adds further to the complexity.

as explained in post #844, it is to illustrate the point that we are easily distracted by 'external influences'. in the end, did we fail to see the essence of the picture? which is, again, "a 15 seconds exposure of an elevator ride".

after re-reading my own post, perhaps i have confused the viewer by substituting the word 'essence' with 'execution' :embrass:

 

[zhang3feng]

"to focus on one thing, is to master it"

first savour the full cup of tea, understand and appreciate all the finer points and nuances of that cup of tea, then it will make the appreciation of all other teas that much simpler. a mind which knows one thing well admits no distraction, while the empty mind may only scratch the surface of understanding of many things.

:thumbsup: chim, but i like :bsmilie:

 

[zhang3feng]

ahh!! provoking questions raised :think:

hmmz..i have made it known in post #821 that "my interpretation of the theme 'simplicity' is not merely to take photographs of 'simple' topics, objects or even taking photographs 'simply' "

once i am able to 'excuse' myself from the above, i am 'free' to explore the theme as i wish.
True, true - it is very hard to distinguish between the 'nitty-gritty part' of executing the shot, and seeing the picture for what it is, the essence of which 'a 15 seconds exposure of an elevator ride'. (my a80 only goes up to 15secs :embrass: )

agreed: the 'look' of the image IS complex, and the post-processing only adds further to the complexity.

as explained in post #844, it is to illustrate the point that we are easily distracted by 'external influences'. in the end, did we fail to see the essence of the picture? which is, again, "a 15 seconds exposure of an elevator ride".

after re-reading my own post, perhaps i have confused the viewer by substituting the word 'essence' with 'execution' :embrass:

i personally thinks that the 1st impression of what the image gives in the most real n most direct impact... even if your theme is on simplicity & ironic comes in, the viewer will get kinda confused.. and after reading the write-up... if one havent been reading up all passed posts.. the viewer will only gets even more confused and in the end might not be able to appriciate the image according the what the photographer wants it to be...:think:

edit: fix grammer error

 

[Stereobox]

"to focus on one thing, is to master it"

first savour the full cup of tea, understand and appreciate all the finer points and nuances of that cup of tea, then it will make the appreciation of all other teas that much simpler. a mind which knows one thing well admits no distraction, while the empty mind may only scratch the surface of understanding of many things.

me too! :thumbsup: especially the "a mind which knows one thing well admits no distraction" beautiful!

but i don't think bruce lee (and whoever invented the tea cup thingy) meant it to say, "learn something then dump it to make space for others" literally.

it is more like, sometimes we 'think' we know something very well already, and become 'complacent', refusing to acknowledge our own ignorance in the bigger scheme of things (NO OFFENCE INTENDED TO ANYONE!! it does sound offending :bsmilie: ), or we are already preconditioned to accept something, and we find difficulty to let go, to explore 'beyond' .. like AZhou has suggested.

:think:

 

[zhang3feng]

me too! :thumbsup: especially the "a mind which knows one thing well admits no distraction" beautiful!

but i don't think bruce lee (and whoever invented the tea cup thingy) meant it to say, "learn something then dump it to make space for others" literally.

it is more like, sometimes we 'think' we know something very well already, and become 'complacent', refusing to acknowledge our own ignorance in the bigger scheme of things (NO OFFENCE INTENDED TO ANYONE!! it does sound offending :bsmilie: ), or we are already preconditioned to accept something, and we find difficulty to let go, to explore 'beyond' .. like AZhou has suggested.

:think:

i think we have been exploring "beyond", have we tried exploring "within" ourselves? :think:

abit chim... ;p

 

[Stereobox]

i personally thinks that the 1st impression of what the image gives in the most real n most direct impact... even if your theme is on simplicity & ironic comes in, the viewer will on get kinda confuse.. and after reading the write-up... if one havent been reading up all passed posts.. the viewer will only gets even more confuse... and in the end might not be able to appriciate the image according the what the photographer wants it to be...:think:

lol! :thumbsup: good observation there.

again...i shall answer with my own quotes again :sweat:

i apologise to visitors of our thread who have to deal with my increasingly self-indulgent themes.

over the week, i will be repeating and re-quoting myself over and over, as i seek further clarifications on my thoughts on 'simplicity'. so bear with me :bsmilie: (hence i've earlier seeked forgiveness for my 'increasingly self-indulgent' explorations:embrass: )

hmm...i sound unapologetic, do i? paiseh paiseh!

i promise my next theme (which will be 2 weeks later) will be easier on everybody!

 

[Stereobox]

i think we have been exploring "beyond", have we tried exploring "within" ourselves? :think:

abit chim... ;p

you take 'beyond' too literally la :bsmilie:

beyond can also mean exploring within oneself...how deep can you go?

hmm..suddenly think of Matrix again liao...

how far can the rabbit hole go :bsmilie:

 

[zhang3feng]

you take 'beyond' too literally la :bsmilie:

beyond can also mean exploring within oneself...how deep can you go?

hmm..suddenly think of Matrix again liao...

how far can the rabbit hole go :bsmilie:

and the Oracle says #!@!$%^$^!$%#@$^$^%$&#@~! (only the matrix understands) :bsmilie:

 

[Stereobox]

and the Oracle says #!@!$%^$^!$%#@$^$^%$&#@~! (only the matrix understands) :bsmilie:

frankly, i was quite disappointed with how the Architect looked.

was expecting something larger than life :bsmilie:


ok ok..i can see how far the rabbit hole goes tonight... more OT ahead! :bsmilie:

continue another night bah... (jacks out of the Matrix)

thanks for the critiques and comments Zaren,Z3Feng,eikin and ... :lovegrin: AZhou!

 

[zhang3feng]

:lovegrin: :devil: :heart: :kiss:

Gotta have a early break tonite.. had a terrible day at work...
hope to see more works! & more discussion! coz it really helps in the notion of photography :thumbsup:

gd nite guyzzzzz

 

[StereoB&AZhou]

Dedicated to the darkness,

Entitled, "Common Space. A Last Hope."