HOME | DD
CapscesDigitalInk β My Own Worst Enemy
#basement #deviantart #house #myownworstenemy #photography #photoshop #portrait #symbolism #window #fine_art #self #capscesdigitalink #don_west
Published: 2016-04-05 20:44:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 1244; Favourites: 52; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
Self portraitEver watchful I peer from my stronghold unaware that I have maneuvered into position and I am just about to get myself.
Dripping with symbolism: smoking, very bad. Β BB gun, not much of a threat, Β good and evil, which is which, rinky dink staging, certainly not a very prestigious affair, foolishness of youth, we are all out to get ourselves one way or another.
Winter of 1977/78. In camera masking, 4x5 Camera, B&W .
Related content
Comments: 46
π: 1 β©: 1
π: 0 β©: 0
clever and why didn't I think of this?
eugene
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you very much!
π: 0 β©: 0
Love this! All too often we are----our worst enemy!!!Β
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you so very much!! Yes it's true!
π: 0 β©: 0
Thank you!
π: 0 β©: 0
Thank you! It was a two for one, 4x5 in camera masking and a self portrait, I was a student at the Art Institute of Atlanta, it was the winter of 1977.
π: 0 β©: 1
I guess I was in grade 1 or 2 at that time. 
π: 0 β©: 0
Maybe the term 'rinky dink' should just be 'simple'. I think it is perfect. the concept is clear and true!
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you so very much!
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you so much!
π: 0 β©: 1
You're welcome
π: 0 β©: 0
Most welcome!
π: 0 β©: 0
It reminds me of myself and friends... we always played to shoot each other, we had many hidings and tactics.
It was so much fun, we built weapons to shoot with acorns or little stones;
but when I think back... and see the world nowadays (and history) I just think it was foolishness of youth.
π: 0 β©: 1
That is the way of art, regardless of the artist intent, the viewer relates to each image in their own way from their own experience.
I hope this image touched you in a positive way,Β stirred a happy memory.
Yes, it is a story of foolishness and the futility of conflict. It makes no difference if I conquer or am conquered by myself, I remain me.
Thank you so much for you comment and other kindness, I am humbled and honored.
π: 0 β©: 1
Yes, it touched me in a positive ans inspirative way!
You are really welcome... I wish you all the best and much creativity!
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you so much!
π: 0 β©: 0
guess who is Your own worst enemy right?
very good concept and its execution
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you very much!
π: 0 β©: 1
Really impressed with this. People think this is easy now because of digital effects, but you did this in-camera.Β You had to know stuff in them days, and have the patience.
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you very much! Yes, the digital world is much more forgiving, but you still have to know stuff. Β I was a photography student at the Art Institute of Atlanta at the time, 1977. This was shot with a 4x5 view camera, the masking shutter made from mat board. It actually took several attempts. Patience is still the secret success.
π: 0 β©: 1
4x5 is a pretty big format!Β I've never studied photography, and everything I've ever done is with guesswork...my attempt at developing resulted in spilled chemicals and ruined films, but the smell was interesting.Β The largest format I've ever used is 6x6cm - I used to have a cheap Russian twin lens reflex called a Lubitel....I did a few interesting pics with it, but I was too disorganized and messy (and impatient) to get any really worthwhile results.
π: 0 β©: 1
4x5 is the low end of large format and the school provided the cameras. As for studying photography, you just learn the recipe. Exposure and focus are the most critical. Yes, most endeavors require guesswork. In those days it was all guesswork and you didn't know what you had until the film was processed. I worked in the camera room of a local news paper for a while, that was the largest format I ever worked with. I was just a big copy camera with a very narrow depth of field. I have a tiger that I produced, where I made the drawing shot it in the copy camera, retouched the film and made contact prints. I'll dig one out and post it. The original pencil drawing was given to a pressman, something about a tattoo. Most of my analog photography was 35mm, my best film camera was a Mamiya/Sekor 500 DTL; currently I use a Samsung NX300. I don't miss the smell of chemistry and it was always a mess. I certainly was not the best in the darkroom. Digital cameras and Photoshop are much more forgiving. You see what you've got when you shoot it and you make it what you want in Photoshop. Makes all that stuff I learned in the 70's seem like ancient history. My portfolio from those days is long dispersed, but I still have the film. I need a good filmstrip scanner. All that old work might yield worthwhile results yet.
π: 0 β©: 1
This is fantastic, and somehow inspiring.Β My stepson has a new girlfriend, and although she's only 18, she's working with film, and she bubbles with enthusiasm when she talks about it, especially about how her fellow students think she's crazy. There's something about the tangibility of it..also, when you don't have the array of goodies at your fingertips such as we do now with Photoshop, etc, human ingenuity has to come into play, as well as knowledge of exposure timing, etc. The sorcery of digital somehow doesn't have the magic of film.
π: 0 β©: 1
Yes, fantastic! And good for her! Film is a magical thing. I think about it from time to time. You can even pick up a full function 4x5 field camera for a reasonable price these days. But film cost a pretty penny. Of course there is always glass plate, with the right chemicals and a little egg white you can make your own. I miss Kodachrome the most, nothing, not even digital, can match the color and quality of transparency film. Film will always be an art form. So does she tinker with pin hole cameras? You can make your own and the resulting images can be amazing.
π: 0 β©: 1
I've only had a couple of high-speed conversations with her (you know when you're on the same page as someone, and it's almost like adrenaline kicks in, and you can cover a half-hour conversation in five minutes), but, yes, the subject of pin-hole cameras came up...she's at the local college, so I think she has access to a lot of stuff in their photography department that nobody else is interested in.Β Very bright girl.
π: 0 β©: 1
Excellent, encourage her as much as you can.
π: 0 β©: 0
amazing photo!
Transmit me the silence before the attack.
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you!
And yes, the quiet before the storm. The moment of truth.
π: 0 β©: 0
Nice job! Definitely something we can all relate to
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you very much.
π: 0 β©: 0
Thank you. This one is all old school.
π: 0 β©: 0
Perhaps it is too late, or perhaps the world will get me first. I will hang in there either way. Victory or death.
π: 0 β©: 0