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Sandstone

A

Andy brown

Well-known member
I've been really enjoying a couple of recent discussions, the ones about composition and the work of Matthieu Venot and Mondrian, Paul Abbott, Tom Dinning, Maris Rusis and well all the excellent contributors we have on here.

I went out on a whim this afternoon, nothing specific in mind except maybe a motion shot of terns.
Turns out the terns didn't come out so I was open to anything.
My attention quickly turned to the massive graffiti wall behind me (sandstone cliff).

I had pastel in mind (but beautiful ochres in front of me) and I also had shapes and simplicity in mind and Maris' repoussoirs in my mind as well.

I had a lot of fun.
Any hint of pareidolia is not necessarily accidental either.

Rock%20pattern%203%20Screen%20size_zps6jci2cjf.jpg





Rock%20pattern%205%20screen%20size_zpsghjdtkoa.jpg





Rock%20pattern%208%20screen%20size_zpsejib4p48.jpg




Rock%20pattern%2012%20screen%20size_zpspkuddjxz.jpg




Rock%20pattern%206%20screen%20size_zpsggyajc44.jpg
 
P

Paul Abbott

New member
Andy, your third and fourth images are sublime for this subject.
Can you not see to processing these two and lift them out of there 'OOC' looking appearance?
I would re-visit the scene to try and grab a beautiful close-up of those striated and colourful patterns in the third image. The right side of it has a lot to offer, they're like tree covered landscapes...well worth it, I think.
The fifth image is good too, it has a facial feature in it, very pronounced too...
 
Jerome Marot

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Paul Abbott said:
Andy, your third and fourth images are sublime for this subject.
Can you not see to processing these two and lift them out of there 'OOC' looking appearance?
I would re-visit the scene to try and grab a beautiful close-up of those striated and colourful patterns in the third image...well worth it, I think.
The fifth image is good too, it has a facial feature in it, very pronounced too...
Click to expand...

Yep: it is a good start. You have found a subject that can be used for a series. Now the questions become:
-how can we make a cohesive series?
-can we use this subject to express something? What? How do we do that?
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
Hi Paul, thanks for looking and for your comments.
I'm not familiar with ooc, I guess 'out of character'.
I've done virtually no post processing other than resizing.
The light was open shadow and there's really nothing but mid tones, very much what I saw is
what it is.
I'm certainly very open to any suggestions but I'm not quite getting what you mean just yet.
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
Jerome, thanks.
The way forward I think I can see.
Aboriginal artists use this colour palette for their amazing art (this sandstone ochre is the raw product).
If I can find a way to strike a chord in that vain I'll be happy.
I've got some Koori friends who I'll chat with for guidance. With that in mind I'm a bit excited about the potential.
 
Jerome Marot

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Andy brown said:
Jerome, thanks.
The way forward I think I can see.
Aboriginal artists use this colour palette for their amazing art (this sandstone ochre is the raw product).
If I can find a way to strike a chord in that vein I'll be happy.
I've got some Koori friends who I'll chat with for guidance. With that in mind I'm a bit excited about the potential.
Click to expand...

Now, that is a great idea, but Koori art is quite different to what we have here. I am not sure it can work.

The real question remains: if you produce a series on a subject, what will you want to say with it? At the moment, we only have the raw material.

If you look at all the artists which I introduced in this forum, there is always an underlying message in their series. The message is not always straightforward, may not be easy to tell in simple words but is always there. For example, when confronted with the series of Matthieu Venot, I am reminded of the feelings I had when visiting seaside resorts at the end of the summer season. It is a strange feeling, a mixture of lost opportunities and imminent decay, the weather is still warm, the light is magnificent, yet time is slow, the tourists are gone, the shopkeepers are packing away. You know the whole resort will close down for winter and you have the distinct feeling that it may never wake up. It is like being at the end of time, heading into the gray and the midst of autumn, preparing for the time when rain and snow will cover the world. It's the smell of the sea, the feel of the late autumn sun on my face, the calm of the autumn light and that distinct feel when the music which was there all summer for the tourists did not play in the morning.

So what is it that you want to say with the sandstones? Take your time for the answer.
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
Jerome Marot said:
Now, that is a great idea, but Koori art is quite different to what we have here. I am not sure it can work.

The real question remains: if you produce a series on a subject, what will you want to say with it? At the moment, we only have the raw material.

If you look at all the artists which I introduced in this forum, there is always an underlying message in their series. The message is not always straightforward, may not be easy to tell in simple words but is always there. For example, when confronted with the series of Matthieu Venot, I am reminded of the feelings I had when visiting seaside resorts at the end of the summer season. It is a strange feeling, a mixture of lost opportunities and imminent decay, the weather is still warm, the light is magnificent, yet time is slow, the tourists are gone, the shopkeepers are packing away. You know the whole resort will close down for winter and you have the distinct feeling that it may never wake up. It is like being at the end of time, heading into the gray and the midst of autumn, preparing for the time when rain and snow will cover the world. It's the smell of the sea, the feel of the late autumn sun on my face, the calm of the autumn light and that distinct feel when the music which was there all summer for the tourists did not play in the morning.

So what is it that you want to say with the sandstones? Take your time for the answer.
Click to expand...

Jerome, thanks for pushing me to consider this.

Truth is I'm not really sure what it is I'm trying to convey.

Rocks to me carry a weight of history. Long history, time and movement and life way beyond our mortal experience.
Before they were rocks, they were sand on an ocean floor, before that, living creatures - some that remain as species today and some that may well be extinct. To me being in the wild whether it's beach or bush is my church, my museum, even my music (I wish I could explain the chiming rock water cave symphony I heard this morning).

I think rocks or sand dunes bore the hell out of most people but some will have their own reactions for their own reasons.

I live in a beautiful scenic area with abundant treasures but it's not a breath taking place either, nothing like the scale of the Swiss Alps or the Grand Canyon so at times I focus or the smaller stuff.
I am determined to continue shooting several concurrent themes and see what comes of it.
I do love displaying some on OPF, The general quality of discussion and ideas as well the awesome images posted on a weekly, even daily basis is making me strive to raise my expectations and quality of images.

Again, thanks Jerome for your comments here.
 
fahim mohammed

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
As far as I am concerned, what message a visual artist's work might or might not have is immaterial.

It has to move some or all of my senses in some way. Visually and/or emotionally.

Andy's work posted in this thread does that for me.

Good enough for me.
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
fahim mohammed said:
As far as I am concerned, what message a visual artist's work might or might not have is immaterial.

It has to move some or all of my senses in some way. Visually and/or emotionally.

Andy's work posted in this thread does that for me.

Good enough for me.
Click to expand...

Thanks Fahim, I appreciate your thoughts very much.

Interestingly I bumped into a couple of Koori Fella's today (at the beach, they were about to catch some dinner) and we started chatting. I asked if they'd have a look at a few shots, I still have some on my SD card so I grabbed the camera from the car and gave them look on the camera's monitor
They LOVED the sandstone pics, they were oohing and ahhing and saying " awww that ones deadly!". Deadly is a classic Koori term for fantastic/on point/really bloody good, so I was feeling like I had certainly struck that chord in a good way.
When I got to the rock "faces' they were both quite excited " aww look at that old fella, he's lookin' out to sea yeah?" " You see many spirits round here?"
Correct and yes, plenty.

We had a good old yarn, talked about diving, fishing, the land "country", elders, clans, cultural sensitivity then about seeing things in a Koori sense. They were nothing but totally encouraging about my attempts to "see" in a sympathetic way.
When they say "see' they were motioning deep in the head or the chest, not the eyes.
It was just the sort of response I was hoping for.
Now, to "see" even deeper.
 
Doug Kerr

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Andy,

Andy brown said:
Thanks Fahim, I appreciate your thoughts very much.

Interestingly I bumped into a couple of Koori Fella's today (at the beach, they were about to catch some dinner) and we started chatting. I asked if they'd have a look at a few shots, I still have some on my SD card so I grabbed the camera from the car and gave them look on the camera's monitor
They LOVED the sandstone pics, they were oohing and ahhing and saying " awww that ones deadly!". Deadly is a classic Koori term for fantastic/on point/really bloody good, so I was feeling like I had certainly struck that chord in a good way.
When I got to the rock "faces' they were both quite excited " aww look at that old fella, he's lookin' out to sea yeah?" " You see many spirits round here?"
Correct and yes, plenty.

We had a good old yarn, talked about diving, fishing, the land "country", elders, clans, cultural sensitivity then about seeing things in a Koori sense. They were nothing but totally encouraging about my attempts to "see" in a sympathetic way.
When they say "see' they were motioning deep in the head or the chest, not the eyes.
It was just the sort of response I was hoping for.
Now, to "see" even deeper.
Click to expand...

A wonderful story, full of wisdom all around.

Best regards,

Doug
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
Today I met with Koori elders (there's a story and a progression happening which has me excited to say the least but for now I'll have to stay shtum).

I did show some images of sandstone, spotted gums etc. which were well received.

This image was met with universal recognition.

Koori%20mobs%20screen%20size_zps3zxgke6u.jpg
 
Antonio Correia

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Andy brown said:
Today I met with Koori elders (there's a story and a progression happening which has me excited to say the least but for now I'll have to stay shtum).

I did show some images of sandstone, spotted gums etc. which were well received.

This image was met with universal recognition.

Koori%20mobs%20screen%20size_zps3zxgke6u.jpg
Click to expand...

I must come here later on to see all the posted images, now I have to go out.
But this image is gorgeous ! Gorgeous !
:)
 
Last edited:
P

Paul Abbott

New member
Now that is what i'm talking about, Andy. Flaming rock! Wonderful and beautiful at the same time.
Why don't you try for a closeup abstract shot of that stone patterning and its textures, it'll be quintessential, surely.
I've now seen tree-filled landscapes, flames and faces...all in stone! Great stuff.
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
Paul, I'm very pleased you're enjoying these.
Funny you should mention revisiting the scene to go further. I did just that today, different light, totally different feel. Could not make the shot work.


Did find some other stuff however

DSC_3120%20screen%20size_zpskkrwd84s.jpg




DSC_3125%20screen%20size_zps1gxm7jzo.jpg
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
Antonio Correia said:
I must come here later on to see all the posted images, now I have to out.
But this image is gorgeous ! Gorgeous !
:)
Click to expand...

Antonio, please come back at your leisure.

I strongly suspect (having seen your superb location) you have some worthy rocks at your doorstep.

I do hope you can cast your eagle eye over your surrounds and post your findings.
 
Antonio Correia

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Thank you Andy ! :)
Sometimes we just look and do not see... and that is what has been happening to me in this subject.
I do have quite a dozen of photographs of textures and patterns but I have never payed too much attention to them.
I find some of your images particularly appealing like these here

I do have have a single photograph to share ! What a shame !
Andy brown said:
...Did find some other stuff however
DSC_3120%20screen%20size_zpskkrwd84s.jpg


DSC_3125%20screen%20size_zps1gxm7jzo.jpg
Click to expand...
 
J

Jim Dockery

Member
As a rock climber I came to appreciate the quality of stone, texture, contours, and angles especially. I normally didn't have time (or extra film back in the day) to record the beauty I found high on many a cliff, but especially in the desert I'm now always looking. Nice work on these, I agree with the elders and approve of that one esp.
 
Antonio Correia

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Very nice Andy !
The horizon is perfectly aligned and the rectangle of the sky is important in the whole composition.
Keep photographing these formations please and show them to us ! :)
 
A

Andy brown

Well-known member
Hi Antonio, thanks for the encouragement.
I do waiver before posting more because I tend to feel I've put enough up already.
The fact is I'm loving shooting them, had to drag myself away today (trying to paint my timber windows at home).

I guess if anyone isn't interested they don't have to look so, yes I'll keep posting.
 
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