lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Sorry, Rongnongo, but your "proclamation" is just plain flat out wrong! That may be your approach to reviewing images posted on the Hog, but that’s not mine under most circumstances! MUST there be annotation present? Why?

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Thanks! While we're waiting for Gene and quixdraw I will mention a topic I posted to Landscape Forum in December:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-568231-1.html

There are many thoughtful and well written responses there, and it is well worth reading for those interested in the different ways people interpret photos when not given any context or direction by the OP.

Here is one photo I shared that produced quite varied responses, which seemed to come from people's personal experiences regarding winter and open land (isolation). In other words, they wrote their own stories.

(Download)

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Well, your painting title is 'Before the thrust'. This is the prelude to a 'corrida'. The bull is driven to a frenzy by men mounted on horses (now protected). Their other purpose is to tire the bull (loss of blood) so that it is easier to kill... These men were called 'picadors'.

In your image the man is using a lance to draw blood.

Other men on foot furthers the bull injuries by using 'banderillas' which are barbed so that they not only stay in the wound by prevent the bull muscles to work correctly creating pain. Sometime the matador himself plants banderillas onto the bull neck muscles.

Of note: As a few decades ago the US started to export a great number of semi wild horses used in corridas. Most are killed during training or fighting.

So, your idea that your painting has nothing to say other 'than exist' for your pleasure is false. You are just not interested enough. By the way, the lithograph you have is part of Picasso 'bull period' which has not explained but appears to be related to fascism and 'machismo'.

'Machismo' is another complex subject.

So, from your painting that you eagerly dismiss a lot can be learned and then some.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Don't get these often - people unknown to me, some vividness or element of tension that implies a story. Not knowing the facts, I can tell myself a story in my own context. Possibly it won't work for you.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

A story popped into my head pretty quickly about #3 #2 has all kinds of possibilities also. Thanks so much!

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I did not say 'it MUST be present'. If you read correctly, I just dismiss those as lacking background. When I shoot something I have a reason that the viewer does not know. I have shot fields of wheat, grass and recently peanut prior to being loaded in a truck.

These images are not gratuitous. I give the background as it is impossible to know what the heck went on on these fields unless one has been there. I also try to give an idea of my reflections at the time.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Do tell the story of this...



Basically you have three roads.

The one on the left was actually a railroad that has been transformed into a dirt road for folks to enjoy. Typically these go for miles unless they go through a town, in which cases they disappear to reappear on the other side.

In the middle a bridge was constructed to go over the railroad. Now this too is reserved for pedestrians and cycles. Walking on it is my government.

On the right is a modern road.

By the way, this is where I took the 'weed' picture. It was further back on the left.

Oh, yeah, overcast. Did not have any rain thought.

JPG

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Rongnongno. All you say is interesting. I only learned the title of the painting today by searching for it on the internet. I've enjoyed the painting for more than 40 years without knowing anything about it.The thing that always fascinated me about the pic is the way Picasso expressed the tension between the man on horseback and the bull with just a few brushstrokes in just a few colors. That puff of steam coming out of the bull's nostrils and the slouched ease of the man on horseback and the alertness of the horse is what I have seen and appreciated. None of the story mattered then or now.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The first respondent to your thread suggested you prefer photojournalism. From your comments here, it seems more that you are talking about photo essays, where both "narrative and pictures drive the story."

In 2016 in For Your Consideration, MinnieV provided information on how to create a Photo Story. Note the links from St3v3M in the second post that were submissions by a bunch of us

The adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" has an interesting origin (advertising) and I don't think anyone takes it as a singular Great Truth. It's just one way to express photography as art or to be used as a goal in creating an image if that is what interests the photographer.

Quixdraw Loc: x

srt101fan

Your comments are noteworthy. So is Bobspez's response. He clearly appreciates the artistic value of the painting and gave you specific features that appeal to him.

You described the brutality of bullfighting but to the aficionados it is much more complex than that. It is (at least was) a highly admired endeavour deeply ingrained in the Spanish psyche. But why should knowledge of any of that be important in the appreciation of the painting?

Rongnongno Loc: FL

It is called 'depth'.

If we are not curious about what surrounds us we are basically dead, in my opinion. When I like or dislike something I want to know why.

I described the 'corrida' as violent because it is. It is also one sided, tilted toward the matador. I did not condemn or made any positive comment because it is not for me to do so. And... Yes, in some European countries Spain, Portugal, south of France it is to a great or lesser extent a traditional event.

Do you not find interesting that Bobspez looked up his art work origin once the notion of context was raised? He suddenly became curious after decades of having it on his wall. I hope it adds to his pleasure of looking at it.

Wanting to know more does not take away from one's enjoyment, it adds to it.

bellgamin Loc: Ewa Beach, Hawaii

Wow! How did you get a picture of my mother-in-law?

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I see what you mean about #3. She is obviously saying,
"Thanks for not embarrassing me by dropping me off right in front of school, dad, and for understanding that this is what all the girls are wearing now."
That's what you meant, right?

srt101fan

Nobody is arguing against curiosity and wanting to know more. I just don't agree that you have to have background information to get interested in and appreciate an image.

We disagree, but I appreciate your comments and the opportunity they give me to sharpen my own thinking on this interesting subject...