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Photography,
Life, and the Opposites:
How Our Personal Questions Are Answered in the Technique of Art a workshop conducted by Len Bernstein Through discussing some of the landmark images in the history of photography we’ll see how a photograph, in its technique, and in the emotion it evokes, puts opposites together—like the momentary and the permanent, feeling and logic, freedom and structure—and that is what we want to do in our own lives. We will also explore this ethical question, articulated by Aesthetic Realism, and central in candid photography and daily life: “As I look at a person, do I hope to find meaning in them, or to make them look foolish and weak?” Some of the images and topics to be covered are: “Clearing, Winter Storm” by Ansel Adams and what it can teach us about the relation of intensity and calm, freedom and order, in the world and in ourselves. “Falling Soldier” by Robert Capa and what it means to see meaning in a world that has the terror of war. The landmark advertising image by Bert Stern, which shows the great pyramid of Giza reflected within a martini glass, and how—through selective focus, and arrangement of foreground and background—it makes a one of heaviness and lightness, large and small, vagueness and precision. Portraiture and the oneness of surface and depth, including Julia Margaret Cameron’s portrait of the English mathematician and astronomer, Sir John Herschel. This will be related to her statement: “When I have such men before my camera, my whole soul has endeavored to do its duty in recording faithfully the greatness of the inner as well as the features of the outer man.” “The Steerage” by Alfred Stieglitz, and how a photographer put together high and low, pride and humility, in a great photograph. Biography Len Bernstein is an American photographer who has studied the history of the medium for over 30 years, using the Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel as his critical basis. He began his study of Aesthetic Realism in consultations with The Kindest Art, and later attended classes with Eli Siegel, in preparation to become a consultant. His study continues in professional classes taught by Ellen Reiss at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation (www.AestheticRealism.org) a not-for-profit educational foundation in New York City. Mr. Bernstein’s articles on the relation of art and ethics have appeared in America and England, and his photographs are in many private and public collections including The Library of Congress and Bibliothèque nationale de France. |