ON PHOTOBLOGGINGA photographic weblog, Okular is not a photo gallery. In other words, it is not meant to display strictly my best efforts, rather, as the name implies it is a visual log and a diary. The images are often selected with one criteria in mind, a gesture, a look, an interaction, the composition, or lighting. Photoblogging keeps me shooting. Anyone who maintains a blog will understand the compulsion to keep feeding the bottomless, black, gaping hole. Most opinions argue against displaying unedited or loosely edited work since it dilutes the impact one's photos have on the public. Knowing the nature of the beast that is street photography, I trust my mind's eye, yet I admit that in the contemporary world so drenched with images, a perfect scoring photo is rare. The bar is high. The proliferation, ease of use and accessibility of digital photographic equipment give outlet to every creative inkling of every artistic impulse. The web is the gallery. The amount of talent awaiting an audience hoping for recognition is both inspiring and intimidating. Okular is my voice. It represents only the very first gross sieve in the editing process. Among the merely interesting, an occasional gem will roll under the clicking fingers. ABOUT OKULAROkular is a distortion of the word "ocular" in its meaning of a seeing device. It harks back to a polish author of Jewish heritage - Julian Tuwim, known for his children's works and specifically his poem "Pan Hilary". It calls on my childhood fascination with monocles. Okular is also the name of this photoblog. It is the prism through which the viewers partake in my visual experience. I observe life as it passes me by on city streets. I watch people in their daily endeavors, on a way to their destinations, while window shopping or sitting at cafes, while interacting with their families and friends, or being alone in public lost in their own very private thoughts. I stand by quietly or pace restlessly, framing and reframing, focusing, advancing and retreating. Shooting. The thrill of street photography is in its spontaneity and ever present element of surprise. It engages all of human senses, arguably, all six of them. I revel in the physical act itself. The joy is similar to articulating a Gertrude Stein poem. The sensation of rolling the words on my tongue, like pearls, is poetry in itself. Similarly, composing a street shot on the fly, "seeing", stopping time in the critical fraction of a second are in themselves the motivation and the objective of my photography. I hope that mine is a documentation of contemporary urban life, without commentary, judgement or implicit message yet one that depicts a succinct flavor and brings forth the distilled essence of a moment. ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHERBorn in Poland, presently living in San Francisco I, Patricia Pawlak have earned my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Montreal, Canada. I have worked extensively in the visual effects industry as a computer graphics professional. Throughout the years, I lived in Poland, Israel, Canada, New Zealand and the United States and I continue to travel frequently. The trips feed and inspire my photography as I document the street life around me. I am reachable at the email address listed below. I welcome any inquiries, comments, constructive criticism and collaborative ideas. Further thoughts and ruminations on photography and my personal experience can be found here.
TECHNICAL INFOMost images are taken with Pentax *ist DS. If interested in a free print, please email a request to the contact below. CONTACTinfo[AT]canthave[DOT]com |
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