Issue No. 9 — selectedpictures

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Escalator

1. German Dye Print_ Askanischer Platz_A copy.jpg

Neon Signs at Europahaus, Berlin

3. German carbro print_Building Interior_A copy.jpg

German Office Building Lobby

Studio at the WOR Radio Transmitter Carteret, New Jersey

Twilight

Central Park

Three States of Striking a Match

Ulm

Los Angeles

"Ramon, Los Angeles, Calif. 1943"

Bengie in Front of Friend Petey's House

Douglas Aircraft Plant

Zurich

Untitled (From the series, "Cheek to Cheek")

Aircraft, Düsseldorf

Issue No. 9: PICTURES, SELECTED

There are nearly 650 photographs in this collection, not a large number as private photography collections go. The spectacular Arthur Walther Collection in Neu-Ulm, Germany is home to approximately 15,000 photographs. There are 8,000 photographs, more or less, in Elton John's collection. However 650 photographs seems to be enough to make a new selection for the occasional issue of selectedpictures.com. I collect photographs that I want to see more than once and I've acquired enough photographs for me to feel comfortable calling the collection a “collection.”

To share these photos with you, I first scroll through a folder of digital files labeled "database images." The database is a record of details that include the title of the photograph, the name of the photographer, when it was photographed, its dimensions in inches, the photographic process, annotation, provenance, purchase price, etc. Then I determine a theme or unifying subject to organize the photos that will appear on the website, supported with copy similar to to the copy you're reading now. Essentially I’m the custodian of my photo collection.

Though I can't recall ever having asked a curator how he/she works, I also can't remember having met anyone who described him/ herself as a "curator." There's a photography dealer online who is pictured wearing white gloves and examining a photograph with a loup. He looks like a cross between a detective and a jeweler. I think he might be "curating." The term “curator" like the term "editor" seems to describe a job that is at once creative and administrative, like "decorator" or "personal stylist."

Issue No. 9 of selected pictures.com is a selection of some not-so-recent acquisitions. I've sequenced the photos to create a smooth transition from one photo to the next, guided by the conceit that I can create a "visual narrative." This "visual narrative" idea has been dismissed by almost everyone I know (from friends dedicated to every aspect of photography to my brother-in-law who is merely knowledgeable and wise) as a sketchy attempt at storytelling.

"Visual Narrative" is now a sketchy two year program for students in pursuit of an M.F.A. degree in storytelling* While I don’t group photographs to tell a story or to produce a visual design, I like to place a photograph next to another photograph in in the hope of creating something beautiful. After all, the goal of selectedpictures.com is to show pictures that have been selected for the way they look. It's a matter of taste - good taste, bad taste, my taste.

* Aalto University in Otaniemi, Finland
Lebanese-American University, Beirut, Lebanon
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY