DH: “Providence information
please.” TELEPHONE OPERATOR: “Go ahead
please.” DH: “Aaron Siskind.” TO: “Aaron what, please?” DH: It’s Aaron Siskind.” TO: “How are you spelling the
last name? DH: “It’s S-I-S-K-I-N-D!” TO: “In what city, Providence?” DH: “Yes.” (The operator
finally gave me a number!)
QUESTION #1 DH: Hello is this
Aaron? ANSWER AS: Yeah, this is Aaron. QUESTION #2 DH: Did you
receive the interview questions that I sent you about Abstract
Photography? ANSWER AS: Oh, yeah I got your
long letter and the questions but it’s not for me “buddy.”
QUESTION #3 DH: But Aaron, we
can just do the interview now. I’ll record it so you won’t have to
spend time writing it all down. ANSWER AS: All right. Go ahead.
QUESTION #4 DH: How do you
think Abstract Photography fits in with or relates to other styles such
as Documentary, Experimental, or Landscape Photography? ANSWER AS: Abstract
Photography stresses formal; non-literal or unrealistic elements which
can be a problem, because photography is basically used to reproduce
reality, and in trying to make reality abstract it can be difficult
using a medium which expresses reality so well. Each photographer must
deal with it in his or her own way. If you make “photograms” you solve
the problem by avoiding the problem, but if you work from nature and
you try to make it abstract by emphasizing form, taking things
out of context, or altering tonal relationships,
then it becomes more difficult to create abstractions. QUESTION #5 DH: Photography
lends itself to literal reproduction, so why would one want to make
abstractions using a a medium that is inherently literal? ANSWER AS: Photography can
reproduce different kinds of pictures. No matter what the subject is, photography can reproduce the
scene exactly. People photograph different kinds of scenes and,
regardless of the subject matter, they record the scene as it was.
Photography, as a medium, is only used as a vehicle for photographers
to express a vision; be it realism
or abstraction.
QUESTION #6 DH: Do you think
it is possible to go beyond what has been created in Abstract Photography so far, to create new
forms which are innovative while still remaining abstract? ANSWER AS: Of course that is
possible; to go beyond what has already been created. The world of Art
and Photography is always moving on. It is never going to stop. It
always
changes and evolves. If Art stoped developing that would signal the end
of civilization... but things are still changing and growing, so new
ideas
are continually being explored.
QUESTION #7 DH: What style of
photography did you first use in your career? ANSWER AS: Documentary!
QUESTION #8 DH: What other
photographers have you been involved with and respect? ANSWER AS: Well, Fred Sommer
and Harry Callahan. Both of those people have been very close to me and
have influenced me a great deal... but don’t ask me how. QUESTION #9 DH: How do you
feel photography fits in with other mediums of Modern Art? ANSWER AS: Photography fits
into Modern Art very well. Different photographers relate to art in different ways. Some photographers
derive ideas from other art mediums while others contribute to art
overall. Realist imagery has recently derived ideas from photography in
the creation of
painting based on
photographic
seeing, while in the past, photographers derived painterly styles and
incorporated them into photographs. So there is a give and take in all
the mediums.
It has come to the point where there is no real clear-cut distinction
between mediums. Artists who were dedicated to the use of one medium are now utilizing photography and
incorporating it into new expressions, while on the other hand, some photographers are painting and
marking the surfaces of their prints. So it has gotten to the point where there is an overlapping of
all mediums.
QUESTION #10 DH: What other
trends were occurring in photography during the time you were making
photographs in the Abstract Expressionist movement? ANSWER AS: Most photographers
were doing journalism, or serious social documentation. Edward Weston and photographers with
similar
styles stressed the formal object as an aesthetic... they were very
much
attached to the object, the scene, and nature overall. You could call
them
Realists; Formal Realists.
QUESTION #11 DH: How does your
Abstract Photographic Art differs from Abstract Art in other mediums? ANSWER AS: It differs in the
way we have to approach the creation of an artwork. When a painter
paints
a picture it can be immediately abstract. They have no problem making
abstractions. A band of paint is simply a band of paint. It is not
derived from realistic photographic images. When a photographer makes
nature abstract an attempt is made to transform a realistic scene into
an abstraction. I would say
there is a tension which exists between a photographic artist’s
abstract
concept and the objects that are abstracted. If the photographer’s idea
is to make a formal abstract arrangement, then something must be done
to
change one’s perception of a literal subject.
QUESTION #12 DH: So the
biggest problem; when you create Abstract Expressionist Photography, is
to translate literal objects into abstract forms? ANSWER AS: That’s right, when
using the word “abstract” loosely; many would agree, but there are different degrees of abstraction.
There are different intentions. Some photographers, who create abstractions, have no interest in
portraying objects, while other photographers have a strong abstract
bent but are
still involved with the depiction of literal elements within their
abstractions. Some artists remove all realistic or literal elements from
their work, while others have abstract elements combined primarily with
literal subject matter. I have moved steadily in
one direction, with interplay at all times, between being faithful to
the
original literal object and my desire to make it abstract. This has
developed
in an exact way. I have applied this practice to an enormous number of
objects; creating and expressing the ideas I have developed over the
years, but I
am not sure if I want to continue doing it, or if I can do it anymore,
but
I’m sure something will hit me one of these days and when that happens
I
will express and develop a new idea!
David Howard, art, artist,
photography, photographic, photographs, print, prints, director,
producer, exhibitions, exhibits, exhibit, painting, paint, studio,
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