21 replies to this topic

[Volare]

The Star-Telegram reports:

 

http://www.star-tele...r-channels.html

 

Our own Brian Luenser is furious and has been posting his own Trinity River photos all day on Facebook. I hope he will come here to share his thoughts and photos.

[Austin55]

We often criticize the river here and these pictures are a perfect example of what is wrong with it. I think its a nice documentary and shows a side that needs to be shown, and if one out of towner sees it this way, then so will others.

The river certainly does have some nice parts, particular particularly the heritage park area. I expect it to improve greatly downtown with the TRV.

Here's the full set http://www.terryevan...at-the-trinity/

 

Edit- Here's what I posted on to Brain, since his page is the nucleus of it all,

 

"Brian, you, along with Dave, John T Roberts, and Jack White are my photographic inspiration for Fort Worth. But I'd like to respectfully disagree with you and many of your followers and friends that the pictures by Terry Evans are ugly or otherwise in poor taste. I find them to be a very real part of the experience of the river in many places, perhaps even eye opening to some. If this is the sights and experiences that an out-of-towner sees when they come in, Fort Worth has a problem on it's hands for sure. It has it's flaws, but to me the imperfection and realism of many of the pictures is beautiful and gritty. The good news is, the River will be changing, as you know, with the Trinity River Vision and the TRWD's cleaning programs. It's a part of town that exists in the moment, and won't in the future, which is why I'm glad to see it documented. In the future, it will only get less ugly and there will be even more beauty for you, me and others to shoot and share with those out there that enjoy our work. This is just my perspective."

[JBB]

Bud Kennedy: Not real impressed by the social media campaign that followed.

 

And I feared that this would eventually happen.  Between the S-T article and the Carter's Facebook page, I believe I read 2 comments (out of probably 100) that didn't drop Brian's name.  It started to look like a calculated spamming effort.

[djold1]

Last night on my FB page I made some comments about the situation that were deliberately a little silly, but to the point, I thought... Got some interesting and thoughtful comments pro and con from the return postings..

 

Trouble in River City 

[Austin55]

https://www.facebook...2792922803304:0

And Brian rebuttals. 

[Fort Worthology]

I actually quite like the Terry Evans photos, even if they aren't my personal visual taste - I appreciate what she was going for.  I agree with Bud Kennedy.  Evans is capturing her own perspective of the Trinity, and it is not incorrect.  That's the Trinity, warts and all.  It's an honest portrayal and I like several of the images that result from it.

 

And I find the social media campaign trying to undermine the work to be in poor taste, whatever the reasoning behind it.  Artists don't tend to make Chamber of Commerce images.  And thank goodness for that.

[Fort Worthology]

https://www.facebook...2792922803304:0

And Brian rebuttals. 

 

It's not correct to say this style of art has "faded over the decades" and that artists have some innate link to "highlighting the pretty side of subjects."  Ms. Evans is under no obligation to make "pretty" images of Fort Worth for everybody to feel good about.  The Carter commissioned her to share her perspective of the river with her art.  She did that.  It shows a different take on what the Trinity is like, and while it is not always pretty, it is not inaccurate or dishonest.  It doesn't make Fort Worth "look terrible" just because it's not trying to be a beautiful postcard-perfect view.  It showcases the reality of the majority of the river outside the Chamber of Commerce-approved views.

 

I appreciate what she was going for and like a lot of the results (even if her particular visual style isn't my favorite), and I think she captures the inherent weirdness of how we view and treat the river here in FW - making it a barely-disguised drainage ditch with a lot of problems that people nevertheless feel a connection to and want to embrace in paddle boarding, tubing, playing on its banks, etc.  I appreciate her perspective, warts and all.  I don't want an echo chamber of "oh gee isn't Fort Worth lovely and perfect and amazing" - it's nice to get slapped in the face with a stark difference now and again.  One can love Fort Worth and also see value in depicting its less-than-beautiful side.

 

I find it in poor taste to rake the Carter and Terry Evans over the coals just because a (gasp!) outsider came to town and showed us that Fort Worth isn't the Emerald City.  That's not to say one has to *like* what Evans created.  Of course one doesn't.  But to say they should be taken down from the Carter, to call them "trash," for all these people to hound the museum with "THIS PERSON could have done it better" or "THAT PERSON could have done it better" - I don't get behind that.  Not all art is for everybody, but that doesn't mean it has no value.

[dangr.dave]

I agree with Bud and Kevin.  When I posted on Facebook that I would support the Carter and see the photos, along with the fact that I was glad that they chose to have a photographic view from someone not affiliated with Fort Worth (which surprised me because the social media arms of Downtown Fort Worth, Inc and Sundance Square generally only share or promote photos of the city from one individual), complete strangers started attacking me with no facts and with little more than a religious-like zeal that demonized any images of the city that do not come from the lens of that one man. 

 

The city is pretty small photography-wise and I get tired of seeing the same ole images all the time.  I'm aware that I probably contribute to that with the number of photos that I post...I mean, how many photos can one take of the courthouse or Sundance Square without the photos getting cliche.  It is easy to romanticize our city and try to make everything post-card worthy.  So, it is refreshing when someone from far away can come in and show me something different than what I am used to seeing.  There will always be fabulous photos of the city, and someone will always be tinkering with HDR after a night out  with a tripod and a good sunset, and showing new work does not detract from all of that.  It adds to it and shows us something that we ourselves may not see...possibly because it doesn't fit into our own view of ourselves. 

[Dylan]

I don't have a problem with someone coming in and taking pictures of us to share with us, but do they belong in a museum?

 

I'm not very familiar with museums, but it seems odd to me that her pictures would be featured in a museum.

[RD Milhollin]

They were commissioned by the museum. Some museums do commission art. The Carter Museum has an endowment that allows them this opportunity, this freedom, and they have been doing it for many years now. True art is sometimes not popular when unveiled, some is controversial, some is hated. This was true of the Eiffel Tower when built, but I suppose it has grown on Paris over time. The subject matter in this project has been toyed with, manipulated, beat down, and kept between walls in an effort to tame it, and the results are there to see; for us to see, for an artist to see. Art can take many forms, and truth is certainly one of them. 

[Austin55]

^I do think thats a bit weird. The pictures are'n even really museum worthy IMO, especially not for the city they were in. Why go to the Amon when you can just go out onto the trails? 

 

I supported the pictures above and still do, but no way would I go out of my way to go to the ACM to see them. If I'm nearby I'll probably drop in to check them out, I guess. 

[dangr.dave]

And, the saga continues:

 

http://www.star-tele...he-trinity.html

 

At least the Amon Carter Museum doesn't charge admission.  The Star-Telegram is behind a firewall.  And, as bad as Terry Evans' photos may or may not be, they will probably be around a lot longer than whatever the Star-Telegram prints up and people end up using to line bird cages and beat their dogs with.  As a bonus, they state, "If your photo is chosen, we may contact you for an interview to tell us more about it", which looks like it could quite possibly be a set-up to something bigger.

Read more here: http://www.star-tele...l#storylink=cpy

[Austin55]

I submitted one. You can only submit one per person.
I submitted one. You can only submit one per person.

[gdvanc]

I went to the Carter yesterday and while there went through the Meet Me at the Trinity exhibit. Honestly I don't see what the hubbub was all about.

[Austin55]

Trinity River Vision's exhibit at the community Arts Center is hosting another exhibit, one of the pictures is mine if ya'll would like to vote for it. It's Fireworks Over the Confluence.

 

http://www.trinityrivervision.org/vote

[johnfwd]

Austin, I went to the website, clicked on "vote" under the pictures, and nothing happened.  I can't click on your photo.  How do you vote?

[Austin55]

There's been a submit your vote button further down, however they've made a few subtle changes so I'm not sure right now. 

[360texas]

I just mouse clicked your fireworks photo.  It put a rectangle trace line ( read selected ) Then clicked the [VOTE] button.

 

Of course I am viewing their page with a 27" 1920 x 1080 monitor.   If you have a smaller screen size then you might have to do a bit of scrolling around.

[johnfwd]

I went back and clicked on Austin's photo, then clicked on "vote."  The result was one of those "turning circles", and so I guess that was a registered vote for that photo.

[Austin55]

The circle will turn for a second, then it will show the results of all the voting.

[johnfwd]

The circle will turn for a second, then it will show the results of all the voting.

Ah!  The problem isn't the website, it's my Internet Explorer 8.1 rearing it's ugly head again!  When I switched to the Google Chrome browser, I returned to the website, clicked on "Vote" and got the results (that I couldn't get when using 8.1).

[360texas]

Whats good about the free browser upgrade is that the newer ones are FLASH, HTML and HTML5 content aware.  There is a major internet shift to using HTML5 content websites.  

 

When something does not work.. its usually because of out dated browsers.  

 

About 6 months ago we rebuilt our website to conform to HTML5 spec's.  And we made all our pages 'responsive' (means it will automatically reshape the page layout) so that it can be viewed on smartphone, tablets and desktops (android, Mac and PC's).  LOLLLLL  it took me about a month to relearn the page coding).