Ugly Beatuy photo essay on flickr

["Emile Tobenfeld (a.k.a Dr. T)" <emile@foryourhead.com>]

Hi,

I posted a new photo essay titled "Ugly Beauty" on Flickr at 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22231918@N06/sets/72157627050182543

I enjoy taking photographs of subjects that are not normally thought 
of as aesthetically pleasing. I'm emphatically not interested in 
grotesque, shocking or violent subject matter. I try to make beauty 
out of ordinary things such as a twig on a wood surface, lines 
painted on the street, or shadows cast by a fence.

I strive to make art from the mundane, and use visual aspects such as 
light, shadow, texture, juxtaposition and framing to this end. "Ugly 
Beauty" is the title of a Thelonious Monk composition, and it has 
long been a mental concept I keep in mind while photographing these 
images. Minor White's concept of photographing "things for what else 
they are also inspires this work, and Brian Eno's oblique strategy 
"Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame." plays a 
role in it as well.

In picking images for this photo essay, I was faced with the unusual 
challenge of deciding whether an image is ugly enough to be included, 
as well as the more common task of deciding whether the inane is 
beautiful enough. I hope that viewing these images makes you day a 
little more beautiful, and helps you to see more beauty in your 
surroundings.

You can send me feedback on this photo essay (or on the whole 
concept)  at emile@foryourhead.com

--
" Practice makes perfect, imperfect is better."  -- Paul Bley

                Emile Tobenfeld, Ph. D.
Video Producer                  Image Processing Specialist
Video for your HEAD!                    Boris FX
http://www.foryourhead.com              http://www.borisfx.com