Sat 10.Nov.2018
Rhodes, Greece
Maybe been seen before
Though other eyes on other days
- R. Hunter
Several lifetimes ago, when I worked in computer graphics, photorealism
was a big deal, a sort of minor holy grail. (You see how long ago that was!)
Most of tonight's pictures challenge the very meaning of photorealism. Real photos
they are, and of real places, but photorealism they ain't as we usually think of it.
Can this count as Vicarious Travel, monkeying with the real appearance of
things like this?
The rationale: In the case of Rhodes, the answer is easy. I've been posting photos from this
colorful city for almost ten years. If you care what the place actually looks like,
you know by now. If you were here, you might be seeing your own variations in the
familiar scenes, just to keep your imagination from atrophying.
The real reason: I am having fun with this stuff. Who is going to
stop me?
In the days of film (remember that?) I used lithographic film when I
wanted these black and white but no greys pictures. In these digital times, it
seems to be called polarization.
Fun stuff anyway, but not the only thing on tonight's agrenda.
A shopping street by evening,
the shops bright,
the street darkening.
Pythagoras Street ducks under a large building.
If some mutant virus ever turns all the grass grey, you saw it here first.
I hiked up to the ancient acropolis, only to discover that the ruins of Apollo's
temple are surrounded by scaffolding. Surely they are not restoring it? More likely
trying to keep what is left of it standing. Most likely trying to justify EU money for
preserving the stately old ruin.
For this season, Apollo's temple looks a bit like the set of Fellini's 8-1/2.
Kon Tiki floating restaurant. Back now, after several years absence, after a
freak whirlwind destroyed it on the early twenty-teens.
This style might count as photofauvism.
What to do when you have a rare and wonderful
view from the top of the old city wall,
but the hazy light won't give you a wonderful picture?
This is why we have minds
as well as eyes.
Also post-processing.