March 18, 2007
Philip Perkis
Connecticut 1967, by Philip Perkis
I recently re-read Phil Perkis' "Teaching Photography." Phil was my photo teacher my first semester at Pratt. I knew very little about photography before I had him, and he was very good about combining the basics - equipment, film, etc. - with a real understanding of photography as an art form, as well as of the power and limitations of the critique.
The book is well worth reading for anyone interested in photography, not simply those who teach it. it's not a technical manual: it contains no pictures and is very short. (One might go so far as to call its small, 3 to 4 paragraph chapters Vonnegut-ian.) But there is deep wisdom there, wisdom that comes from someone who had thought about photography for more than 40 years and is still learning new things.
Phil on 'intention' in photography:
As a photographer, I decide on a certain set of materials (camera, lens, film) and I take myself somewhere at a certain time. It could be my backyard or living room; it doesn't have to be Outer Mongolia. Then I'm going to see what happens. I become an active responder to what is happening both inside and outside myself. I do my best not to consider content or meaning at this time. Then, putting myself in that position physically, emotionally and mentally, I can have an 'open' attitude toward what I am doing so that with a bit of luck (grace) my intention can arise simultaneously with the act of photographing.
...
I once sat breathless for about 20 minutes at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with about 1,500 other people while Julius Hemple stood alone on stage playing improvisationally on a tenor saxophone. That's high risk art-making. His intentionality was palpable. He had no cover.
Cyrilla, NYC, 1993, by Philip Perkis
thoughts (2)
I can relate your teacher's comments to the way I feel about wriing.
Posted by karen wunsch on April 11, 2007
Your post about Phil Perkis caught my eye...thanks for the insight! I just found the book on the web surfing. I too am an old student of Phils. He was my teacher at the Pratt Institute Graduate school. He is wonderful. His personality is so laid back, he really observes then what he says and how he says it makes you see in a slightly differnt way.