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symbolic still life(pol. correctness)

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ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu

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Feb 12, 1994, 2:28:17 PM2/12/94
to
I would like to ask for some help in my photography class.
I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
theme of political correctness.

I would like some ideas on what and how to photograph B&W's with this kind of
theme.

Thank You

Ryman Law
ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu


Ian Young

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Feb 13, 1994, 10:56:02 AM2/13/94
to
In article <1994Feb12....@vax1.mankato.msus.edu>,

<ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu> wrote:
>I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
>For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
>theme of political correctness.
>
>I would like some ideas on what and how to photograph B&W's with this kind of
>theme.

A heap of still-steaming horseshit. No really. I think it'll give them
give them something to think about, it's certainly symbolic, and it'll
make a striking image if handled right. (It'll certainly look better
than bullshit, which wouldn't really have enough texture.)

I.

mark.e.fohl

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Feb 13, 1994, 2:11:49 PM2/13/94
to

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

-- Fohl

dr8...@albnyvms.bitnet

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Feb 13, 1994, 4:53:13 PM2/13/94
to

I HAVE SEEN SOME AMAZING IMAGES made of condoms arranged in patterns and
backlit. i have also seen condom collages as finished work, framed under
glass. if you want to try the photo version you can save money by getting
finger cots. i'm not sure of the spelling on "cots" but they are little
"condoms" for your fingers and are used both industrially and medically.
they aren't lubed so they can be arranged between glass for backlighting
with no smearing. you may want to add some small amout of top lighting
in addition to the backlighting. and don't get carried away collaging !
one rubber weenie well lit and arranged could be "simple yet eloquent".
some of the collage arrangements i've seen have a radial symmetry, like
a flower or starburst.

i really think this could get to be one hot thread -- if folks catch on.
unfortunately, the title is too long for my directory format so it took me
a while to stumble in. fortunately, the title *will* make it through most
kill files which are usually set to filter out words like "zoom" and
"format", and brand names like "kodak" or "leica".

david rosen dr8192@albNYvms


Oleg Volokhonsky

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Feb 13, 1994, 6:51:50 PM2/13/94
to
I just asked a similar question on alt.tasteless. The responce, partly in
reference to the obsession with phallic shapes among _some_ femenists(who tend
to perpetuate the p.c. crap) was a pix of a dynamite stick up sm-ones genitals.
For p.c. topic just cross it out, a la "no smoking" posters.

--
========================================================
Love sees no color. It is dark in the back seat, anyway.
========================================================
Dedicated to providing photography, computer
graphics and extremist viewpoints to the populace.
ol...@dimension.mcad.edu +1-612/ 935-4249

Caroline Knight

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Feb 14, 1994, 9:46:28 AM2/14/94
to
ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
> I would like to ask for some help in my photography class.
> I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
> For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
> theme of political correctness.

What does political correctness mean to you?

I think, if it were me, I'd take a picture of a chair...

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Caroline Knight HPLabs Filton Rd Stoke Gifford Bristol BS12 6QZ

FAX: 0272 228796 cdfk%hplb...@ukc.ac.uk
Tel: 0272 228040 cd...@hplb.lb.hp.co.uk
Switchboard: 0272 799910 cd...@hplb.hpl.hp.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Jack Campin

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Feb 14, 1994, 10:54:06 AM2/14/94
to
ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
> I would like to ask for some help in my photography class.
> I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
> For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
> theme of political correctness.
> I would like some ideas on what and how to photograph B&W's with this kind of
> theme.

You are being asked to be a ideological enforcer for the extreme right. A
few years before you might been asked to do an image showing The Danger Of
Communist Infiltration. This is George Bush's version of the same thing
("PC" means exactly what "fellow traveller" did at the height of the cold
war: both were were euphemisms for "faggot kike niggerlover", the way the
powerful would really talk about the same opponents in private). Earlier
generations of instructors might have asked for images of Greedy Jews,
Irish Thugs or Lazy Niggers.

An instructor capable of licking the arse of power to that extent deserves
a bunch of portfolios of shit-stained American flags in response. Tell him
to go fuck himself.

--
-- Jack Campin -- Room 1.36, Department of Computing & Electrical Engineering,
Mountbatten Building, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS
TEL: 031 449 5111 ext 4195 HOME: 031 556 5272 FAX: 031 451 3431
INTERNET: ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk BITNET: via UKACRL BANG!net: via mcsun & uknet

Brad Wilson

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Feb 14, 1994, 12:01:33 PM2/14/94
to
In article <CL81I...@cee.hw.ac.uk> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
>> I would like to ask for some help in my photography class.
stuff deleted

>> For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
>> theme of political correctness.
>
>You are being asked to be a ideological enforcer for the extreme right. A

stuff deleted


>
>An instructor capable of licking the arse of power to that extent deserves
>a bunch of portfolios of shit-stained American flags in response. Tell him
>to go fuck himself.
>

Gee, and I thought maybe the instructor just wanted people
to take photos of something that somehow represented
the current trend of PC, not enforced it! I didn't read
any ass-licking in the student's request. I guess I
don't read between the lines like I used to.

Anyway, you might want to look for things like
signs that refer to "person" instead of gender specific
roles (waitperson instead of waiter/waitress), or anything
that goes out of its way to be as bland, safe, non-specific
and unoffensive as possible. Maybe juxtapose it with
something that contradicts the PC statutes.

Whatever you do, I'd think twice about the flag-as-Charmin
idea. :-}
--
Brad Wilson
Internet: br...@wubios.wustl.edu Box 8067, Biostatistics
uucp: uunet!wuarchive!wubios!brad 660 South Euclid
Washington University Medical School Saint Louis, MO 63110

mark.e.fohl

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Feb 14, 1994, 12:47:36 PM2/14/94
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In article <CL81I...@cee.hw.ac.uk> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
>> I would like to ask for some help in my photography class.
>> I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
>> For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
>> theme of political correctness.
>
>An instructor capable of licking the arse of power to that extent deserves
>a bunch of portfolios of shit-stained American flags in response. Tell him
>to go fuck himself.
>
>--
>-- Jack Campin -- Room 1.36, Department of Computing & Electrical Engineering,
> Mountbatten Building, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS
>TEL: 031 449 5111 ext 4195 HOME: 031 556 5272 FAX: 031 451 3431
>INTERNET: ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk BITNET: via UKACRL BANG!net: via mcsun & uknet

Has something touched a nerve here, Jack? Lighten up, fella.

-- Mark

Mike McDonald

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Feb 14, 1994, 2:24:38 PM2/14/94
to

In this country, the PC crowd is generally considered the extreme left not the
right!

Mike McDonald Advanced Technology Dept.
Harris Corp.
Email: m...@trantor.harris-atd.com M.S. 16-1912
Voice: (407) 727-5060 P.O. Box 37
Fax: (407) 729-3363 Melbourne, Florida 32902

Mark Kaepplein

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Feb 14, 1994, 6:15:14 PM2/14/94
to
Too bad you can't shoot people, because I would line up some white
males dressed in business suits with bulls' eyes attached to their
chests and gags in their mouths. Or perhaps some sort of S&M theme
where a white male is being dominated by some ethnicly correct
person.

Well, then how about a photo of a copy of 1984, or a med school
brain model on a washing machine, or a gag and blindfold, or
the hear/speak/see no evil monkey's, or politically correct
signage, especially if you can cynicly background it with
reality or just a urinating cainine.

David Kassover

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Feb 14, 1994, 10:45:50 PM2/14/94
to
In article <CL86r...@cbnews.cb.att.com> fo...@cbnews.cb.att.com (mark.e.fohl) writes:
>In article <CL81I...@cee.hw.ac.uk> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>>ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
>>> I would like to ask for some help in my photography class.
>>> I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
>>> For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
>>> theme of political correctness.
>>
>>An instructor capable of licking the arse of power to that extent deserves
>>a bunch of portfolios of shit-stained American flags in response. Tell him
>>to go fuck himself.
...

>
>Has something touched a nerve here, Jack? Lighten up, fella.
>

Perhaps. I was going to let this thread slide by only read, but
that last exchange has prompted me to mention my first thought
when I read the request.

How about finding someone who has a collection of campaign
memorabilia who is willing to allow it to be photographed. I
thought arranging it in an artful linear or possibly circular
pattern might be appropriate.

Now, lets see, what *did* I do with those leftover Presidente
Nixon Ahora Mas Que Ancho banners? Probably in the same box with
the bumperstickers that read Don't Change Dicks in the Middle of
A Screw, Vote for Nixon in '72.


--
David Kassover "Proper technique helps protect you against
RPI BSEE '77 MSCSE '81 sharp weapons and dull judges."
kass...@aule-tek.com F. Collins
kass...@ra.crd.ge.com

William S. Rowell

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Feb 15, 1994, 1:48:05 AM2/15/94
to
How about a nice shot of a copy of the Bill of Rights in a toilet, with
appropriate additional props...

Seth
wsro...@bga.com

Jake Livni

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Feb 15, 1994, 1:37:33 PM2/15/94
to
In article <1994Feb12....@vax1.mankato.msus.edu> ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu writes:
>For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
>theme of political correctness.

Look at many advertisements for ideas. Or photograph the ads
themselves, in odd or incongruous environments. The only reason
that these ads exist is to make more money for the people who pay
for the advertising. The messages they send are often misleading
or just plain false. Benetton doesn't give a damn about political
correctness, so long as they can make money out of it. Nike uses
cheap labor in the global equivalent of slave markets in South East
Asia, marking up their products ridiculously. Their advertising
photos, however, are very politically correct. If cannibalism becomes
politically correct and they can make money off of that theme, they
will do that, too.

--
Jake Livni "Imagine: Palestineans were taught to hate from childhood.
ja...@bony1.bony.com That was seen as good for the national interest.
My opinions only - In fact, it was rather negative; a lot of violence
- employer has no opinions. took place." - The Dalai Lama, NY Times 93/11/28

Jack Campin

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Feb 15, 1994, 4:50:15 PM2/15/94
to

ma...@lloyd.Camex.COM (Mark Kaepplein) wrote:
[ replying to someone who asked what to do when his instructor asked him to
do "still lifes about political correctness" ]

I think what Mark (or George Bush, for that matter) would be _much_ happier
with would be along these lines: start with a library picture of Andrea
Dworkin, letter it all over with "SUCK MY DICK, KIKE DYKE SLUT BITCH",
masturbate over it, slash it with razors, surround with a frame of repeated
images of Martin Luther King with added shackles and slogans like "BACK IN
YOUR CHAINS NIGGER", and photograph the result.

That *is* what you mean, isn't it?

William Tyler

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Feb 15, 1994, 5:37:59 PM2/15/94
to
In article <CL81I...@cee.hw.ac.uk> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
>> I would like to ask for some help in my photography class.
>> I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
>> For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
>> theme of political correctness.
>> I would like some ideas on what and how to photograph B&W's with this kind of
>> theme.
>
>You are being asked to be a ideological enforcer for the extreme right. A
>few years before you might been asked to do an image showing The Danger Of
>Communist Infiltration. This is George Bush's version of the same thing
>("PC" means exactly what "fellow traveller" did at the height of the cold
>war: both were were euphemisms for "faggot kike niggerlover", the way the
>powerful would really talk about the same opponents in private). Earlier
>generations of instructors might have asked for images of Greedy Jews,
>Irish Thugs or Lazy Niggers.

You have no grounds whatsoever for this opinion. The instructor hasn't
asked for a politically correct photograph, but for one dealing with
the topic. Two very different things. A photograph that illustrated
the absurdity of political correctness would fit the assignment, as
stated, just fine. Whether you or I like it, political correctness is
a public issue in the United States, and therefore a proper subject of
artistic comment.


[[ Jack's further coprophilic ravings deleted ]]


Bill

--
Bill Tyler wty...@adobe.com

Ty Monson

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Feb 15, 1994, 8:52:20 PM2/15/94
to
In article <1994Feb15....@wixer.bga.com>,

William S. Rowell <wsro...@wixer.bga.com> wrote:
>How about a nice shot of a copy of the Bill of Rights in a toilet, with
>appropriate additional props...

Wish I had thought of that!

Jack Campin

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Feb 16, 1994, 7:16:56 AM2/16/94
to
wty...@mv.us.adobe.com (William Tyler) wrote:
> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>> ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
>>> I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
>>> For our next assignment we are to photograph something, not people, with a
>>> theme of political correctness. [...]

>> You are being asked to be a ideological enforcer for the extreme right. A
>> few years before you might been asked to do an image showing The Danger Of
>> Communist Infiltration. This is George Bush's version of the same thing
>> ("PC" means exactly what "fellow traveller" did at the height of the cold
>> war: both were were euphemisms for "faggot kike niggerlover", the way the
>> powerful would really talk about the same opponents in private). Earlier
>> generations of instructors might have asked for images of Greedy Jews,
>> Irish Thugs or Lazy Niggers.
> You have no grounds whatsoever for this opinion. The instructor hasn't
> asked for a politically correct photograph, but for one dealing with
> the topic. Two very different things. A photograph that illustrated
> the absurdity of political correctness would fit the assignment, as
> stated, just fine.

That's *obviously* what is being expected. The term, as used in current
American political culture, has *only* negative overtones. It is a label
used by the far right (and specifically introduced into general currency by
George Bush) as a way to smear anyone who dares to question their
domination of the cultural sphere. Asking for images under this heading is
no more ideologically neutral than asking for images illustrating Blacks
and Jews under the heading of "race-mixing", gays under the heading of
"perversion", non-Christian religions as "Satan's activity in today's
world", or trade unionism as "the menace of communism". *Of course* the
instructor isn't asking for "politically correct photograph"; that makes
no more sense as a conscious aim than "a photograph in support of the
International Zionist Conspiracy".


> Whether you or I like it, political correctness is a public issue in the
> United States, and therefore a proper subject of artistic comment.

Witchcraft was a public issue once too. Would saying "go out and make
pictures of witchcraft" have been a neutral way of dealing with it? This
instructor has foreclosed entirely the option of saying: this phenomenon,
as the rightist panic merchants would have us perceive it, simply does not
exist. The assignment *presupposes* its reality. The instructor is
implicitly forbidding his students from calling Bush a liar.

mark.e.fohl

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Feb 16, 1994, 7:56:39 AM2/16/94
to
In article <CLACn...@cee.hw.ac.uk>, ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>
> ma...@lloyd.Camex.COM (Mark Kaepplein) wrote:
> [ replying to someone who asked what to do when his instructor asked him to
> do "still lifes about political correctness" ]
>
> I think what Mark (or George Bush, for that matter) would be _much_ happier
> with would be along these lines: start with a library picture of Andrea
> Dworkin, letter it all over with "SUCK MY DICK, KIKE DYKE SLUT BITCH",
> masturbate over it, slash it with razors, surround with a frame of repeated
> images of Martin Luther King with added shackles and slogans like "BACK IN
> YOUR CHAINS NIGGER", and photograph the result.
>
> That *is* what you mean, isn't it?
>
>
> --
> -- Jack Campin -- Room 1.36, Department of Computing & Electrical Engineering,
> Mountbatten Building, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS

I've heard of the "Loony Left" in Great Britain, and now I know first hand
what it's all about. I thought right wingers were supposed to the paranoids.
Keep it up, Bozo. Adios to the Peoples Republic of Edinburgh.

-- Mark

Caroline Knight

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Feb 16, 1994, 8:52:02 AM2/16/94
to
The whole topic of a still life on political correctness has taken on a
rather odd tone. The last request to discuss a subject that I can
remember had a much more constructive feel to it.

Mostly everyone seems to have simply taken the question as an
opportunity to state their views on the subject which isn't what I'd
really expect in rec.photo, in soc.something yes, but not here.

Okay the questioner asked for suggestions but wouldn't it be better to
ask them the kind of questions which get them to work out their own
ideas. For instance

Do you think pc is:

patronising/showing respect

imposed by left/right/radical feminists/well-meaning middle of
the roaders/etc

creates a new moral code/simply reclothes an old one/ has
nothing to do with morals

makes writing and speaking difficult/interesting/easier

and so on for any relevant angle on the topic.

Then explore how to get this vision across in a photograph with the
restriction that it excludes people. For instance:

What symbols or objects do _you_ associate with pc?

How could you use them to show, for instance, patronising and awkward
sentence structures or a new moral code showing respect for all or
a right-wing attempt to reclothe old attitudes by renaming without
changing?

I'm sure that many of the responses had some of this implicit within
them but none (few?) made any attempt to draw out the thinking and
therefore make this whole discussion relevant to other topics and
assignments.

Perhaps, in this case, it is better to start with examples, but then
one needs to look at them and work out what the points are and whether
thats the best way to get them across.

All this is IMHO of course!

Caroline

Elizabeth Buie

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Feb 16, 1994, 10:48:03 AM2/16/94
to
cd...@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Caroline Knight) writes:

>The whole topic of a still life on political correctness has taken on a
>rather odd tone. The last request to discuss a subject that I can
>remember had a much more constructive feel to it.

When have we had a request to discuss a subject that you can remember?
How would we know what they are? :-) :-)

[wisdom deleted -- for space reasons -- about working out the
photographer's own vision of PC and what it means]

>Then explore how to get this vision across in a photograph with the
>restriction that it excludes people. For instance:

>What symbols or objects do _you_ associate with pc?

[more wisdom deleted]

>I'm sure that many of the responses had some of this implicit within
>them but none (few?) made any attempt to draw out the thinking and
>therefore make this whole discussion relevant to other topics and
>assignments.

>All this is IMHO of course!
^

No need to be humble, Caroline; you've stated it perfectly.

Elizabeth
--
Elizabeth Buie eb...@csc.com
Computer Sciences Corporation tel: +1 (301) 497-2524
1100 West St. Laurel, MD 20707 (This space accidentally left blank.)

Andrew Lawson

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Feb 16, 1994, 12:13:59 PM2/16/94
to

I've wandered thoughout most of Heriot-Watt and although it's not that
exciting I have to admit that it didn't irritate me that much. In fact I've got
several good photo's around HW.

-Andrew

Mark Kaepplein

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Feb 16, 1994, 12:51:16 PM2/16/94
to
In article <CLACn...@cee.hw.ac.uk> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>
>ma...@lloyd.Camex.COM (Mark Kaepplein) wrote:
>[ replying to someone who asked what to do when his instructor asked him to
> do "still lifes about political correctness" ]
>> Too bad you can't shoot people, because I would line up some white
>> males dressed in business suits with bulls' eyes attached to their
>> chests and gags in their mouths. Or perhaps some sort of S&M theme
>> where a white male is being dominated by some ethnicly correct
>> person.
>> Well, then how about a photo of a copy of 1984, or a med school
>> brain model on a washing machine, or a gag and blindfold, or
>> the hear/speak/see no evil monkey's, or politically correct
>> signage, especially if you can cynicly background it with
>> reality or just a urinating cainine.
>
>I think what Mark (or George Bush, for that matter) would be _much_ happier
>with would be along these lines: start with a library picture of Andrea
>Dworkin, letter it all over with "SUCK MY DICK, KIKE DYKE SLUT BITCH",
>masturbate over it, slash it with razors, surround with a frame of repeated
>images of Martin Luther King with added shackles and slogans like "BACK IN
>YOUR CHAINS NIGGER", and photograph the result.
>
>That *is* what you mean, isn't it?
>
No, Jack, but that would be a powerfull image.

Perhaps this thread is going a bit far, but evoking thought and discussion
is a primary goal for many artists. In that respect, the PC photograph
assignment is excellent because it has produced so much passion.

Two weeks ago I saw Camile Paglia speak at Harvard's Kennedy School, right
in the center of the Peoples' Republic of Cambridge. As an out lesbian,
she can say PC censorship has gone too far and be heard. Unfortunately,
she is not from an ethnic minority also. Her primary concern was that
any censorship stifled thought and discussion, yet universities are
the most aggressive institutions enforcing PCism and punishing
"violators."

I have very many lesbian friends, so perhaps you have not heard.
Andrea Dworkin, lesbian seperatism, and anti-eroticism are quite
passe'; On Our Backs has greater popularity than Off Our Backs.

Caroline had another interesting thought that I liked about awkward
PC-speak. George Carlin had a great comedy routine on this a while
ago about how clear, but unpleasant words are replaced by nebulus
euphimisms. This really defeats the purpose of communication. If you're
anyway involved in publishing, writing, art, or information, you're
job is to communicate effectively and efficiently. People used to
use the word "crippled". Its been replaced by: "handicapped", "handicapable",
"physically/kinetically challenged/disabled/disadvantaged", and
"alternately/otherly abled". Is it any wonder we are a confused
society?

A recent one bothering me is "Afro-American". If I see a white
person and a black person conversing, it is very presumptive
to refer to them as an Anglo-American speaking to an Afro-American.
Why, the white person could be a German citizen and the black
one Fijian. I'd rather give directions like: "The entrance to
the music store is down by where that black man and white woman
are standing." PC subtleties like Afro-American arn't very useful
to a Japanese visitor with limited English, needing directions.
The visitor merely wants clear communication.

Ob photo: I got back some Ektapress-1600 last night that I shot
at 3200 on my EOS620 in P mode. Unfortunately, it probably
should have been pushed an extra .5-.75 stop. A metering
error on my camera?

Mark


Gary Snow

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Feb 16, 1994, 1:09:54 PM2/16/94
to
In article <CLBGs...@cee.hw.ac.uk>, Jack Campin <ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>That's *obviously* what is being expected. The term, as used in current
>American political culture, has *only* negative overtones.

Spoken by someone who has truely been misinformed. How can someone that
lives in England, know much if anything about American Political
Correctness. To say that it "has ONLY negative overtones" is not correct.
Do you think Recycling waste (such as plastic, glass, paper, etc.), or
thinking ecologically (theses are only a couple examples) are examples of
things with negative overtones. If so, then I feel sorry for you, because
they are also forms of politcal correctness.

Gary

--
-----
Gary Snow
Vancouver, WA (NOT B.C.)
uunet!clark!gsnow or gs...@clark.edu

Richard Webber

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Feb 16, 1994, 2:02:32 PM2/16/94
to

Gary

Gary, since you are so keen to point out that you live in Vancouver WA
not BC, you might care to know that there is no such confusion with
Edinburgh - I know of only one in the UK, and it's in Scotland not England.

We can all be guilty of a little parochialism...

Richard

Mark Kaepplein

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Feb 16, 1994, 2:18:16 PM2/16/94
to

Me too. I would probably show a stream of liquid falling on the document
in the toilet. While no person would be shown, one would be strongly
hinted at. If the photographer is supplying the stream, then the aspect
of artsy-fartsy self portrature would be in there too!


Paul Repacholi

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Feb 16, 1994, 4:13:12 PM2/16/94
to
In article <CLBGs...@cee.hw.ac.uk> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:

> >>> theme of political correctness. [...]

I think Jack has taken this to mean 'a politically correct theme'.

Very different results, but similar wording.

--
~Paul
+61 (09) 257-1001
pr...@yarrow.wt.uwa.edu.au ( preferred ) 1 Crescent Rd,
zrep...@cc.curtin.edu.au Kalamunda,
West Aust 6076

Paul Repacholi

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Feb 16, 1994, 4:27:34 PM2/16/94
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In article <CLBqK...@sed.csc.com> eb...@sed.csc.com (Elizabeth Buie) writes:
> >What symbols or objects do _you_ associate with pc?

A tory minister and frilly knickers at the moment. 8-), or should
that be 8-0%

Wish I could find the Chomski quote.

Elizabeth Buie

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Feb 16, 1994, 4:47:14 PM2/16/94
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gs...@clark.edu (Gary Snow) writes:

>In article <CLBGs...@cee.hw.ac.uk>, Jack Campin <ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>>That's *obviously* what is being expected. The term, as used in current
>>American political culture, has *only* negative overtones.

>Spoken by someone who has truely been misinformed. How can someone that
>lives in England, know much if anything about American Political
>Correctness. To say that it "has ONLY negative overtones" is not correct.
>Do you think Recycling waste (such as plastic, glass, paper, etc.), or
>thinking ecologically (theses are only a couple examples) are examples of
>things with negative overtones. If so, then I feel sorry for you, because
>they are also forms of politcal correctness.

What Jack meant, I'm reasonably sure, is that "political correctness"
is used by the political right to disparage the left and ridicule its
concerns as invalid. *Of course* recycling has a positive overtone. So
does the concern for the feelings of minorities, but many on the right
are labelling it "politically correct" in order to object to what they
see as a knee-jerk reaction to certain types of anti-minority statements.

Jack posts regularly to soc.culture.british and soc.culture.celtic, and
although his tone is often quite caustic (too much so, imo) he does seem
to be fairly well informed in general. It is unfair to claim that one
cannot be well informed about other places, and I think this criticism is
ill deserved.

Now, let's do what Caroline suggested and talk about how the original
poster could represent his/her (I think it was "his") vision of the PC
question in a photograph. Unfortunately, that's a much more difficult
thing to do than to argue about whether or not PC is a Good Thing.

I was thinking that one might show a contrast between symbols of those
who promote ideas that are labelled PC and those who disparage them.
(OK, perhaps my use of "disparage" reflects my bias, but I do think
there's a lot of unnecessary ridicule going around.) If this will be a
black-and-white photograph, one could use a "shades of gray" approach
if that's part of the vision.

Elizabeth

P.S. When I first started reading rec.photo, someone mentioned that
it was one newsgroup that had almost no flames. I'd like to see it
return to that status.

Jack Campin

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Feb 16, 1994, 5:04:00 PM2/16/94
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gs...@clark.edu (Gary Snow) wrote:
> Jack Campin <ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk> wrote:
>> That's *obviously* what is being expected. The term, as used in current
>> American political culture, has *only* negative overtones.
> Spoken by someone who has truely been misinformed. How can someone that
> lives in England, know much if anything about American Political
> Correctness.

I don't live in England. I've spent two months there in the last 40 years.
They were not pleasant months.

I have lived in America, for quite a bit longer.

More to the point, nobody who reads the papers (either UK ones or the
American ones that are easily available here) or watches TV can avoid being
saturated with information about American political culture. (Americans
probably think that the absence of other countries' concerns from their
own media is reciprocated; with certain exceptions like Japan, this is not
the case).

Besides, you've exported this particular piece of crap to us, though it was
never taken up by a national leader comparable to Bush. Instead the ones
creating the panic about it are the far-right tabloid press, notably
Murdoch's papers. It took a couple of years to take off, but it's going
just fine now - well, we've got more exciting things to talk about now, but
some day the press will run out of politicians with their pants off and
it'll be back to lesbian teachers making national headlines for saying they
don't like Noddy.


> Do you think Recycling waste (such as plastic, glass, paper, etc.), or
> thinking ecologically (theses are only a couple examples) are examples of
> things with negative overtones. If so, then I feel sorry for you, because
> they are also forms of politcal correctness.

They would only be described as such in order to condemn them as lunatic
excesses. Using that phrase *at all* is kow-towing to the far right's
ideological strategy.

And I'd bet you that the phrase has been used to attack photographers whose
work raises awkward questions for the power elite. It is certainly used
against people who want to look at the political functions of photographs
in our society. You're trying to tell me no redneck would ever *consider*
throwing that one at Salgado for his choice of subject matter?

Shankar Kumar

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Feb 16, 1994, 6:13:49 PM2/16/94
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I am planning on getting a light box (table-top variety) when I saw
that the CRI rating of the light source ranged from 90 to 92. How is
CRI (I think it is Color Rendition Index or some variation thereof)
measured? And what is a "good" CRI number for a light box to have?
Thank you very much for your answers.

Shankar Kumar.

exb...@ritvax.isc.rit.edu

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Feb 16, 1994, 6:14:51 PM2/16/94
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I think perhaps faced with taking a picture to represent PC I would
photograph a single rose--a rose by any other name is still a rose.
eden

William Tyler

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Feb 16, 1994, 6:38:26 PM2/16/94
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In article <CLBGs...@cee.hw.ac.uk> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>wty...@mv.us.adobe.com (William Tyler) wrote:
>> ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
>>> ch...@vax1.mankato.msus.edu wrote:
>>>> I have a project to photographing "symbolic still life".
>>> You are being asked to be a ideological enforcer for the extreme right. A
>>> few years before you might been asked to do an image showing The Danger Of
>> You have no grounds whatsoever for this opinion. The instructor hasn't
>> asked for a politically correct photograph, but for one dealing with
>That's *obviously* what is being expected. The term, as used in current
>American political culture, has *only* negative overtones. It is a label

There's a lot to be said against Jack's view, but I don't want to
spread the off-topic flamage in this group any further. Email seems
the right medium at this point.

Gary Snow

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Feb 16, 1994, 7:59:34 PM2/16/94
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In article <RJW.94Fe...@porter.nsa.hp.com>,

Richard Webber <r...@nsa.hp.com> wrote:
>
>Gary, since you are so keen to point out that you live in Vancouver WA
>not BC, you might care to know that there is no such confusion with
>Edinburgh - I know of only one in the UK, and it's in Scotland not England.
>
>We can all be guilty of a little parochialism...


True enough, but then when I refer to England, I mean the entire island.
It might not be technically accurate, but I know what I am talking
about....:-)

BTW, one of the reasons that I point that out in my .sig is that I always
seem to get the same question everytime I tell people where I live "Is
that Vancouver, B.C". Its a small town of about 50,000 people (and much
older then Vancouver B.C.), but for some reason one is more known then the
other, go figure.....:-)

P.L. Steppic

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Feb 17, 1994, 1:16:38 PM2/17/94
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In article <2jufhm$e...@clark.edu> gs...@clark.edu (Gary Snow) writes:
>
>True enough, but then when I refer to England, I mean the entire island.
>It might not be technically accurate, but I know what I am talking
>about....:-)
>
>Gary Snow
>Vancouver, WA (NOT B.C.)
>uunet!clark!gsnow or gs...@clark.edu

If you were going to refer to the entire island, it would be "Britain."
Edinburgh is NOT in England...if someone asked whether you lived in
Vancouver, Oregon, and said "Well, when I refer to Oregon, I'm referring
to the entire Pacific Northwest, and *I* know what I'm talking about,"
you'd probably respond (and rightly so) "Yeah, but no one ELSE thinks
you know what you're talking about."

ObPhoto: I just took a look at a fifteen-print Ansel Adams portfolio.
The New York Graphic Society, which prints books of his works, does a
creditable job of reproducing them, but BOY, there is an AMAZING
difference in the amount of subtle detail that cannot be captured using
an offset printer (or whatever type of printer they use). If anyone has
the chance to see the real thing, I'd highly recommend doing so. Blew
me away.


--
//////////^\\\\\\\\\\ +------------------------+
<<<<<<<< Pat >>>>>>>> | "That cat's something |
\\\\\\\\\\v////////// | I can't explain" |
+------------------------+

mario

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Feb 18, 1994, 12:21:15 AM2/18/94
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Re: symbolic still life(pol. correctness)

i've only just breezed through the response and
counter-response and must admit that i am caught
in a whirlwind of connotatation and denotation.
Forget what things mean, represent and
remember photography for what it is,
and what it does.
bricks can fall and hit you in the head,
but you can also make a house out of them, and sometimes
you can heat them up and put them in your bed
to keep your feet warm.
my non-advice advice: forget what everyone says and
DO WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO, not what
everyone thinks that you should do. You know
the answer.
make

-troy

Gary Snow

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Feb 18, 1994, 1:09:56 PM2/18/94
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In article <1994Feb17.1...@ultb.isc.rit.edu>,

P.L. Steppic <pls...@ultb.isc.rit.edu> wrote:
>
>If you were going to refer to the entire island, it would be "Britain."
>Edinburgh is NOT in England...if someone asked whether you lived in
>Vancouver, Oregon, and said "Well, when I refer to Oregon, I'm referring
>to the entire Pacific Northwest, and *I* know what I'm talking about,"
>you'd probably respond (and rightly so) "Yeah, but no one ELSE thinks
>you know what you're talking about."


When I said I *know* what I am talking about, I meant "I know what I
mean". Anyway, lets drop it, this is hardly a photographic discussion.


Gary

--
-----

la...@delphi.com

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Feb 23, 1994, 2:24:57 PM2/23/94
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Assuming that the original question was asked in good faith . . .I
was in a smorgasbord car dealership Monday. Hanging from the mirror of a
Honda del sol (I think that's what it is called) was a small b&w pasteboard
sign that said, roughly, "This vehicle was made with 1,1,1, tetradi-doodahday
which is harmful to the public health and damages the ozone in the atmosphere"
I can't imagine that there are any cars made without whatever it is, but I am
sure that the stupid sign is a federal law requirement thought up by an en-
viro zealot. Perhaps you could work a close-up of this into (a) a long
shot of traffic backed up, (b) a sports car at speed (pan or shoot at a
slow speed over the cowl, or (c) any pleasure-seeking, pleasure-invoking
icon (including, perhaps something quite natural like a puppy).
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