What changed: Ever since the first version of this triptych, the orientation of image 1 and 3 and their placement has bugged me. Not much of a change here, but I flipped 1 and 3 and swapped their position in the triptych. I might do a triptych of images like the middle one. I really is hypnotic, and on with the Portland heatwave looming, I wish I could dive right in.
I came across an interesting piece in Daily Art Magazine about his use of photography. At some point, he switched to lots of composition photographs, polaroids, even ipad video. Interesting character to research for those with a sense of the visual.
Please share your first response before reading the hidden notes below. The photographer is looking for an unbiased initial impression.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
Questions for Viewers
What places and feelings does this triptych evoke?
About This Image
Artist David Hockney died yesterday at the age of 88. An expansive exhibit of his many many years of work is on display at the Portland Art Museum. It is inspiring. I had these abstracts in my catalog since Palm Springs, and they felt like nothing special…until today.
His pool paintings generally had people in them, and this one doesn’t, but that felt appropriate. I gifted the article below so anyone with the link can view today’s NYT piece on him.
These are from a Canon 5DIV with 24-105 lens.
I rotated the center image to work as a part of the triptych.
I used David Kinghams Triptych Templates in LR
Feedback Requested
I’m mostly sharing as a tribute to a wonderfully productive “English Los Angeleno” artist after his passing, but I’m always open to any and all feedback. On retrospect, I wish I had done a vertical flip of image 1 and 3.
Marylynne: I’m pretty uneducated in the area of art and artists so I have to confess I’m not familiar with David or his work but it clearly had an impact on you. As for the images I like the center but the outside images, especially the rectangular areas in the RLC of the left image and the ULC of the right image seem out of place and immediately caught my attention. Perhaps I’m being obtuse (not an uncommon thing for me) but is there an explanation for those featureless areas? >=))>
Hi Marylynne. I wasn’t familiar with Hockney’s work, so I looked through some of his paintings. His use of color and simplified lines are very interesting together. I can see the ode to his work through the water, color, and lighter lines running through the water.
I like the pairing of these three, with the two outer ones almost acting a bookends and mirrors of each other.
In the middle and right images, they give me a feeling of being watched or slight unease. The ULC of the middle image almost looks like an alien creature and the prismatic effect on the ripples almost makes them look like electric plasma, high in energy. In the right image, the darker tones on the URC read like a figure to me coming out from behind the solid area on the left. The left image is the most soothing to me, the water being the calmest in the set.
In all of the images, it feels like something is being intentionally concealed or held back.
This one grew on me after I spent some time with it. I’m intrigued by the solid features in the photos on the left and right(D1, D2). They create boundaries. I wonder what they are. Pool steps?
The central image is okay but I’m not sure it’s the ideal companion for the other two.
Thanks for replying @Don_Peters, @lynsie, and @Bill_Fach. I’ll attach an “out of the camera” JPEG conversion of the raw file, uncropped, so you can see what I was working with. I took these in the same weeks I took my Agave series, and at some point, I found the reflections in the pool fascinating. I was mostly fascinated with the squiggly reflections and the linear shadows from the pergola. But I thought the contrast between those things and the solid, featureless patches might make it more interesting. Maybe it doesn’t . This was one of those “I take photographs to see what things look like photographed” kind of moments (Garry Winograd quote).
Bill: You are not being obtuse. I did want those featureless blocks to disrupt the rhythm. I believe they are just parts of the pool where the pergola was not casting a shadow and where the light was not reflecting off ripples. Hockney’s work is interesting in part because of how he worked a scene and also how photographic and also abstracted it seems at times. He did a lot of pool stuff, including one of his most famous works Pool with Two Figures. But you can google Hockney Pool Paintings, click images and see where I was coming from. I posted about the exhibit in a discussion a few months ago. I think Igor went to it as well.
Lynsie: Very interesting analysis and interpretation. I love that you feel like something is being concealed or held back. Hockney didn’t do that (had gay couples in paintings in the 1960s, and pretty much told it like it was always). In my case, I’m holding back and concealing the house and all the ugly distractions, like dirt on the floor of the pool!
Don: Thanks for the visual notes. I’m curious to see how that works from the OP’s perspective. Did you type in a caption for each? I couldn’t see them, but I think you are just pointing out the edges of those shapes.
FWIW, I’m thinking those “bookends” as Lynsie calls them (which was my intended impression) would work better with a vertical flip of 1 and 3. I’m not sure I’ll do a lot more on these. I have no particular plans for them, but wanted to honor Hockney today.
Here is the left image, unedited, just converted to jpeg. The shadow of a poolside umbrella was not what I wanted, but I had planned to crop that out at the get go. I think the squiggles might be sunn reflections off a sliding door? They differ from the linear pergola reflections.
RIP David Hockney. And Duane Michaels, too (1932 - 2026).
My first impression was of serenity, just looking at the thumbnails and based on the soft blue colors. Looking closer, though, the faint patterns in the “bookends” were somewhat mysterious.
I felt tranquilly and peace. The center image is mezmerizing, even without physical movement. You’ve captured it well. I didn’t know of David Hockney either, but love that you’ve honored and memorialized him in this work of art.
My first thoughts were a pool. I have not spent time in a pool for more than 30 years, but it brings back some fond memories of childhood. Not much more to say about the photos themselves, they are effective though as they did elicit an emotion.
An interesting change of the two side images, which I do consider an improvement, Marylynne. At the same time, the center image is so dominant to me that I don’t think I would have done the triptych. As for what this evokes, to me it’s outdoor swimming pool, though I do see a reflection of an alien in the center image, which adds a bit of mystery.
Hi Dennis,
That alien is a striped poolside umbrella. Definitely sinister though. And I think you’re totally right about the triptych. A diptych or simply using the center image alone as a tribute would work better.
ML
. This was one of those “I take photographs to see what things look like photographed” kind of moments (Garry Winograd quote).