johnwalford's photostream  

If interested, it's available from Amazon.com/books @ www.amazon.com/Art-Historians-Sideways-Glance-Photographs...



As of December 2007, I have started to blog, and use it--among other interests--to write occasional, short 'poems' about works by my Flickr "friends" and contacts that most move me, especially in relation to larger human concerns. So, if interested, please see: nowonlyconnect.blogspot.com/

I also maintain my own website--covering both my academic and personal interests--at: www.johnwalford.com/

Professor of Art History, using photography for fun, and as a sideways glance at my own discipline, reflecting on how knowledge of art history can inform what and how one sees in the present. I was born in the UK, educated there, Amsterdam, then Cambridge, and now teach in the States. I am married to a wonderful Italian woman, Maria Dellu', who was born in Milan. We are blessed by three loyal and loving children, all married, and five lively grandchildren, who all bring joy to our hearts.

I also belong to a self-proclaimed, new art movement, called "Eye de-light" - a photographic vision and a phrase masterfully coined by "algo" (see further, below, and, as explained by algo, on his profile: www.flickr.com/people/algo/ ).



"Look Carefully Below, To See Clearly Above," 2007

I have been taking photographs--on and off--since I was seven years old, but what triggered my recent return to the medium, with a greater intensity, was two factors:



Firstly, my colleague and friend, professional photographer Greg Schreck, persuaded me to buy a decent digital camera, even if only to use it as a visual note-taking device, which he was convinced would serve me well, as an art historian. He was right!



Secondly, my friendship with a former student of Greg Schreck, and now a professional photographer, David Wittig, born in Argentina to American parents, and working in Chicago, who has been taking Italian lessons from my wife. She now, in turn, has to put up with my new-found passion for photography, as well as all my other quirks. My work, in return, is dedicated to her.



When the three of us, David, Maria, and I, worked on a joint exhibition and book of David Wittig's work, in Italy, for which I was asked to write a couple of critical essays, the more I engaged with his work, and the more I studied the context out of which he was working, the more I was inspired to produce my own.

I have learnt much from his example, and from our many discussions over dinners, week after week. It is to him, and Greg Schreck, that I owe my rediscovered passion for the medium. It is also from David Wittig, and, in turn, his sources of inspiration, that I adopted the diptych and triptych formats that I sometimes use, for their power of juxtaposition. I can say that David Wittig's encouragement in this area has rejuvenated my life, and to him I am much indebted.

Out of our joint collaborations on his two exhibitions in Italy, I in turn, a year and a half later, was invited to have my own, in the same location, San Giorgio Scarampi, in Piedmont. This was a great treat, and a rich experience, for which David Wittig helped me with the preparation, and my wife, Maria, translated everything for the catalog essay. To both my profound thanks. Even greater thanks to Franco Vaccaneo, President of the Scarampi Foundation, for generously extending to me both the opportunity to exhibit, and for ensuring the high standard of the small catalog, (as well as to The Aldeen Fund, Wheaton College, for funding its publication in English as well as Italian). Here is the mini-catalog cover:



Finally, my experience of sharing with Greg and David has inspired my desire to share with others on Flickr, as well as to create a group, "Top Art Students Work" www.flickr.com/groups/topartstudents/ (see below), where students can benefit from sharing and comparing their work with their peers--hopefully from all over the globe--on a site dedicated to their specific use. ***My hope is that my Flickr contacts will tell students they know, and encourage them to join and participate.



Oh! And I hope that my photowork provides food for thought, coming though in the form of what "algo" so aptly and creatively calls: "Eye de-light."

"Eye de-light" is something more substantial than mere "Eye Candy." So, he and I are the founding, and, thus far, sole members of a self-proclaimed new school of photography, called "Eye de-light."

The manifesto for "Eye de-light" is yet to be written, but his photostream--more than mine--shows well what it looks like!!! At its core lies something to do with the impact of light upon the eye, as on the lens, which, as he has observed, lies at the core of the photographic process--to write with light. (See further, algo's profile: www.flickr.com/people/algo/ )

Enough said!--More than enough!

bighugelabs.com/flickr/dna.php?username=walford@gmail.com

I likely am INTJ, as in: www.typelogic.com/intj.html



Facebook me!
wheatonil.facebook.com/profile.php?id=187703458




The above map started over Dec 25, 2008; The map for the year prior (to maintain some clarity) is archived, see this link: www2.clustrmaps.com/stats/history/www.flickr.com-photos-w...




Please also visit these nine new "Top - .........." series of groups, each dedicated to a characteristic photographic theme, or type of practice:

www.flickr.com/groups/domlife/



www.flickr.com/groups/grain_blur/




www.flickr.com/groups/topconceptual-experimental/




www.flickr.com/groups/topqalportraits/




www.flickr.com/groups/topcityscapes-citylife/



www.flickr.com/groups/top-peopleatwork/



www.flickr.com/groups/topqallandscapes/




www.flickr.com/groups/topqalstill-life/



and:

Top Art Student Works: flickr.com/groups/topartstudents/



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