Thursday, January 7

There is something to the pop-psychology adage about people falling into one of two categories: those who always think of the glass as half-full, and those who think of it as half-empty. Michael Lanoiselee is a brilliant young photographer who sends me his photos du jour; and yesterday’s photograph was of stairs somewhere outside. They were nothing more nor less than steps coming up or going down, depending on your point of view. Just as Kenneth Noland’s (died January 5, 2010) signature abstract expressionist color field paintings say they had to be done by one artist, Michael’s photographs have something about them that says, “these photographs reflect the vision of Michael Lanoiselee.” Already at the beginning of his photographer’s life, there is something iconic about his images. I found myself wondering about yesterday’s picture if the observer is waiting for someone to come up the stairs or preparing to go down them himself. It’s not exactly the same as “glass half-full or glass half-empty;” but like a Rorschack inkblot, the image might elicit interesting gut-reactions in a personality inventory.

It is important to understand that a painting, a photograph, a musical composition, or any work of art doesn’t have to be about something. It can be about nothing in particular and still have meaning. The artist, in this case the photographer, had his own reasons for capturing the particular image that we see when we look at the photograph. He may or may not have had something in mind when he aimed his camera and took the picture. He may or may not have thought carefully about lighting and composition before he snapped the shutter. He may or may not have noticed the word “MARK” sprayed across the steps. It doesn’t matter. When he e-mailed the image to me, he didn’t send along an explanation. When I first saw the picture and then later when I took a second look, I didn’t try to analyze it in terms of what it meant to Michael or what it might mean to me. But the picture does have meaning. There is a universal quality in the image that allowed me to bring my own set of life experiences to it, so I eventually thought of the half-full/half-empty glass. Tomorrow I may look at the photograph and think of something else.

Congratulations, Michael. You’re making good pictures.