Hopper

I may be alone in this, which wouldn't really surprise me, but I didn't really enjoy Christopher Cartmill's Edward Hopper presentation. It was certainly interesting, and I always like to hear more about painters who I know nothing about, but I just can't get behind the whole "moment after" deal. When it comes to great photographs or paintings, I really think it's all about the moment that we can see. We can theorize on what's going on in the minds of the people that we see, but frankly I'm just not interested the stories of their lives, whether it's like "The Maltese Falcon", or more "His Girl Friday". I feel like when you have such a deep desire to keep going and make up your own post-picture story, you're ignoring the power of a single captured emotion. Humans are incredibly moody animals, and I think we should relish the opportunity to look at a picture or painting of someone crying or laughing or smirking so we can know what those things look like and think about how they feel.