Wednesday, April 4, 2018: Alighting
by ag
It’s not a book or retrospective exhibit at MOMA but it’s the closest to either that I can reasonably hope to get, at least for the immediate future. It’s Alighting, my new website, that organizes Pixetera images dating from 2012 — plus some earlier work — in a more systematic fashion than is possible with a chronological blog. Today, it finally went live.
There’s lots to look at — more than 500 images in fact. If you’re like me at a blockbuster museum show, feel free to whip through them like a whirlwind just to get a contact high. Otherwise, take your time and come and go as you like — admission is always free. Don’t forget to bring your friends :)
Know too that any feedback, positive or negative, is absolutely welcome. Brief comments can be left here, but I’d prefer that serious suggestions or criticisms be communicated via phone or email using the contact information you can find at Alighting.
FYI, current work will still be posted on Pixetera so don’t turn the dial (as they used to say in times that now feel pre-historic.) The plan is that at some point, the more exceptional images will also alight on Alighting.
My hope is that the new website marks both the end of one chapter and beginning of another.
Pixetera 
The new site is brilliant, Alan. It’s a wonderful way to archive your work and open it to the public. Congratulations, well done!
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Thanks Ken. At this point, after months of labor and repeated viewings as it came together in the last few days, I have zero perspective on the new site. In fact, it will be awhile before I can look at it again with fresh eyes. So your comment is greatly appreciated.
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This morning I have taken only the briefest of glances at the new website but it looks great. I will later sit down and spend some quality time with it.
Congratulations for getting it live and for sharing so much of your work.
One thing I noticed which may be deliberate or not is that on the main page when you click on the “Compositopolis” and before you click on the images to enter the black background gallery, there is some writing half obscured by the images as they auto scroll. Visible to the left hand side. It isn’t possible to read the writing/text beneath the images so I wondered if it is something that needs deleting or if it is there to tease? It is only partially visible when the images are narrower.
You’ve spent so long putting it together I thought I should mention it :-)
Best wishes
Mr C
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for alerting me to the problem. You have much sharper eyes than I do, PC. That text was some remnant from a very early version when I barely knew what I was doing and completely missed the further along I went. I believe it’s only on the Compositopolis page and fixed now, but by all means let me know if you notice anything else that looks peculiar. The odds of it being intentional are pretty slim :)
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Alighting is a beautiful site, Alan. Congratulations. I’ve only just looked through Abstractioness so far. Wonderful images with appealing titles. I look forward to seeing every single other photograph on your new website. May it serve you well.
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Thank you Linda. Much appreciated. Hope you continue to enjoy your visits.
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You’ve been busy! It’s a beautiful site, and I love your word play in the titles, just love it. The About page is great, I think. I went through Humanistan and saw many fine images there….pleasantly surprised by how similar one is to some of the plants behind conservatory windows photos I’ve been doing. Of course, great minds think alike. And I loved the one just before that, with all the water. I think we both like looking through something else, or seeing how things are different when you’re at a slight remove. I’ll take the rest of the site in proper, measured doses. A contact high! So funny.
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Thanks Lynn. Photographing a subject through something else can add texture or mystery, and demand more of the viewer than otherwise. In some cases, it makes an image look less like a photograph — something I’m always a sucker for :)
In a sense too, that particular device can be seen as a metaphor for what we do as photographers — presenting the world to others through the filter of our own sensibility and craft.
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I really like Alighting. Very pleasing colors and simple layout. It really displays the breadth and depth of your work much better than the blog could do. It’s great site, Alan!
I think I have been completely through it once and partially through several sections again. So nice to have lots of images…each time I have returned, perhaps in a little different frame of mind, I see them in a new way. I look forward to many returns…
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Thanks so much Mic., not only for your comments but taking all that time to view Alighting. You have a lot more stamina than I have :)
Not sure whether you’ve had this experience or not but after working for months on this project and finally getting it up, I’m barely able to look at it. At some point though I hope to view it with fresh eyes, and see whether my perspective and work changes as a result — if at all.
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All my pleasure, Alan. It is a marvelous collection of work.
Yes, I think I know that feeling…you work so intensely editing, sorting, arranging, etc. It is hard to declare it done. You have to walk away from it.
I will be interested to see whether my perspective and work changes as a result of your images. I feel like I have lost some of the playfulness I had earlier. They are an encouragement for me to loosen up a little. 🙃
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So great we can all support each other in different ways. Just don’t loosen up too much Mic.: Your work is pretty arresting just as it is.
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