Doctor Scratch wrote:UPDATE: It appears that Will Schryver has joined the party over in the "Comments" section.
And leave it to William to be the one to finally draw out Brian Shumway himself, the actual photographer! Here are the relevant comments from (assuming this link will work)
this page:
WILLIAM SCHRYVER originally writes:As for Shumway's photography, I thought a few of the compositions were interesting. But make no mistake, virtually all of these photos were deliberately posed compositions—well-executed in some respects, but above all revealing of the artist's own gnawing sense of mediocrity.
Apparently he grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks". Alas, many did. Almost every county in America has neighborhoods on the "wrong side of the tracks". Shumway would have us believe his particular experience was typical of Mormon culture in general, and consequent to the (presumed) oppression of Mormon teachings. He would have us believe that the "slice of life" he pretends to spontaneously document in these photos is Mormonism. Of course, it's not. It's merely part of Utah, just as every poorly educated, culturally backward family in every bad neighborhood in every state is part of America.
The biggest problem with Shumway's photos, however, is that they scream out disingenuousness, as though an audio track accompanied each one and you can hear Shumway whispering, right before the shutter click: "Now remember, look as sad and depressed as you possibly can …" To me, disingenuous art is no art at all—it's merely propaganda.BRIAN SHUMWAY responds:i've kept silent during all of this, but can no longer. william, i will not tolerate this personal attack against me and my family. you're arrogance and ignorance are absolutely astounding. in fact, i demand an apology about suggesting my family is "poorly educated," "culturally backward" and from the "wrong side of the tracks." i applaud both the Mormons and non-mormons who have defended this project against such idiocy.WILLIAM SCHRYVER follows up:Don't complain to me! You're the one who (apparently) calculated to make your subjects in your "Happy Valley" folder appear to be culturally backward and oppressed. Unfortunately, all you did (in my opinion) was demonstrate the axiom that contrived art is bad art."The artist's own gnawing sense of mediocrity?" "Poorly educated, culturally backward family?"
". . . calculated to make your subjects in your 'Happy Valley' folder appear to be culturally backward and oppressed?"
The icing on the cake, to me, is when Will responds to Shumway's demand for an apology by saying, "Don't complain to me!"
I don't know about you, but Will's utter audacity has me LOL!
"Finally, for your rather strange idea that miracles are somehow linked to the amount of gay sexual gratification that is taking place would require that primitive Christianity was launched by gay sex, would it not?"
--Louis Midgley