Against Happiness, Photolucida, and Editing Negatives

Dennis DeHart, 6x7 Negative, (Spring Green, Prescott, Arizona) 2005

Have I mentioned how much I love our library on Orcas? I recently picked up a copy of the book "Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy by Eric G. Wilson. Wilson's basic premise is that our societies obsession with canned or artificial happiness is detrimental to the completeness of the human condition. One of the most poignant points in the book was Wilson's discussion of Romantic irony. He writes that (p. 129); "Romantic irony, developed mainly in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century by German philosophers like Frederick Von Schlegel, assumes that the universe is simply too compacious, too complex, too overabundant, ever to be accurately represented by anyone thought, image, or statement."

Later Wilson writes (p.130):
"Though it often organizes literary expression, Romantic Irony is basically an attitude, a diposition, a way of being. It is a method for making sense of the world without being dogmatic, for remaining open-minded in the face of inevitable interderminacy, for being able to remain in an interpretive limbo, aware of the fact that one perspective on the world is ever finally true. The person who is ironic in this way ultimately takes life seriously and not seriously at the same time. He/she knows that his/her experience of the world is dynamic, vital, and fascinating. Be he/she also realizes that this same experience is utterly inadequate, incomplete, and banal. He/she has his world and leaves it too." Wilson goes on to distinguish Romantic irony from "generation X'ers and probably Generation Y types" form of irony, as different from the "no matter how potentially moving an experience is, I can stand outside it and mock it." He call this form of irony "instrumental irony" which borders on nihilism.

At times I did found my self skimming the book. I particularly found the biographical sections on various monumental melancholic figures throughout the ages, long winded. Ultimately Against Happiness is a thoughtful book that is beautiful in its own right. As Wilson writes: (p. 115) "The beautiful object is unpredictable, mottled, scabarous, and fractured."


I registered today for the Photolucida Spring 2008 portfolio review. From the Photolucida website, Photolucida is "Every other Spring an international set of photographers and reviewers gather in Portland Oregon for a week-long celebration of photography. Our mission: an increased understanding of the world through photography. By promoting in-depth, informed, and supportive dialog between photographers, gallery owners, publishers and pundits of various sorts, Photolucida promotes the culture of photography. The next Portfolio Review event will take place in April, 2009."

This week I have been going through negatives from the last 3-4 years. The negatives stem from the process oriented project "Grow," most of which I took while living in Arizona. The images from this project eventually took form in my solo exhibition "Ambit Verdure" in 2006 at the Insite gallery in Buffalo. I am now editing these images, in addition to newer images that I took while living in Buffalo. I am currently adding and subtracting, working with color balancing and the overall lighting and value. This current project includes culling some 40 images or so, based on "quality of feeling, color, and light" into a small book.

Dennis DeHart, 6x7 Negative, (Green Chairs, Chino Valley, Arizona) 2005