Allen C. Benson, Writer, Photographer, Librarian

 

 

 

Pittsburgh Staccato

Many parallels can be drawn between music and photography. There are similarities between notes in musical counterpoint and the relations between picture elements in images; there are similarities between musical composition and image composition.

I began my work with pinhole photography while studying traditional black & white photography under Dylan Vitone at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. I experimented with camera focal lengths, film planes, angles of view, and the pinhole diameters--aspects of photography that are as pervasive and variable as tonality and timbre in music.

Like a musician who composes motifs then shapes them into phrases and finally movements, I began with the architecture of Pittsburgh, exploring various interpretations, creating associations between light, shadow, proximity, and point of view. Then I developed a composite of related photographs all made from subjects found in and around Pittsburgh. These images evolved into the series Pittsburgh Staccato.

--Allen C. Benson 



© 2008 Allen C. Benson. All Rights Reserved