Every week, photographer Joshua Cobos shoots a roll of film just for us. He picks the best 13 photos and we post them here, and it’s called “Bad Blood with Joshua Cobos.” Here’s what Joshua has to say about this week’s installment:
Ash & I took a trip to Sausalito, the ferry ride there helped me visualize an alternate reality that I’m hoping to create in a future collection. Bits and gasps can be seen here, the last photograph being an example of that vision. The Matildas were on tour, we happened to have room for them to stay at our house during that time. The middle of this set is a familiar theme of mine, patterns, more specifically how all patterns seem to have this organic natural state to them, which may reflect on my interest in sea life & primordial creatures. Other unspecified portraits were taken around downtown or Chinatown in celebration of the Year of the Snake.
Thanks, Joshua! (Can’t wait for this alternate reality thing!) Eight more shots after the jump:
Last photo? I can only assume this alternate universe involves threesomes with girls with dyed hair.
ZING!
That would be nice.
oh yeah, that one guy in #5 swore he was in GBH, yeah riiiight.
“i knew Darby!”
Shoulda told the old git to sod off! I mean, he may have filled in on reunion tour # 9, but he’s no City Baby-era salad-dodger!!
hahaha
i come here for the comments
There’s more creativity in my right nostril than in this hunk of hipster bullshit. Show some real talent or just go back to instagram.
Can you provide a link to your right nostril’s instagram or something plz?
I agree. Lots of weak criticism here. The guy knocks out a roll a week for the column and for the most part they are interesting & enjoyable. Lighten up people.
are you a photographer? can you provide credible, constructive examples of how & why these photos lack talent? Or do you just consider yourself too hip for ‘hipster bullshit’? Links to your work, so we can all be enlightened on what real talent looks like, plz & thx.
You don’t need to be a photographer to know if somebody lacks talent/motivation to create something compelling enough to rise above the noise. That would be like asking “Are you a musician?” if you complained about someone who couldn’t tune their instrument or follow a tempo.
So this guy takes pictures of unhappy people?
“1-2-3 DON’T SMILE!”
there is actually a pretty wide variation of facial expressions here. are all photos supposed to be of people smiling? because that sounds incredibly boring to me.
i think from now on, anyone hating on these photos should provide an example of their own superior abilities in order to give some credibility to their holier-than-thou criticism. Otherwise y’all just look like a bunch of ignorant internet bullies, and you can move to the left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E58qLXBfLrs
If you put shitty pics of your friends on a blog and call it “art”, you can expect criticism.
viewers+comments section=honesty
If you can’t take the heat, get the fuck outta the kitch and take your crap roll of film with ya.
How about you guys try a little harder and interview/showcase artists with talent who, oh I dunno, have an actual exhibit coming up? Anyone can load a camera. Show us the professional local talent, not this shit.
keep putting your energy into critiquing my work, i’m not looking for praise on a column called “BAD BLOOD” ahahahahhahahahaha
Loading a camera is actually harder then it looks. Also Josh is most certainly top notch professional local talent. He can exhibit with me anytime.
Hey Josh,
I’m glad you ignore the haters, but what about responding to constructive criticism? Just curious. Personally, I don’t give two fucks about the trolls, but maybe there’s something to be learned from the other comments. Maybe MM can interview you about what you’re doing as well?
Depends on the camera. I can do it with one hand, while walking. #stylusepic
+1
the thing is he can take the heat. strangely, others can’t.
YESSSS the last one is so rad!!!
Screw all these haterzzzzsss
I don’t think someone needs to be a photographer to say that they don’t think a photo is good, much like I don’t think someone has to be a rapper (or whatever the fuck they are) to say that Black Eyed Peas is a terrible group, or a singer to say that Katie Perry makes some of the worst music.
People have told me my photos suck. I don’t really care. Sometime people have criticized them in a way that makes me think about things differently and that can be helpful.
Not your best work, but there are still some winners here. Also, Old Mission Neighbor has a point. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an expression like that on #11′s face before. Maybe it’s the sun glasses?
the girl with blu hair is beautiful and always great makeup, i think you’ve shot her before?
Is that makeup or natural skin tone, either way…uh huh.
Thank you so much! It is makeup the color of my actual skin tone
I am the palest person in the world but I love me some makeup. And unfortunately my skin isn’t as flawless looking as makeup can make it.
Thank you so much!
People still don’t know how to critique unconceptualized photographs- if it’s not staged it can’t be art, however winogrand, Stieglitz and wee gee might have something different to say. Photographers are being challenged evermore due to our over saturated, over stimulated, and over exhausted image based society. It takes a trained eye and years of constructive critiques to truly understand the form, however now people only glance at images and make uninformed, scathing critiques-
Actually, throwing Stieglitz in with Winogrand, and Weegee shows your Photo 1 knowledge.
People appreciate “unconceptualized” photography, and to think Winogrand was not working on specific ideas about the medium is idiotic. “People” do consider it art – see the Garry Winogrand retrospective at SFMOMA, which opened a few days ago for an example. It is honestly ridiculous to include Winogrand in this conversation. His layered composition, complex use of the frame, and ability to pull poetic situations out of everyday life made him one of a kind.
“People” can identify that Josh’s compositions are very basic, he puts everything in the center of the frame, and people understand the “hip” content of the work is what most people are drawn to…he is not advancing the medium in any way. We can see that clearly. If you put your photographs on a mission blog, and write cheesy statements about patterns, sea life and alternate realities – you set yourself up for criticism. Especially, when your pictures are a reality everyone knows – snap shots of hipster lifestyle.
Most work like Winogrand’s or any other great photographer is released as a body of work, which was worked on for years. A lot of film shot, and a great amount of time looking at & editing work. So some of this criticism is unwarranted because Josh is showing his process. Shots that down the road would be edited out, and that takes balls. But, overall he still has a lot to learn, should probably spend more time looking at great photographers, and working on doing something more refined. Showing bad weekly outtakes on a blog is not the way to move forward with the medium.
Don’t be fooled that because people are offering criticism on a blog that they are uniformed about photography, and can only appreciate Staged photography. Also, Allan and others defending Josh by asking people who comment to see their work is just stupid. Other photographers are out there if you just look.
The top bay area photographers who you should look at that do what Josh wants to do are Sandy Kim, and Andrea who goes by Teenage Witch. I can also list a ton of other local and international photographers who are actually doing interesting work.
With that said, Josh, your work is not very good, but that does not mean you should not keep working, shooting, and sharing.
As someone who takes pictures and shares them on the web, I would like to quickly weigh in. I appreciate your detailed and measured response. I disagree with a lot of what you say, but that’s fine with me. Two things to address though, the second person you mention goes by “Teen Witch”.
The more important thing is what comes up time and again here and other blogs and the internet in general. You say that “asking people who comment to see their work is just stupid”. I agree that you don’t need to show your work to be able to have an opinion on someone else’s. I also agree that if someone puts their work into a public medium anyone is free to voice their reaction. But when you have a place where the very vocal minority control the conversation by anonymously posting multiple times under different names with criticism that is often personal and not even trying to appear constructive or about the actual work, those efforts do need to be challenged. Because if that’s the kind of conversation we’re here to have, then why the hell are we really here?
To me it’s not about Josh or his work. It’s about the sharing of work and the dialogue around it. There can be a place where someone shares themselves and others with nothing at risk take turns tearing the person down, but that seems to me like an incredibly useless way for all involved to spend their time.
Well said.
I agree Pat’s response is actually thoughtful criticism, and not the typical one liner hater response. But, nothing here is framed as a forum for critical discusion about the medium. It is framed as we ask local hip photographer Josh Cabo’s to shoot some cool shots for us. That is on Allan for setting it up that way, and Josh for agreeing to it. If you want critical dialog about photography, set it up for people to submit, someone to select, and share the work. But, that will not happen because it takes work, and MM is better at posting a lot of food shots instead of highlighting truly interesting events and people in their community.
The first mistake was thinking “Pat” knows what he’s talking about. Just because you have a long comment doesn’t mean you’re actually saying anything of worth. Also just because someone doesn’t like my work does it mean I’m a bad photographer who knows nothing about technique or exposure? No. It just means I’ve allowed my work to be shown in a public place where goons can comment.
Pat is on point.
Also, there are two kinds of work- good, and bad.
The conversation is what you make of it. I’m not saying it has to be a hoity toity pinky-out discussion, but it also doesn’t have to be a dishonest personal attack fest. To me it keeps coming back to commenters who have nothing at stake and don’t really seem to have anything interesting to add.
JOSH YOU WERE DOING WELL RISING ABOVE UNTIL RIGHT HERE
Actually “Josh” I do know what I am talking about, and I do not think my comments were just harsh criticism. They are based in facts about photo history, and the technical and aesthetic merits of your work.
Look at all you posts on MM, and you will see almost every picture has the subject in the center of the frame. A lot of the time you leave a ton of space above the subjects head. They look like most snap shots in family albums. There is a difference between using a snap shot aesthetic, and taking very simple boring compositions. You also have a tendency to over expose film. Past sets have a lot of over exposed work, but there is only one shot in this set. The girl in the second to last shot is a good example – there is no separation between her braids and shirt. This happens all the time in your work.
Teen Witch takes pictures that are riddled with mistakes at times, but her subject, and aesthetic embrace the looseness of the work. Sandy Kim is on another planet, and is one of the best young photographers in the Bay Area.
I am heavily embedded in the photography scene in San Francisco, and look at a lot of work. I work with every major institution, galleries, & non-profits – and work at one of the best spaces. The Bay Area has a rich tradition with photography, and exciting things are happening here currently.
I do not think you should stop making work, and sure you have some potential. But, the way your segment on MM is framed sets you up for criticism – especially when your works most interesting quality is documenting typical hipster lifestyle. It operates like a flickr account on a blog, and the special part of it, is the fact you shoot film? This is only made more problematic when you write artists statement the conjure classic japanese photographer or elude to alternate realities. I can almost understand the knee jerk reaction of the haters who just make negative short statements.
The only reality is you need to spend your time working on your knowledge of the medium, and more time looking at great photographers. Get off MM, shoot several hundred roles of film, try making more interesting compositions, and edit a body of work. Find a group of photographers to share your work with who are also passionate about the medium, and get real, honest, critical feedback. That is the way you will get better.
Of course, because I think your work is weak does not mean through your eyes your photography is bad. But dismissing my first comment as not saying anything reads like a third grader saying “no, you’re stupid.”
I read an article that said San Francisco is full of creeps. Is that true?
That’s rad you gave Teen Witch BKF a shout out!
Teen Witch is sick – let her know to keep it up, and that the local curators are following what she is doing, but we want to see more then her flickr account. That girl needs to get a website or more edited and refined blog of her work.
ite.
I wouldn’t say all the scathing criticism is uninformed, as Cobos prefaced the work and a lot of readers, many of whom are visually literate, have already seen his stuff on this blog. Often it’s the pro’s that are quick to denounce, sometimes because they’re right and some because they’re myopic. Also, I disagree about viewers not being able to correlate snap-shot technique with artistic merit, as even the names you gave illustrate, this approach has now long been accepted.
That said, I dig the escalator picture.
Not sure “Art” is what MM is going for with this weekly bullshit, or at least I hope that’s not the point. I’d like to see some bad blood from other “talented” mission hip photographers. As interesting as this dude’s friends are, I’d like to see something different once in a while. Although the comments keep me coming back.
What else do you want that you can’t make happen yourself?
Haterz be haten’. We look at photos or read articles on the interwebs to be entertained. Whether or not something is art, is both very personal and in context completely irrelevant. If this does not entertain you, find something that does. What is conveyed by all the responses(good and bad alike) is that you were entertained enough to have an opinion. Therefore I find this post to be quite successful. Nice work Josh, and thank you for making me look prettiez.
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