Ah, that’s fair. I don’t think the illustrative images here are intended to be ‘art’. I think it’s reasonable to illustrate a post about appliances with a simple photo of an appliance, and not expect it to be a soaring emotional experience.
So I don’t question the basic composition.
But for a person who desires to be a professional, it seems reasonable to expect all photos taken to show a basic standard of attention. If I were an aspiring photographer, I might not care to show a series of appliance shots as evidence of my great work, but I would not want yellow-tinged unfocused photos floating around with my name attached to them either. Even if this is isn’t ‘art’, it should at least add a nice illustration, rather than take away by standing out for poor quality.

For science fiction: Ian McDonald’s series of stories about India (Cyberabad Days) and Brasil (Brasyl). Brilliant explorations of two very different and very globally important cultures in the near future. I’m looking forward to his book on Turkey when I have time for more fiction.

For fantasy: Anything by Charles de Lint in the last 15 or so years. His older stuff is also worth a read, but not as polished or as deeply affecting. Urban fantasy with a profound and deeply human heart.

Any of Cory Doctorow’s recent books for insights into the youth culture that is increasingly shaking up and shaping our near future.

Walter Jon Williams has done some really interesting stuff recently on virtual reality, online gaming, and its social consequences. “This Is Not A Game” is a good recent example. It’s reasonably geeky, often a really good page turner, and has some interesting insights into where we’re heading.

Gordon van Gelder’s “Welcome to the Greenhouse”. A collection of stories on greenhouse warming and its consequences, ranging from simple, straightforward, and deeply affecting (e.g., David Brin’s contribution) to completely off the wall (e.g., Alan Dean Foster’s contribution).

Short stories? Anything by Robert Reed, Kit Reed, Carol Emshwhiller, Ken Liu, and (if you love wordplay and Jack Vance) Matthew Hughes. That selection spans a wide range of literary styles and subjects, from stuff that doesn’t much seem like fantasy and science fiction (but is if you think about it) to stuff that is pushing the envelope.

That’s a very short list, as there are many good writers out there in a range of subject areas within this genre. You can check out the fiction section of my web site for a few years of reviews of stories by these and other authors.

*Good* science fiction and fantasy is also good *fiction*, and it’s very good indeed: it’s rigorously thought through, has much to say about the human condition and where that is heading in the future, and is often intellectually and emotionally challenging. In short, it does what the best fiction also does: it makes you think and makes you feel.

Needless to say, it’s important to remember that there’s as much crap in this genre as there is in any other genre of writing. Have you paid attention to the best-seller lists lately?

If you want good recommendations, contact me privately by e-mail. (Don’t just post a query here; I rarely have time to monitor the comments here.) Include the URL for this particular series of comments and I’ll include my response here so that I can share with the rest of the readers.

The quality of a specific photo probably does not matter for purposes of this blog, but should matter very much from the point of view of the intern’s professional development: if the photos are well-done and creative, she could consider using it in a portfolio. If the photos are neither technically good nor creative, she might not be considered for future projects.

Rudyard Kipling and Kai and I seem to share some view of Art (“art with a capital F” may encapsulate the view). But that isn’t the point I was trying to make, which is this:

Here are a bunch of tips on how to live frugally, illustrated by a bunch of photographs. These photographs, thematically, show that if you live frugally your domestic appliances will look as though they have been kept in the garage (which some of them have), are not free of exterior and irrelevant smudges (which all of them are not), and despite your best efforts sometimes look filthy (when their task is to eliminate filth from you by, so to speak, attracting it upon “themselves”.)

Suppose I had seen an appropriately-colo[u]red and reasonably-focused picture of a freezer. What would that have called to my mind that the actual photo did not?

I like the ‘custard monster’ alternate title. I too am completely baffled by what interests so many people in paintings that look like nothing, other than the name attached. I recognise great skill in painters who can paint something that looks like a photograph, whether or not I derive enjoyment from their talent. But especially the ones that look like a kindergarten fingerpainting and need to be explained in feeling terms to be appreciated are completely beyond my understanding.

Depth of field is a technical aspect, not an artistic one. You might not know what it means, but someone who aims to be a professional photographer should. It’s about focusing properly. I question how much creativity should be applied to this simple illustrative series, but having photos that are appropriate colours and reasonably focused is pretty expectable for an aspiring professional.

When it is a question of “inspiration”, this does not matter; the image above will either lead you to agree with Trent’s sentiments about it or it will not. The quality of the image will make almost no difference; if you think (as I do) that the picture might as well be entitled “A Failed Attempt by Custard Monsters to Control the World”, you would not necessarily be wrong.

But if you take a picture of a freezer in order to illustrate a piece about freezers, everyone will gang up on you for not having paid attention to “depth of field” (whatever that is), or not having retouched the picture with tools that ought not to have been in your mind when you took it, and were certainly not available (any more than the digital camera was) to Matisse. Why is this thus? What is the reason for this thusness?

Also, calling a disagreement “cyberbullying” is hyperbole.

There is a sacrificial and less glamorous side of frugality( or when frugality becomes religion) I am not mentioning almighty Borax here, I cook knit and made bath bombs myself) There is a lesson to learn here too. Those who made financial mistakes earlier in life and are forced to be frugal later are missing on sampling , not even indulging , real art in various forms- none of them is free. A blind can see that knowledge,music and information hungry author is reduced to second hand experiences (I do remember Chicago).
To #9 and # 13. Cyber bulling.

Hope you can go sometime!

@#1, Trent’s written about traveling to London, and from reading his blog, it’s clear that he has traveled, and continues to travel, quite a bit, so your comment misses the mark. But not everyone has the opportunity or desire to travel, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying what one finds on the internet. I feel sad and sorry that you felt the need to go out your way to knock innocuous things that others might find inspirational.

But still there are plenty of paintings that I like that I’ve never seen in person and plenty of music that I like that I’ve never seen performed live.

There’s no reason that you can’t draw inspiration from something that you haven’t seen in person, that’s just silly.

I’ve always been drawn to hot air balloons too. As a kid I would always try and follow them as far as I could on my bike when I’d see them over my house.

Is item #9 a continuation of your lecturing your readers like they’re naughty children for complaining about how often you get your facts wrong? Because, really.