Blog Post #20

#20 Describe at least one photograph that you could take for each of the following “place” prompts.

• An image of a synthetic “place” - For an image of a synthetic place, I could take a photograph of a golf course or a formal garden.
  
• An image of a fantasy/fictitious environment concocted from your imagination - For this image, I could reconstruct the fictitious environment. For example, if I imagined a city on another planet, I could construct the scene using paper and other props. Then I would be able to take a photo of it.
  
• An image of a placeless space such as the Internet, cell phones, e-mail, e-bank, surveillance - To take a photo of a placeless space, I could photograph a computer with an error screen or take a photo of a cell phone with a "message sent" screen.
  
• An image of a public space - For an image of a public space, I could take a photograph of children playing in a public park or people entering a public library.
  
• An image of a private space - For an image of a private space, I could take a photo of a basement or a bedroom.
  
• An in-between space that brings to mind one of the following ideas: nomadic lifestyles, displacement, rootlessness, out-of-placeness, boundaries, movement, expansion - For an in-between space, I could take a photo of a single car in an empty parking lot near a bus or train station. This space would bring movement and rootlessness to my mind.
  

Blog Post #19

Can you think of anything that:

1) should not be photographed? Why?
I think that things that are very personal and intimate should sometimes not be photographed. Photographing these types of situations can sometimes make them seem less "sacred" or valuable than they are to the people involved. It can serve to cheapen the situation.
2) cannot be photographed? Why?
While photographic technology continues to improve, there are still a few things that cannot be photographed. Movement at the molecular and atomic levels usually cannot be photographed because the items are too small and move too quickly for cameras to capture.
3) you do not want to photograph? Why?

I do not want to photograph modern and post-modern architecture because I do not like it, and I do not enjoy looking at it. I find it to be ugly and awkward looking, and have no interest in it at all. That is why I would not want to take pictures of it.

Blog Post #18

“I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody's face in a photograph. The magic is in seeing people in new ways.” Duane Michals
I disagree with this quotation. For me, the photographs that are the most meaningful are the ones that capture the subject's personality the most closely. It is not always easy to take a photograph of a person that captures their personality and the traits that are the most memorable about them. It definitely takes a good amount of skill. A photograph of a person that shows them in a new way that is not familiar might not be as meaningful to the viewer.

Blog Post #17

“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams
I do not necessarily agree with this quote. I think, like any other type of art, for certain people, certain types of photography come more naturally. For some, landscape photography might be second nature. For others, it might be, as Adams suggests, more difficult. I think it all depends upon the photographer.

Blog Post #16

"Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world." - Arnold Newman
I am not sure that I agree with this quote. While it is certainly possible to distort reality within a photograph, it is also possible to present a fairly accurate and informative representation of reality. For example, photojournalism attempts to capture reality as closely as possible within a photograph. The photo tells a story about real events and real people and places.

Recreation #3

This photo is a recreation of my memories from working on an olive farm in the south of France. For the photo, I printed out pictures of olive trees, a windmill, and a cow to construct a scene reminiscent of the real one. I used a landscape painting of the region, which I purchased while in France to provide a backdrop for this scene. The cut-out flat pictures give a sense of the surreal, almost like a dream. This is intentional, as my experience in France was so great that it almost seems surreal and dream-like when I think about it.

Contemporary Photographer - Esteban Pastorino Diaz

Biography: Esteban Pastorino Diaz was born in Buenos Aires in 1972. He studied mechanical engineering and graduated in 1993. Three years later, he became interested in photography. He studied commercial photography in Buenos Aires. He trained as an artist-in-residence in Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, and Finland.
Significance: In his photography, Diaz focuses on urban spaces, transit, and movement. He is well known for his aerial photographs of landscapes, and also for his photographs of night scenes.
Techniques: Esteban Pastorino Diaz uses several techniques to emphasize the difference between how our eyes, the mind, and the camera perceive reality. For his aerial photographs, he often uses kites to lift his camera to the desired height. He often constructs his own cameras to achieve the specific effects that he desires. He tilts the lens in relation to the film to give different effects.
Motivations: Diaz said "It is my intention to emphasize that the aesthetical decisions are made at the moment of defining the technical aspects of the process and not under control at the moment of triggering the shutter." and "to register the common aspects and the differences of these places in way that only the camera can do."

Historic Photographer: Roger Fenton

Biography: Roger Fenton (March 20, 1819 - August 8, 1869) was an early British photographer. Fenton graduated from University College London in 1840 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, having studied English, mathematics, and logic. In 1841, he began to study law at University College, becoming a solicitor in 1847. Fenton became interested in photography after visiting an exhibition in Hyde Park in London. He then went to Paris to learn the waxed paper calotype process. By 1852, his work was exhibited in England. He traveled to Kiev, Moscow, and St. Petersburg to take photographs, and he also photographed architecture and landscapes around Britain. He gave up photography and returned to law in 1861, likely because he was unhappy with the increasing commercialization of photography. He died at age 49, possibly from cholera.



The Terrace and Park, Harewood House, 1861.
Albumen print. Royal Photographic Society Bath, England.

Significance: Fenton was a fashionable architectural, still-life, portrait, and landscape photographer. Aesthetically sensitive and technically adept, he was the most acclaimed and influential photographer in England during this period and did much to establish photography as both an art and a profession. Fenton had a strong interest in Orientalist subjects and he also made (1852) a series of photographs of Moscow and Kiev. Sponsored by the royal family, he was commissioned in 1855 to document the Crimean War. Working under appalling conditions, he made 360 photographs emphasizing the romantic aspects of an unpopular war. His few combat pictures are among the earliest photographs of battle. Fenton photographed Queen Victoria's family, and also became the official photographer to the British Museum. Roger Fenton was a founding member of the Royal Photographic Society and one of the most influential photographers of the 1850s.
Techniques: Because his photographic equipment was large and heavy, Fenton was limited in his choice of motifs. And because of the not very photosensitive material of his time, he was only able to produce pictures of unmoving objects, mostly posed pictures and landscapes.
Motivations: Fenton wanted to use the new technology of photography to show people what the world was like. His photographs from Russia were the first to be seen in England. He was very interested in photographing foreign subjects and places.

Assignment #2

Composition: For this photograph, I took a picture of myself taking a picture by using a mirror. I chose to wear a dark hat and scarf to provide contrast against the white background. I framed the picture with my eye in the center of the photo to provide a focal point. Part of the lens is cropped out because I felt that the cropping would prevent the viewer's eye from getting "stuck" on the lens, as it is more in focus than the other objects in the frame.
Concept/Aboutness/Idea: In this photo, I wanted to show something about myself, and do it in an interesting way. I chose to take a picture of myself taking a picture in order to show a very literal and somewhat unusual interpretation of the classic self portrait.
Context: I think this image reflects my love of photography and gives a good representation of who I am. To me, it's about being yourself and doing what you enjoy.
Interpretation: Other students said that they liked the high contrast of the photo, and the composition. They said the eye was a strong focal point, and that the lens acted almost like another eye to balance the photo.
Evaluation: Based on the evaluation, I am happy with the way this photograph turned out. I think the composition worked better than I had originally thought. I do not think I would change anything about this photo.
Extension: I would like to make a series of photographs that document the "documentation" of photography. I think it is interesting to see a photo of someone taking a photograph. I would like to try to do this in more creative ways.



Composition: For this photograph, I zoomed in to create an image of a person that is almost abstract. While the viewer can easily recognize what the subject of the photo is, the cropping and the pose create a scene that may not be obvious at first glance. The lines of my legs and the textures in the floor and in my clothing provide interest, and allow the viewer's eye to move throughout the frame. The bright shoes provide contrast against the dark shades prevalent in the rest of the photo.
Concept/Aboutness/Idea: In this photograph, I wanted to make a beautiful image that could be understood and interpreted in many ways. By eliminating the head, shoulders, and hands from the frame, the emotion of the subject is less clear. This allows viewers to interpret the photo in their own way. I created this photo by using the timed shutter on my camera to photograph myself.
Context: To me, this photo is about finding beauty in detail. The ballerina costume shows stereotypical beauty, but the framing of the photo emphasizes the details and the textures of each element.
Interpretation: In class, other students interpreted this photo as an almost abstracted photo of a person. They also said that the lines of the legs and arm worked really well in the frame.
Evaluation: Based on the evaluation, I think the photo worked really well. I think the photo had very nice contrast, composition, and a good range of values. I don't think I would change anything in this photograph.
Extension: I would like to continue to make photographs that make people look at things in new ways and that present an almost abstract picture of a recognizable object. I think I would like to do this by photographing objects close up and from unusual angles.



Composition: In this image, the subject is standing on the other side of a dirty glass door, which gives the photo a hazy and distant appearance. The dark clothing provides contrast against the white snow, although the glass diminishes this contrast to some extent. The hearts hanging in front of the glass provide interest.
Concept/Aboutness/Idea: In this photo, I wanted to convey an attitude of isolation and loneliness. The downward glance of the subject, the glass door, and the snowy scene help convey the sadness that an outsider might feel. I used the self timer function on my camera in order to give myself ample time to get outside the door and in position before the photo was taken.
Context: This photo is meant to show the isolation that I have felt this year. Most of my friends have graduated and moved away, and I often feel lonely and isolated while at school.
Interpretation: In the in-class critique, others interpreted this photo to give a feeling of sadness and isolation. However, the contrast was lower, and the glass less obvious in the printed version of the image, so some students suggested a higher contrast.
Evaluation: Based on the critique, I definitely would increase the contrast of the photo and make sure that the dirtiness of the glass was more obvious. These things were somewhat lost in the printed version.
Extension: I like that the wintry surrounding helps to convey the loneliness of the subject. I think I would like to create some more photos that use the weather to help emphasize the emotions in the image.



Composition: In this picture, the subject takes up a majority of the frame. The background is plain in order for the viewer to concentrate on the person. The angles of the hat's brim, the coat collar, and the hand move the viewer's eye through the frame. The dark hat and coat provide contrast against the bright background.
Concept/Aboutness/Idea: In this photo, I wanted to use clothing to disguise myself. The clothing not only hides my hair, body, and most of my face, but it also gives a feeling of mystery to the photo. I used a tripod and a self timer to take this photo.
Context: To me, this photo is about hiding who you really are. It reflects our tendency to keep thoughts or emotions hidden from others in our lives.
Interpretation: In class, other students interpreted this photo as a recreation of a film still from an old movie. I hadn't thought of it from that point of view originally, but after it was mentioned, I can definitely see how it could be a scene from a detective movie. I kind of like the fact that it can be interpreted that way.
Evaluation: Based on the critique, I think I achieved an interesting composition with a good range of values. In the printed image, the edges of the coat are a little blurry. I think I may have sharpened the image too much. I would definitely change this aspect of the photo.
Extension: I like that the subject's clothing obscures their identity, and I think I might want to explore other ways this can be done. Perhaps with the use of scarves or sunglasses instead.

Blog Post #15

Collage brings together two or more items that were previously separate. The resulting piece usually visually references the fact that they were once separate entities. Imagine an important place in your past. Imagine an important place in your present. Imagine who you were in both of these past and present places. Describe how you might use a slow shutter speed and/or double exposure to capture two moments in one image that tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.

I would use a double exposure to make a collage. For the first photo, I would capture my house from my childhood. My family would be there, and we would all look happy and the scene would reflect a warm and welcoming feeling. In the second photo, I would capture my dark, dirty, cold apartment, with me by myself doing homework at the table and looking stressed out. I would combine these two images into a collage to show how my past home compares to my current living conditions.

Blog Post #14

When photography was invented, it became a way to document and reveal the specific aspects of both familiar and faraway places. Imagine a familiar place. Imagine a faraway place. How would you use photographs to convey the difference? Can you imagine any places that have been “touched” very little by humans? How might you photograph them?

I would use photographs to convey the differences between a familiar place and a faraway place by making a series of photographs for each location and putting them side by side. For example, I would take a picture of clothing, people, food, recreation, and housing in each location and place the photographs next to each other so the viewer could easily compare the two. For places that have been touched very little by humans, I would try to show the fact that they are "natural" in my photographs. For example, photos of wildlife, unspoiled wilderness, and a vast landscape with no roads or buildings could help convey that the place has been touched very little by humans.

Blog Post #13

A piece of "land art" that I might make would be a tower of cigarette butts outside the law library on campus. Every time I go there, people are smoking right in front of the entrance, and I have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get inside. I find it disgusting and I am annoyed that the smokers don't go further from the door to smoke. For my land art, I would collect cigarette butts from the area and stack them up into a tower right in front of the entrance. I would put a flag on top that said "Cigarettes smoked here this week," or something similar. Then I would take a picture of people smoking next to the tower and people's reaction to the sculpture.

Blog Post #12

Memory of a Photograph: Which photograph from your past do you remember most? Describe this photograph. Describe how it makes you feel when you remember/think about this photograph. How have you changed? How has the place in this photograph changed? What would a reenactment of this photograph look like? Would you act or look differently if you reenacted this scene today?

The photograph from my past that I remember most is a photo of my sisters and I on a sunny fall day at a golf course when the leaves were on the ground around us. We were all pretty young, and we were all smiling. When I think about the photograph, it makes me happy and it makes me remember all of the fun times we had together when we were younger. Obviously, we have all gotten older since the picture was taken, and we don't always get along as well as we used to. The place in the photograph is probably changed as well, but I have not been there in several years, so I can't say for certain. A reenactment of this scene today would probably have the four of us in the same place, but we wouldn't all look as happy or be as willing to have our picture taken. We would look older and dress older.

Blog Post #11

Memory of a Place: Try to imagine a place from your past. Do you have pictures of this place? Describe this place as you remember it. What might a photograph look like of this place if you were to go back and photograph it? What would it look like in the past? What would it look like to you today? Where are you standing in this place? What other items are in this place? What colors do you see? Are there other people or are you alone? Make a “written photograph” of this place using words/description.

A place from my past that I remember is the playground at my old elementary school. I remember it being new and shiny, and really big. I thought it was pretty impressive. If I were to go back and photograph this place, it would probably look much smaller and older than I remember it being. If the picture was taken in the past, I would probably be running around having fun. If it were taken today, I would probably be standing off on the side of the frame, away from the playground. Other items in this place include other children, swings, slides, and other playground equipment. There are lots of bright colors, including red, yellow, blue, and green, as well as silvery color of the metal chains on the swings.

Photo Recreation #2

Original Photo: Reutlinger, Mlle. Elven, 1883

Charles Reutlinger was born in 1816 and came from a French family of German descent. He founded his studio in 1850 and photographed many of the best-known artists, musicians and writers of his time, including Liszt, Verdi and Berlioz. In 1880, Charles Reutingler handed over his studio to his brother Emile Reutlinger. Emile's son Leopold-Emile Reutlinger began to work for his father when he went to Paris from Peru in 1883. He took over the Reutlinger studio in 1890 and produced photographs for advertising purposes, as well as for magazines and newspapers. He frequently held exhibitions of his work in the offices of the newspapers that he worked for. Leopold-Emile also added erotic images to the Reutlinger portfolio.

The studio flourished, making photographs for commercial and advertising usage, but also mass-producing portraits of performers for the adoring and collecting public. Leopold-Emile stopped working in 1930 when he lost an eye in an accident with a champagne cork.

The Reutlinger Studio, closed its doors in 1937.

My Recreation:

For my recreation of this photograph, the model has a similar pose, but is facing the opposite direction and is fully clothed and covered with a scarf. I chose to make these changes in my interpretation because I thought the model in the original photograph looked cold and uncomfortable. I think that if she was wearing a sweater and scarf, like the model in my recreation is, she would have been more at ease and the photo would have looked more natural. I used a simple white background for the image, in order to replicate the original.

Blog Prompt #10

"All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it." ~John Berger. I have mixed feelings about this quotation. I agree that photographs remind us of the things that we forget, but I do not think that paintings necessarily record what the painter remembers. Many painters create their paintings from their imaginations or from photographs, rather than from their memories. Many painters use models or construct still-life scenes to look at while they paint so they don't have to paint the scene or person from memory. I think photos and paintings are equally capable of meaning different things to different people.

Blog Prompt #9

"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams. I think this quotation means that photographers have to use artistic abilities to create a photograph. Photography involves much more than pushing the shutter button. It involves artistic decisions and judgment, in much the same way as any other artistic medium. It involves the artist to actually make the photograph.

Blog Prompt #8

"My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph." ~Richard Avedon. I think this is a very interesting idea. Most people who are not photographers probably never really think about this, but I think there is a lot of truth in it. Photographers choose to photograph subjects that are interesting to them, and the ways that they go about composing their photos reflect their own personal artistic styles. By looking at a single photograph, you might not be able to learn much about the photographer, but by looking at a career's worth of pictures, you can certainly get to know quite a bit about them.

In Class Exercise

Contemporary Photography Presentation: Camille Vivier

http://www.bird-production.com/Artist/CV/Camille.htm

Biography: Camille Vivier was born in 1977 in Paris. She began taking photos at the age of 18. She studied Fine Art in Paris and at Central St. Martin’s in London. She won the 1998 Hyeres Festival Photo Laureate award as well as the PICTO Kodak Talent award in 1999. Her work includes art and fashion, and has been published in various magazines and exhibited in several galleries. She has also shot photographs for advertising campaigns. She lives in Paris, France.

Significance: Camille Vivier's work is known for it's use of color, light, and shadow. Her photographic work takes inspiration in mythology, literature and cinema, with a shadowy universe.

Composition: Each photograph is theatrically staged employing props and light to play with the formal beauty of the subject, while revealing a certain strangeness among the stillness. Vivier uses literature, cinema, and art history to reinterpret common cultural references and create a personal collection of curios and imagery of characters.

Concept/Aboutness/Idea: In a reinterpretation of pictorial genres like nude or still life, or magical imagery, she creates her own personal mythology, taking inspiration into literature, cinema, painting and other cultural references more or less conscious. Her pictures are more into a mental and abstract sphere than a realistic world and her settings can be compared to small and fantastic theater scenes. Recently she has started filmmaking in the line of her photographic work.

Method: Vivier has gained a reputation for being a masterly manipulator of light and shadow. She is open to experiment with things, especially regarding light. She believes that the subjects, even if they’re recurrent, should take many different shapes.

Motivations: Vivier's motivation is to create her own mythology through her photographs by molding her scenes and subjects to fit the visions in her mind.

My Opinion: I really like Vivier's use of color and light in her photographs. She masterfully gives her subjects an almost dream-like quality. I think her photographs are particularly well suited to the realm of high fashion, which is where Vivier has gained most of her success. Her photographs are able to capture not only the viewer's attention, but also their imaginations. In my opinion, she is one of the most talented fashion photographers I have seen. I really enjoy her work.