project progress

Over my last few rolls, I have been attempting to hone in on my photographic strengths thereby enhancing the quality of my output and extending my own creativity. I am really excited with the amount and quality of my printable negatives. I was able to take 10 scans off two rolls that fulfill my aesthetic needs and my conceptual focus.  I am really happy with them and feel they incorporate a very unique aesthetic that is more distinct than my last batch of successful photos.

Unfortunately a big section of the door was cut off this one, but I am trying to see if I like it better cropped this way.  I think the photo is still strong and shows well a fluid concept.  The stark symmetry and angularity help draw the eye to the center of the photograph, where it pans out and explores information in the belly of the photo.  Or maybe we scan the perimeter of the entrance first, learn that it is a greenhouse, perhaps a very old or abandoned one.  The contrast of the geometrical shape of the cinder blocks and the stacked matter on the sides creates such an array of shapes.  The slight tonal differences make all the information pop in a subtle way.  I pulled this roll, too.

On a conceptual level, I think this photo draws upon the absence of people, life, and the presence of matter made by man.  There's an unnerving presentation of artificial and natural life inside this greenhouse, stripped of life itself and only seeing its skeleton.  The plastic bag in the center on the ground sort of resembles a lifeless body.  The way it is situated and sprawled out hold the quality of a body, despite its inanimateness.

I talked to Phil about this photo in class today and he said he wishes there was a body lying beneath the plastic.  I thought about what he said and I decided that I wouldn't make a decision like that because I want to give the viewer freedom.  By showing them what they should look at, I am depriving them of an imagination. I love that Phil inscribed his own vision onto my photograph.  Why put a body there if I got him to think about a body without one truly being there? Photography can be so deceitful in the best way.

I think I need to do a bit of burning in the center of the photograph, but I haven't learned how to do that yet.  There's something super geometric about this photo--the sporadic shape of the leaves, the angular shape of the buildings, and the figures running.  You wonder what they're running from. Their faces are kind of blurred from the motion and the scale, but the barrenness of the background induces some anxiety.  And then the trees start looking kind of eerie and the sun becomes blinding and burning.  There's definitely something inherently creepy about this photo.  I like that I used people to make it, which i usually stray away from.  i didn't pose them, I photographed a moment, but it nearly looks like a really well posed photograph that looks unstaged. I don't know, I'd like to hear what other people say about this photograph.

All in all, I'm really excited to keep this going. I've already pushed my boundaries and I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can create.

Angela Strassheim

I wish I could see a proper chronology of Angela Strassheim's work from her very early days through to her present work.  I would be interested to see how she evolved over time eventually creating something like the body of work titled, "Evidence".  Through her other photography, I can see she has a keen sense of aesthetics. For this reason, among others, I understand why you recommended I look at her work. A lot of her photography is very satisfying compositionally. It seems like she pays attention to the borders and the physical weight of the photograph in the eye.

This photograph, for example, illustrates precisely the attention to composition and the movement of the eye within and around a photograph.  The combination of the placement of each individual toy, the asymmetrical but similar bedding pointing toward the girl in the middle, the wide angle lens used, and the overblown light exposure on the little girl in the center creates a very distinct world.  The picture resonates as intentional, but not forceful.  The angles of the toys, their shadows, and the beds kindly guide my eyes to the center of the photograph, where we see a girl separated into a heavenly world.  Looking up at her, we can see that her world is so close but so distant from reality. This picture gently discusses the power of imagination and freedom.  The height of the camera also makes the toy horses look larger like life, and make the girl up the couple of stares look like a goddess of her imaginary land. I feel that there's so much to say about this photo but it wasn't begged of me.  Maybe this happened because I was immediately distracted by the photograph's aesthetic beauty and playful use of colour.

Now for some photos from "Evidence"

What I love about this photo is that it stands on its own. Without knowing what it's about, it's beautiful.  It is suggestive and provocative, yet subtle without knowledge of the title of the work.  I find the frame within the frame striking, as my eye is immediately drawn to it.  Then it approaches the radiator, partially illuminated, seemingly by car headlights or some other direct form of light. But then I notice the discolorations on the walls and their shapes.  Once i reach this discovery, my sense of ease created by the beauty of the photograph is disturbed by a dark and morbid atmosphere.  And suddenly I feel like all my previous positive emotions are null and I am overcome with darkness.  How powerful!?

I love this bathroom picture too. There are so many different textures and details to look at.  The objects underneath the tub, the rust (?) mark on the sink, the black structure to the right, the reflective walls, the shadow of the tub, the filthy tiled floor, etc. My eye jumps around from bit to bit.  It's a very heavy photograph, printed very dark. But the highlights and variety of grays within it anchor it. 

As I was looking through her photos, I stopped at this one. I passed the others of houses from the outside, but this one struck me.  Looking into it more, I am interested by the windows and triangular roof of the house at first.  Then I'm drawn to the curtains in the windows, then the bushes peppered on the lawn in a perfect line seeing me to the right side of the photograph.  Then I'm lead to the foliage, the overcast sky, the contrast of the grass against everything else colorless. I think there's something eerie about the photo due to all these aspects. The half-bare trees, the dark triangular shape on the roof, the dark cloud hovering over the house.  I'm not sure if it stands on its own, but in context of "Evidence", it speaks loudly.

Larry Clark

Larry Clark makes interesting photographs. I'm enticed by his sense of adventure and the sense of spontaneity that exudes from his photographs. Nearly all his photos look as if they were taken in an unplanned moment. Candid and uncanny, yet intentional and understandable.  Succinct, yet speculative.

The photos themselves reflect the method in which they were created.  Kristine mentioned that Clark did drugs with teenagers and shot them. I don't know the details of this experiment, but the photos are intriguing. I'm not entirely sure what to say about them.

This one is sexual but not pornographic. It's innocent; it reminds me that we have nude bodies beneath our clothes and that is all. There are no attachments or judgments intrinsic to the human form. The subject and the naturalness of the photo coming from several aspects of it evoke this unique feeling inside me.  It's almost nostalgic for a moment that never happened.

I am truly moved by the expression on this boy's face and the seeming genuineness of it. I love the way the light from the window is overblown, yet everything inside the car is clear. Without drawing attention to itself, it creates a focal point and encapsulates a sense of wonder and fantasy. What's beyond the car? is he even inside a car? It's secretively suggestive and provocative.

Also, I can tell that this was a very intentional negative and print. Clark must have done some intense enlarger maneuvering to get this print to look the way he wanted it to look, and I appreciate the effort and the beautiful outcome.

I wanted to include this image because I was just working on a print that involved water droplets on a car window yesterday, so it struck me for that reason especially. I don't know what time of day it is. it looks like it might be night time with intense light coming from outside the car. Maybe it was just before dusk and he printed it darker to get that beautiful tone of grey in the subject's face. Whatever the environment was like, the way Clark went about shooting this environment and printing this negative is harmonious and perfect.  It's dramatic due to the lighting, the sharp focus, an the shallow depth of field.

project focus

As I'm looking through all my photos that I've made over the course of the semester so far, I am finding it hard to find a thread that connects them all.  I know what I'm interested in: interesting shapes, angles, lines, aesthetic groupings of things. People, animals, plants, and patterns. Architecture, special fleeting moments, getting lucky. I'm interested in a lot of things. I like to switch it up because i admitfully get bored easily.
When i look at the work of other photographers, I am most inspired by these same sorts of things. When looking at Eugene Atget and Garry Winogrand, I gathered pictures with reflections on bodies of water and intriguing and aesthetic candids of people and characters.  I gathered photos of reality that also commented on it, like this image:

What I love about this photo is the harmony between the aesthetic composition, the conversation happening between the subjects, and the candidness of it (the fact that this moment doesn't look like it was staged. Of course, it could have been, but it has the quality that it was not, which is important). Another example of what I'm talking about is this other photo by Winogrand:

I think one thing that these photos have in common is they have a distinct locative quality. We know where these are taking place via the environmental and social.  The first one looks like a couple of parents took their rowdy kids to the zoo because of the obvious animal, and because we can relate to being a kid, having a kid, or seeing a kid behave in this uninhibited way in public places. On second thought, I don't think those are the parents, but they might be strangers, gawking at the courage and sense of adventure these children have. She's envious of the freedom that the carefree nature of the child affords them. She's constricted by her social position. The children don't even see her; they remain in their own worlds.  The woman envies this sense of life. Or maybe she's just intrigued by the couple of "animals" who got out and ended up right next to her.

The second one looks like a mom and her many kids maybe? They're definitely in a city, and she's definitely a mother of several. They need to get from A to B, mom has an agenda.  In a similar way, the girls off to the left in the photograph are in their own worlds, oblivious to the world of the adult.  And they are content being lead by a leash by hardworking mom and big brother.

The fact that we can relate to both these photos due to their distinct sense of location and social situation makes them memorable. This intrigues me. How do we make a photograph memorable?

I want to expand on my photography of places and architecture by exploring new, unique places and creating unconventional photographs there and in familiar places alike. I'm not sure if this is too broad, but I can narrow it in the coming week.

^ (Winogrand) Candid! More or less, we know where they are based on what they're doing, how they're doing it, and how they're dressed.

^ (Atget) The reflection picture I mentioned earlier. An interesting take on a wooded area. Unconventional, aesthetic 

^ (Atget) Lots going on in this photograph, I kind of know where this is. There is an emphasis on aesthetic composition and interesting shapes and lines.

^ (Atget) Gosh, I just think this is gorgeous. It's simple, and effective. It's something I would make, I think. Very angular, very pretty, hard not to like (unless you think it's cliche). But it's a great print and a great photograph altogether. I think i want to go a little more unconventional than this. More like this:

Justine Kurland's visit

I really, really enjoyed Justine Kurland's appearance and talk at Purchase.  She is an inspirational photographer to me. Her work is calculated and harmonious, both visually and contextually.  I loved hearing Justine talk about her photos. Viewing them now on the internet is a different experience.  Being able to listen to justine describe the situations she was in when she made the photos made them all the more interesting. The images most definitely stand on their own, but when they stand with her words they are much more assertive and forward-pushing.

For example, this photo's story is so powerful without words. A pregnant woman and her reflection, nude with mud boots, surrounded by lengthy trees, their reflections, and crystal clear water reflecting an overcast sky.  The earth tone colors humming against one another are soft but bold. The human figure standing like another tree in the swamp.  Justine said this woman was in labor when she made this photo--and suddenly it becomes all the more enticing, exciting, and robust!  Now the water beneath her legs sort of means something else. Now the isolation of her body in the middle of a forest becomes so much more stark and heavy.  Now she is a reflection of time and space and nature all at once in one detail.

One of my favorite things about listening to Justine's critique of the senior photography was awesome.  The way she talked about photographs inspired me to think about viewing photographs in similar ways.  She addressed content, composition, story, and technical details of framing and subject matter.  She was honest, objective, and found successful ways of pointing out things that worked and things that didn't.  She had so much to say about each piece and each collection of pieces as a grouped set. I didn't agree with everything she said, but i found it insightful and helpful, despite the fact that she wasn't critiquing my work.