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.