“We therefore consume images fleetingly and randomly. It takes very special pictures to grasp and hold our attention. We need to be seduced by images that outdo reality through excessiveness—as in advertising and movies” (Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler). What do you think about this quote? How do you think that our lives are changing as the speed of our interaction with photographic images grows?

I think that at this point in time that to catch peoples attention we need to produce photographs that are excessive and over the top. However for photographs that are there for us to appreciate and enjoy we make photographs that are expressive and reflect the artist ambition. We then are able to appreciate the photographs for a lifetime not a moment.

“But the term ‘Infotainment’ also implies this: with the gradual fictionalization of even the news, the old categorical oppositions of ‘documenting’ and ‘staging’, appearance and reality gradually dissolve. They are being replaced by a variety of hybrid forms for which it will be impossible, in fact pointless, to attempt to distinguish between fact and fiction. Even the accusation that ‘Infotainment’ is guilty of continuous ‘lying’ is therefore unjustified, for it is neither ‘true’ nor ‘false’. Like advertising, movies and all other genres that adhere to the laws of fiction, it works at a level beyond these oppositions—the level of ‘hyper-reality’, where reality is ‘simulated’.” (Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler). What are your thoughts on “Infotainment” and how it affects our lives? How does it affect the way we see and understand “reality”? How does it affect photography in general?

I think that infotainment is a interesting topic. With information updated at every last second, we live in a world where reality is stranger than fiction. Every last detail is reported and available for people to hear and interpret, infotainment is a real part of our lives. I think it affects my photography in a way that is related to the way that my generation thinks. We live in a world of facebook and twitter. Where we know everything about what is going on in the world and what is going on with all our friends.

Reseach

Hippolyte Bayard invented direct positive printing and presented the first public exhibition of photographs. One of the drawbacks of the direct positive printing technique was a long exposure time. This caused people to look dead in their portraits because of blinking and movement of their eyes. One of Hippolyte Bayard's most famous portraits was Self Portrait as a Drownedman. In this photograph he pretended to have commited suicide, which was the first staged photograph. Unfortunatly the success of the daguerreotype photographic process overshadowed Hippolytes achievements.
Jeff Koons is a contemporary American artist. He is famous for his metal balloon animals namely his balloon dogs. Many critics do not like his work for its lack of meaning. He has had an interesting life. Marrying an Itallian pornstar. He has sold some of the most expensive art ever by a living artist. Recently he designed the 17th BMW art car. Koons has also had several problems with copyright infringement. http://www.jeffkoons.com/

Statement for Landscape photos

Landscape photos always seem to present such a challenge for me. I feel like it is a big challenge to photograph a space in a new way that is interesting and intriguing. Fortunately in this assignment we were allowed to have people in the photographs which I think instantly give the photograph more visual interest. However in spaces where there are no people we really have to think more about composition, vantage point, and so on. I think that in the photographs that I have taken I am fairly satisfied with. I hope to be able to improve on all of them though.

Question #19

Can you think of anything that:

1) should not be photographed? Why?
I do not know if there is anything that should not be photographed. I think that most things should be photographed. Capturing things through the means of photography I think are the most important way of retaining the past.

2) cannot be photographed? Why?
The only thing that cannot be photographed are the things that cannot be seen with the human eye. For example we photograph the expressions of the human face but we cannot photograph the actually emotions that are being felt beneath the skin. This may seem obvious and stupid but it is true which is why photographs are not always of reality.

and

3) you do not want to photograph? Why?
I think that as a photographer I am open to photographing most things. Perhaps there may be something down the road that might decide I do not want to photograph or shouldn't but I can not think of them now.

Landscape photographer

I picked the photographer Hannah Collins. She is a well accomplished photographer from the U.K. She did a series called "In the course of Time". It is a black and white series but it is very interesting. One photograph in particular is titled "Huta Chemical Works", I found it to be a very interesting image. You can view it at http://hannahcollins.net/projects/archive/in-the-course-of-time.html I think what is so interesting about it is that it has a very ubiquitous sense of time. To me it has a depressed tone. Had it been taken recently I would have related it to the recent housing crisis. However it was taken in 96. Perhaps because it is taken in winter or that it is in black in white that makes it look desolate. I think that she wanted to portray a sense of desolation.

Questions #16, 17, 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 think this quotation is a correct statement, the majority of photographs taken are just reproductions of how a person looks. But I think successful photographs are the ones that make people look in a way that no one has seen them before.

“I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.” Duane Michals

An interesting statement. I think as a photographer it is a great responsibility and challenge to be able make our imaginations part of reality for other to be able to observe.

“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams

I can think of no greater challenge than to make landscape photographs. You can only photograph what is found. Other photographers have set such high standards. To make photographs in a new way that have not already been photographed is a big challenge. When we do not measure up, which I think is often, we will be disappointed.

“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 think that there are elements of reality in every photograph, however photographs really are the illusion of the reality that we construct.

“Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.” Berenice Abbott

An interesting statement. Photography is very much about the moment. But everything moves to the past as soon as we reach it. The purpose of photography to me is being able to capture that moment that is now in the past and take it into the future.

Questions #11-15

#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 that I would like to describe to you is the peak district in South Yorkshire of England. I have pictures of it. Everything is a very bright green color. And the hills seem to go on forever and ever. I think the place has looked the same for many many years and will continue to look that way for a long long time. In the photograph I am standing in the front of the image with the beautiful surroundings behind me. There is a large lake crystal clear and beautiful.

#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?

A photograph that I have a good memory of is when I was in New York City with my two best friends and my wife. We were in soho in a sunglasses shop and I took a photo of them trying on photographs. I think that the people in photograph would have changed a little bit and the store would definitely have different sunglasses. I think that a reenactment would be a really fun. We could really make the photograph even more fun and exciting. In the actual photograph it is pretty fun and exciting.

#13____Human-Made Space: In the past, photographers who were interested in how humans impacted the natural landscape grouped together to form the New Topographics. “"New Topographics" signaled the emergence of a new photographic approach to landscape: romanticization gave way to cooler appraisal, focused on the everyday built environment and more attuned to conceptual concerns of the broader art field.” http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibTopo.aspx

In addition, at the same time in history artists created (and still do create) “land art” in which they use materials found in the landscape to make sculptures that remain in the landscape. Many of these works now only exist as video recordings and photographic documents.

Pay attention to the number of ways in which you encounter humans’ interaction with nature and the physical land. Write these down. Using these as inspiration, describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might create that would be documented by a photograph. Describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might make in a man-made landscape that would be documented by a photograph.

I think what could be really interesting is to take a piece of land that has been strip mined and then alter it making it a city or livable environment. I think it would be interesting to see how homes would be formed, roads and bridges would be integrated and and natural habitat could be reintroduced.

#14____Unknown vs. Familiar Space: 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 think some of the only places that have been touched very little by humans would be under water in the oceans and outer space. I think that I would try and photograph the expanse of their space and how large and grand they are.

#15____Collage: 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 two photographs that you might take that could be collaged together to tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.

I think and an interesting collage of a place past and present were when i was very little and me as a collage adult. I think the stark contrast of what I used to look like and what I look like now are so very different. I think of places in which I used to live. When I was little I used to live on a small farm, and now I live in a small apartment. To maybe collage my grown up self at the farm and my small young self in the apartment would be an interesting contrast of who I was and who I have become.

Assignment #2 Post Critique Response

After receiving feedback from fellow students I learned more about what I could do better next time and what I could change in my photos. In photo #1 other students felt there was a very dark mood to the photo. They felt that the pose of the subject was good and so was the lighting. I think it would be good to spend some time in the photo being creative with the color that I allow to show in the photo. There could be a good series with this photo based around shapes and backlit subjects. In photo #2 there was a very casual mood things fit together well and there was a balanced composition. However there was a bit of the photo that needed to be cropped to make the photo more seamless. There could be room for extension if I were to take photos of people being casual in their living rooms. The last photo #3, I really liked. I think because it was so simple. But the photo was very intimate and seemed very natural. This photo I think would have the easiest transition into a series of intimate, dead on, close up, portraits.

CS5 Stuff for Class

Assignment 2 photos statement

For my final three photos I have chosen an interesting variety I feel. One is a back lit self portrait back by popular demand. I chose it because so many people had liked it in their comments. Another one I chose of my wife. The sub category that it was for was diffuse lighting but I think it could have been for the personal intimate photo. She is photographed with out make-up, or dressy clothes, or her hair fixed up. It's of her in a way most people do not see her. Her expression really I think makes the photograph what it is. Last is one of a friend who was willing to model for me. I thought that she did a good job and really did a good job fulfilling the adornment category. These photographs I think are helping me really develop as an artist and photographer, getting me closer to understand what I want to express in future work.

Questions #8, #9, #10

Here are my responses to the following quotes.


“My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.
I think that in most instances when the photographer is taking the time to think about what he is doing with the camera, he saying a lot about himself. In class when we look at every students photographs they all are very different, and I think every person has their own signature in their photographs, the subjects they choose, the lighting, the location, and what they want it to express or not express. It is like in every other discipline of fine art no one makes the same product the same way.

“You don't take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams


There is truth to this quote as well. When a photograph is captured nothing is actually taken from the scene except the light. And in every step of the process you are in control and make decisions of what is going to happen to make the photograph the way it looks. The lens also puts a new perspective on things in a way that is not available to us with our own eyes.

“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

Another truth spoken. Photographs although capturing everything the way it is as seen through the lens allows people to develop and interpret things in their own way. Although in some instances the photographer may have captured a scene in the way he wanted others to see it, much in like the way a painter writes on a canvas. I think the majority of the time a photograph is there to remind us of the past that we so easily forget.

Assignment #1 follow up statement

So I would like to talk a little more about my first assignment. I didn't receive any comments or suggestions about the first three photos. I really do like the self portrait though and the light photo. I don't know if there is much I could do to make it a series or improve upon the light photograph. I do think however that I could continue on with the self portrait. I would like to get more people to take photographs of in the same way. I think it could make for a very interesting series. I think the content might be a little lacking in the photographs, however I think that they create quite a bit of visual interest.