The artist lecture of Cheryle St. Onge was quick thought provoking to me. I went to her talk based off the fact that she is a photographer that uses mainly large format cameras and she is a resent recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. The talk was well presented and informative but one subject stood out above the rest; how she talked about the process in which she photographs. Her creative process was great, her idea behind framing, camera manipulation, as well as the subject being very simple and clean. The issue was that I felt was, when asked about the technical side of her work she did not have much to say. She stated that she was not one of those technical photographers. She set up her shots, takes the pictures, and has the film processed and printed, rather than developing and printing the film herself in a darkroom. I understand that she has control over the outcome of the final product but at the same point the skill needed to print is a large part of art photography. This caused a debate in my mind over how this changes the value of the work. Although there is a long history in art of artist using craftsman to produce art I feel that it takes away from the final peace knowing that the artist name on the work does not reflect how made it. This is still an issue that I am working out in my head because if outsourcing does not change the outcome then is it irrelevant. For example if I am developing film with a particular process and I show someone how to go through the steps so they can do it in volume but it does not change the outcome does it matter? I feel that if you turn over any creative control then the craftsman becomes just as valuable as the artist.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
artist lectures
Over the semester i went to two artist lectures. and to be honest I don't feel that they should be required. Not to say that looking at other artist work is not impotent. but limiting the artist lectures to the ones hosted by UNH are rather limiting.
The artist lecture that I most enjoyed was Michael Cardinali presentation of his body of work. He showed his progression through art school, as well as his graduate work and post graduate work. Michael showed how his life experience and location played a large role in what he was producing. The best part about the lecture however was what I knew about him already. Michael had a body of work that consisted of NY at night. Which I found funny because the first night photography project that I ever did he told me about a photographer that did night photos of people in office buildings and that your could see people working at there desks. What he did not say was that photographer was him.
The other lecture that I went to, I regret to say, I can't remember his name. He was a Painter that focused on imagination. he never used still life or models in his paintings. All of what he painted was from his imagination. But what he talked about was less about the final product and more about the process. don't get me wrong i enjoy process art and feel like for painting process art is valuable. But when it comes to photography process art takes on a completely different form. There is a lot of pre-visualization that goes into the post production work. The lecture was good, but not meant for me.
The artist lecture that I most enjoyed was Michael Cardinali presentation of his body of work. He showed his progression through art school, as well as his graduate work and post graduate work. Michael showed how his life experience and location played a large role in what he was producing. The best part about the lecture however was what I knew about him already. Michael had a body of work that consisted of NY at night. Which I found funny because the first night photography project that I ever did he told me about a photographer that did night photos of people in office buildings and that your could see people working at there desks. What he did not say was that photographer was him.
The other lecture that I went to, I regret to say, I can't remember his name. He was a Painter that focused on imagination. he never used still life or models in his paintings. All of what he painted was from his imagination. But what he talked about was less about the final product and more about the process. don't get me wrong i enjoy process art and feel like for painting process art is valuable. But when it comes to photography process art takes on a completely different form. There is a lot of pre-visualization that goes into the post production work. The lecture was good, but not meant for me.
Night Photographs
These are my latest work from my now completed workshop class. The work foceses on landscape at night with objects in the environment.
I'm Excited for my next workshop class. and hope to redo some of these photo with a large format camera.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Books...
So this past week my workshop class presented our artist books to everyone in the class. I just wanted to talk about a couple of them that i thought were successful. BI feel that Bree's book was the most successful "artist" book. The book was an hand made accordion book with a blue cover with a decorative pattern and ribbon tied into bows. The cover of the book was a very classically feminine decorative but when the book is opened it is filled with page after page of erotic black and white photographs of two women in intimate embrace. I liked this because it shows the struggle between our outside appearance and our personal feelings and lives. I feel that the book format was a great way of showcasing this. You truly can't judge a book by it's cover.
The other book a feel was successful was Britney's book. The book was also a handmade accordion book. All of the images were family photos. The ways that the photos were set in series told a narrative of a family on vacation. each photo was a great composition and had amazing color. I wish i could describe all that pictures but there must of been over a hundred pictures.
The other book a feel was successful was Britney's book. The book was also a handmade accordion book. All of the images were family photos. The ways that the photos were set in series told a narrative of a family on vacation. each photo was a great composition and had amazing color. I wish i could describe all that pictures but there must of been over a hundred pictures.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
flea market
The salem flea market is somewhat a impoverished mall where different cutlers interact with one another. The poor culture buys there food, close, and toiletries, and the middle class teens buys there knock off purses and other questionably legal items. This project was an attempt to document the people and the products.
Regarding the Pain of Others
Regarding the Pain of Others is a book of articles and essays by Susan Sontag. This collection was mainly about how photographers relay the message of topics like war, violence, and foreign relations. What I took away from this book was the importance of photographic integrity with relaying a story. But as this applies to art photography if you are not intending to inform but simply to gain an emotional reaction the integrity of the photographers process is less important.
SORRY EVERYONE
So I have not posted anything here for a about a month. I just wanted to talk for a moment about why I have not posted.
I don't have a good reason for the hole months but for the later half of that time I was sick for about two weeks. during that time I missed several classes and that is were the chain reaction started. I was not able to work on any work while I was sick and then everything backed up from there. but now I am caught up and plan on posting what I have been working on the last couple weeks.
I don't have a good reason for the hole months but for the later half of that time I was sick for about two weeks. during that time I missed several classes and that is were the chain reaction started. I was not able to work on any work while I was sick and then everything backed up from there. but now I am caught up and plan on posting what I have been working on the last couple weeks.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
criticizing photographs chapter 4
TYPES OF PHOTOGRAPHS:
five characteristics that are unique to photography
"the thing itself- photography deals with the actual.
the deatail- photography is tied to the facts of things.
the frame - the photograph is selected, not conceived.
time- photographs are time exposures and describe discrete parcels of time.
vantage point- photographs provide us new views of the world."
six categories for classifying photographs: descriptive, explanatory, interpretive, ethically evaluative, aesthetically evaluative, and theoretical.
five characteristics that are unique to photography
"the thing itself- photography deals with the actual.
the deatail- photography is tied to the facts of things.
the frame - the photograph is selected, not conceived.
time- photographs are time exposures and describe discrete parcels of time.
vantage point- photographs provide us new views of the world."
six categories for classifying photographs: descriptive, explanatory, interpretive, ethically evaluative, aesthetically evaluative, and theoretical.
Criticizing photographs chapter 3
"To interpret a photograph is to ask and answer questions such as these:
what is this object that i see?
what is it about?
what does it represent or express?
how does culture influence its construction?
what did it mean to its maker?
what is it part of?
what are its references?
what is it responding to?
why did it come to be?
how was it made?
within what tradition does it belong?
what ends did it possibly serve its maker?
what pleasures or satisfactions did it afford the person responsible for it?
the persons for whom it was made?
whom does it address? whom does it ignore?
what problems does it solve, allay, or cause?
what Prejudices and preconceptions does it reinforce of disrupt?
what needs does it mean to me?
does it affect my life?
does it change my view of the world?
what is this object that i see?
what is it about?
what does it represent or express?
how does culture influence its construction?
what did it mean to its maker?
what is it part of?
what are its references?
what is it responding to?
why did it come to be?
how was it made?
within what tradition does it belong?
what ends did it possibly serve its maker?
what pleasures or satisfactions did it afford the person responsible for it?
the persons for whom it was made?
whom does it address? whom does it ignore?
what problems does it solve, allay, or cause?
what Prejudices and preconceptions does it reinforce of disrupt?
what needs does it mean to me?
does it affect my life?
does it change my view of the world?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
criticizing photography chapter 2
photo by Richard Avedon, Boyd Frontin, Thirteen year old rattlesnake Skinner, Sweetwater Texas
Criticizing photography chapter 1
The first chapter of criticizing photography gave a brief over look and definition of criticism. Criticism is commonly thought of as negative judgement of a work of art. but the chapter describes criticism as " informed discourse about art to increase understanding and appreciation of art".
What I have taken away from this chapter is the line "What would i like about this if i liked it?" This makes it so even if i do not like a work of art i can now say what its strong points are.
What I have taken away from this chapter is the line "What would i like about this if i liked it?" This makes it so even if i do not like a work of art i can now say what its strong points are.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Favorite part of my day
Monday, January 31, 2011
a day in the life
2AM MISSED IT
5 AM OPPS
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