some Final FINAL thoughts...

In the beginning of the semester, our class was presented with a number of questions to ponder , two of which included the following: Black & white vs. color? What makes a good photograph? After having spent nearly four months shooting solely in digital and in color, I have certainly had the time to explore and think about these essential questions but I am not sure if I can really offer any more of a concrete answer than I did in September.

In terms of black and white versus color photography, I am still for some reason or another drawn more to black and white. This course has certainly opened my eyes to the potential color photography has and there will always be some images that work better in color then in black and white. Take the work of Aline Smithson (portrait of the photographer’s mother), Chuck Close, Marilyn Minter and our very own Brittany Ogden (final project) for example. These artists’ work are much more effective and provocative in color because so much of what the photograph is about is color. Color is one of the primary subjects. Conversely, the work of Salgado, Taro and Weiss are all in black and white and attempt to convey the nuances, harsh realities or complete mundaneness of life whether it be abroad while at war or walking down the street in NYC. In these bodies of work, the human subject and “life” takes center stage and to me, color is not necessary because it can be distracting. Ultimately, it seems to me that color and black & white have equally important roles in photography but the roles they serve are incredibly different. Therefore, perhaps the question of “do you prefer black & white photography or color photography” is not even a valid one- how can you compare two things that serve different purposes? It’s synonymous with asking to compare apples and oranges- it just can’t be done. Do I think black & white is better than color photography? No, I just prefer it.

What defines a good photograph could endlessly be debated and overanalyzed. I do think that a good photograph must possess certain technical components (strong use of depth, or light, or focus or composition) but realize that what constitutes a good photo for some people may not similarly do so for others. In September I wrote, “Good pictures serve as a source of dialogue and debate; they have the ability to provoke discussion, interpretation and ultimately, illustrate how another person sees the world in which we live.” I still firmly believe in this. That is, this is my own personal definition of what makes a good photograph because I think it exemplifies the greatest ability of photography … to CAPTURE AND PROJECT.

Final Project Thoughts

I began planning my final project with the desire to create landscapes. I decided to present these landscapes as panoramas for a number of reasons. I was really impressed with th ePhotomerge tool in Photoshop and because Madelyn and I did not use this feature for our Cassonia project, I wanted to attempt using this feature. Additionally, I wanted to create images that were relatively large, which panoramas enabled me to do. My motive for including the figures was largely because I wanted an additional element besides just landscapes and thus, depicting people and how they interacted and altered a viewer's "reading" of the photograph seemed like a logical step to take. How to incorporate the figures was rather challenging. At the beginning of the project I was faced with a number of questions: How might positioning someone in the distance versus positioning someone in the foreground affect an individual’s understanding of the image? Do I want the figures to be actually doing something in the shot or be more subtle, and just “present”? Since I was shooting outside, altering the time of day was also something I considered. I was inspired by Tanja's (from the Bakery) landscape work and her unconventional horizon line. I decided to embrace this and present a trip-tych landscape with varying horizon lines. I then expanded upon this idea by deciding to shoot three different scenes in order to present three trip-tcyh landscape scenes in the form of a landscape (not as they appear on my blog). Presenting the images in this manner proved to be the most effective way for the audience to view each image individually but also as part of the collective body of work.

I ultimately chose to present the figures as components of the landscape, minimally interacting with the space whether alone or in a pair. I did not want their actions to be too distracting since the overall theme of my project was investigating how our perceptions of an image (ie a landscape) differs when people are included. I wanted the spotlight to be on the relationship between nature and human life, as opposed to just having the figure take center stage. I shot a number of times (nearly 500 images total!) and was incredibly satisfied with the end result. I am especially happy that I was able to re-shoot the pines scene because the snow adds a nice variety of color to the entire body of work. Overall, I am pleased with the final result of this project (could have matted a little better-- but isn't that always the case?). I am really fascinated with depicting space in general- How can the same space be represented in different ways? How can our conventions of space be altered? What happens when human life enters space? etc- and hope to continue pursuing this interest in my future photographic endeavors.

up close on Close

For me, Chuck Close represents one of the iconic artists of our time. His approach and style is markedly unique and incredibly aesthetically stimulating. Looking at his work up close or far away yields different experiences for the viewer and I think this duality or hybridity his work possesses is fascinating. His color work really enhances this concept because it intensifies both the individuality of each grid segment but also demonstrates the collectiveness of the segments. I also really enjoy the fact that he is so systematically and somewhat “mechanically” breaking up the surface of the human face, something so organic – applying redundancy to individuality? Interesting. As an artist, Close offers a wonderful perspective on the approach to depicting the human form which ultimately results in a beautiful, visually intense and provocative image.

Salgado

Salgado says, "My hope is that, as individuals, as groups, as societies, we can pause and reflect on the human condition at the turn of the millennium. In its rawest form, individualism remains a prescription for catastrophe. We have to create a new regimen of coexistence.”

His photographs honor and expose the most isolated, the most neglected and the dispossessed that blanket our world. Is it wrong to photograph the suffering in such a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing way? Definitely not.

Although the technical and fundamental components of the images he creates may be incredibly well executed and beautiful (in terms of composition, light, dept of field, etc), his subject matter cetinaly is not which is what is so ironic about his work. He is portraying such inequality and suffering in such an admirable way.

While it might be necessary to consider Salgado’s motive and what is trying to accomplish with these photographs, when I personally look at these pictures I don’t really care. Maybe he has an agenda and maybe he is trying to mislead his viewers but what he photographs is in large part, a reality that would not be explored if it were not for photojournalists like him.

I wonder if we begin to be so critical of such photographers and accuse them of being exploitative and not doing anything to actually alleviate the situation, would photojournalism still exist? I think it is important and crucial for people to act and do their part but even just photographing these events plays a significant part. Perhaps it is these photographs that inspire other people to act and combat the situation.



This discussion reminds me of a very distinct photograph (which I believe Meg showed us in the beginning of the semester but I’ve also discussed in a course while abroad); the one where a baby is about to be preyed upon by a nearby vulture- not sure who the photographer is. The class I first saw this photograph was a course about the media and so we were discussing the role of photojournalism. Should the photographer put down his camera to go rescue the baby? Or is it more important to document this harsh, and ugly reality? What’s more important and whose right is it to make the decision of what constitutes the photojournalists’ role? It’s an interesting question,that in my opinion, has no right or wrong answer….

Thoughts on Daniel Eric Weiss

I really enjoyed looking at Daniel Eric Weiss’ work for a number of reasons. I find the technical aspects of his photographs to be incredibly successful; his use of light, strong tonal contrast throughout the images and the overall composition is very strong. Also, the fact that the majority of his work adopts the street photography approach is incredible alluring. I really love this method, which provides documents of the power of the camera to capture fleeting moments that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. In his work, Weiss exposes the nuances and oddities of everyday life. I particularly like the photograph of the silhouetted figures with the lit-building in the background- its simplicity and “pureness” is extremely aesthetically pleasing, I also like the lone helicopter and single bird in the sky photograph for similar reasons- it is a very simplistic photograph and captures the ironies apparent in our world. The juxtaposition of nature with a man-made machine is rather interesting and thought provoking. The fact that this photographer is our own age is pretty remarkable as well.

Photographing War

When looking at Gerda Taro’s and Tina Berman’s work, I reacted very differently to each body of documentary style photographs. Both collection of photographs speak to issues of war and the experiences of those fighting but distinct differences exist. Taro’s work, in some respects, mirrors similar “war-action photos” and for that reason, seems somewhat ordinary. I feel as though we as viewers are inundated with comparable war photographs that capture soldiers abroad, in the midst of violence and fighting. Emotions, injuries, and fleeting moments are conveyed through a single snapshot and are presented to convey the atrocities of war and the activity of soldiers overseas. Since Taro photographed during the early 20th century, I suppose that viewers who were exposed to her work as it was being produced responded differently than I, a 21st century viewer, did. I really enjoy looking at her photographs but my reaction is not as strong as when looking at Berman’s work. Her work, on the other hand, captures the injuries and disparities of soldiers after returning from war. The majority of these images are incredibly jarring and provoking, and present viewers with an often overlooked reality. We know that young men and women are abroad fighting, that they are risking their lives, but we rarely consider or are presented representations of what life after war is like for these people. Had I been presented with both types of photographs in the early 20th century, perhaps my response would have been different. Interesting that time seems to play such a huge role in how viewers react to photographs…

Thoughts on Panoramas

I throughouly enjoyed working on this assignment with Madelyn and found myself incredibly engaged throughout the entire process. Acting as the “Photomerge” tool for this assignment ourselves instead of having Photoshop do it proved to be incredibly challenging and required a lot of planning and careful execution. Yet, I find the product to be extremely aesthetically pleasing and unique and am ultimately glad we approached the project in this manner. Doing so also enabled us to print a nearly 7 foot long image which was rather fun and successful.

I really enjoyed the historical connection to Cassoni’s that this project embodied because it provided us with a direction and clearer purpose of what we wanted to capture…a “modern” Cassoni-like image depicting the “ugliness” of marriage. There were certainly areas Madelyn and I could have improved upon, as noted in critique, but overall I was very satisfied with our end result.

The Chandelier Debate

While it is certainly interesting to think about how cameralike devices might have influenced realism in 14th Century painting, I do not find Hockney's argument very valid. To claim that methods like the camera-obscura or a concave mirror to project images onto a canvas as the cause of the sudden burst in realism seems absurd to me. Is he seriously suggesting that all realistic painters adopted such methods and that this remained a secret....for nearly 6 centuries? I agree with Eleanor and can not help but wonder if Hockney is merely attempting to "shock" the art world with such claims. I think using photographic methods to work in other mediums, like painting, is a fascinating idea and illustrates the enormous potential of combing artistic mediums but I am not convinced that it was instrumental in the rise of realism. In another course of mine, we read an article about a well-respected scientific researcher who claims that AIDS is not caused by HIV but rather some other infectious agent and I can not help but relate this to Hockney. Both theories are easy to dismiss immediately because they defy our current knowledge but I think it it imperative to do more exploration and analysis before making any conclusive decisions. It's worth investigating.

Marilyn Minter

Marilyn Minter's work is fascinating in my opinion for a number of reasons. First of all, its incredibly aesthetically pleasing. Her "zoomed-in" images reveal the often overlooked intracacies of human life and posessions. They are vibrant and emit an energetic aura I find alluring and captivating, which is enhanced even moreso by the fact that she renders large-scale images. Second of all, her work is purposeful and through it she is attempting to convey a very distinct idea; that we are all flawed and art and photography are means to document these flaws. Minter juxtaposes glamour with the "ugliness" of life in a somewhat feminist manner and is merely attempting to "tell her truth" through art. In her interview, Minter compares billboards that advertise and sell products with her own billboards that advertise and sell a "vision of what goes wrong" in life. The size of her work is extremely important as it is partially created with the goal of making people stop and think about what is being presented to them. I would love to see some of her work in person and experience the thoughtful and visual stimulation and excitement I can only predict would result.

Jeff Wall

While googling Jeff Wall, I cam across a NY Times article that provides greater insight as to what he as a photographer represents. After reading both the assigned article and the discovered article it is apparent that Jeff Wall is somewhat of a unique, unconventional photographer for he defies one of the most characteristic and traditional features of photography; documentation. Photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lee Friedlander, Walker Evans and Garry Winogrand based their work on capturing the convergence of “subject, lighting and frame before clicking the shutter”. They were photographic “hunters”. Wall on the other hand aspires to make images that “could be constructed and experienced the way paintings are”. He also wants his photos to be purely aesthetically pleasing and puts subject matter on the backburner. He says he does not want to get caught up in “this reductive business of what is all means” and instead opts for a photo to be just that, a photo.

My thoughts on Wall’s work and his approach? I think he demonstrates an often overlooked role of photography and how it can be used in other ways than just “capturing the fleeting moment” and documenting the realities of everyday life. By constructing images that often have no significant meaning, Wall’s work serves a different purpose which is necessary for any medium. How boring would it be for all photographers to adopt the “hunter” approach? Art serves to challenge our perceptions and conventions and I think Wall’s work fulfills an essential component; his photographs “come from never having to choose between fact and fiction, between a moment and a perfect representation of that moment.” It forces people to think about the different roles photography provides which is why I can not help but appreciate his approach and work.

That doesn’t mean that I prefer the “traditional” documentary methods of Cartier-Bresson, Winogrand or Evans any less though…

Thoughts on Animations

I have mixed feelings about this project. The final result was rather satisfying- watching everyone's animations was entertaining, thought-provoking and fun. The idea of linking still photographs together in order to bring, in my case, food and foil to life is an interesting concept that delights the eye and is incredibly mesmerizing. However, the process of creating these animations was rather frustrating and not the most enjoyable experience. The iMovie glitch was just annoying and I got tired of trying to "trick" the program into letting me do what I want. Photographing the images was also not a highlight of the project- I felt like the assignment became more about generating hundreds of images than about employing good photographic techniques and skills to create visually stimulating images. I guess one could argue that the unification of the hundreds of images is what ended up being visually stimulating. It seems with this assignment, photography was merely one of several tools we could work with and the project was more about the thought process of choosing and animating a subject as opposed to producing great photographs . I don't know- it's a process and approach I find intriguing and worthy of exploration.

And, oh yeah, my camera broke when it took a dive off the tripod during this assignment. That was not fun either and certainly shifts my mixed feeling towards the negative end of the spectrum...

ALINE SMITHSON, take 2

I discovered Aline Smithson while at a Fourth of July party in my friend’s mother’s friend’s house. I was immediately drawn to a framed photograph on the hallway wall and, needless to say, learned it was the work of Aline Smithson. While I do not explicitly remember what the photograph was of (I think a boat in a lake…), I do remember being attracted to its strong use of light, composition and the sense of “purity” and simplicity it emitted. After divulging in more of her work, I was really impressed with her photographs and the approach she employs. I am particularly drawn to her ambition to explore everyday life with humor and integrity and capture the familiar, yet unexpected, through both black and white and color photography. She says, “The odd juxtapositions that we find in life are worth exploring, whether it is with humor, compassion, or by simply taking the time to see them” and I really admire this approach. Smithson wants herself and her viewer to “linger” within an image and is trying to evoke nostalgia and a “universal memory”. She successfully achieves this by purposively isolating her subjects in a certain manner (esp. in her children photographs) and limiting the amount of “action” within the frame. She often photographs a single person or a single object which, for me, forces me to ask more questions…why this one object? Why this one person? What’s the underlying significance of a half empty cereal bowl?


Her "Portrait of the Photographer’s Mother" series is relevant to the recent collaborative assignment in class and is thus worth mentioning. In this series (as well as Vintage Modern), Smithson is supplementing photography with hand oil painting in order to create color work. I personally find them very humorous and demonstrate her expansive creativity and artistic skills exceptionally well. Through her use of paint, she is able to individualize each photograph and make it evoke a distinct response. She is using a traditional painting off of which to base her work as well as traditional photographic techniques to create something very untraditional. I like it.

LOMOgraphy

Having no prior knowledge about Lomography, I find this photographic approach incredibly alluring and fascinating…and the fact that the tool is a cheap, plastic, portable camera makes it even better. The Lomo approach proves, as Margot addressed in her own response, that flawless technology and expensive cameras are not prerequisites for good, and even great, photography. Whether one likes or dislikes the images produced with a Lomo camera however, is not nearly, in my opinion, as signficant or valuable as the process lomography promotes. What I am particularly drawn to is the aim to “study and document the world’s surface by taking millions of snapshots of it”. Lomography and its 10 golden rules specifically, encourages photographers to divert from traditional norms and take risks. It challenges us to spontaneously capture the world in which we live and embrace the so-called “flaws” of the Lomo camera and the unexpected images it produces.

Being somewhat of a perfectionist, taking risks is something that I have personally struggled with and have been more reluctant to practice in photography. In a self-portrait assignment last year for instance, we were not allowed to look through the viewfinder, which, quite frankly, drove me nuts. I hated not being able to see what I was taking a picture of- what the composition looked like, what was in or out of focus, etc. I am learning to embrace a more spontaneous approach to photography which is perhaps why I am so fascinated and attracted to the Lomo philosophy. The website says, “lomographers shoot as many impossible pictures as possible in the most impossible of situations from the most impossible of positions”- what a great way to employ photography. I too think that Bowdoin should consider investing in some of these plastic, imperfect gadgets.

Thoughts on Eric Hansen

While I am not entirely fond of Eric Hansen’s work itself, I certainly admire his methodology and ambition. His work is truly unique and, as he mentioned in his website introduction, enables him to artistically endeavor in other mediums. The scenes he fabricates demonstrates his vivid imagination and ability to fashion an “imaginary timescape”. Hansen’s utilizes every capability of the camera extremely impressively- his use of lighting, time exposure, fous and filtration are all important factors in creating his images. The fact that he refrains from working digitally or with Photoshop speaks to how much can be done with the “old fashioned”, analog method (reminds me of Jerry Uelsmann’s work). I am especially drawn to his use of light, which I think works particularly well with his decision to produce black and white images. The lighting enhances the mystical and supernatural feeling his images emit and adds another dimension for the viewer to ponder.

As to whether these images are lies or real is a debatable subject and, as we are well aware of based on our discussion in class last week, can be interpreted various ways. While the place Hansen is photographing is not a “real” place you or I could visit, it is one that exists for Hansen and one that he created by sculpting, painting and building. When I visited his studio (spent fall break with Britt) I was able to locate a variety of the pieces from his photographs on the walls and shelves. What he builds is real and tangible, but what he suggests through his images is not- it is based on “somewhere beyond the ordinary conscious world”.

Lying through Photography

In Vicki Goldberg’s article about photography and fairies, she writes, there is “a clear indication that the medium most dedicated to realism and most ineluctably tied to this world has also been striving to reach another one and investing in magic along the way”. This statement, in my opinion, illustrates the enormous potential of photography. I personally value photography for its ability to capture and express the realism of which Goldberg writes. There is nothing more fantastic than “freezing” a fleeting moment before your eyes and then sharing this moment with the world. Photography has the power to expose the nuances, the inequalities and the events of everyday life and ultimately, provide documentation of our reality. Often overlooked, and on the rise, is photography’s ability to present an altered reality; one inundated with slight adjustments or outright lies. The camera as a machine itself, along with the increased capabilities of technology, warrants this manipulation. Technical choices regarding depth of field, shutter speed and double exposures enables a photographer to shape what the lens views. The photographer is also capable of manipulating the subject material itself; creating fictitious moments and suggesting a different reality is entirely plausible if the photographer has the necessary creativity and ability to execute it. It is important to employ both realistic and unrealistic approaches as each one demonstrates the possibilities this medium permits. Photography has the potential to depict reality as well as the potential to create and convince others of a different “reality”. It is a medium that constantly challenges the viewers and makes them question not only the subject material itself but also the legitimacy of the subject material. What in the image is real and what has been manipulated?

Response to Making vs. Taking

I found this project to be somewhat difficult initially but extremely rewarding and satisfying at the end. Being given the assignment to go out into the "real world" and just take pictures of color, regardless of subject matter, proved to more challenging than I anticipated. Green, brown and other dull earth tones seemed to be dominating our environment and so when I came across a strikingly bright blue or yellow, I was thrilled. The scanogram process was also a little challenging in the beginning. Knowing that I had to create diptych images, I felt like I was trying too hard in some respects to forge connections between the "taking" and the "making" images. Given the opportunity again, I would really try make images without being concerned about what I could match it with. The diptcyh I chose to matte and present was, in actuality, one where I paired the two images long after making them; one that struck me as being connected in several ways even though I had not originally intended for the two photos to be paired. It was the discovery of these connections and nuances that delighted me and made me value the assignment.

Remember this?

“Memory revises itself endlessly. We remember a vivid person, a remark, a sight that was unexpected, an occasion on which we felt something profoundly. The rest falls away”. What Gordon Bell essentially hopes to do, as demonstrated in Wilkinson’s article, is to create what he calls a “personal-transaction processing system”; a technological invention that is capable of tracking and recording our everyday activity in order to “enhance our memory”, provide us with truthful and “real” records and prevent “the rest from falling away. He of course, acknowledges the fact that the archive would not be perfect because it too has it’s own “memory” and will overemphasize certain events, places, and peoples. The “limitations of memory will intercede” for both humans and the computers but Bell believes that the two combined will create more accurate representations of who we are. Working on a similar project, Microsoft guru Eric Horvitz says, “It comes to understand your mind, how you organize your memories, by what you choose. It learns to become like you, to help you be a better you. Computers are going to become tools we work with and trust, rather than merely appliances”.

My response to the proposals set forth in this article? NO WAY, PLEASE NEVER, STOP!!! I do not want, nor need, a computer to help “me” become a better “me”. Our ability to remember was designed a certain way. Certain realms of technology can be used as aids to help us remember what we want to remember, whether it be photography, videos, sound recordings, etc but this idea of a continual surveillance and tracking system seems ridiculous. People can achieve self-awareness without the help of technology. This entire concept is analogous to the issue of couples genetically engineering their future children so that they are of a certain sex, possess particular qualities and have a specific appearance. Some things are just meant to be left alone, even if technology has the potential to be advantageous.

There are two specific incidences in the article to which I would like to draw attention, as I believe they embody my fear of technology taking over our lives. When Bell is presenting his personal archive to the author, an image of a boy pops up. Bell could not remember who this boy was. Why have an archive system that is supposed to “fill in the gaps” and serve as accounts of our life experiences if the images have no meaning to us? Another photograph appears on one of Bell’s screens and in this case, the photograph has two creases, from where it had once been folded. Do we really want to replace tangible images and objects with two-dimensional, computerized representations? Talk about eradicating sentimentality and value.

Perhaps I am being narrow-minded and am unwilling to see the benefits of such a system but to me it amounts to a world where people are stripped far too much of their own capacities and are forced to rely and interact with technology on much too large a level. Before you know it, we’re all going to be reduced to mere robots, situated at the mercy of computers and digital systems. I hope I’m not being too jaded…