Thursday, September 26, 2013

Week 3 News Article Respone

I did not want to cover/respond to a news article regarding turmoil for this assignment.  Instead I hoped to look into a topic that I thought most classmates would overlook.
While the effects and benefits of sleep is a standard topic, I knew it would be left out, and I thought I could have fun with some odd portraits.

I strolled along them internets for some articles that would startle me a little.
Of course I always knew that "getting your eight hours" was highly suggested, however I usually am able to get much less.

Knowing this, I was in for a surprise when I came across a New York Times article that told me that,
"Failing to get enough sleep night after night can compromise your health and may even shorten your life."

Seeing this led me to choose this topic for my images, and want to investigate further.
I decided that for my photographs I wanted to depict people on campus who I interact with on a daily basis, sleeping with a serene expression, but in a very uncomfortable position.  I wanted to show how we all love sleep so much, but none of us (these students) never really get enough for the upcoming day.

I'm satisfied by a couple of them.  The image of a friend sleeping on the television, cramped between the wall is a highlight.  I will most likely go back to where the self portrait, of me sleeping on top of a shopping cart, was taken and re-do it.  For this one, I was dissatisfied by how my arm was supporting my head, rather than being flopped over the side of the cart.  I was also dissatisfied by the one of Jackson sleeping while doing his homework.  The framing I used failed to show that he was balancing on the top of his chair, and it just looks like he's in bed.  I did really enjoy how the laundry mat bench photograph turned out.  I am able to draw a better relatable experience with the help of the background of washers and dryers behind the sleeping subject.

Usually I don't use "The News" as canon for any work, since they tend to be personal, but this assignment has caused me to consider using this method more often.  At least to get some new approaches to what I'm already doing.

I'll be updating/editing this to add in my related contact sheet.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Week 2 Adams Why People Photograph


I agree that the idea of surrounding yourself with colleagues is of the utmost importance.  Over the summer I spent most of my time by myself, creating next to no images.  The moment I was with some friends who also use cameras I had more than I could handle.  I also believe that having colleagues who are better than you is important.  Once you can accept the idea that someone will always be better than you at something, having that higher knowledge around you is paramount.  The group critique is also a necessity, however some previous classes have skipped on this, and I felt that was a monumental waste of potential growth for everyone involved.  

I do not agree with the mentioned general idea that negatives are worthless but prints are everything, once a photographer dies.  Perhaps its because I'm a college student, but if I couldn’t make a living taking pictures, I would still do it, I would simply savor my rolls.

I usually implement the approach of not placing yourself or your model.  Unless I'm trying to create something really specific, I just carry a camera, and let life unfold.  I also have discovered that I too make use of the concept that life is suffering.

“Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known.”


With my recent works, especially the entire La Ceiba collection, I feel the works are beginning to create a new origin story about me.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Chosen Artist

I chose Mark Steinmetz as a relevant artist.
I found a few running trends and themes that we both implement, or that I'm currently working on emulating.
For instance this relates to a past series of mine titled "Drug Dealers".

"I think Winogrand put it as "photographs that state problems." I greatly admire the
work Cartier-Bresson did in his early twenties or that Atget did in the last years of his life - their images are rich, resonant, and not so readily interpreted. I'm not so sure my work has any single specific emotional effect - so much depends on the eyes of the beholder and where he or she might be at in their life or in their cultivation. The work is open to interpretation. I think my psyche is just wired a certain way and that I'm pretty much helpless to photograph things the way I do. It's my nature."- Steinmetz

In Drug Dealers, I showcased the subject of skateboarding.  However, I altered the typical approach to skateboard photography.  I had no interest in photographing the activity, but rather the events that surround it.  For the most part, unless you know that the images are depicting this sport, you would not immediately know the whole story.

With this in mind, I feel that some of Steinmetz's images are similar to my own.  I don't think my work so far is open to a vast amount of interpretation, but it at least is not obvious what is being depicted. 



Also, the last two lines reflect a bit of how I feel in regards to the practice of photography.  Most of my time spent using a still camera is from within a sort of helpless state.  The larger portion of all my recent work is heavily preplanned and researched.  With these more focused works, capturing with a camera, or paint, or w/e, it is not a choice.  It must be done, or it will consume my thoughts.  

"I've studied silent films and film noir so who knows what I've absorbed from all that and how it may have seeped into my work."- Steinmetz

I thought this was an interesting find.  I came to Purchase as a Cinema Studies major.  I always loved that I can view a film from an analytical stand point, then use that knowledge to better understand how I can compose with my own cameras.

Steinmetz often finds subjects who are emotionally or physically isolated from their surroundings or current environment.  I really appreciated this part of his approach, as I try to do the same.



I believe isolating a subject assists the viewer in understanding more about the subjects plight or mental state.  Recently, I've been attempting to be as minimalistic as I can within all my works.  Only photographing one subject within a frame, or only using two base colors with painting.

His project "South East" resonated with me the most, and is what caught my attention, sans the guy smoking a cigarette.