Blog #16-18

“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 that this is basically saying that it is very easy just to capture a person as is but, it is more difficult to convey an emotion through that image. Showing that someone is provocative might be something that is a little bit more difficult to do.

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

I feel that the imagination is very important and i feel this quote is somewhat saying. The things that you cannot see are often more important than the things you can see. At the same time this is when you can take for granite something that you always see verses something that you either cant see or normally see. 

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

 I think that this means it is very difficult to capture landscapes and when you do so it shows that you are a true photographer. Landscapes are often difficult to capture in a way that has not been done before so that creates more of a challenge.

“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

 

Photographs are real but fake at the same time. i understand that they only capture moments in time but at the same time it is not always going to be true to what the picture shows. It becomes a way for us to convey how we feel about our reality. 

 

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

I think that this is kind of a contradiction because photography is technically in the present but once it has been captured it then becomes in the past. so it is only in the present for a split second and then it just becomes another part of the past. 

Project #2 Part 2

Picture of my sister with the mug:
Interpretation: People thought that it was kind of the caught in the act photo. At the same time they  did not think it was intentional. Some people felt though it has a querky feel to it. With this piece i was trying to capture her personality and i tried to capture that and i think that people get somewhat a sense of her personality from this picture.
Evaluation: Lighter background would work better. Also if the contrast was increased that would help the background out. Maybe using a back light instead or in addition to the lights that were used.
Extension: Maybe capturing people you would not expect to see with a smiley mug holding the mug.

Film Still:
Interpretation: Dance Studio feel. The position of her sitting on the window ledge as well as her hair and legs makes it seem like she is a dancer. This might be an accurate interpretation of the film still but i do not know what movie the film still came from so i am not sure.
Evaluation: Good Contrast.  good lights and darks. window has good exposure. part of window blown out add just the right amount. background is good as well especially with the walls angling in on the subject.
Extension: Lines and people. Silhouttes. exposure pieces. Maybe day dreaming pictures since she is looking out the window. maybe working more with the movie aspect.

Film Still Close Up:
Interpretation: Good next to the previous piece but kind of hard to interpret by itself. Get more of an understanding from it when it is next to the piece that is a view farther out.
Evaluation: Like i said in the interpretation, people thought this piece was not as successful by itself. The details in the background or lack of details kind of takes away from the piece.
Extension: This piece could go along with the following piece as far as ideas that could be done.


Flowers attacking sister:
Interpretation: Looks like she is being attacked. Interesting that the background and flowers are similar. Blurred. Good illusion. Blending into the background makes her head seem a little distorted. Somewhat of a hippie vibe.
Evaluation: Could increase contrast a little bit more in the piece. Other than that seems to be balanced somewhat in composition. The textures that the background and flowers create is very intriguing.
Extension: This could be a jumping off point for people being attacked by things you might not expect like fake flowers. Maybe even creating distorted heads would be another.

Blogs #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. 
    The place that i am coming up with is the old house that i lived in. I lived in this house for most of my childhood. We rented this house since we could not afford our own. Given that it was some what of a bad house. It was a very old house from the early 20th century if not older and it was starting to fall apart when we were living in it. It is a red house with panels along all of it. It had a front porch. The front yard was very small but the backyard was very long. My old house was located on a street called La Prairie. This always made me laugh because of the show, The little House on La Prairie. I always like that's my house. Since we moved out it has some what been fixed up a little bit since they wanted it to still be rented out to people. For the most part it still looks the same as it did besides things on the porch that now belong to the current renters/owners. Most pictures i have of the house are the house by itself. 

#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?
    The photograph that i remember from my past the most would be the one of me holding a Kola Bear. I went to New Zealand and Australia a few years back and was given the opportunity to hold a kola bear. Before we went to the zoo our leaders told us that we should wear something bright that day so that it would be easier to see the kola in the photographs. The day that we went to the zoo i wore a bright colorful tie dyed shirt. This picture is such a great picture. Everything is so crisp because the kola bear's Grey fur against my bright shirt created a great contrast. When i think of this picture it makes me happy and reflect on my time over there. I don't know how much this place has changed since i am not really able to go back. If i did a reenacted picture to this picture i might just use a stuffed animal since it is hard to find places that will allow you to hold so to speak wild animals. 

#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.      
    Human interaction with nature and the physical land does not seem to happen that often to me. I feel that people just tend to go about there business and forget about all the nature that is surrounding them. I did occasionally see people bathing out on the grass or maybe sitting by the river but other then that people do not seem to interact with nature. I am the type of person that likes to collect leaves especially during the fall. I am thinking about doing a piece that incorporates leaves on the ground creating and image or something like that. 

#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? 
   A familiar place would be my house that i live in currently. A place faraway would be were i spend a lot of my time on vacation which is Virginia. I would use  photographs of the places i go there and the places that i go to here in order to convey a difference. Places that may have been barley touched by humans would be hard to find. I think you would photograph them in a different perspective compared to everything else. 

#15____In-Camera 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 how you might use a slow shutter speed and/or double exposure to capture two moments in one image that tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.
 An importance place in my past would be when i was playing my violin and i was originally a music major. Now i am an art major so i am always working on art now instead of working on my music. If i was going to combine the two of them it would be two images. One showing me who i was and kind of still am and one that would show who i am now. i would try to find a way to overlap them in a certain way if possible. 

Recreation #3

Project #2 Part 1

Composition: I wanted to use my tie dyed blanket in order to create more texture to the composition. The lighting was simple indoor lighting with a flash. I wanted her to do something the that reflected her personality.
Concept: My image is about my sister and her personality. She is often seen drinking coffee or other things like it so when i told her to show her personality she grabbed the smile face mug. which in my actual final image is missing the eyes.
Method: I had my sister just acting like her self when all of a sudden she grabbed my mug and held it up to her and it made me laugh because she held it up so that the face was facing outward which was a little different since she is actually right handed but she was using her left.
Motivations: My motivation was capturing a person in somewhat there typical state.
Context: I feel that it relates to my work in the sense that i enjoy capturing people in the natural state or a state that they like to be depicted. I guess my point of view would be somewhat from an anthropological point of view.

Composition: I wanted my figure to be somewhat off center from the whole of the composition. I also wanted to include the angles of the wall and floor of the room.
Concept: I think that this image is about a girl who might be an actor or dancer that is in a studio rehearsing or something like that and they are taking a break.
Method: This image is based off of a film still which i found online. I wanted to try and recreate it the same or at least as close as possible. I ended up adding in more of the space around my figure because i liked how the angles focus in on her.
Motivations: My goal was to try and capture the lighting that the original had but to a greater degree because i feel that lighting places and important part in this image.
Context: My image seems to relate to the typical stereotype dancer that is in a studio.

With this one it is pretty much the same comments as the one above but with this one i wanted to get a closer view of the person. i wanted to make it more personal and emphasize her looking out the window. Also with this one i like the fact that the background is clearer which helps with her looking out the window.

Composition: With this one the composition was not created ahead of time. I wanted to capture my sister doing something that she might do or something that might reflect her personality. I like that she is off centered and that the shot is closer up then some of the others.
Concept: I think that my image is about the craziness that is my sister. She is being attacked by flowers which is  funny because they are my flowers. I sometimes attack her for no reason just like the flowers seem to be doing.
Method: I had her grab the flowers and i was expecting her to hold them and then all of a sudden she put them in her hair and when she tried to get them out they were caught and looked like they were attacking her face. I wanted to capture it instantly when it happened so that's what i did.
Motivations: My goal was to capture her in the moment of the flowers being caught in her hair and that's exactly what i did.
Context: A lot of photographers often take candid photos which this one is essentially.

Blog #8-10

“My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.
In response to this i would think that if it is true then the photographer would be setting up the sets and people in such a way that would reflect who he is instead of who the person is. it is almost like he is giving them a false identity or allowing them to steal his identity.

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


I dont know whether or not i agree with this statement. i think that you actually take photographs but at the same time you might make one if you are positioning everything that is going to be taken in that specific shot.

“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


I think that this is somewhat true. Photographs are very different than paintings in the fact that they usually capture exactly what is happening at that moment time. With a picture, when everybody looks at it they might remember something different from that moment.

Blog #5-7

#5 Give your thoughts on one or both of the following quotes.
“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.” ~Edward Steichen



“I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are taking some of their soul.” ~Mary Ellen Mark




As far as the second quote i feel like i would want the people i am photographing to know why i am taking it. If the person chooses to not know why i am photographing them i guest that it there choice but otherwise i would tell them. I dont think that i am taking some of their soul but rather maybe capturing there soul.
 
#6 In your opinion, when is it beneficial, ethical, or appropriate to digitally alter photographic portraits? When do you think it is inappropriate or ethically wrong?
i think that it is ethically ok to altar a photograph to any degree as long as you have that persons permission to do so. I mean that is if you are using people in your photographs. I do not think that it is okay for you to alter a piece without there permission becuase they might not be okay with it.


#7 Pay close attention to the types and number of photographic portraits you see in one day. Where did you see them? How do you think that the content of the portrait changes based on the context in which you see the image (news, facebook, magazine, advertisement, television, youtube, etc)? In other words, what is the difference between the portraits you see on facebook vs. those on the news? What is the difference between the “viewpoint” of the photographer in each situation? What is the difference between their “intents”?

Most of the photographic pictures i see in a day are either on facebook or the ones that are around my room. I think that portraits in the newspapers are not always depicting things how they are. I feel that images that are on facebook might be more realistic of the persons personality or something like that. I think that the intents are very different yet at the same time similar. Newspapers try to capture things in a way that will connect to people who see it. whereas facebook pictures are often just taken as a way to capture a memory. i mean newspapers do that to but they are more set up compared to pictures put onto facebook.