Ordover Gallery

I took my best friend to the Natural History Museum that had the Ordover Gallery on the fourth floor.  I have to say that this was my favorite photographic gallery because of the location of the images.  The colors were amazing with the shades of blues and whites and the lighting.  The animals like the polar bears, penguins, sea otters were caught in their real habitats and the images were taken at the prime moment for beautiful pictures.  I was happy that many of the pictures had actually been sold because it showed me that being a photographer can actually pay off!  The arctic is a beautiful place to take pictures.  I love polar bears and penguins; they are the reason I go to places like Sea World.  Therefore, this gallery really reached out to me and I was fascinated.  I really enjoyed the photo of the sea lion or otter that is laying on an iceberg and the angle is just above the water.  The lighting, colors, and the framing made the picture so interesting.  If I had the money to buy it, I would!

Museum of Photographic Arts

When I attended the Museum of Photographic Arts I expected there to be a large selection of photos, but was surprised upon arrival.  Once I took a deeper look, I realized that the pictures that were in the museum were amazing enough that the little number of them didn't matter.  The set-up of the museum takes you through sections ranging from portraits, to detail photos, to pictures of the photographer's eye, and even to frame.  The photographer's eye section was particularly  interesting because they were photos that deal with the world.  There was a variety in the types of pictures, and each one expressed an image that relates to the photographer's perspective.  I found the piece "New Orleans" by Michael A. Smith to be one of my favorites in the gallery.  The image was black and white and the frame focused on bottles of alcohol.  The surrounding edges of the frame had dollar bills.  The overall affect of the picture was illustrated by the photographer's impression of New Orleans.  This particular picture gave me the impression of a bar atmosphere and the connection of money with booze.  The title gave insight into the photo because just looking at it didn't give anything away about the location.  The focal was on the alcohol and cash.  Another aspect I noticed in the picture was a slight smoking feeling, which also added to the guess that it was taken in a bar.  A few other artists and photos that caught my attention enough to write them down were Alexey Tirarenko's "St. Peterburg Crowd 2" and William Clift's "unknown" from the Courthouse Series.  The courthouse image showed a building from a long shot, with a mirror reflection that grabbed your attention as you walked by with its small window panes and building images.  The outer frame is empty space and the focal point is in the center of the shot.  The equilateral window panes made the reflection visually more appealing.  The reflective building is of a courthouse on a rectangular building.  This picture was black and white as well, but the clouds and the lighting of the image made me feel it was late afternoon.  I had to look up the image after leaving the museum because there is a lot of detail to the picture.  Overall, the museum had such a wide range of types of photographs for such a small space.  I was pleasantly surprised by my reaction to the museum, because I truly enjoyed myself!! 

Panoramic!

 The panoramic was one of the most fun activities that we've had to do so far! I really enjoyed practicing with the camera and taking shots straight across to create this image.  I actually took this from the passenger's seat in the car driving back from one of the road trips.  I was amazed that I had a better result from the car rather than just standing on the street with more focus.  

Presenter - Diane Willow

The presentation by Diane Willow was not what I expected.  The focus on her work was different from the other examples we've had in class because she shifted focuses depending on what her idea was.  I like how she discussed that it took many attempts to get to the goal she wanted because it gave me the courage to keep trying on my own artistic goals.  The flow of water was an  interesting topic.  She incorporated sound, video, cutting of two types of images into one video clip.  All of this was in just one of her examples.  Another piece of her work was the florescent plankton in water.  She was able to construct a surface that, when touched, reflected movement on soft water portions to create light from the plankton.  That is an admirable task! She included her MIT experience and knowledge with her artistic aspirations to create some very interesting pieces.  Perhaps the most interesting for me was the still shots from a camera that sat in the same position over a very long course of time.  We could see the seasons from combining the images to a faster pace that would not ever be witnessed from just watching when you had the time from the window.  Her explanation that we don't have the time to sit because we are constantly moving, but the fact that her camera could do so and just absorb all of this was her inspiration.  The presentation brought up knew concepts because she discussed installations of artwork as well.   The leaves attached to vibrators and wires to create this motion connected to sound was remarkable.  It added a whole knew feel to the room she showed, and to her flow of water piece.  The presentation was very good overall and it illustrated new techniques and methods of inspiration.

Jim Brandenburg Video

The video of this artist was perhaps the most appealing to me.  The idea of the project to take only one photograph per day for ninety days sounds like an immense challenge, that the photographer as able to complete exquisitely.  The discussion of the waterfall photograph that his wife actually used a flashlight to create light was a good lesson.  The actual capturing of a photograph is not always most important, but being able to "create" a picture is an artistic quality.  The Lake Superior Beach photograph especially caught my attention because it's simplicity and calmness is captured, with the focal of a rock that makes a fantastic picture.  It is mind-boggling that he was able to only take one photo a day, and every picture was unique, created it's own emotion, and was beautiful.  He discusses the mystery of the project that he could have taken fifty rolls of film to get one picture, but was able to create magnificent photos from just one shot a day.  The level of confidence he had to have to actually do this project is crazy.  How do you know that your one shot is going to be what you went for?  The explanations of how the chose which photograph to take each day were spoken creatively.  The symbiotic relationship between the raven and the wolf was crucial for the photographer to get a photo of the wolf.  Without the raven, the wolf wouldn't be visible and he wouldn't have gotten the photograph.  The benefits of each other was an interesting concept because it showed his understanding of the nature he was photographing.  Overall, Jim Brandenburg's project was amazing to me and I enjoyed learning how he came to decide which photo he would take each day.  Not only do the mistakes turn out to be beautiful sometimes, but taking one photograph a day makes that photograph that much better and special.  

Richard Misrach

After looking at the photos by Richard Misrach, I decided that the Desert Cantos were most interesting.  I like how the wide frame view of the scenic desert presented a wide range of colors and a distant view.  Many have the horizon in the center that gave a view of both the ground and the sky.  His photography style is similar to how I take scenic pictures, with the horizon line and the distant shots.  My favorite photo is the one with the ticket booth in Egypt with a pyramid in on the horizon line.  The focal point to the right of the booth contrasts well with the far shot of the pyramid.  Overall, his photography grabbed my attention and I enjoyed it.  

Sally Mann

I was expecting something different when we discussed the artist, but was surprised with how amazing her photographs were.  The emphasis on light was particularly interesting.  The images of her kids were beautiful pictures that shouldn't have been criticized.  Sally Mann's photography is unique in a way because it deals with her immediate family, yet the pictures are not just everyday images.  They incorporate light, angles, backgrounds, etc. and turn out to be amazing shots.  I liked her explanation of the children photos because it makes you realize she took them because that is the life she knew, and that it wasn't for a "pornographic" interest as many people criticized her for.  The shadow and lighting are illustrated in the picture I posted, and I really liked this photograph.

Collier Schorr

I found this artist's work to be particularly different and interesting.  The concept of masculinity captured into pictures is complex, especially when this photographer does it.  Taking photos of a boy posing in very feminine poses helps get at the idea that males need to feel masculine.  The boy who was in the photos made it known that he was acting, but her best photos came from when he let the concept of masculinity go and even did some "feminine" poses.  Collier Schorr's body of work wasn't really my favorite because her concept was a bit hard to grasp.  Her view on masculinity is different from the social perspective that is typically emotion-less.

Roni Horn - Photographer

The clip of Roni Horn was different from the other clips we've seen, because she had a very different story of her photography.  She has a true connection  with the focus of her pictures whether it be water, a friend, or her niece.  Roni sees something in water that many other people don't see and it is enough to make her life's work about it.   I liked how she talked about the dark water being a psychological darkness because it was a good metaphor about her piece.  The part that showed her images all throughout a university was particularly interesting.  Not only does she put effort into her photography, but the layout was important as well.  Bringing nature into the university seemed to be beneficial as a few of the students stated.  I also liked how she said that each person would have a different emotion or reaction to the set-up of the pictures because they experience them differently.  A person may not walk a certain hall until a new semester or a new year and it would take them a while to learn that path and see the other photographs.  There was a 'flow of people' and a 'flow of water' as they explained which was true from what I could see in the clip.  The other images I found interesting was the swimming pool locker rooms.  Roni took a place that many would not think is a good place to make a work of art and turned it into an emotional piece.  The peep holes produce the feeling of voyeurism and the wall to wall tile surroundings brought on the idea of a chess player.  Her deep connection to her work is clearly illustrated in her work.  

Stefan Sagmeister - Typographer

Stefan's bold way of expressing how excitement is needed in brochures, articles, etc... caught my attention.  The image of the man's body with the typography that looks like someone drew into the skin was fascinating!  I hadn't thought of typography as artistic talent because I hadn't really thought about the expressiveness that can come from it.  Emotion was definitely brought out for me when I saw his work and I valued his artistic methods.  It was interesting to see that he did most by hand, because he was the last generation to be taught that way before technology.  

David Carson Continued Thoughts

I liked how he spoke about mess-ups working towards your advantage sometimes.  Experimenting and playing with it might lead you to do something out-of-the-box, but it lets you create something different.  I learned some ideas about taking anything you can from one image, such as the corner, and blowing it up to create more images or layering them onto the original until you make a more creative image.  The way he took the headline of about noise and used that concept to make the typography "noisy" was a good idea.  David has a good way of utilizing what he has, whether it be the postage stamp of the envelope or the writing style of someone else, and making art from it.  Another part of this clip I enjoyed was the altitude and attitude article.  He used repetition to establish the 'attitude' and the article in the shape of a steep snowboarding hill to illustrate 'altitude.'  David's creative methods of utilizing emotion from typography is inspiring.

David Carson - Typography

I thought his type of art is really interesting.  His explanation on  how you can bring a group of people of the street and have them listen to a piece of music, and 9/10 would have the 'expected interpretation' and 1 would have an interpretation that meant something to them.  I agree that a meaningful interpretation can only come when it has personally inspired you, rather then going with what you think the right answer is, even if it is outside-the-box.  I also enjoyed how he took a boring article and used his skills with typography to make a spread.  The underlining story was still there, but a more interesting focus was brought on with the lettering he used.  I could tell from the clip that he was not the type to go by guidelines, but was creative on his own and does his artwork with his own unique style.  The typography art that we saw was interesting and a new type of art that I hadn't really thought about until we saw this clip =)

My First Completed Project! Accordian Fold Card

Using Photoshop to make my pictures enhanced was a lot of fun.  I was able to adjust the balance, contrast, and colors to make my pictures look even better then when I initially took them. Here is my first completed project of an accordian fold card.  I just took snapshots from the order form to get them in here (which I learned from the tutorials off Lynda.com) 

Photoshoppin and Camera Raw

I started off just taking some pictures on my break at work and ended up really liking a few of them.  I was able to use camera raw to brighten up the colors and make the focus of the picture more exciting, while keeping the background out of focus!  I used photoshop to add text and make the picture even more unique =)   

Edward Burtynsky

The explanation of how he transformed from taking "calendar" type pictures of rebirth and nature, to the photographs of corporation and industrialism was fascinating.  The dramatic shift to such an incredible cause makes his photography more emotional to those who see it.  I particularly liked the photograph of what looked like a red river in a land of black, because it brought out emotions of concern within me.  How much do corporations and industry damage our earth?  In viewing his pictures and listening to his stories for each, I can see the massive destruction that results from this modern lifestyle.  Recycling is on a much larger scale then we typically think in our everyday lives.  The fumes and toxins that result from melting metals within recycled computers is tragic and yet people in other countries are forced to do work like this to survive.  Burtynsky's photography was a bit overwhelming but an incredible eye-opener.  The growth of cities and the building of skyscrapers makes me question if this is the world we want to live in.  Putting people out of their homes into city buildings that are exhausting of our earth's natural materials is difficult to think about.  As Burtynsky mentioned, each room in a skyscraper has it's own air conditioning unit.  The amount of energy that is needed for a large city to supply air conditioning to its individuals is incredible.  I agree with the notion that there must be a better way to do this.  The images brought on concern for where our world is heading and I question where we will be even a few more years from now, with the intense level of growth that is occurring.

Thoughts on the James Nachtwey Clip

The clip of James Nachtwey's art brought up a lot of emotion when as I watched the pictures progressively get more intense.  It is difficult to look at, but inspired me to use photographs as a way to create change in the world (even if it is on a different level then war!)  I was motivated when he spoke of the family that lived on a river bank with the father who lost an arm and a leg in a train accident.  The way a picture was able to bring forth generosity in  the public that eventually paid for a house in the country for a family that has suffered so much, was uplifting.  Photography as an art can bring about change, as well as opening the eyes of people on subjects that are hard to truly understand.  Utilizing photographs driven by a purpose, make the art style interesting and inspiring.  James Nachtwey's description of each photograph helped identify the goal each picture had to offer, as well as offering perspective.  His ability to capture images on such a deep level and produce deep emotions is an incredible gift.  I liked the way he showed the pictures that are associated with our country until the end because it allowed the audience to get a world wide view of what goes on in the world, rather then the bubble we are used to in America.  The angles, colors, positioning of people are all elements that make his pictures so incredible.  The goal of the pictures was not to make a profit, but to promote positive change in the world.  The photographer's point of view offers that added element to make the photography meaningful and thought-provoking.