Audrey's Photo Blog

Progress

2008-12-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was interested in photographing the process of things. I wanted to look at motion and the way the body moves when in motion. I also wanted to look at this from different vantage points. At first, I was obsessed with the idea of voyeurism, and shooting it accordingly. But, as I was photographing, I realised that there were photographs that just didn't make sense for a voyeur to look at. So, I then focused more on the action rather than making it look creepy. This project really pushed me to look at things differently, to think before I shoot and to understand which vantage point works best. Before I took each picture, I would think of the different angles and also shoot the same motions in different angles (if what the subject was doing allowed me to do so). I think if I were to continue with this project, I would focus more on the content. Perhaps I would split it into two - dissecting simple motions (i.e. walk, run, dance) and dissecting private moments.

Carl Mydans

2008-12-02T15:07:00.000-08:00

"Unlike, say, Smith, who planned his pictures in sequences and fought over how they would be laid out on the page, Mr. Mydans specialized in getting one picture that told the story by itself. As a result, he proved most useful to Life's editors when space was tight and news was breaking." - NYT Carl Mydans' Obituary

Mydans photographs capture a lot in one photo, I think this is very true. Though, I felt that perhaps there were certain reasons for that, one being that he did not exactly go to the country with an agenda of taking a collection of photographs. Rather, he was captured and took photographs of his stay there. In that way perhaps, there was less thought and more about getting the moment. In a way, I felt that he had incredible moments in his photographs, like the one with the French woman who was accused of sleeping with Germans and thus had to have her head shaved while other people looked and laughed. That picture was incredibly powerful.

Mydans doesn't try anything tricky, only captures raw human emotion and I definitely got that from his photographs. I think this is an incredible quality to have as a war photographer -- it's not necessarily about the angle or the lighting, but simply about the human's emotions.

"Mydans has said that he has always been a people-watcher, looking at posture and the telling gesture which might reveal something of the person. He would watch mouths and look for falseness. As he began to understand this unspoken language and interpret what he was so carefully observing he wrote, 'I had found a source of stories as wide and as varied and as captivating as the human race.'" -- Marianne Fulton

Response to Sexualized Google Searches

2008-11-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

The first thing that came to mind was how perfect all the bodies were. They were mostly all tall and lean. I kept thinking about the shoot from last year, that was exhibited at Fort Andross, where students took nude photographs of Bowdoin students - playing frisbee, running on the treadmill, etc etc. What I most enjoyed out of that exhibition was the fact that the photographs weren't sexualizing these people. They weren't focused on the breasts or the penises, but on other parts of the body as well. Though I do have to say that the searches were about human sexual behaviors.

One thing that really struck me was how uncomfortable and indifferent I felt about these photographs. Indifferent because I'd seen these...we have a very traditional view of the human body, and seeing them alone doesn't strike me as anything different anymore. This is why I found the exhibition last year so striking - it was about breaking this idea of nudity, and being able to be comfortable with your body with other people. The individual naked body is hardly surprising. On the other hand, I felt uncomfortable with a few of the photographs, specifically the BDSM and fetish ones (I assume). As it is not a lifestyle that I partake in, I find it difficult to understand. I also see it more as pornography, with its intent being to sexually arouse the viewer. Personally, I find it difficult to understand pornography as art. I've battled this back and forth in my head as I looked at the photographs - but if art is to elicit some sort of emotion in the viewer, and pornography is to elicit a sexual emotion in the viewer, then shouldn't it be considered as art? Yet, I feel as though art is up for grabs - it is open for interpretation, but pornography is vying for one interpretation. Secondly, a few photographs put in the powerpoint argues the point for many feminists against pornography - that it objectifies women. Though, we may not know if the woman wanted the photograph to be shot as it was, that she had control in her poses and concept, this is something that can be taken from it.

Lastly, I found the video games photographs to be interesting as well. I've read that pornography has been the technological forefront. Pornography has been credited behind the driving forces of DVDs and other technology...which makes perfect sense, as the better and faster the technology is, the easier and more discreet pornography can be made and received. Thus, what I found interesting is that, even though there is better technology to make pornography more discreet to use (i.e. Google's Chrome invisible window), it is at the same time being pushed in the forefront of different types of media (i.e. video games).

Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange - Takes on Japanese Internment Camps

2008-11-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

I looked at Ansel Adams' photographs first. I have to admit that I don't know too much of the history of Japanese internment camps and the issues behind that, so I felt like I was looking at the photographs with fresh eyes. It was interesting, because not knowing the background, I would have thought that the Japanese were living a comfortable life. In fact, there are some photographs where you wouldn't even be able to tell where they were. For example, Mrs. Naguchi and two children are photographed in front of a house. Mrs. Naguchi looks perfectly happy standing in front of a house with her children. The house looks like something you might find in Japan. Another one is Mrs. Nakamura and family buying toys, where they look perfectly content choosing puzzles with the Japanese shopkeeper. That being said, Adams does bring in subtle differences and implications. In the one with Mrs. Naguchi and her children in front of the house looked like it could be anywhere, but upon further inspection, you notice the barracks in the background.

Is it also ironic that the website that hosts these photographs is the Library of Congress, American Memory?

I had a slightly different reaction when I saw Dorothea Lange's photographs. Her photographs are darker, focusing on the details instead of the landscape like Adams. She captures the loss of homes, displacement, and boredom that the Japanese felt. But, what I got out of both of these photographs were the importance of titles. Reading the NYT article before really looking at the powerpoint, I already had the impression that she was somewhat darker, and more "truthful" than Adams. Yet, when I looked at her photographs, I didn't get the sense of darkness in some of them, and it was only when I read the captions that I changed my mind about it.

Your Personal Moon

2008-11-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

"Some Russian designers have started a production of a big, moon-shaped light-box calling this project a "Your Personal Moon". Now anyone can get his own moon right in his apartment or his backyard. via www.englishrussia.com

Panorama Fictions Response

2008-11-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

I had a pretty clear space and idea that I wanted to pursue in this project. I was interested in exploring the playground structure by the elementary school, as I was intrigued with connecting the architecture and numerous visible lines at the playground and thought that would be fun to work with. At first, I did different scenes with the playground, using photo merge. But it didn't really work for me, as I felt like the subjects were all on the foreground, not exactly interacting with the structure. I didn't want to make it all about the subject. So, I decided that the best way to do this was by free-handing it. And instead of doing different things with the playground, I focused on one thing, the cliche playground bully type story. At first, I wanted to focus just on the fight, and then pan out to see the space that they were fighting in. Kind of like a "stuck in a moment" type panorama. But then, after a few comments and critiques, I did realize that it was a bit confusing to have such vast space. So, by adding the people jumping on the trampoline, it seemed to me that it in some ways answered the question of wanting my subjects to subtly interact with the playground. If I were to do this again, I would definitely work more with the narrative of what's happening beyond the fight, as well as work more with the structure on the right, adding a bit more details in the playground structure. All in all, I had a ton of fun working on this panorama, and I felt like working with the fight scene in the left of the panorama gave me a lot of satisfaction. I was most pleased with that part because it came out the way I wanted and intended it to be.

Baby's Pictures

2008-11-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

I've always thought about my baby pictures, or rather the lack of. Contrary to Elsbeth's reasons, I contributed mine to the fact that I was the fifth, and last child. The first couple of kids are always exciting and new and you want to capture each moment, then it gets kind of old and tiresome. I saw the same thing with my sister's children. The oldest one was the first grandchild of both sides, and they sent out welcome photographs to family and friends, whereas the second one was kind of shafted. (Shame cause my younger nephew is way cuter).

Though I'd like to have more baby pictures of me, it doesn't bother me too much. Partly because I've never had it before, so I don't really know the sentimental value of it. And partly because I live in such a digitized world, that the internet can look up my genealogy, as well as keep pictures of me and my family from years past.

I do have to say that the reasoning behind photographing baby pictures as a way to document biological histories is something that still carries on today. Perhaps it is as much of an implication as saving the anglo-saxon race, but if it does not raise some sort of understanding about our biological bodies, then it is about revving certain nostalgic emotions. Bell Hooks' story brings up a more emotional side. She raises a point when she sees a rare photograph of her father's young self, that her and her sisters' "experience of this image is shaped by [their] relationship to him, to the world of childhood and the images that make [their] life what it is now." It seems that looking back in our history, how we feel, even of people that are close to us, is very much influenced by what has happened since that image was taken. Hooks moves on and becomes nostalgic about an image of herself when she was younger, and I find this to best capture what most people may feel, but not realize, when seeing a younger picture of themselves. "My favorite childhood snapshot then and now shows me in costume, masquerading. And long after it had disappeared I continued to long for it and to grieve. I loved this snapshot of myself because it was the only image available to me that gave me a sense of presence, of girlhood beauty and capacity for pleasure."

At the end of the day, images prove something. For Hooks, it proves that there was a time when she was innocent and pure. It proves that blacks were there, and they were able to participate in creation of art. It proves that racial features. It helps them remember that there was that certain moment, that it happened and they were there.

In light of baby pictures, here are a few of mine that I dug up this past summer:

I plan to submit this one to one of those websites where you find an old photograph and re-create it in the exact same pose, background, clothing, etc.

This is the one where I look like a manatee:

3 Bryces!

2008-11-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Double double double

2008-11-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

zoom!

Panoramic Fiction

2008-11-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

Staring at the sun

2008-11-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

Response to Leni Riefenstahl

2008-11-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

After reading the New Yorker article, I have come to dislike Riefenstahl. Partly, perhaps due to how the New Yorker portrayed Riefenstahl as seemingly seeking art for the sake of making money. It seemed as though she was good at what she did, there didn't seem to be an objective behind it, except to make money - as New Yorker notes the money machine lovers that financed her films, selling photographs that weren't necessarily ethical of the Nuba that allowed her to take photographs of them, but "when they didn’t, she used a telephoto lens." She seems to be the very definition of deception, as she lied seeing the living conditions of prisoners to lying about her age to be certified for scuba diving. Furthermore, her frustration at Muller for not filming her being pulled from the helicopter crash is another sign of her obsession with personality, and not art.

It is interesting however, how in the end, it was the Americans who opened their arms and praised her and her work, despite the past controversies. I think it is something to be said that they were (by and large) unaffected by the period of when Triumph of the Will was filmed, and that they see her for her art, rather than what she stands for.

The author questions her "genius" in the end, and it does seem so - was Riefenstahl just a pretty face that got by because of her beauty, was she just at the right place at the right time, or did she truly make a work of art? I don't care much for her work with the Nuba, it is no different than the work of an anthropologists', except she lacks the very basics of ethics - by photographing the tribe when asked not to. Though she seems to have learned about the tribe, there does not seem to be much other research or opinions, other than what she has observed.

Response to Annie Leibovitz

2008-11-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Annie Leibovitz's work is famous, brought on by the fact that she chooses to shoot popular and famous subjects. Her portraits suggest things about the person that the viewers, by and large, seem to already understand, and then there are some that seem to shed new light. I've read in the past that she thrives on having some sort of relationship with the subject, and it is that understanding of the relationship that really carries through the photograph. For example, the photograph she took of Yoko Ono seemingly as one with the tree, is something that the public is aware of - the peacefulness, at-one-with-the-nature was largely publicized in the media, but the photograph of John Lennon and Yoko, where they were shot together, but Lennon was naked and clinging, where as Yoko was not, seemed to paint a completely new picture of the couple that the public may never have known.

It's also interesting to note the difference between the photographs she took of celebrities vs. the photograph of Susan Sontag, her supposed lover. Sontag's photograph was very pure, it didn't seem to characterize her with any of her works. Leibovitz has succeeded in bringing a form of art in an otherwise much criticized artless world of commercial art. She does really bridge the gap, with her subjects being the main reason.

Animation and Free Shoot Response

2008-11-05T16:54:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed the animation collaboration, and thought it was a great way to explore concepts and focus on how I look at things. It especially forced me to think about how I wanted to photograph, before I did it, which is something that I don't necessarily do often in the class shoots. In the class shoots, I normally look or construct something that is fitting with the theme. However, with the animation, my concept developed over time, and I think that is something that I want to clearly map out before I make my next animation.

I would definitely like to make another animation for my final project, but I think without so much of a narrative this time. I really enjoyed piecing together all the photographs and constructing something out of it. I have been thinking about the idea of making photographs to music, and possibly making a music video. But I'm also intrigued by exploring spaces and especially time with animation.

I really enjoyed the class shoots, mostly because it gave me something tangible to work with. But I was always very happy when we got to do free shoots, because it was almost like a vacation of not having to work under any constraints. I think I would have liked to have a more equal mix of both. I felt like my work was a bit more concrete when the subjects were less abstract because then I could only focus on taking the photographs, whereas I felt like with more abstract concepts, I didn't have time to come up with ideas that I would be able to photograph well.

My other idea for the final project came to me by mistake today. I accidentally printed two photographs in the same side of the sheet and thought it would be interesting to layer two photographs and see how the colours would come out.

Prints

2008-11-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Castle in the Sky

2008-11-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

Stop Motion Stills

2008-11-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

The Unseen Gulf War - Peter Turnley

2008-10-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

Turnley proposes a way in which war photography should be approached, on the eve of the new gulf war. He notes that it is capturing "the realities of war" that is essential. As I scrolled through his work, though I found it moving, I did not find it different from any other documented photographs on wars that were either published in books, but mostly on media sites. I think it's interesting to note the similarities I found with pictures published on cnn.com and Time magazine, and the pictures on Turnley's site. Though, it is important to note that he does raise important points in experiencing a sort of empathy (obviously, I don't think one can really experience complete empathy in a situation like this) when looking at war photographs, to know that it is not necessarily about patriotism and courage (though it is that too).

The one thing I thought was interesting was when he stated 'war is a necessary evil.' He repeatedly notes and talks about how he captures the 'evil' part, but never the necessity factor. I am confused by the (somewhat) contradictions with this statement and his photographs.

Furthermore, the timing is also important to note. Obviously, he has strong feelings, writing this letter on the brink of another war. This is the time when people and media might think that war is "convenient". Yet, I don't think that the same sentiments hold true 5 years later, with the knowledge and media that we hold now, and I think that would be a fascinating juxtaposition.

Broken Social Scene

2008-10-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

Truth

2008-10-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Truth: Everybody Poops

Truth: Winter is almost here

Truth: People pick their nose

Truth: He likes watching Palin on T.V

Response to Lomography

2008-10-25T15:25:00.001-07:00

When I discovered lomography, I thought - that's how I want my world to be seen. I loved the colours and the vibrancy and the pace that the pictures provoked. So, it was a no-brainer in what I wanted to talk about for my gleaning. However, I also wanted to tap into the minds of people who, you know, hated lomography, like Alfred. I had very rarely met someone who disliked lomography, and it is very interesting to see why they don't.

I think the main questions I thought about is...what place does experimental photography have in art? Does the "don't think, just shoot" concept stray away from an artist's point of view? Or is lomography for people who just want to have fun? Yet, is that okay for them to publish books and have exhibits and call it art? We talked earlier in the semester about how an artist cannot be judged by one photograph, they should be judged by their array of work. So, does this come in the same way with lomography, if the photographs are supposed to be 'accidental', there isn't really a point in taking the photograph? Or is the point in achieving a sort of colourful, vibrant image? And if so, what does that mean?

Response to "The True Meaning of Pictures"

2008-10-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

"The True Meaning of Pictures" by Jennifer Baichwal shows appalachia "the holler dwellers" through the work of Shelby Lee Adams. It was an incredibly interesting film, but not necessarily about the people who live in Appalachia, rather the stereotypes and the biases evident in the film. It's interesting to ask the question, "who has the right to film a documentary?" Adams has the excuse that he grew up in Appalachia, but noting that he would switch accents when he was around the 'holler dwellers' and when he was doing interviews in front of the camera perhaps implies that there is a conflict in identity. Or is he just trying to please the crowd? Trying to fit in?

I'm sure that there were tons of biases in the film, but it's also important to note the photography with the girl hugging a torn down wooden window in a decapitated looking house and the reactions by Shelby Lee Adams and the woman who had left Appalachia and how different their analysis were. This is because they were both seemingly from the same background, yet conceived the photograph in two different ways. The essential thing to note about this scene though, unlike the biases from other parts of the film that Adams shows, is that when looking at a piece of art, it is open to different interpretations. So, though it seems as if they were both from the same background, they could have come out with different experiences from their backgrounds and felt differently about Appalachia, and I think that is important to consider.

Response to Errol Morris' Photography as a Weapon

2008-10-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Found here: http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/photography-as-a-weapon/?scp=3&sq=photography&st=cse

Errol Morris interviews Hany Farid, an expert on digital photography and photography fraud, and Charles Johnson, of little green footballs.

A question that I wondered the whole time I read this article, and which was echoed by a commenter on the article, was that isn't each photographer essentially altering a photograph by taking it? I suppose one could argue that by what angle the photographer is taking the photo in, how focused they want the picture to be, and what is being taken is a form of manipulation. One could also argue that it is art, showing the artist's point of view. So, when does it become art and when is it altered reality? Is it more so with photoshop? Does simply changing the format change what we see?

I found Hany Farid's comments on the brain's acceptance of the visual and language most interesting. It's important to understand that our eyes accept a lot of truth, maybe because we are used to it. Visual = truth; Language (i.e. gossip) = faith. The idea that "seeing is believing" has penetrated what we understand as truth. It's also fascinating to see that humans are able to believe things that are concrete (i.e. bones, ancient remains, etc). Perhaps the idea "seeing is believing" will witness a more negative turn now that technology is able to manipulate our eyes? Maybe by understanding that most things in the media are doctored will help us to understand that we can't take things on face value. It means doing more work, more research, more skepticism in a world where things are becoming more convenient and accessible and humans are getting lazier.

Deviant

2008-10-19T17:53:00.001-07:00

More candids than anything else, really.

Landscapes Response

2008-10-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

When Jennifer Baichwal brought up the question of whether we had any difficulty being "cliché" in our landscapes assignment, I begun to think what I did, and if I had thought of the cliché factor before I shot. Whenever I think about landscapes, I think about how much I don't like shooting it. But then, we were given an extremely relaxed approach to it which made me feel better about it. It was interesting, because even though I thought my photographs were cliché, the concept behind it might not be. I think one can shoot the same thing like another photographer did (not exactly the same, but perhaps the same subject), but it might not be redundant because of what your goal was behind the photographs.

I think it's very easy to write off the photographs before knowing what the photographer's aim was behind it. And it's interesting because as I sat there, I realised that though the photographs might look cliché, the meaning behind it was not. This is why I liked doing the pecha kucha's, because I felt like everybody had something to say that might not be obvious. It was even more interesting to hear the critiques, because meaning that was derived from others seemingly formed the photograph.

All in all, I enjoyed shooting what I shot. I think if viewers were to look at it, without any explanation, would seem to be redundant, but the concept or idea behind it is sometimes more important. And I think that is crucial, especially in landscape photography, when most would shoot things that are not exactly detail oriented. It's easier to look at something focused and derive meaning because you are essentially seeing the artist's point of view (it's so focused that it has to be that!) But with something vague, meaning can be lost in the big picture and that might be why I have always struggled with understanding landscape photography.

The Sandwich Fair; Sandwich, NH

2008-10-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Succession of David eating the core of the bloomin' onion:

We were in the parade!

Triangles

2008-10-16T13:18:00.001-07:00

4 Landscape Prints

2008-10-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

Landscapes: Boston Roofs

2008-10-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

A little furry, not as Fleshy

2008-10-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

New Yorker: "Pixel Perfect" - Pascal Dangin

2008-09-30T15:41:00.001-07:00

Pascal Dangin has a lot of control. Lauded by so many celebrities and media honchos, you can almost say that so many of the advertisements and media that you look at today, was in fact, done by him. Sure, he might not have created the idea behind the advertisements, but he sure did tweak and alter little things and present them to what us, commoners, see. That's a lot of power.

Lauren Collins' paints a very different picture of Pascal Dangin. There are airbrushers, and then there is Pascal Dangin. Of course, he bloops out the pimples on celebrities, but it seems that he does more than that. What I liked about what was written about him, was how he seemed to see through the superficial aspects of the picture (sort of ironic, I guess), and he could tell what needed to be changed so that it didn't seem -too- perfect.

It's funny because we always rag on how celebrities look too fake, but at the same time, a photograph is something that you want to look at for some time, and I don't necessarily want to look at scraggly old blue veins. Dangin also knows when to stop, he seems to know when a woman looks too much of something. I never saw touch ups as a form of art, but when you think about it, photographs, advertisements, media is an art in itself and Dangin treats it like one.

Free Shoot - Kent Island in my bedroom

2008-09-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

I took Meg's "I guess you can take landscape photographs in your house" a little seriously. These were taken from the different rooms in my apartment at different times of the day. Though, the day doesn't look that different when there's remnants of a hurricane coming your way.

Think Green

2008-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

"Support local farmers"

Diptych Response

2008-09-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt, I had a lot of difficulty with this project. I didn't exactly know where to start because I was very stuck on other people's examples and ideas. It also took me some time to get into the 'dialogue' between the two. I googled a bit and looked at flickr's diptych pool, which helped. The problem with me is, the project would have been easier/aesthetically pleasing if I were matching photographs together. The most difficult part for me was to create things, and not exactly know how it would turn out. I think my favourite one out of the pack is the one of the kayaks and colour pencils. This isn't because it matched up well, but because the colour pencils did not come out as expected. I moved them around and I really liked the outcome. It wasn't something that I had planned or thought extensively about, which was the case for the others.

I am very interested in making diptychs, or triptychs. I think it's fun to be able to find relationships with other photographs, it is definitely something that I would look into in the future. For this project, however, the problem as mentioned earlier, was the ability to create the picture from scratch. Not having it there for me to see, but having to picture it in my head. The examples I saw on flickr were also all of photographs, so although it gave me more of an idea of what I could do, the hard part still went back to the creation of the scanogram.

Landscape Artists

2008-09-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

I admit, I'm not the biggest fan of landscape photography. I think it's mostly because I can't seem to take any that I like. But, at the same time, I have to say that most landscape photographs that I see that I enjoy are of places that I have never been to, let alone heard of.

Secondly, back to an earlier question in our class - what makes a good photograph? I now have to say that not only is it a photograph that I want to keep looking at, it is something that I wish I had taken (sort of like when people ask you if you had a song that you wished you had written), and of something that I wished I knew how to take. It makes me wonder, how did they do that?

So, that being said, I was very struck by Arno Rafael Minkkinen's work. The best part about how he incorporated landscapes was the focus on portraits. I am a huge fan of shooting portraits, so that definitely piqued my interest.

This photograph, titled Laurence, is a great example. I couldn't stop staring at it because I kept wondering how he took it, where the subjects were lying, how they were lying. Is that her arm? Someone else's leg? I can't seem to tell. I am transfixed by this photograph. Most importantly though, it seems as if Minkkinen uses his subjects as a way to pay homage to nature.

This photograph, titled Self-portrait with Olivia, hinted at what Minkkinen seemed to be doing. Although body parts and faces were on the foreground of the photograph, there are times where it seems to simply be a decoration to the landscape it is in. I also liked the fact that there was no clothing in his photographs because it suggests that the bodies were part of nature.

Another artist I really enjoyed was John Pfahl. Though I wasn't as taken with all his work as I was with Minkkinen, I did like his "scrolls" set. The way it was formatted really demonstrated the connection between sky and earth.

This photograph, aptly titled "the sky below", suggests what I mentioned earlier. It's difficult for me to really like landscape art, which is why I prefer looking at them in interesting or different formatting. This might also be why I am not commenting on Ray Metzker's work as there is no real yay factor for me (aside from the fact that there are pieces that look like they could have been painted).

diptychs: kodachrome vs scanograms

2008-09-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

Vinalhaven, ME

2008-09-21T09:41:00.001-07:00

Carver's harbor in the morning, day, sunset and night.

Mornings

The ferry

5 (+2); Texture

2008-09-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

New Yorker: "Remember This?" -- Gordon Bell

2008-09-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

Wilkinson's article touches a bit on Gordon Bell's life and a lot on the project, MyLifeBits, that he has been working on -- one that is, technically, never-ending. Bell's objective is to record everything, scan all documents and photographs that were ever part of his life and record the present with SenseCam. It's to record everything and to try to make it accessible. Though, the accessibility part seems to be an issue. A lot of things happened in his life.

On one hand, it seems practical to be able to have everything digitalized and stored. Never again will you have to spend hours finding a LLBean receipt of a purchase made 8 years ago, only to discover that it was thrown out on your last move. On the other hand, too much is too much. It's obsessive. Bell seems to be living in his past. The fact that he believes that one day houses will be window-less and instead of a view of your garden, you will be presented with a view of the Orient Express -- it just seems to me that he doesn't want to live in the present. To focus on what happened in the past instead of appreciating what is happening now, just seems to be such a waste.

Though I do have to agree with Bell, although the examples and MyLifeBits is a bit too much for me, humanity does seem to be heading into having every event of our life logged. Time stamped. Think: blogging, twitter.com, facebook, chatting via text on your iPhone -- knowing what you are doing or did at exactly what time. It's a small part of what he is doing. And it's part of the technological culture that we are in. It's almost as if we're walking up a ladder, slowly step by step, yet Bell is already on top. He's past time stamping everything in his life, he's accepted it. I, on the other hand, am doing it, without realising it. Without consciously thinking that there are bits of information on my computer, or on the internet, about the last time I played a song on my iTunes.

The part that struck me the most, however, was the part about memory. I've constantly thought about past memories that I have had and how many of those memories were due to the fact that I actually remembered them, or because I saw a photograph and it reminded me of a time. Although it hasn't really, the picture just showed that I was there and it was a proof that whatever I was doing at that time happened. Does that actually make it a memory? I remember looking at the picture. I guess it translated to it happening in my mind. Perhaps the picture made it into a memory. I guess that is how I remember now.

Alec Wilkinson, "Remember This? A Project to Record Everything We Do in Life." The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/28/070528fa_fact_wilkinson?currentPage=all

Farmers Market

2008-09-14T13:05:00.001-07:00

Vegetables, cheese and alpacas!

Shadows

2008-09-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Speaking of photographs on shadows, here is one I found whilst googling - by Lubomir Bukov, titled 'shadows of past'; a good b&w and digital example.

End of Summer

2008-09-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

The end of summer means lasts - last afternoons to lay out in the sun before it gets to cold, late afternoons with the door open and no mosquitos, last times to drink summery type drinks, last barbeques. And it becomes more important at the end of the summer because we know the sun will start setting at 4 pm soon.

B&W vs. Colour showdown

2008-09-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

When I first took up photography, my brother in law told me that shooting in b&w is much more difficult than shooting in colour. He was right. It's not simply the process that was more difficult, but seeing images that would translate from our world of colour to a world of black and white. Can I translate the intensity of a sunset in a black and white picture? It's a completely different message. Perhaps this is what Maclean meant when he said, "the world is in color, you have to work at black and white."

B&W and colour do carry different tones. Whenever I see black and white photographs, it always makes me nostalgic, like I'm looking at years before. But colour represents the present. Maybe that is just the construction of time in my head - b&w means the past, like when we had b&w television or silent films in black and white. Perhaps that is why I see it that way.

I found Mark's quote to be true and untrue. The fact is though, when I see a photograph with colour "that gets caught up in colour," it somehow gets me excited. Because in essence, colour reminds me of life and wouldn't the photograph be meaningful if it were showing the colour for that? There is a reason why people are attracted to colour. Though, at the same time, I can understand the certain amount of depth associated with a black and white photograph. By omitting colours, the viewer can see a more stark contrast in what the photographer is trying to say. However, I still don't think that colour is a distraction in any case, I think it merely enhances a good photograph.

Shoes on Feet - My 5

2008-09-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

When I was a teenager

2008-09-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

I've seen these before...back in my teenage melodramatic phase when I stumbled upon it. I still love it because it reminds me of those times; courtesy of casette_tape.livejournal.com.

What makes a good photograph?

2008-09-05T11:35:00.001-07:00

Obviously, it's subjective and personal, pretty much like everything else about art. I like vibrancy, colour, motion, portraits/people, city landscapes more than I would enjoy natural landscapes. This is partly due to the fact that I grew up in a city. I always found landscape photography less exciting, but I'm sure other people would disagree. But what I know is that I like seeing life in photographs. I like to see it happening.

I really enjoy amateur photographers and experimental photography, i.e. lomography. These photographs are courtesy of boat_toa on lomography.com.

A good photograph to me is personal. I like vibrant colours, but I also like washed out photographs. One extreme or the other. I think growing up in a city has pretty much dictated what I enjoy. When I was a teenager, I really loved concert photography. It represented some sort of livelihood for me because if the music moved me, then the photographs that captured the musicians would move me too. As I grew older, this vibrancy translated into other things, mostly people and cities. But my appreciation for natural landscapes is also growing. Probably because I am in that environment, and understanding that environment more only makes me love it more. That said, a good photograph is influence, inspiration and life to me.