hmmm

it looks as if i'm going to have to buy a few extra rolls of film. ive taken a few already and am just not crazy about any of them. getting 10 photographs that have something to do with one another is proving to be more difficult than originally expected.
I feel like this project is going to take me a bit longer than expected as well as I seem to be finding out what I like by process of elimination. I really liked the picture I took of my sister in her dorm room. I liked the starkness of the background, and the way it contrasted with her features. I also liked the way she was looking at the camera like she could see through it.
I tried setting up a scene similar to that, hanging up some white sheets, photographing some of my friends, but I couldn't capture anything I liked, everything just looked so awkward and unnatural.
I think the background because it's so plain really makes the people stand out, but I'm going to have to work on how the friends that I'm going to photograph will be posed. I thought it was cool how my sister looked both dead, with her eyes open, and dropped from the ceiling or something, but I just couldn't replicate that. hmm. back to the drawing board.

Richard Avedon

Where have I been? I recently heard the name Richard Avedon dropped and cannot believe I had never heard of him. I find his work extremely inspiring and think (at least for a while) that I want to do more portraits. I guess, given my recent posts that this does not come as a surprise. I just never consciously realized how much I am drawn to photographs of people.

Immediate Family: Sally Mann

Soooo much fun. I love getting lost in the stacks..almost as much as i like the looks i receive as i sit in a pile of books with my ipod, cup of tea, and my backpack, i think all i'm missing is a tent.
I looked through quite a few books and was just about to settle, when I found photographs by Sally Mann. I think it was the first picture in the book that grabbed me, (unfortunately I couldn't find that one to post, but its called blowing bubbles) It's of two little girls playing on a deck and the expression on the the face of the girl facing the camera is priceless. There is something so dreamlike about this photograph. Perhaps because it reminds me so much of my my older sister and me when we were younger. The older sister is wearing a beautiful tutu, blowing bubbles, very princess like (and exatly how my sister was). and then there is the younger one, who faces the camera, cute, but in a laughably scary sort of way. She's wearing ugly overalls and stands awkwardly, while her older sister faces away, completely consumed in her fairlytale of a world. The girl facing the camera however stares at it, as if to challenge it, challenge the situation, challenge life..she somehow seems to know what's going on. I laughed really hard when I saw this scene.
I like these photographs because I think children are really interesting subjects, not because they are cute (overly cute pictures of children make me sort of sick) but because Sally photographs them in a really different manner. I think kids are often underestimated, and truly have a lot more going on then we give them credit for. Cute photos seem condescending, as if to say that that is all they can offer, some adorable, but childish image. The children in Mann's photos have very intense exressions on their faces, there is a sense of confidence, challenge, a sense of power and strength. Some are quite eerie, but they are provocative and therefore quite interesting.

a random thought

oh, also...if you haven't been to the Decordova Museum to see Trainscape: Installation Art for Model Railroads, definitely go!! I felt like a little kid running around the room, watching the trains run through a series of amazing landscapes created by a collection of artists. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Addison Gallery of American Art

I visited the Addison Gallery yesterday for the purpose of seeing an exhibit on artist's books by Angela Lorenz. I found had a hard time with her work, mostly I guess because of its inaccessability. Her work, for me at least, said nothing, and only after reading what seemed like little histories of the world could you gain any kind of understanding.
The trip to the gallery however redeemed itself when I wandered upstairs and saw "Class Pictures," a collection of photographs by Dawoud Bey. Bey photographed students from all parts of economic, racial and ethic backgrounds in Detroit; Lawrence and Andover, MA; Orlando; San Francisco; and New York City, spending about two to three weeks in each school.
In this exhibit, Bey had each of the students write something about themselves, either about who they are, what people think of them, how they are classified, what their aspirations/ interests are, and included the little blurbs beside the corresponding photos. What was particularly interesting was the way text in the artist book exhibit did not work well, they were too long, distracting, and needed merely as an explanation for the work, whereas in the Bey exhibit text was extremely moving and effective. The photos and the text worked off each other in a very close and amusing relationship. Both added so much depth to the person who was pictured.
I loved how close, how real, and unedited these photographs were. Every little imperfection showed, it made you feel like they were actually sitting right there with you. I also liked the way each student stared right into the camera, as if they could see through it. The eyes were all so penetrating, waiting for something, as if, after sharing who they were, it was time for you to give your answer.
crazzzy. i loved this.

Herbert Matter

I went to see "Pollock Matters" at the McMullen Museum of Art. It was interesting to see Herbert Matter's work placed next to that of Pollock. There were several examples of Matter's action photography, which I think had appealing lines, as well as (I guess obviously) a sense of movement. There were a series of photos in which Matter captured the movement of a man getting dressed by attaching a light to him, (what was captured was the movement of the light). The result (I couldn't find an example online) was a photograph with white lines reminiscent of Pollock's "drip paintings."
This is a photograph of Herbert, his wife, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner, taken by Matter. I've decided that photographs where he captured light are (for me) only initially interesting. After looking at the lines however, I felt I had taken all I wanted from the photograph. The pictures Herbert took of his wife, along with the one shown, captivated my attention, and had me visiting their place in the gallery more than once.

I love this photograph by Abe Morell. Not only is it a beautiful image, full of interesting shapes, lines, shadows and textures, but it is conceptually intriguing as well.

I've been thinking a lot about what the heck I'm going to photograph this week and so far haven't come up with anything. I just feel like everything has been done, and my biggest fear is that I will be shooting something cliche. I thought I would post this photo, taken with my digital last fall. I found this book lying as shown on the beach. I wish I ran across things this amazing everyday.

STAGED: Constructed Narrative in Contemporary Photography

I wasn't able to make the opening of the show, however I spent some time wandering through the gallery this morning. It was nice actually, to walk around while no one else was there. an experience that's quite rare in a museum. I like being able to stand in front of a piece and not feel the weight of the eyes behind me as the next in line attempts to drop the hint that they are waiting.
I was instantly taken by Amy Montali's photographs and after reading her statement, felt she had successfully accomplished the portrayal of things like rivalry, desire, guilt and redemption. There is something, though staged, nonetheless real about the scenes she has captured. My favorite photograph was Erin in the Blue Room.
I liked Erin in the Blue Room for the expression of thought, the fact that she does not seem to be in the room at all, but somewhere else. The viewer is left to wonder where it is that she has been taken, what it is that she so desires. This photograph asks questions, such as what is exactly going on in the blue room, and follows you around even after you have left the gallery.

Joni Mitchell- Shadows and Light

Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light
Blindness, blindness and sight
The perils of benefactors
The blessings of parasites
Blindness, blindness and sight
Threatened by all things
Devil of cruelty
Drawn to all things
Devil of delight
Mythical devil of the ever-present laws
Governing blindness, blindness and sight

Suntans in reservation dining rooms
Pale miners in their lantern rays
Night, night and day
Hostage smile on presidents
Freedom scribbled in the subway
It's like night, night and day
Threatened by all things
God of cruelty
Drawn to all things
God of delight
Mythical god of the everlasting laws
Governing day, day and night

Critics of all expression
Judges in black and white
Saying it's wrong, saying it's right
Compelled by prescribed standards
Or some ideals we fight
For wrong, wrong and right
Threatened by all things
Man of cruelty-mark of Cain
Drawn to all things
Man of delight-born again, born again
Man of the laws, the ever-broken laws
Governing wrong, wrong and right
Governing wrong, wrong and right
Wrong and right

this is one of my favorite songs by Joni Mitchell. started listening to her a few years back. her presence (whether conscious or not) seems to be woven into so much of what i do. i guess that is my disclaimer for what is to come. we shall see in what direction it goes. but music, my guitar, is what i love. and im sure it will be somehow visible in my photos.