#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.
In the neighborhood where my aunt and uncle live in West Lafayette, Indiana, there is a tiny pond which always freezes over completely in the winter. Occasionally at Christmas we would go skate on the pond with the whole family. We don't have many photographs of it unfortunately, but it is ingrained in my memory. In this picture would be my mom and dad, my two sisters, my Aunt Linda and Uncle Denny, my Uncle Buzz and Aunt Bethia, and four of my cousins. Behind the pond there was a home that had a few acres of land. They kept horses and such and it was fenced in. The other side contained homes on smaller plots of land. Today the neighborhood has significantly more trees, it is lush and green in the summer, and beautiful and snowy white every Christmas. Their home is one of my favorite places on earth.
#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?
I actually used my most memorable photograph as source material for a painting I recently completed. The picture was taken on a trip that I took to San Diego with my dad when I was nine years old. The trip was very special; he took each of my sisters and myself on our own trip. We went to Torrey Pines National Park which sits right along the Pacific Ocean. My dad and I both have always loved the ocean and I distinctly remember how happy he was that day. The picture was taken by me, and it is of my dad standing on the beach in front of the water. The picture is actually overexposed and the left side of it is almost white which interestingly makes it more nostalgic. The sun was very bright that day, and it was relatively windy so that the waves were rolling into the shore. My dad was 42 years old when we went. I imagine the beach itself would be much the same today, as it resides in a protected area; we, however, would be much different.
#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.
#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?
There is always a comfort to being in a familiar place. Even if it isn't a place we necessarily love, we do know what to expect. We know what or who we'll find there, we know the environment, the temperature, the space, the smells, and the sounds. To capture familiarity, we therefore need to capture a scene that describes what we know. What tangible part of the space can we bring to the viewer that for a moment can help them sense all of those things that we feel or see when we enter it? When I think of unfamiliar places, I think of islands that are uninhibited. We know little to nothing of what we can expect when we set foot on their land. I imagine a photograph of somewhere like this to have less focus than a familiar place. Perhaps it has a greater depth of field to give us more information about the surroundings or the environment as a whole. The lighting would also be very telling of spatial information.
#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.
The important places that I am thinking of are both ice rinks. I have skated since I was three years old, as have both of my sisters. Today I am a skating coach, with my own private students. Although the rinks themselves are in different locations, the scene is very much the same in my head. The rink is a place of dedication, friendship, hard work, collaboration, support, and comfort. When I think of a collage involving both places, it is blurred in the middle where the two rinks overlap but crisp on either side. I am young, and skating on one side, and an adult teaching on the other. I hope there is a new light on the present, where I intend to teach in a slightly different way than I was taught.
“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 completely agree with this quotation by Duane Michals. We all take candid photographs of people nearly everyday. What makes a photographer's work stand out? How can we make a portrait distinct? These are the questions which are asked by professionals. With all the different adjustments that can be made to a camera, a set, or a subject, there are endless ways to portray them to display characteristics which may not be immediately obvious to the rest of the world.
“I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.” Duane Michals
I have often been taught this principle in regards to Graphic Design. How much information does the viewer really need in order to understand our concept? Sometimes what we know lies just beyond the border of a piece is what makes the subject intriguing.
“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams is one of my favorite photographers. I love the simplicity of his work. He is the perfect person to make such a true statement about landscape photography, which in my opinion can often be boring. I enjoy detail, and sometimes photographs with a large depth of field are missing this for me. Anyone who can capture vast space in a unique way is truly talented.
No comments:
Post a Comment