Final Project Proposal

For the final project I would like to do a critique on societies usage of cell phones and their constant attachment to them. There are new disorders that suggest that there is an addiction aspect to technology. This idea is something I would like to further explore and in a sense make fun of. This concept will be important because it may help others understand the ridiculous obsession we have to inanimate objects and how we as people give life to material goods. My major inspiration stems from visuals of people all sitting together, but all on their cell phones. Also the people who have ruined their personal relationships because they couldn’t give up their cell phone usage for more then a few seconds. This project will help introduce what I intend to do to further my photography because in the beginning I said that I wanted to make images that made people think. This project will encourage people to think of their own attachment to whatever material object they carry around and reflect. What if it were a different more trivial object? Because this project will launch my photographic techniques and creative thought processes behind each photo, it will push me further into creating better photographs and will help me to move forward from where I was before I entered the class. In my photos I will use other objects in place of cell phones to create an illusion to them. A nonsensical approach to technology.

Link to real life situations of technology "taking over"....

http://www.mtv.com/videos/true-life-im-addicted-to-the-internet/1708520/playlist.jhtml#series=2211&seriesId=5232&channelId=1

A Picture You Already Know

"The layers that form the practice of photography are themselves permeated by layers of repetition and multiplication."

There is so much difference in the mediums of art in the world. In contrast, within each medium and among them is a certain repetition. Repetition can be seem within the image, but also within the technique. A quote from the reading stated: “photography is the easiest medium in which to be competent and the hardest medium in which to have a personal vision because there’s no touch, there’s no hand, there’s no physicality, there’s no interface.” This is wrong. Within photography just like any other medium there is personal style, personal preference. This causes a repetition of some sort, from the creator and infuses personal vision, which in turn allows the artist to use whichever technique, whichever slit of hand to create their image. A series of images would not be a series without a little repetition amongst the bunch.  Our repetition is what makes our photographs unique.

"As photography already points to larger fields and contexts, rendering an expanded view in time and space, repetition opens the possibility, through the accumulation of individual parts, of depicting a picture larger than what we may be able to see as individuals."

Expression

5 rules

1.  Catch people off guard
2.  No posed images
3.  fill the frame with the image
4.  Capture reaction of the previous picture being taken
5.  walk behind them and shout!

Too Drunk to Fuck (On the Anxiety of Photoraphy) by Mark Wyse

"Photography has shifted from being a discourse on trying to understand the world to a discourse on trying to understand ourselves. "

Does the true anxiety of a photographer come from the desire to know or feel a meaning behind an image? Depedening upon what you choose to derive from photography as you create an image, is your answer. In this essay by Mark Wyse, Wyse compares Nan Goldin, who uses photography to bring fourth emotion and feeling to her images, and Christopher Williams, who uses intellect within the creation of images. Each creating a sense of desire for the image either within its creation processes or desire for the image itself. The confusion lies within the interpretation. Do we as viewers project meaning where there isn't any, or lose the meaning in something overwhelmed with it?

 

"There is a difference between interpreting and experiencing: the former is a learned thing, an exercise in knowledge; the latter is perhaps more humanly accessible"

Things I never knew before... Photoshop edition

• I didn't realize that the move tool allows you to not only move images already part of that photograph but also allows you to copy layers and move one document to another.
• Photoshop can open and recognize nearly every file type and if it does not open or fails to open then that means that either the file is corrupt, which means the damage is most likely permanent, or the file extension has been changed or file wrongly renamed.
• You can use the Clone stamp tool to get ride of "hot spots" or areas where the flash of the camera has left an image looking shiny. 
• When saving in a TIFF file, the TIFF is saving pixels in an interleaved order, for example if you have RGB, it will save it as RGBRGBRGB. 
• Photoshop can also put all your colors together when saving in Tiff, in the Per Channel order. So the sequence would RRRGGGBBB, saving all the reds together, blues together, and greens together. Photoshop gives you many options!

Overall Ive learned that Photoshop has many useful and helpful tools which help create beautiful images. It can read every document and is an incredibly smart program, that is worth having if in the photography world.

Lost and Found

Within the Scanner

Qualifying Photography as Art, or, Is Photography All It Can Be?

There is some speculation as to how to qualify photography as art because of the numerous dimensions that go into a single photo that are completely unseen by the viewer. This problem generates more problems as how to critique photography. There is no model to follow when discussing photography unless you fully understand the intentions and stages of processing. "No adequate framework exists by which to measure the achievements of these photographers." For many to fully accept photography into the art world a universal understanding of technical and "conceptual implications"needs to be addressed to "remedy" these thoughts. With the proper awareness, photography will be able compete other mediums.

Is Photography Over?

Is Photography Over? Many artistic and informative voices have been put together to discuss this very question. Many say that it has just started a "mutation" into modernity. Others say that it is over and it has been for some time now, its reached the end of it "life cycle" and its "zenith of popularity only to be superseded"  (Blessing). The rapidly changing world comes with rapidly changing mediums for the art institution. Does this mean that because photography as a medium has changed too much, it cannot continue to be called photography? "The tradition keeps extending itself even if, in order to do so, it has to mutate into something which may not look or sound like what has gone before" (Dyer). The content of photography has stayed relatively the same but the ways in which images are created has changed. Photography is growing. We no longer use scratches of symbols on walls to communicate through writing, we have letters to create words on paper. Like language or any other evolving institution or structure, photography is ever evolving which would insinuate its immortality. 

Inspiration in Life

Sally Mann's Images of her children are breath taking. Although very controversial for many, the realism and natural tendency of her photographs transport viewers into another world. This in particular is of great inspiration to my own pieces because it has a sense of freedom and whimsy that was not forced but captured by Mann. Her work with which I am most impressed is photos that caused most controversy, photos of her children. The images are based around her home and her children's lives. They portray life in its most natural state. The multitude of photos with nudity, give life to her idea of freedom and beauty within the image, which I would like to work my way into and have started to explore the bodies natural beauty and the power behind it in its simplest form.The contrasting blacks, whites and gray tones seen in many of her images give depth and drama to her subjects. These colors and deep contrasts give her subjects a statuesque feel which further enhances her imagery. Sally Mann has taken simplistic situations and made them seem much larger. She has caused those around her to take notice and think about her images rather then just see them. Her images provoke feelings and emotions within viewers. I wish some day to provoke similar sensations from my own work.

Old Meets New

These two images derive from my discovery period of photography, as a form of art. These pictures where taken two years ago and set the stage for two major work sets as a whole. They set the basis for my future work and bring fourth many aspects in which I wish to continue my pieces. The heavy contrasting provides a certain depth and beauty to each photograph, which I would like to make into somewhat of a signature for myself. The deep blacks and the bright whites convey a sense of drama within an image that I tend to crave when I am looking at others works and picking certain images to show for my own. The whimsy of the images portrayed within each photograph, are juxtaposed with the depth of contrast and background. Both of these images provide a certain divergence. The realism of the background is disjoined by unrealistic images becoming a central focal point creating a metaphor that is up to the viewer’s interpretation. To further my work I would enjoy creating more images that have a reminisce of the realistic and fantasy worlds converging. I enjoy images that can create more dramatic reactions, but also would be interested in taking photographs solely with the intent to pull thought from the viewer. Reaction pieces that make you think, a continuation of my photographic journey.