Never too Late

It is becoming apparent to me that my lack of desire to edit pictures is a reflection of not being ready to face some parts of my life from after graduation last year. However, the more I become accepting of things that have happened, the more I can face the things I have been hiding from, and begin to share them with other people.

These are from last August when my father was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's. They are black and white film and these are the only two I have edited so far.

It's a start.

Hotel Vetiver

Last week I shot some photographs at Hotel Vetiver in Long Island City, NY. They're still undergoing construction, but lots of rooms are in service. I started taking pictures for their website and these are a few of them.

Oh Tennessee, What did You Write?

At the end of May I traveled to Tennessee to climb in the Obed.

The first stop was Knoxville.

And the World is at a Standstill

Things can change so quickly.

One second, I am staring out at a clear blue sky,

only to be greeted by snow covered rooftops, and frosted trees.

Only to be greeted by the scent of flowers, and the sun on my skin.

The world outside my window is a constant reminder that time has passed.

Day into night, then day again, and nightfall after.

Through rain or shine or sleet or snow.

It is a constant fluxuation, a reflection upon the self.

I am learning the lessons of the seasons while I grieve over my mistakes.

They will always be there--like the seasons as they change.

Evaluative Blog Post

Overall, I would say that my thesis turned out exactly the way I wanted it to. The only thing I would really say now is that my project is far from finished and that I can only move forward and continue photographing my father.

I felt that my critique with Justine Reyes went well. While she related to my project and life with my father, she was definitely a tough critic. However, she brought up some very good points. She talked about how technically I should be more wary of my lighting and the amount of details, such as in my highlights when I am shooting and editing. She also recommended that I used film to compete with the loss of details that occurs when shooting digitally. I suppose that is something I would change about my project. I would have liked to use film for my project, but I didn't really have the time for it. Digital made the most sense for time because I

could see what I was shooting and whether I needed to reshoot immediately, as opposed to waiting to develop my film, then having to go back and reshoot. She said that my project was a good starting point because I am by no means finished and because after school I'll have more time to refine my work. Personally, I thought my technical details were good, but I understand what she is saying. As much as this is my project and my ideas, it has been ruled by deadlines and crowded with other projects for other classes. This is my jump off point, my outline for later.

When talking about the book, I realized that there is some editing that still needs to be done. I would probably remove some pictures, when I think about it now, or include re-edits. Justine mentioned that my text could be more personal, but I felt that it was just enough--I didn't want to reveal too much (overly emotional), but I also didn't want it to not be enough--I suppose it's a matter of opinion. She said there was no reason not to be more emotional about it because it is a difficult situation to deal with. However, she mentioned that my images were strong in comparison to the text because the book wasn't really about the text, I meant for it to establish a sort of timeline, or narrative.

Basically, I realized that I need to learn to take my time. To work for images; focus on lighting, on color balance, etc., while I shoot. After school, I will have no deadlines, I will be working for myself and really fine tune my project. In general, I am happy with things. I have a lot to look forward to. I need to be more honest. While I have opened up, I am still a bit closed. It's time to hone in and push the envelope. To refine my work and technique.

Better Late than Never

In Decemeber 2008 to January 2009, I took a trip to the Philippines with my parents... I eventually started scanning film, but due extended abscenses from the country and laziness, it is only now that I'm getting around to finishing scanning, as well as editing some of the film.

I will say, it is nice to have a fresh look at things.

Playing with HDR

Industrial Landscapes

As a contintuation of my exploration of space, I decided to try something a little more industrial. This building was formerly an indoor recreation center called Rex Plex in Elizabeth, NJ. They have an overall blue tone to them because silly me forgot to set my white balance and I haven't yet edited them. However, I quite like the cold feel it lends to them.

During critique a funny thing was brought to my attention. Almost all of my pictures share the same horizon line and almost line up perfectly when put next to each other. I always noticed that I have a certain style of framing things, but I never realized how geometric it was. My teacher referred to it as my way of looking at the world and my compositions are completely subconscious. From that we got into discussing composing my own landscapes due to how easily I could stitch these photographs together to create a world out of my vision. It could be very interesting.

Thesis is Coming

Critique Comments

Nina Kania: In critique I really liked the idea of describing her pictures as the "domestic landscape." Since the last critique we had, she really narrowed down her focus on what textures she wanted to use, which has helped to strengthen her idea. I love the close cropping and beautiful lighting and I feel she captures quite nicely, those moments in the morning lying in bed, thinking about your day, which I feel everyone can relate to.

Kristin Furbeck: I really like that Kristin decided to shoot medium format for her project because the intense detail you can achieve is very beneficial to that way that she depicts the body. During her critique we discussed the idea of prints versus using a slideshow in which Megan brought up the idea of how a good print can speak for itself. It seems that we can get so caught up in making things bigger and flashier that we forget about the basics. It will be interesting to see what she decides, but I feel that the prints will be effective paired with the audio of people describing what exactly it is about the body. I feel that it does not matter whether it corresponds to each picture perfectly because as you listen it can help to almost narrate where you are looking at the wall--I like the idea of the viewer having to look for the photograph that they are hearing about.

Memories

“Most of the time, people want to believe they remain the same, but sometimes they also want to believe they have changed, and they shuffle and edit the facts in their memory to fit whichever belief is more relevant.”

Baumesiter and Bushman

These are photographs tied to my memories. In the prints, the squares are physically cut out and are meant to be aesthetically displeasing, or even awkward. My intention was to obstruct your view and ruin the cohesiveness of the photograph. I took out what I felt were essential details forcing the viewer to see what they want to see by either filling in the blanks, or projecting their own memories into the images.

Carlos Chavarria

"The term 'Downtown' designates the central area of the large American cities...and where all realities coexist within the same city."

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Some Final Images

A glimpse at the last few images I'll be adding to the book, which I will be ordering momentarily.

Critique March 4, 2011

I feel as if I am coming upon the final stages of my Thesis project.

For critique I presented a preview of the book I want to have printed to go with my installation.

My critique group agreed upon how I had it set up and the general order, however it was suggested that I try a white background and that I try making the photos full bleed.

Since Friday I have changed a few things about my book. Here I have two versions...a white background and a maroon/dark reddish color. I realize that on a screen the maroon looks nice, however in book form I realize that white is the standard color and may look better. My problem is that I don't like how the warmth of the majority of my photographs (the reoccuring wood particularly) contrasts against the white. Even in first version of the book I had a warm color, which I feel enhances the warmth. Also, I don't really like how the letters that I have collected contrast with the white, but that could easily be fixed by placing a slight boarder around the notes. I wasn't a fan of the full bleed image, but I settled on making it bigger, which I really like.

Also, suggested was that I don't install it with the wood panelling, which I am agreeing with after hearing several times because it is going to get repetitive as well as be a bit too much. My idea to use the end table from my house was well received and some suggestions were to add a chair as a way of inviting people to sit down and read the book.

Another part of my installation was to have 4 photos hanging on the wall to go with the book, but after some discussion I am going to play with the idea of the book existing on its own without the photographs. However, some of the photographs that I found were very strong are not included in the book, so I was considering having those as opposed to making reproductions of images already in the book.

Critique was actually really helpful. I was beginning to stress out a lot over my project, but I feel that it has clarified where I stand with my project and it seems to just be a matter of making final decisions and tying up loose ends.

More Houses

And more questions. I have been shooting in plenty of homes, but I still have not really answered: what is the question that I am asking my photographing these homes?

I figured that as I kept going the question would more or less answer itself, but not yet. 

And so I move on to more houses.

Simon Menner: Images from the secret STASI archives

"Sure, we all know what an image taken by a surveillance camera looks like, nevertheless I thought that there must be more than this. In a catchphrase: I was wondering, if Big Brother watches you, what does he see?"

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Critique Feburary 4, 2011

More or less I feel that critique was a wake up call to the fact that I should not feel so comfortable with the status of my thesis project because there is still work to be done.

For critique, I showed all the photographs that I have selected and edited for my thesis. It was the first time I had seen all of them together and in a lot of it is a matter of narrowing down what use. I presented my idea of displaying my work as an installation of 4 photographs hung on wood the same wood paneling that is familar to many of my pictures and one very good point was brought up: the idea that creating an installation would take away from the meaning, intimacy, and focus of the photographs making it more about the space as opposed to my father because the space that I am recreating already exists in the photographs, which I never really thought of before. Some considerations that were recommended were possibly printing on different objects that might be meaningful to my relationship with my dad and including old photographs of him, but generally that I need to rethink things.

With those photographs I also showed some experimenting with photographing objects that my dad owns or collects, which might be useful with text, however, I shot them on backdrops as opposed to in their actual spaces. I'm scrapping this idea more or less. I'm annoyed at myself for having wasted time setting things up, but now I am going to focus 1) On more meaningful objects and 2) on photographing objects in their own spaces. When I look at it now I don't quite understand why I did it, I suppose when considering making a book I was planning on captioning, so I was hoping I could possibly write about the meaning of this object to my father. However, I showed my dad the pictures and he couldn't really remember where he got any of these objects except the ship clocks... Another suggestion for the book portion of my project was the idea of it being hand made--when I think of it existing as a book I cannot help to refer to Phillip Toledano, who's book Days with my Father is very clean cut and "commercial." I like the idea of making it by hand as opposed to sending it away and having it printed professionally. It would contribute to its meaning, exemplify the relationship I am trying to capture more, and add to the idea of memories and remembrance.

Basically I have some organizing and deeper thinking to do.

Eggleston: Faulkner with a camera

"Seeing a really good Eggleston picture is to be astonished by the knowledge that someone is seeing strange, remarkable things you could see yourself if you were just paying attention..."

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Are Artists Bored by Their Work?

James Elkins ponders the question why modern paintings are created much faster compared to paintings in different centuries.

"Why do modern artworks take less time to make, on average, than their Renaissance counterparts? It has been argued that modern paintings are like icebergs: what we see in a Picasso portrait is only the one-tenth that remains after the nine-tenths have been hidden..."

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Day and Night

Today was freezing, so I decided to take some pictures. I want to focus on exteriors, mainly the facades of houses and buildings. I prefer shots at night, but I also don't mind pairing the two. As cold as it was, I did invest in a wireless remote for my camera, which has cut the time it takes for my night shots in half. It was absolutely worth it.