Week 004: a b & c

Each of these photos were taken this past weekend at the Colorado Art Education Association's Annual Fall Conference.

A:

I took this photo while sitting in the Animation in the Classroom session.  The room was really full and subsequently quite hot.  Tucked into the back corner of the room, I had a hard time paying attention.  After about an hour of trying to listen, I gave up and pulled a crossword puzzle from my purse.   As in Week 002: a b & c, this image is the result of photographing what I would be looking at if the crossword puzzle were removed.  I like the context of this photo and resulting image; you can see the typical conference center carpet and chairs and even how I've roled up my pant legs because I was so hot.

B:

This time I was at an Awards Luncheon, but this image was a result of the same "crossword removal" process.   I like the stark colors of this photograph and the reflection of the fluorescent lighting on both the phone and coffee.

C:

Between sessions, I found myself people watching from a perch near a window overlooking the parking lot.  These women were making multiple trip to and from the car removing a variety of items.  I like how this particular photo shows the women caught in the process of unloading the car.

Week 004: one two & three

ONE*
Angela Strassheim
October 11, 2008 - February 1, 2009
Monterey Museum of Art


"This fall, MMA will present Angela Strassheim, an exciting solo exhibition by a rising star on the national contemporary art scene. Strassheim’s carefully staged works explore scenes from the life of her family and friends, focusing on the mystery and timelessness of seemingly ordinary events and moments. Formally trained as an artist and a forensic photographer, Strassheim approaches her work with a complex visual aesthetic and a scientific rigor."

*I like the composed nature of this Angela Strassheim image.  The intentionally constructed elements of this photo work together to create a multitude narrative possibilities.

TWO**
Road Trip
September 12, 2008 - January 25, 2009
San Jose Museum of Art


"Often considered a distinctly American experience, the road trip is an excursion in which the journey is as compelling as the destination. The exhibition Road Trip examines this travel experience through photography, video, sculpture, and works on paper by Eleanor Antin, Jane Benson, Sophie Calle, Steven Deo, Lordy Rodriguez, Ed Ruscha, and others. Photographers Candace Plummer Gaudiani and Catherine Opie methodically document their surroundings, often searching for remnants of the past. Other artists such as Val Britton and Nina Katchadourian favor a metaphorical approach, reinterpreting maps to produce invented landscapes. Road Trip offers a broad exploration of real and imagined journeys, which often entail not only a physical displacement but also a psychological and emotional passage."

Road Trip - Curator - Kristen Evangelista

**I love this image by Amy Stein.  It says so much.  The little girl is cold, annoyed, and seems generally dissatisfied with her all-American road trip experience.

THREE***
Frida Kahlo: Portraits of an Icon
October 11, 2008 - March 22, 2009
San Jose Museum of Art


"Shedding light on the life and art of Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954), this exhibition features approximately fifty photographic portraits of the legendary Mexican artist. "

"Overall, these portraits chronicle Kahlo from the onset of her artistic career until her death and portray her various roles as painter, patient, wife, daughter, lover, and friend. Many of the photographs offer an intimate glimpse of private moments in her bedroom, hospital room, studio, and garden. Other images reveal the artist’s carefully constructed self-image. Often dressed in pre-Columbian attire, Kahlo demonstrates a deep interest in her Mexican heritage while discretely concealing her physically deformed leg beneath her long flowing skirts."

***I don't know that I've ever seen any photos of Frida Kahlo. This one is particularly interesting to me because of how closely Nickolas Murray's composition resembles the structure of Kahlo's own self-portraits.  Murray has captured her inherent gravity and beauty. 

Week 03: a b & c

A:

One night, I was toasting a frozen waffle that had already thawed and it was taking a long time.  I had to keep an eye on the waffle so it wouldn't burn in the process.  I found myself falling into a daze and staring at the heating coils on the other side of the toaster.  I like how this photo captures the essence of my dazed looking.

B:

As in Week 001: a b & c,  I've simply photographed the activity in the alley behind my apartment. This image is interesting to me because of the questions it prompts me to ask. Why exactly are these two people at the corner of the dumpster that, I know, is locked? They both are attending to their beverage containers. How are those involved in this mini-narrative? Why does the jogging stroller only have netting, and as far as alley travel goes, is the jogging stroller the new shopping cart?

C:

A few years ago, I was in the habit of photographing lions around the city. I didn't hunt for them, but when I saw one, I was intrigued by the lion's face, particularly its expression. Recently, this lion caught my attention and then I noticed that it looked somewhat rapid. I like how this image has flattened the lion's appearance and also how it causes me to project human emotion and personality onto a common door/porch/walkway ornament.

Week 003: one two & three

ONE*
Small Town, Edge of the Sea
October 4, 2008 - October 31, 2008
The Forman School: Risley Gallery


"The works by [Lawrence] Russ in the upcoming exhibition are all of scenes and objects by the edge of the water at either Southport Harbor, the Southport Boatyard, or Sasco Beach in Southport. Although they contain no deliberate blurring or premeditated distortion, no computer-generated objects, they are often highly metaphoric, sometimes fantastical, and their provocative titles bear evidence of Russ’s talent as a widely-published poet."

"Russ has written in an Artist Statement: 'The images of mine that I value most partake of realism and surrealism, expressionism and abstraction. I aim to make photographs of objects and scenes that look as though they were discovered inside the soul as much as on the street or in the woods. I want them to be like the stories of E.T.A. Hoffman, in which common things prove to be other or more than they first appeared.'

*The more time I spend observing this image, it does grow increasingly poetic.   However, I don't get the feeling that this photograph was discovered within the soul. It's the association with an actual place that interests me.  It's familiar, as if I've actually been there.  

TWO**
Uta Kögelsberger
October 3, 2008 - November 21, 2008
Photofusion


"Bunker Series comprises of large format colour photographs of the military structures built on the beaches of Normandy and England in World War II and explores the relationship between representation, perception and architecture."

"Built in order to defend occupation of the land, these monumental structures could be described as physical incorporations of terror, and yet their gradual re-assimilation into the natural environment has become a metaphor of failure and defeat. In his examination of World War II bunkers in Bunker Archeology, Paul Virilio explores the symbolic narrative of the architecture and changes in the technology of warfare. These structures have come to symbolise a real politick of warfare that is dependent on the mass mobilisation of ‘bodies’ and the occupation of territory which stands in contradiction to assertions about the nature of post-modern war as ‘virtual’, technological and distanced conflict."

**Honestly, I think the write-up about this exhibition is interesting, but first and foremost, it's the vibrant colors in this Uta Kögelsberger photograph that attract me.

THREE***
Color Me New York - Photographs by Benn Mitchell
Through June 30, 2009
Boca Raton Museum of Art


"The exhibition honors Benn Mitchell as a forerunner in realistic photography, documenting life in New York City during the 1930s through the 1950s"

"This exhibition presents 16 color images shot in the streets of New York City between 1947 and 1980, which capture Benn Mitchell's acute observations, and his award-winning eye for both the artistic and the incidental"

***Girl Eating Ice Cream is cute. I would like to take realistic photographs that appear incidental, even if actually they are not. I get the idea that this situation "just happened" and I like that about this image.

Week 002: a b & c

This week, I've included three images that are each a type of self-portrait.
a:

I'm not typically that into photos of flowers, because they all look sort of the same to me, but this particular photograph shows one of the flowers that I received for my birthday so it has meaning to me and therefore I like it.  Particularly, I like how, in this image, the use of flash created an over saturated, washed out photograph.

b:

I spend a lot of time doing crossword puzzles.  Recently, it occurred to me to take a photograph of whatever I would be looking at if the crossword were not there (in my lap, on the table, etc.) This photo is a result of that thought and subsequent process.   I like how the steamy quality of the bathtub has been conveyed visually.

c:

I hardly ever take photos of myself that aren't some form of snapshot with friends or tourist-in-front-of-a-spectacle photo.  This image is an example of a departure from that type of image. It's just me seen from a peculiar angle.  I'm in the process of getting used to the way that I appear in this kind of less composed, atypical snapshot.

Week Two: one two & three

ONE*
On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight
June 21, 2008 - May 25, 2009
American Museum of Nature and History


"On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight, an exhibition of over 30 striking photographs featuring dramatic images of birds in flight, opens Saturday, June 21, at the American Museum of Natural History. On view in the Akeley Gallery on the second floor through May 25, 2009, the exhibition brings together the work of renowned wildlife photographers whose artistry showcases the majesty of birds in flight: the controlled chaos, the acrobatic wizardry, the mysterious aerodynamics."

"The acrobatic Barn Swallow can catch flying insects while in midair. This female is feeding her young live insects. Unlike other birds that perch while feeding, Barn Swallows stay airborne while providing their chicks with food."

*This show features imagery that typically lies outside the scope of photography that interests me. Ironically, in this case, that's what interests me. Nature photography usually seems so cliche, but in Richard Ettlinger's photograph, Barn Swallow Feeding, I read a comment on aerodynamics and its relationship to time.

TWO**
The Dead Weight of a Quarrel Hangs:
Selections from the Atlas Group Archive
Through November 23, 2008
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston


"The Glassell School of Art´s Core Exhibition Program continues this fall with The Dead Weight of a Quarrel Hangs: Selections from The Atlas Group Archive, featuring work by the provocative Lebanese-American artist Walid Raad."

"'Always thought-provoking and relevant, Raad´s work inspires viewers to join him in considering the nature of historical documentation,' states the associate director of the Glassell Core Program, Mary Leclere, who also organized the exhibition. 'While official sources documenting violence turn viewers into distanced spectators, an imaginary archive forces viewers to actively evaluate what they are seeing, taking responsibility for their interpretations.'"

**I don't know how extensively "viewers join him in considering the nature of historical documentation," but I like the idea of creating an imaginary archive. It seems that photographers are constantly doing this sort of thing, consciously and unconsciously.

THREE***
Bruce Wrighton: Through an Open Window
September 11, 2008 - October 25, 2008
Laurence Miller Gallery
Modern & Contemporary Fine Art Photography

"Laurence Miller Gallery is pleased to present Bruce Wrighton: Through an Open Window, the first comprehensive overview of Wrighton’s important yet relatively unknown career as a documentary photographer. This exhibition features fifty color photographs selected from three projects made in the mid-1980’s with an 8 x 10” camera in the vicinity of his home in Binghamton, New York: Street Portraits, Dinosaurs and Dreamboats, and St. George and the Dragon."

"Street portraits is a powerful yet tender series that places Wrighton in the tradition of Eugene Atget, Lewis Hine, and August Sander. It focuses on individuals and couples who were very much part of the working class, many of whom lived outside the mainstream of society. Carnival workers, a parking lot attendant, a security guard, were among the over 75 people that willingly agreed to pose as he composed their portraits with his cumbersome 8 x 10” camera. Each of them gave something of him or herself to Wrighton, who recorded their often bruised faces and tattered clothing with affection and respect."

"Dinosaurs and Dreamboats celebrates the classic American cars of the 1950’s, juxtaposed with the older architecture of Binghamton. More than simply portraits of beautiful cars, these photographs transport the viewer back in time to an era when America was optimistic, upbeat, and full of swagger. We see a lushly painted red and white ’58 DeSoto Firedome and a blue ’59 Ford Skyliner, among others."

"St.George and the Dragon represents an investigation into the power of images and icons, both secular and sacred, that Wrighton discovered around Binghamton in taverns, churches, and homes. Whether it is a glowing Wurlitzer jukebox under a floating Christ figure from a church basement, or a bucolic lake scene with a fisherman in a boat, painted on an old barroom wall, Wrighton sought to better understand the power of icons and images and how they make us focus and transcend our everyday experiences"

***This exhibition is really cool. I like how it features images from three separate series of Wrighton's work. I go back and forth trying to decide which project I like the most. The portraits are so interesting and I like wondering about the lives of the people in the images, but the other two project contain such dramatic color and composition. If he were still alive, I'm curious as to what and who Wrighton would be photographing today.

Week 001: a b & c

In each of these three images, I've photographed a subject without their knowledge.

A:

This photograph was taken from inside my studio apartment looking out the main set of windows. Since I moved to this 1st level apartment about a month ago, I've noticed a lot of activity in the alley behind my place. I'm interested in this photo because of the unsaid dialogue that is taking place between the two people in the image.

B:

One afternoon, on a whim, I decided to photograph dogs and their human counterparts at Cheesman Park. I was there for just about 15 minutes and gathered snapshots of nearly 20 dogs. I like this particular image because of it's in-motion quality that's reminiscent of futurist works.

C:

While watching football one Sunday morning, I decided to get out the camera and snap a few photos of my surroundings. I like this photo because of it's inclusion of so many different restaurant elements. Oddly enough, although there are five or more televisions in the patio space, not a single one is shown in the image.

Week 001: one two & three

ONE*
America and the Tintype
September 19, 2008 - January 4, 2009
International Center of Photography


" One of the most intriguing and little studied forms of nineteenth-century photography is the tintype. Introduced in 1856 as a low-cost alternative to the daguerreotype and the albumen print, the tintype was widely marketed from the 1860s through the first decades of the twentieth century as the cheapest and most popular photographic medium. Because of its ubiquity, the tintype provides a startlingly candid record of the political upheavals that occurred during the four decades following the American Civil War, and the personal anxieties they induced. The tintype studio became a kind of performance space where sitters could act out their personal identities, displaying the tools of their trade, masks and costumes, toys and dolls, stuffed animals, and props of all sorts. This uniquely American medium provides extraordinary insights into the development of national attitudes and characteristics in the formative years of the early modern era. The exhibition, organized by ICP Chief Curator Brian Wallis and guest curator Steven Kasher, includes over 150 remarkable examples of tintypes drawn from the Permanent Collection at ICP."

*I selected this image because of the way it provides a visual example of people, here the photographer and four subjects, having fun with photography, specifically the tintype. This image seemed like a good example of how the "studio became a kind of performance space." Overall, I chose this particular exhibit because of its link to Chapter 3, 'Sweet it is to scan...': personal photographs and popular photographphy by Patricia Holland in Photography: A Critical Introduction by Liz Wells. From the above description, I get the impression that tintypes were a kind of photographic phenomenon in the United States, but nowhere did Holland make a note of them in her account of the history of personal and popular photography.

TWO**
On the Road:
Dave Anderson: Rough Beauty;
Farm Security Administration; Dorthea Lange
September 5, 2008 - November 1, 2008
Museum of Contemporary Photography


"This exhibition is part of a year-long Columbia College-wide celebration of Beat culture and the 50th anniversary of the publication of Jack Kerouac’s novel, On the Road. The centerpiece of this larger project is the display of the original manuscript of On the Road, a 120-foot scroll that Kerouac continuously fed through his typewriter, on view at the College’s Book and Paper Center, 1104 S. Wabash, from October 3 through November 30, 2008. Check the Columbia College Chicago website for program details."

"We have chosen to focus on the philosophical and personal results of travel: learning the difference between the real edges and the ideal, mostly fictional, center of America; discovering the possibility of reinventing the self in transit to and from anywhere; and learning how big this country really is in physical expanse and how very small it can be in individual cultural awareness. These are the central themes of Kerouac’s novel."

"Between 2003 and 2006 David Anderson made over fifty trips to Vidor, Texas, and photographed the town and its residents. This resulted in the book Rough Beauty. Vidor is a small community struggling with issues of extreme poverty and isolation in southeastern Texas. The town is reminiscent of an America unknown to them that unfolded in front of Kerouac, Neil Cassidy, Allan Ginsberg, William Borroughs and the rest of the people in On the Road as they drove and hitch hiked back and forth across it."

**I've chosen this photograph mostly for how, when seen out of context, it seems so unrelated to the work of Dorthea Lange under the Farm Security Administration. I like how this particular exhibit provides a visual pretext of connection between the work of David Anderson and Dorthea Lange. To me, they seem like very different bodies of work, but seen and presented together they are united under the blanket of Jack Kerouac's work in On the Road.

THREE***
Josef Koudelka
Invasion 68 Prague
September 4, 2008 - October 11, 2009
Pace/MacGill Gallery



***I have selected this image simply because of the inclusion of a wristwatch within the frame of the image. I appears to be Kouselka's watch, and it's as if he's making a "Kouselka was here" mark on the photograph. The watch may have been set for whatever time, but within the context of the photograph, it reads as true. To me, it says, this recorded event, or lack of event, occurred exactly at this particular moment in time.