Week 007: a b & c

A:

B:

C:

It's not often that I see dead animals in the city or anywhere else for that matter. Recently, however, I wasn't too surprised to come home to this dead bird. The apartment building, in which I live, is home to a few other tenants and their cats that roam the hallways, going in and out as the door is opened. I image that one of these cats left this bird at the front door.  Finding the dead bird at the door was odd and, at the same time, somewhat charming.

Week 007: one two and three

Week 006: a b & c

A:

B:

C:

I like each of these photos for the same reason. Each image shows the type of "looking in" that is only possible when it's dark outside and light inside. I would like clearer images, taken with a tripod, but I also like the personal implication of the blurry, long exposures; the camera was obviously in someone's hand, mine in this case, showing the momentary voyeuristic nature of these anonymous images.

Week 006: one one and a half two & three

ONE*
Heresies A retrospective by Pedro Meyer
October 10, 2008 - November 15, 2008
Australian Centre for Photography




"All photographs - digitally altered or not - are both truths and fictions." Pedro Meyer

"Pedro Meyer's photographs have consistently questioned the borders between truth, fiction and reality. His famous assertion that every photograph, whether digitally manipulated or not, is both a truth and a fiction, saw him cast as a 'heretic' in more orthodox photographic circles."

ONE & 1/2*
Heresies: a retrospective by Pedro Meyer
October 10, 2008 - January 25, 2009
George Eastman House


"Pedro Meyer is a Mexican photographer who is recognized widely for his powerful images and his pioneering work in digital imaging. His photographs often question the limits of truth, fiction, and reality. He once stated that every photograph contains both truth and fiction whether it has been digitally manipulated or not. As his involvement at that time was mainly in the world of documentary photography, he was called a “Heretic” for his unique viewpoint. This story led to the title Heresies for his upcoming book and exhibition series. Meyer’s work has since evolved from the 'direct images' of his documentary work, and he now mixes elements from different photographs 'to arrive to a higher or different truth.'”

*&*I like the idea of documentary photography being a combination of truth and fiction. It's also interesting to me that Meyer believes all photographs to be "both truths and fictions."

TWO**
Revisiting America
October 15, 2008 - November 15, 2008
Bond Street Gallery


"This exhibition explores the shift in American culture following the Second World War, and how that shift has influenced American values today."

"Timothy Briner, Justin James Reed, Michael Vahrenwald and Angie Smith each address the dichotomy inherent in economic progress. Briner intimately photographs the people and spaces in various towns named Boonville across the country. His pictures capture the remnants of small-town America despite the rapid development of strip malls and suburban hegemony. Reed examines how homogeneity in corporate development has created an unfamiliar and unnatural American landscape. Seeing with a subtler eye, Vahrenwald photographs the empty spaces between agriculture and commercial architecture. He uses ambient light from the parking lots that parallel these spaces to create a sense of leftover, discarded landscape. Similarly, Smith photographs newly developed residential communities. Her images offer a less bleak view of development, depicting how people inhabit these once isolated environments."

"Jon Feinstein and Brian Ulrich use consumerism to draw conclusions about American behavior. Feinstein’s simultaneously alluring and repulsive imagery begs the viewer to reconsider fast food consumption, while Ulrich’s portraits document the tedious consumer experience, providing a window onto the perfunctory ritual of "big box" shopping."

"Finally, Matthew Gamber creates photograms of iconic American television shows such as Leave it to Beaver, Hogan’s Hero and I Love Lucy. Using the television as a light source, these photograms deal with advent of technology and ideologies of the day."

**I think this exhibition is interesting, but honestly, I just love the photograph. What I really like is that this kid looks completely bored out of his mind or as if shopping has depressed him. Overall, I'm also interested in photographic documentation of the consumer experience.

THREE***
Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey
September 26, 2008 - November 23, 2008
Indianapolis Museum of Art


"Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey includes 40 photographic portraits of high school students paired with their own written words. For the exhibition, Bey photographed young people from all parts of the economic, racial and ethnic spectrum in both public and private high schools in Detroit; Lawrence and Andover, Massachusetts; Orlando; San Francisco; and New York City. The statements displayed alongside the portraits were written by the students and edited by Bey. Many of the statements are touching, funny or harrowing, deepening our appreciation for young adults facing the challenges of the 21st century."

"It is my hope in making these photographs to create a compelling and significant contemporary portrait of American Youth in its various social and human dimensions. I believe that such a group of photographs - with the attendant texts - will constitute a significant record and examination of our time." Dawoud Bey

***I find the Class Pictures images compelling and I also like what Bey says about his own work. Presently, I'm making work that will, hopefully, record and examine our time.

week 005: a b & c

A:

I stopped to read this handwritten note a few days ago, and later returned to photograph the message. I'm always surprised when I encounter notes written to a specific, unknown person but presented to the general public. I like how this photo is reminiscent of Elisha Mustoe's Political Playing Cards but reveals just a little more about the sign/note poster.

B:

I thought that if an entire sitcom episode could revolve around the subject of poop, then I could certainly take a picture of it. I like this image for two reasons: 1. I've never taken a picture of poop before, and 2. it makes me think about the dog (presumably) that it belonged to and the owner who just left it there on the sidewalk. What could the circumstances have been to prompt this neglect?

C:

What is this lady looking at or for? I took this photo from inside Denver's 16th Street Free Mall Ride. I've always been kind of interested in photographing the things that I see on and from public transportation. In addition to the mini-narrative that was captured/created in this photo, it's the foggy view, created by an unintended camera flash, that attracts me to this image.

week 005: one one point five two & three

ONE* and ONE.5*
Peter Bialobrzeski: Lost in Transition
and
Maggie Taylor: In Wonderland
October 30, 2008 - December 24, 2008
Laurence Miller Gallery


"Peter Bialobrzeski’s third exhibition at Laurence Miller Gallery will feature 6 large-scale color works from his recent series, Lost in Transition. Continuing his decade-long search for beauty and meaning in a rapidly industrializing world, Bialobrzeski focuses his large format camera on landscapes that are in the middle of being recreated, and celebrates in glorious color and glowing light places that are desolate and uninviting This contradiction produces images that suggest a festival atmosphere while describing isolation and dehumanization. The long exposures required by these mostly nighttime images create ghost-like and other-worldly scenarios which are rooted in reality by the presence of naked trees, people lingering in the shadows, and other evidence of man’s inescapable presence. By choosing not to specifically identify their locations, he points out the universal nature of these conditions."


"From October 30 through December 24, Laurence Miller Gallery will present a selection of contemporary surrealistic images by Maggie Taylor illustrating the 150-year old story of Alice in Wonderland. Maggie thus joins the ranks of artists like Salvador Dali and more recently the fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz who continue to find inspiration in this classic story."

"But Maggie’s illustrations, so many years removed from the original Alice tale, have a definite post-modern feel, and seem liberated from the literal aspects of the story."

*&*The Lost in Transition images are clearly a comment on industrialization, but I wouldn't specifically know that they are about the recreation of landscapes. I like that the locations are unspecified, but at the same time, I want to know more about where these photos were taken. I really like Taylor's surreal In Wonderland images. She has created storybook images that are being viewed within a gallery context, positioning them as fine art.

TWO**
Koichiro Kurita: Landscape as Metaphor
September 11, 2008 - November 30, 2008
Project Basho


"Project Basho Gallery is a place where visually arresting photographs and educated viewers will meet to celebrate the beauty, craft and vision of the medium."

"Koirchiro Kurita’s photography stems from the writings of Thoreau which he describes as, 'a reminiscence of Zuangzi’s philosophy and so close to the oriental way of understanding nature.' His connection with nature through his study of perceptual psychology has been central to his work. Kurita works primarily with an 8×10 view camera, implementing an alternative printing process by hand coating large format platinum prints on handmade Gampi vellum."

**Honestly, I like what Basho says about itself more than the current exhibition. Basho self-promotes themselves as "showcasing emerging photographers whose work is worth checking out." I've included Kurita's work simply because I don't get it. How is the photographed landscape a metaphor? I do, however, appreciate that Kurita was inspired by the writings of Thoreau. It's not that I'm so interested in Thoreau, but I do like it when an artist attributes inspiration to a specific essay, poem, article, etc.

THREE***
Media Projects
October 17, 2008 - December 14, 2008
Milwaukee Institute of Art&Design

“'The genre of video/filmmaking that is often referred to as documentary has moved far beyond the linear narrative format we're familiar with from films and television,” said Mark Lawson, Director of Galleries. “The three artists in this exhibition all create videos that could be labeled documentaries but they are less narrative, more open-ended and closer to the unscripted, unpredictable pattern of real-life experience.'”

digital still from Studies on Shit

"Bodil Furu (Oslo, Norway), whose work focuses on aspects of contemporary human life but avoids the conventions of traditional documentary. It is skillfully crafted yet representative of the awkwardness, informality and unpredictability inherent in the organic nature of humanity and culture we create around us. Furu has a degree in Fine Arts and a background in music and carpentry, and she has exhibited at such venues as the 10th International Istanbul Biennial and New York's Museum of Modern Art."

digital still from Winning Men

"Adam Frelin (Albany, NY) produces fictional narratives that have all the trappings of a documentary. They often act as cautionary tales focusing primarily on humanity's hubris and our often complex and difficult relationship with the natural world. Frelin is the recipient of several national and international awards and grants and has exhibited throughout the United States as well as in Europe and Japan."

***I'm interested in both documentary and narrative film/photography. Specifically in this exhibition, I like that the films are untraditional, narrative documentaries.