Michael Archer Photography

2010-10-06T16:53:00.001-04:00

Hey guys! UPDATE!! I have a new professional blog, and a website is on it's way. Here is the new blog!
http://archermwphoto.wordpress.com/

Okay, been a while (Swanson's Wedding)

2010-09-08T23:46:00.009-04:00

Hello World,

This is Michael Archer, a recent photography graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University. I used to always blog for my class assignments, but now that I have graduated, I feel that it is crucial to continue, at least once a week with new imagery, whether from a wedding, or just me shooting around. So this post has imagery from a short while ago, when one of my close friends got married. Daniel and Jenna Swanson tied the knot on July 7th 2010, and although I was not their main photographer, i couldn't resist capturing some shots while I was there. Let me know what you think. Talk about a cute couple, plus their ceremony and church was stunning. Their wedding occurred in the morning, and the reception had a selection of delicious fruits, pastries, and breakfast-type foods to snack on. I thought this was a novel idea, as well as different flavors for the cake layers. Their colors for their wedding were such a complement as well, being a bright orange and a blue teal, making the ceremony a beautiful array of colors. (Yes, the dresses and flowers were really that color). I actually love this last shot, because its one of those 'catch the moment' shots, appropriately named "The moment before Danny rips off his tailored suit, and takes off in teal and orange spandex to save the world, because the world needs saving once again" Shot. Danny and Jenna, congratulations and I wish the best for you in the future.

Sincerely Michael

2010-07-01T13:01:00.000-04:00

http://blog.caseytempleton.com/photography/internship/

http://www.richmondmagazine.com/aboutus/internships.php

Ryan Gander: Artist Blog

2010-04-26T14:07:00.003-04:00

Ryan Gander is an artist born in Chester, United Kingdom, in 1976 and is an artist I have recently discovered through one of his images that specifically stood out to me more than his others. In 1999 he graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a First Class degree in Interactive Art, and has been successful as an artist, winning the DENA Foundation Art Award in 2007, and the Paul Hamlyn Award in 2008, to highlight just a few of his accomplishments. He currently works mainly in London and Amsterdam.

The piece above is one of his pieces that really stood out to me when I was searching for more artist influence that I can talk about and be aware of as I create my own work. What really caught my attention in this photograph is the simplistic nature to both composition, and the so-called “rules to photography”. His piece does not follow the rules in technical sense, with the pole sticking out of the main focus’s head, as well as having a semi-distracting background. However, with this being acknowledged, I feel as if Ryan Gander purposefully knew about these things, and was aware of what he was doing when he pushed the button. It’s not that he is unaware of some technical aspects that were not edited or taken care of, it’s that the focus is on the person in the middle, his expression.

To explain this, as most of you know, my work has to do with bleeding of color from my person, bleeding out to the background. Ryan Gander’s piece does that as well, only metaphorical, rather than visual. He is not going to ‘pretty up’ a photograph that speaks with the main focus, and how the world is viewed through that person. In my opinion, the man in the piece is the main focus, and by his face and body language, life has hurt him, and he is searching, therefore, why should the background be perfect, clean, and obey the ‘rules’. The world of photography, is partially to picture life, as is, with all of its blemishes, because this world is not perfect, and not following the rules has everything to do with the story behind this work.

As for the actual imagery, I can relate, because it honestly looks like a representation of me, and what I feel inside. I think that his piece communicates very strong towards anyone who has had an experience that shakes the pillars that each of us build our lives on, and I think that it speaks to everyone in some aspect.

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425766663/111910/ryan-gander-man-on-a-bridge.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/156100/ryan-gander.html

Paola Antonelli Artist Lecture

2010-04-22T14:15:00.000-04:00

Paola Antonelli is a designer that came to VCU to speak about her work that she does at the Museum of Modern Art. She graduated from the Architectural School of Milan. She focused her talk on the use of design in the present day, as well as how design is much more involved in the arts than normally perceived. She also mentioned specific ideals that were present in art, and especially design. Firstly, she talked about balancing the goal and the means, and how to use it effectively. We, as artists should not try and get all we can, but rather use what we already have in our means in the best way possible. Another part of this idea of using your resources to the fullest is displayed in her next point she discusses.
She emphasizes the benefits of what she calls “an organic path”: walking through your art that you follow, acting upon it with your means, and doing what you want and love to do, which will all lead you in the right way. She talked a lot about how we as artists and designers need to be able to stand on our own, sticking by the work we create and love, and being proud of what we do. These things will lead us to being able to make a difference. She seemed extremely focused on giving motivation, focusing on ways that we all can be happy, and not necessarily be rich in. The ways she described helped me understand that doing what I want to do, rather than doing what will make me money is what you should aim for, so that through the hard times, you will be motivated to continue, where you might be more inclined to give up what you are doing, if you do not want to do it.
Her final piece of advise was to leave some of the story unfinished in your work. People like to finish your sentences, and if you leave a little up for interpretation, then you capture the audience in a way that they had to think about the work to understand it. Her talk was very enlightening, but it focused on how artists should focus doing what they want to be happy.

Alfredo Jaar

2010-04-19T10:17:00.003-04:00

Daniele Buetti was born in Fribourg, Switzerland in 1955, and after she finished school, she became a professor at the Kunstakedemie Munster, and lives in both Zurich and Berlin. One of her pieces caught my eye, in the use of her expression and emotion that is depicted through her work. The piece below reminds me of a piece that would represent different stages, angles, and feelings of my own personal struggles with my own identity.

In the photographs of this montage, she has people photographed with marks, and scars on their body that represent, in my own opinion, the individual issues that each of these people have that obstruct their own finding of love. The piece is called “looking for love” and the marks on each of them reflect on the fact that everyone has issues with searching for love, and the difficulties, the consequences, and the reactions of such a difficult thing to find. Personally, being that I used to identify with this subject specifically, I find a strong and powerful reaction to this work, but it can also be looked at with a slight twist. I think that the marks and burns can represent the internal self trying to break out, as if it was someone completely different, like in my case. I also feel that my subject matter reflects and responds to everyone, and that they can relate somehow to an alternative or internal struggle. This piece seems to tell that the internal struggle is love, and that it is trying to break out, to show the true person inside. We are all broken people inside, and we try to hide that, however, this piece shows that searching for love involves and is directly related to the broken person inside of yourself. That person needs to be realized as much as the exterior person. This whole idea can be directly related to my own work about identity, which is why I feel this piece is so strong and powerful.

http://www.artnet.com/artist/3284/daniele-buetti.html
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425971213/171564/daniele-buetti-looking-for-love--good-fellows-pinwall-nr-36.html

Vasco Araujo: artist blog

2010-04-12T12:53:00.000-04:00

Vasco Araujo, an artist whose work I have just discovered, was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1975. He schooled at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon (FBAUL), and graduated with a degree in sculpture in 1999. A year later, he went through an advanced course in Fine-Art at Maumaus, School of Fine Arts and Photography, which is also located in Lisbon. Of his pieces, he created a set called “All that fall” in 2009, which are currently at the Galeria Filomena Soares. Below are three of the images that I react to the most.

These pieces are pieces that remind me of a struggle, difficulty, or obstruction of mental or psychological understanding within himself. These pieces strike me hard, as if they speak to a defeat or a giving up of one side of a personal battle. To me, it represents the physical and expressed side giving up and letting the inner side take over, leaving the actual physical action and persona as dead, limp, or immobile. I feel that I cannot express this because my internal clash has been set up that neither side wants to win, but both sides are at battle for prominence. One has to be alive to keep the other alive. It’s a little like the batman analogy: if there was no joker, there would be no need for batman. However, in Vasco’s work, one side has clearly over dominated the other, leaving the physical one as the loser, and leaving it weak and dead. This work is absolutely amazing in my opinion, and love the feeling it gives me when I look at it.

http://www.artnet.com/artist/424625363/vasco-arajo.html

Barriers: Their place in my work.

2010-04-08T12:30:00.002-04:00

The newest part of my artwork and photographs will be the inclusion of barriers in the background as a key or representation of something that separates places, people, and things. The inclusion of these physical objects will be in the background, and probably won’ t be actually separating two of me physically in the image, but it is there as context clues, as something that is there to emphasize and reinforce the work. One of the definitions of a barrier is something immaterial that impedes or separates. In my own work, the barrier is a physical material, but resembles and reflects the separation of something immaterial, personal, and intimate. The large barriers first came from me watching a movie called Wings of Desire, a very powerful movie, where the Berlin Wall was used as a barrier. The wall was never actually addressed in the piece, yet it lingered in the background to emphasize a separation and difference within and throughout the film. This is the same effect that I want to give off with the use of a barrier of sorts in the back of my own pieces. I feel it functions just as other tools that I am using, including the reflections, color, bridges, and rope. Below are just a few examples of what I mean by a barrier, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a wall.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barriers

2010-04-05T13:43:00.003-04:00

Cang Xin is an artist born in Suihua, in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang in 1967. Surprisingly, Cang Xin was a performance artist originally, and studied at the Tianjin Academy of Music in China. He currently works in China, and creates art pieces that I feel have a similar style to my own work. A specific collection I am referring to is in the Deborah Colton Gallery, and in this series, he talks about an identity exchange. In his images, he is photographed taking the identity of others physically, by wearing their clothes in their environment, and stands next to them, half naked and almost out of place. I get the feeling that both himself, and the one he takes the identity from feels somewhat naked, in both mental state and physical place. In relation to my own work, I put emphasis on the clothing as a way to express the mental state I am going through, and it is good to hear and see that others are using physical objects such as clothing to help successfully explain the internal struggles and problems of people. Pictured below are some of the photographs of Cang Xin’s work.

His work really shows a different way of expressing a similar issue that I am dealing with. It’s given me an idea of how I could express my identity problems in another way. I thought of creating portraits of me from others, in a collage style piece. Maybe in the future, I will explore this style a little more.

http://www.artnet.com/ag/fulltextsearch.asp?searchstring=identity¤tCategory=Artwork&page=3

Artist Blog: Wim Wenders: Wings of Desire

2010-03-29T11:01:00.001-04:00

This post is about an artist named Wim Wenders, who directed a movie called “Wings of Desire” in 1987. I am using him as an artist, because his direction of this movie directly relates to my own work. The movie is based in Berlin, and focuses on angels that hear all the thoughts of the city, and watch over the city, sometimes whispering thoughts inside of other people’s heads. The main characters are two angels, which have been alive and together since the beginning of time. One starts to question his life as an angel, completely devoid of time, place, and touch. He starts discussing thoughts of joining the real side, an analogy of crossing the wall. He falls in love with a human, who can feel his presence, but does not see him, and she herself is looking for someone to fill that empty space. What eventually convinces him is his encounter with a human who recognizes his presence, and shakes his hand. The human talks to the angel, though the angel can’t respond and cannot be seen. The way this is shown is through the use of color, and the absence of color. When looking through or in the angel’s life, the world is a sepia tone, and devoid of all other colors, but in the real world, the color is normal and vivid. The human convinces him of all the things he is missing out on, and the angel decides to make the crossing into the human world. He finds the girl, and they fall in love, but the human who convinces him also turns out to be an ex-angel as well, which helps him understand an angel’s presence in the world.
This movie stood out to me because it uses color in very similar ways, as well as discusses a variety of worlds that are separated. I started to pay attention to subject matter that seemed to be recurring in the movie that might help explain this separation of space, and found out that a lot of the shots had the Berlin Wall, or a type of barrier presented, in representing a blockade or separation. This could pertain to my own work, in focusing on my own technique of photographing. I could include more barriers of sort that separate the two of me in each image, not necessarily blatantly sitting in the middle, but have a type of separation other than reflection and color. The use of a barrier, even if it does not split both of me and if repeated, should be picked up by a viewer in my work, and can take context clues to place that type of object as having significance in my work.

Below is the IMDB website, and the preview shows a little example of the story, and the separation of color.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093191/

Anderson Gallery Pieces:

2010-03-27T15:34:00.003-04:00

At 3P.M on Tuesday the 23rd, I put two pieces of mine, from a year ago, titled "21st Century Business. The pieces, were a commentary of the hidden 'transactions' of the business life today. The two pieces were titled "Full Service", which shows an after work solicitation, and the second titled "Saving on Recycling", which looks at the waste a business can create, with no regard for others. Here they are pictured below.

Artist Blog: Behrouz Rae

2010-03-22T15:22:00.004-04:00

Behrouz Rae is an artist born in 1979 in Azerbaijan, who became an Iranian citizen after he moved shortly after being born. He received his Bachelors in Photography at Azad University in Tehran, Iran in 2006, and still lives and works there in Iran. I became captivated by two of his pieces that I discovered in my artist searching. The following images are the pieces that I feel symbolize work that relates to me.

I like his use of extreme blacks and extreme whites. I want to explore and play with blowing out the photographs of my own work to see what that looks like, taking the focus even more off of the background, so the viewer is forced to react with the hidden meanings behind my work. These two pieces speak strongly of hidden undertones, and I feel that part of that has come from the simplistic background, and blown out tones within the piece. It puts emphasis specifically on what the artist wants the focus to be on, and nothing else. Being that I have already gotten my own work printed for the midterm critique, I will start playing in Photoshop with these tools, to see if it works well with the work, or is just too much manipulation. I want to stay away from manipulating my photographs too much and this might just push my images too unrealistic. I really enjoy his work, however, and the blown out and simplistic focus on the piece really brings his work together, and I feel the same might work for me.

http://www.artnet.com/artist/425789065/behrouz-rae.html

Artist Lecture (03.08.10) Erik Brandt

2010-03-15T09:36:00.003-04:00

Erik Brandt is an artist who got his visual communications Masters in 2000 in graphic design, from VCU, and returned on Monday as a visiting artist, an experience which he concluded was something he had been looking forward to for a long time. Since graduating from VCU, he has been teaching as well as creating his own work. His focus of interest is in globalization, and his main medium of choice is typography. He stated that part of his main focus is to contextualize everyday issues around the world in a way where we step back and actually ‘slowly read’ through the information given to us. I feel that as a visiting artist, he has to be one of the best at interacting his audience. Something that one of his old VCU professors taught him to do as a commencement action as well as a way to release nervousness is called “Banzai”. Upon entrance to the theatre, we were given newspaper hats that, at first glance were unidentifiable, but we were requested to wear it into the theatre, and while we were sitting. Then, after a small introduction, Erik counted down in Japanese, one, two, three, and then we all yelled BANZAI!, and the hats were actually Japanese Samurai hats.
The rest of the artist lecture did not impress me as much as his little drill he performed at the beginning, partially because I kept going back to his interaction with us. His work was very interesting and did sometimes touch on some sensitive issues such as a video he did that was post-9/11 that brought light to issues people already knew, but were still sensitive subjects. He also talked a lot about how people “ have started to get society to start taking care of brands, like a need to brand something again and again”. He spent some time in Doha, Qatar, while he was on the exchange program, and he photographed trucks that had been hand painted with a specific brand, as if that gave the vehicle some wealth. They were giving their beat up trucks value by assigning brands, which is a scary thought, especially because people do put so much emphasis on a brand, whether it is clothing or a car. The picture above is an example.
Erik Brandt brought up ideas about society and global issues that affect everyone, yet he also focuses on such specific issues in differing cultures that bring light to the rest of the world through one example. I find his work sometimes confusing and erratic, yet there are always more hidden meanings that I find and discover the more I spend on looking at his pieces.

The rest of his work can be checked out at the following link:

http://typografika.com/

Artist Blog: Pat Rocha

2010-03-08T13:43:00.004-05:00

Pat Rocha is an artist I have recently discovered, who was born in Topeka, Texas in 1959, and considers himself as a graphic artist. He has worked for both NBC and Fox as a courtroom artist, but now, mainly focuses on creating his own artwork, as well as teaching private painting lessons. His work caught my eye because of his titles and how they work with the artwork shown. I feel that in my own pieces need an overall title that speaks very strongly with the work, without getting cliché or just downright boring. I think that titles are a crucial part of a piece and unless the title is a good compliment, all other titles will just bring down the work. Here is a piece below, which works really well with the imagery. The piece is titled “The Burden of Memory” created in 2008, and it is helping me consider my own usage of a title, and some possible key words that I could use in that title, being that the subject matter is on a similar wavelength as my own.

Titles need to be properly used so that they are broad enough not to spell out the details of the image, but not too broad so that it does not flow between the pieces. The following picture below is titled “Presence Crossing”, which, to me, it complements the photograph, and tells a separation between what looks like a mother figure on the right, losing a child to the world outside. It hints at, with the usage of the title, a passage of time, like a crossing between the days of old, both in youth, and of society’s switch into a more technological and advanced life. This picture is supposed to capture the moment of the switch, as if it was a ‘jump’ from one, clearly defined, line or box, into the outside new life.

The title will be a huge part of my piece, and I am still working on key words that I should focus on in my own title.

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425915834/425570766/pat-rocha-the-burden-of-memory.html

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425613646/425570766/pat-rocha-presence-crossing.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/425571519/pat-rocha.html

Dissonance: My artwork changing in style

2010-03-04T00:15:00.005-05:00

As of late, I have started to change my ideas of how to express my issues with my own identity. With some help from Tom though, I got the ball rolling again. I started searching for ways to express my conflict and internal issues in more ways that could still be drawn back to the same ideas of before, with the same concept, but have a totally different face and image makeup. I started thinking of how I could express a separation, an actual view of ‘two of me’ within a piece without starting to become heavily dependant on Adobe Photoshop, and the post-production of my imagery. I thought back to images of past, where I was in a reflection of a glass pane of sorts, but was not pictured in the actual image. My concept of ‘the struggle’, which has been a running theme throughout all of my work here at VCU, stemmed first from these images, and still feel as if they are some of the strongest pieces I have done. Here are a few examples below.

These pieces got me to think of how I could incorporate myself within an image, and be pictured twice in an image, without questions being asked of where the other ‘me’ came from. I then thought how I could change this shot to resemble the state of myself being separated or being dissonant from one me to the other, as if each one of me, the reflection, and the actual, each stood one representing the Kenyan side, and the other representing the American side. The dissonance and separation between the two of me in the image needed to be pictured realistically, but also needed to clearly show a confusion or separation. I finally thought of the idea of me flipping the reflection of me in one of the images from being a picture that makes sense, to one in which the reflection is opposite of what it is supposed to be. For example, the following image correctly shows the reflection of me in a photograph. Now, imagine if I decided to flip the reflection so that I would face the camera, instead of the reflection showing my back, as it so properly should. I would do this by layering another photograph of extreme similarity of me with the opposite reflection in the window, therefore creating an image that shows disconnect between the two of me in the image. I know that this involves a decent amount of Photoshop, however, I feel as if I am not creating a new ‘me’ in the image, I am just taking another photograph of extreme similarity and layering it on top.

Abbas Kiarostami: Artist Blog

2010-03-01T01:17:00.004-05:00

Abbas Kiarostami is an artist I recently have discovered, while searching the vastness of the internet. Abbas was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940, and has worked in both film and photography. What captured me in his pieces is how dramatic he takes his photographs, and they can still be understood as works of concept. His Roads series especially grabbed my attention because I feel a specific connection to that work that he created, being that I feel those photographs of his speak on similar lines that my work does. Here are a few images that I especially find intense.

I feel that these photographs directly speak what I want my photographs to speak to others, because I immediately start looking through my own life at where I am on the road of life, and what struggle is next, or what struggle or 'thing' is holding me back from moving forward.

These photographs are work that I find absolutely inspirational, and I do not want to stop looking at them, because, even in their simplicity, there is a never-ending search for answers to questions, and I look for answers in these pieces for my own life. The work stands as a piece that is uinversally appreciated and understood, as well as having a sense of constant travel and search, as if there is no resting place in the road of life. I feel that in my own work, the reason why I address my own personal issues in the photographs is because I hope that that means I will find a resting place after I sort this major issue that ties me to the past. With this in mind, however, I do feel that part of everyone's journey through life is to find a resting place that can never be gotten, but gets searched for anyway, as a psychological place of rest and peace. That place can be photographed, but I feel that its the search for the impossible, the place of rest, that really tells the story.

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425974410/118451/abbas-kiarostami-roads-79.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/9449/abbas-kiarostami.html

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/426014394/425216710/abbas-kiarostami-roads-series.html

A certain type of baggage: Rope

2010-02-25T11:07:00.003-05:00

As most of you know, I have recently been thinking of objects that represent issues that deal with my story. I first came up with bridges as their meaning of being a connection between two places. I am still vastly exploring this idea, but I am searching for more objects of universality that could grab attention of the viewers and then relate to their own lives and their own struggles and baggage that they don't deal with or confront that possibly have been scraping at their insides for quite a while. My work is my own expression of this baggage and conflict that has been bothering me for a long time, but my work, I am realizing has changedd to now shine light onto other's issues by others viewing my work.

I have chosen another item that I feel has the right connotations of baggage as a new object, and the new object is rope. I started brainstorming how to photograph this idea of baggage without losing the main story of my own work, that being the connection to Kenya, and I thought of a photograph where I am still wearing the Kenyan shirt like I have been, but I am carrying a huge amount of tangled rope in my hands, as a burden, and possibly falling down and giving my legs problems as well. I would not recognize the rope in the photograph as existing on its own, because the rope is a representation of this internal burden and baggage. I chose rope because it does not have many other connotations that could be taken wrong, like a suitcase might have connotations. Its not about the physical travel, its the internal travel with these knots and burdens, which the rope is to represent.

I did think about the biggest connotation with rope, the use of it to constrict and wrap around someone, however, I feel that if I have the rope all in my hands, as I am carrying it, and not wrapped around my body, I will be able to avoid these other thoughts and connotations with the use of rope.
Here is a photograph I found (pictured above), representing a huge ball of rope that I would carry, with a few strands possibly getting tangled in my legs, as I travel in the photograph.

http://www.chineseknotting.org/blog/linkdump/Sandra-Norrbin_1_Inuti.jpg

Mark Bradford: Artist lecture

2010-02-21T14:39:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM3x0XOll30&feature=channel

The above link is a video about a piece Mark Bradford created in reference to identity and issues with struggling with something that 'obstructs' physically, emotionally, and mentally. Firstly, Mark Bradford is an American born artist out of California, and studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where he received both his MFA and BFA. His work above is a piece suggested that I pay attention to, given to me by Tom in one of the individual meetings. In this video, Mark Bradford creates a condition, a struggle, using an antebellum skirt he creates, and wears this huge obstructive piece of clothing that he then attempts to play basketball with. His piece, according to him, is about "road blocks, on every level. Cultural, gender, racial, regardless that they are there, it is important to continue, to keep going, to keep going, and so that was what it was...". This quote has stuck with me for a long time, and it has given me thought as to how this piece that I am creating fits into this notion of falling down, getting up and keeping going.
I started thinking of how my piece is similar to his, where his has a physical obstruction, and mine is all in my head. He talks about his piece dealing with many more issues than just the physical act, and that got me to think about a physical presence of something that represents the struggle. In my own pieces, I feel that this is represented by the shirt I wear in the photographs, and that ties into the pieces enough for people to realize. I also feel that my artwork creates a picture of a similar struggle that his shows, and therefore, I feel that my artwork represents a struggle, that everyone can relate to, and is not about my audience necessarily understanding what exactly I am struggling over, but that they recognize this struggle, and can draw lines to their own lives. My work, I have finally realized, is not about people understanding my struggle, its about, through my expression of my own personal struggle, other people realizing their own personal struggles and issues in their lives. Its supposed to wake them to their own self, and make them examine their lives, in all aspects, as Mark Bradford says. My pieces are created so that others can see their own things they might be running from, or are afraid to face, and now I feel that this piece should be called "Your Awakening" or something to that extent. I am continually thinking about these thoughts, and I really am enjoying this new revelation about my own work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bradford

Artist Lecture Hank Thomas

2010-02-17T18:18:00.005-05:00

Hank Thomas talked alot about his varying work, and jumped around a bit in his styles and focus. I do feel that one of the most important pieces that he focused on was actually how he went discussing his cousin's death. His cousin was robbed, and then killed, and he dealt with it by expressing it through a few different mediums and art styles. One way he expressed the story was through a stop motion film with action figures, and he re-enacted the whole story out, and how it happened. This of course is such a personal, and I imagine painful way to express his emotion, but in ways I feel it is similar to me, the way we both try and react an emotion of uncomfortability from the viewer, by expressing an event extremely personal to only the artist that creats it. I think the difference is that I am struggling getting my artwork of this personal matter, to be easily understood and seen in the artwork. I learned a few different things from seeing his work, and the way he presents it, so that the viewer can understand and follow. Here are some stills of his work, which he also created to stand separately from the film.

He also went another way with this, which I found even more intriguing and creative, taking the art of concept photography, and crossing it over into the world of commercial photography.
In this work, he portrays the story of his cousins death, and markets it as if it was a commercial for Mastercard. The insanity related this, at least to me, stands out like a sore thumb. The use of a slogan like this, gives me thoughts of how i could possibly market my work as if it was a product. My immediate thoughts bring about how my constant motion and restlessness could be a commercial for Traveler's and how my identity, and all the personal issues inside that deal with this work would just be thrown out the window with no regard to what it might mean. This is definitely something to keep in mind while creating work, and how someone might want to use your photography for something that it was not intended to.
Hank Thomas went on to explain how this launched him to figure out stereotypes in commercials for products of today, and how strong, and abrupt some of them still are. He also created his own pieces that resemble commercial product advertisements, yet had extremely weighted and stereotypical issues and hidden meanings. Overall, I found Hank Thomas's talk really useful in giving me more abrupt and expanded ideas about how identity and my personal issues in my work relate to the outside world.

http://81press.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/priceless.jpg

http://chic-cityrats.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452021d69e201053613009f970b-800wi

Idea Blog: Color transitioning

2010-02-11T00:32:00.002-05:00

Right now, I have established that I need to focus on my color in my pieces. I recently have tried a few different techniques to combat this issue, and try to find better ways to deal with the issue. The main one I started to focus on was to use my clothing as a representation of Kenya, rather than try and edit all of the photographs to imitate shades of colors that remind me of Kenya. The main issue I had with the pieces of last semester was the connection with Kenya and the viewer. I felt like the viewer did not pick up on the hints of Kenya, because the experience of Kenya gave me the idea of changing hues and saturation to imitate shades of Kenya. If they had never been to Kenya, then that specific ideal would not be conveyed at all. So this semester I did some brainstorming of ways to use color to better influence each individual piece. My first idea was with my clothing, as I stated earlier, focusing on a shirt I own that is the National Kenyan Jersey for their rugby team. It clearly shows the flag colors, as well as the flag pattern as the main part of the Jersey, and I decided that the images would be unified by all having those bright and distinct colors and shapes, and that would somehow connect all the pieces. I thought of having a photograph where the shirt is close enough in the photograph so that the viewer can identify with it and directly point it out. I also thought about giving more emphasis on this by giving a gradient of color to black and white from the shirt out into the environment phtoographed. This would also help to influence the idea of separation that I feel internally from the environment I am in now, and give the influence of a 'trying to blend' effect, as if the two identities were trying to mix in this 'one-identity' photograph. They are both competing for the attention, and this is the result of their fighting, a confused and separated photograph. The pictures at the top are examples of what I worked on. I will continue to deal with this issue, trying to iron out a successful and solid idea for uniting the photographs, both in color, and in conveying of the concept.

Artist Blog: Paul Himmel

2010-02-08T00:26:00.004-05:00

(Brooklyn Bridge, circa 1950, Himmel)

(Grand Central Terminal, 1947, Himmel)

Paul Himmel is an artist from the mid-twentieth century, whos work I draw direct connections to my own work. These two photographs directly relate to my work that I have done throughout my artist's experience. The photographs he captures clearly focuses on an emotion, a feeling, an internal struggle for the one that is the focus for the photograph. Paul Himmel was born in New Haven Connecticut, was an immigrant with the rest of his family from Ukraine, and got a degree in Science. He started teaching himself photography, and eventually started working with a professional. He eventually gave up photography and became a psychotherapist. His pieces inspire me because I see so many strong connections to his photographs, as if I had stolen the idea from him. He photographed what I would call hidden photography, capturing successfully emotions and feelings that react all viewers on a personal level, touching a sensetive subject that could be any number of things. The photographs directly speak to me because he captures what I feel through my own photography, the separation, the loneliness, and the blinded friends or people of the world that cannot, or do not understand or connect to his emotions. The main problem with this type of photography is that the photographers will use the medium to convey the separation, and the inner struggle to others, but the people still don't seem to ask or try to understand the emotions behind the person, they just understand that he or she feels alone, separated, and unreachable. I feel that my photography will try and breach that gap, with the use of actual travel, the motion of walking, and the use of bridges as a way to connect with both the viewer, and the inner struggle to which the problem subsides from. This by no means is a solid idea that I am running with, however, I do feel that progress is being made, and that continuing on this path will lead to more successful, beautiful, and strong photographs.

www.artnet.com/artist/424209218/paul-himmel.html

Idea Blog: A Bridge and a road

2010-02-03T23:50:00.003-05:00

The two things that I feel I need to focus on to constantly improve and push my work this semester right now are bridges and roads. Firstly, it is important to understand the function of each thing first in the real world. Bridges are structures that provide a passage over a chasm or object of impassibleness. For me, this takes on a meaning far past just the physicality of a bridge in real life. To me I focus on thoughts of a connector or a way to pass between my two identities inside of me peacefully without struggle and conflict. I feel that the whole reason why I create work that focuses on my identity is because there is no there between the two sides of my life, and will always feel separated and singled out unless I portray the emotional stress and struggles of dealing with this obstruction. In my imagery, I feel that a bridge would depict beautifully my connection between the physical imagery depicted in the photograph to represent the intangible meaning behind my photographs.

Another word that is related, but can mean or depict various other things, is the use of roads. Roads are simply defined as a stretch of land that has been set separately for travel, normally between two different points. This relates to my work as well, because I feel that the road between my two identities has not yet been discovered, and that I am searching for it through my imagery. The road needs to be built, but it cannot be built without understanding if both sides. Travel is also a clear signal from roads, and because I traveled, creating this alternate identity, I feel that travel and exploration have huge issues and points that relate to this. My challenge is now, how to depict the use of roads and bridges together, without overpowering the imagery, and how do I keep the images unique? These are my challenges with thinking about these issues specifically, and the above photograph is something I took before really diving deep into this work, and will hopefully be a rough draft compared to what I will make out with in the end.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/roads

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bridge

Daniel Lobdell - Artist Blog

2010-02-01T15:24:00.004-05:00

Spanning Structures 04-P10, 2004 , Spanning Structures 08-SP08, 2008

Daniel Lobdell is an artist I recently have come in contact with, due to my changing imagery as I progress with my work. He is an American photographer, born in 1969, and graduated with a Master in Fine Art in Photography from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Recently, his work has been viewed and put up for show all over Philadelphia, where he currently resides. The reason I am focusing on Daniel Lobdell is because of some of his photography that directly relates to the issues I am dealing with in my own pieces. The two above pieces, deal with a few techniques that I need to address in my own work, one being the choice of color. Previously, my work focused on having a tint of Kenya towards the photographs, something that reminded me of pigments and hues that I would designate as representative hues for Kenya. The trouble I had dealing with this style was the small differentiations in tints and shading, struggling to get a uniform gradation. I have taken a few photographs in black and white, and I still am not sure how they change the imagery of my own and I plan to continue to search for a solution. In relation to these images, I feel that color might have changed the meaning and feel of the pieces, and I enjoy the choice of absence. Especially in the top one, there are hues there that hint to pigments I remember from Kenya, and I want to try a mix between black and white, and color.

Another issue his photography confronts is the bridge itself. Bridges started interesting me after I photographed myself crossing a bridge. Being that a bridge relates to a connection between two different ideas, I started thinking of my own search for the connection, the bridge, between my two identities. In Daniel Lobdell's imagery, the bridges are not photographed from on or next to the bridge, in fact they are from below, and that intrigued me, and got me to think about the use of bridges in my own photography. Did I have to be standing or crossing on the bridge for the concept to make sense, or could I use the twisty and winding undersides of bridges to show my confusion and situation with my identity struggle. I am continually thinking and pondering about these images, hopefully getting an answer or clue that will further push my idea.

http://www.artnet.com/Artists/ArtistHomePage.aspx?artist_id=424454075&page_tab=Bio_and_links

http://www.artnet.com/Artists/ArtistHomePage.aspx?artist_id=424454075&page_tab=Artworks

Artist Lecture: Alec Soth

2010-01-27T22:59:00.006-05:00

Alec Soth is a photographer born in 1969, who is based out of Minnesota, and has been recently established after publishing a few different books of his work. A few different series of his stood out to me in his presentation, including his most noticed, Sleeping By the Mississippi. This series of his work established a long series connection with photographs all somehow relates to each. The connection between each of his photographs is not necessarily pictured in the photograph, but is contextualized through interpreting the imagery. Here is an example from his series:

Fort Jefferson Memorial Cross, Wickliffe, Kentucky 2002

Charles, Vasa, Minnesota 2002

This body of work made me question exactly why we connect photographs in the way we do, and if we really think through all of the photography we create as to how it relates to the rest of a particular body of work. In the above example his connection between the two photographs was the second man from the left in the first image wanted to have his own flying school, and the planes in the second photograph suffice the connection. This connection would not have been known by the viewer just visually looking, which made Alec think about how work connects with each other, and how important the story behind the image is. I looked at my own work, starting to think about how i am connecting and drawing lines in my own work. His pieces made me realize the importance of how, and what kind of a connection is made between pieces of art, and how that might affect the piece.

He went on, discussing how this pondering of connecting stories and themes reminds him of a story that gets told within imagery. Alec started to focus on a desire for narrative in his pieces to tie them together. This discovery led him to two different pieces, both narrative in nature, one being The Most Beautiful Woman in Georgia, and The Loneliest Man in Missouri. Both pieces interested me because i felt, especially with The Loneliest Man in Missouri, a strong connection to my own work, and how i am making a narrative in my own pieces, where i am "the loneliest man" only in identity rather than meer physically. I feel that his pieces cross much deeper past his titles as well, where the viewer has to really dig for the meaning in the titles given because there is a hidden meaning relating back to the narrative in the piece. I feel that he also has given me a new found respect for titles of pieces, and i will think about how to approach my own piece and title.

http://www.alecsoth.com/

Artist Blog: Michael Kenna

2010-01-25T00:54:00.003-05:00

Michael Kenna is a recent artist i discovered while revamping myself into the work i will continue to do this semester. He is a British born Photographer who attended numerous schools in England to pursue his photography. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington, in the States. His work, after closely examining it, is extremely similar in emotion i get from my own pieces. His are purely landscape photography, and beautiful black and white prints, however, his pieces speak to the story behind the image. Each shot seems to tell a puzzle of the piece, or leave the viewer questioning the meaning behind the piece. The photographs tell of a place, and then hints at an underlying story within the piece. Originally, I saw very little connection between his and mine, however, as I kept staring, and taking in the images, i realized that without any human imagery in the pieces, he still conveyed the feeling similar to what I try to give off in my own imagery. The difference between the imagery is that my photography and concept benefits more with my own person in the images, whereas Michael Kenna's focuses on the landscape only to tell the story.

Here are two images that I find relevant to my own images.

Ponte dei Sospiri, Venice, Italy, 1987 Gondola Ferro, Venice, Italy, 2006

These pieces also have given me thoughts of toiling with film and black and white imagery. I feel that the manipulated color in the photographs I took for last semester worked to a degree, however, with slight variations in tone quality, it would be hard to reproduce for so many photographs. I think color is something i need to focus on, however, I am still unsure how to approach the issue, and will continue to contemplate various possibilities.

www.michaelkenna.net

Idea Blog: Finalized

2009-12-10T08:50:00.002-05:00

In my final images, i have been rephotographing the actual first prints of the pictures that you have seen on my blog before, and at the same time, incorporating dirt into the imagery. I will be taking dirt that i have collected over this semester and using it to outline the photograph, and creep into the image in parts. I want there to be a sense of misplacement within the imagery. My final pieces will not be something easily understood by all viewers, partially because the concept still has more work to be continued with and altered slightly, however, i will hope that the feeling I portray through the images create a sense, a feeling within each person about their past, and feelings related to similar ideas, even if those feelings are hard to describe.
My final ten pieces each have a main point that i took the photograph about. The ten aspects are:
Location
School
Family
Friends
Home
Travel
Shopping
City Business
Food
Wealthiness
The pieces remind me of what i feel each look like, and are not necessary to understand the pieces. The whole piece emphasises my misplacement here, and in these ten different characteristics are my experiences here. The dirt, color correction, and my presence and aura given off in the imagery is my hidden identity telling me that there is something missing. I thought about posting images, however, i will on my final blog post, after the assignment is due.
Good luck to everyone!

Artist: Chuck Close

2009-12-07T11:29:00.003-05:00

Chuck Close, born in 1940, is an American photorealist that paints with the finest air brush style, and creates magnanimous head portraits and self portraits. By looking at his work, i have noticed that his images deal with identity and issues focusing around people and their perspectives of others.
Here are a few examples:
These photographs are each individual and unique, and to me it speaks towards a different side that i see of that specific person in the photograph. The photographs are each focused in a very small and detailed area at a time, in a type of unique and abstract painterly style.
His photorealistic style of imagery is almost covered in a 'truth veil' giving the image of what would be a normal portrait, a type of filter that shows a kind of imaginary truth that is revealed from the original person .

Two Art shows applied for:

2009-12-05T14:06:00.002-05:00

The first one i applied for, as i told Paul, I sent in to the VMFA, however, the return postcard was lost.

The second show i applied for was from www.winterfood.org. The winterfood project was about awakening people in the community about the produce that the greater richmond farms produce during the winter. The below is the photograph i submitted.

I am constantly looking for more art shows to apply for.

Idea Blog: Recent updates

2009-12-03T01:12:00.004-05:00

I have continued to work with large images of things that inherently remind me of America, and a notion of the developed world here, using imagery such as malls, buildings, and large landscapes with buildings surrounding. I am in the picture as well, though i am represented as something missing, being disconnected and overwhelmed by the massiveness of the developed and uncommon imagery. Some photographs are numerous images put together, and add to the intensity that makes me as somewhat unnecessary and very small.

These following images are representative of what i have most recently done.

I plan to take these images with some sort of interaction with dirt, as being a symbol of something there that people have to look through and look past, with the dirt, without them realizing, actually holding worth and value within the composition. I plan to photograph on other imagery that i find that resonates with different aspects of life, such as Family, Student, Place, Wealth, etc. and have decided that using ten images that each represent one of these core values, as the imagery i show for my final.
I am still thinking about the usage of dirt, especially because my piece will not be experienced by other classmates, and only submitted as prints. I also need to think about the aspects of life that i have, and how they resonate with me, and have meaning within my life.
The whole plan is to have these images of values of human life, with me in the images, as expressing something that is missing from the values, and that missing emotion, feeling, or concept is representative of my past thoughts from Kenya.

Artist Blog: Alexandra Catiere

2009-11-30T02:52:00.004-05:00

Alexandra Catiere is a Russian-born artist who lives in New York mainly focusing in fine art photographs. She has focused more recently in fashion photography, and the colors, textures, and physical attributes affect a photograph, however, it is her older work that i am mainly intrigued by. Her older photographs in a series titled 'Behind the Glass' is my main interest, especially being that my work has now pushed itself to incorporate glass. I figured that i could possibly draw some insight on how i could use glass in my own photographs.
Here are some of her images. She took these photographs in the city of Minsk, where she was raised, and said that their focus was about a disengagement of the glass on a bus window, and how the glass framed the faces behind it, almost taking them out of the real life context. To me they tell a story, and i really enjoy how the glass becomes a part of the piece. I want the glass in my own work to be a part of the piece, however, establishing and connecting them will be difficult. I do like the thought of window after window, like a bus would have, however, i am then not sure as to how the dirt that is incorporated into the piece will be so tactile and interactive. I do plan to hang my photographs behind glass, or with glass ontop, however, how will the sand become part of the piece? Should i even have sand? Maybe a faint photograph printed on the glass would be more beneficial. WHat should the picture on the glass be of? I had originally thought of the glass photograph as being one from Kenya, however, i am not sure if such a direct route is neccessary. I have thought of printing on the glass a replacement of what the picture might look like in Kenya, for example, instead of a parking lot full of cars, a dirt wasteland. Things i am still debating now, that i need to finalize.

http://alexandracatiere.com/

Sorry its Late: Idea Blog

2009-11-23T11:09:00.005-05:00

Recently, i have been continuing with issues to do with my identity and this world. I am still struggling with issues to do with exactly how to depict this idea, however, i finally think that i have found a way to successfully do this, and i think it has been the best idea yet.
What i am focusing on are some relatively large pictures focusing things that ar, to me, inherently American. In the photographs, i am also shown standing looking at a construction or scenario that says 'America' to me. With these photographs, i alter the color scheme to match what looks inherently Kenyan in color and placement of color. The photographs then will somehow have an overlay of something like dirt on glass, that sits in front of the photograph. The viewer will interact with the dirt, and move it, pushing it away to see the image behind the photograph. In doing this however, the viewer is interacting with what matters in the piece to get to the imagery that doesn't matter in my concept.
I also have had thoughts of printing very vague images onto the glass as well, of something that is Kenyan and reminds me of Kenya, therefore the viewer is looking through the important to get to the normal and unimportant.
The photograph above shows what one of the photographs might look like. I am standing facing this huge monumentous imagery of America, and over this photograph, there would be glass, possibly with a photograph lightly printed onto it, or some dirt that the viewer has to react with, or both.

Artist Blog: Edith Lechtape

2009-11-19T07:43:00.003-05:00

Edith Lechtape was born in 1921 in Herne, Germany, and started out her career as an actress under Heinz Moog. She then went to work for a few different theater houses around in Germany, for a number of years. She did this for almost twenty years, until she came into contact with Antoine Weber, who had been immersed in Photography for about twenty yeard by then. He encouraged Edith to explore the photographic realm as method for expression. She mainly focused on pieces involving photographs, painting, and drawing in pieces.This idea of layering goes with my main focus in my own work. My work has recently delved into issues about layering, and this type of work was what immediately attracted me to any thoughts that i had for my pieces. A mixture of resources and materials layered onto surfaces ontop of my photographs is my main focus for the rest of the year. I will continue to search for artists with this type of style, hoping to find some more techniques and thoughts of how to layer.

http://www.kulleraugen-verlag.de/elaw_2.jpg
http://www.allein-fuer-dich.de/gossenportraits.jpg

Idea Blog: Kenyan Items

2009-11-15T23:32:00.002-05:00

I recently rethought my concept, partially because of issues with me constructing multiple objects that remind me of Kenya. I have really struggled in constructing objects, being that they both take so much time, as well as the thought that the construction of the objects moves the concept away from what i want. Even though it is my own construction, i feel that it cannot be seen through the photograph, without videotaping it, and then, i feel i cannot portray the item properly. Recently, with photographing backgrounds, i have gone home, and looked for things that i and my parents brought back from Kenya, and am currently photographing myself using them in everyday use. For example, i am using a pot with a spoon on the stove, rather than a regular pot and spoon. I have lost my inspiration in doing this, and i am not sure how much i like doing what i am doing. I have been thinking and shooting, trying to find a better way to portray my concept, unfortunately, i do not feel inspired to continue this concept. My photographs are turning almost to comical antics, showing different characteristics and sides of different lifestyles. I am not sure if this is good or not, however, i feel different to how i started at the beginning of my concept.

These are photographs of some of the objects that i am currently using.

I will just continue to photograph. If there is one thing i have learned, is that taking photographs is the best way to solve any problems.

Artist Lecture: Shimon Attie

2009-11-12T08:53:00.006-05:00

Shimon Attie was born in California, and lived there for his childhood. He originally started studying psychology, however, moved towards photography and art after a short period. He graduated from San Fransisco State University in 1991 with his MFA. Shimon has some Jewish heritage in himself, and because of that, he first started his focus in Germany, and Europe, thinking of the Holocaust, as well as much more recently, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. He moved to Germany to work on these concepts and thoughts he had in his mind. His first series focused on what was in Germany, mainly East Germany, after the wall was torn down. His piece focused alot on the issues of pre-World War 2 history, as well as the dark years after the war. There are remeniscents in his pieces, as well as from reactions of people around the area towards his work when he had it. His experience was truely unique in this project, and his use of sometimes multiple projectors and historic imagery really played well together. His pieces remind me of issues in my own work, and the thoughts of the past and how it is different now to the present. This work i most connected to, and i actually would like to try using projectors in similar ways that he did in his imagery.

His later work dealt with pieces of time, the first being in Aberfan, and the second being about a raceway here in the U.S.A. His work dealt alot with movement, in being that the characters in the video stayed still for a few minutes, while the platform they were on moved. This was a video, and he did not use stills to benefit his work. I found less of a connection between this work and my own, however, his work did open my eyes to the numerous tools and techniques that an artist can use time to affect both the viewer and the piece itself.

http://www.matthewlangley.com/blog/uploaded_image/Shimon_Attie_Untitled_Video_Still_Racing_Clocks_Run_Slow_Archeo_1221_73-742525.jpg

Idea Blog: Projectors, Layers

2009-11-12T08:39:00.003-05:00

I recently came into contact with an artist that came to visit VCU, and he has given me some ideas on how i can keep developing my project this year. His name is Shimon Attie. His earlier work has alot to do with projectors and this idea of projecting something into and on a space, which has significance within the space, as well as dealing with the past, present, and future. I have started to think of similar ideas that i could construct myself in the pictures i create. I thought of putting up a landscape like that of Kenya onto a building, while i react in some situations with the constructions i have been making. I have thought of putting up photographs, making them into slides, or transparencies, and then putting those up on walls for people to see. These are just beginning stages of thoughts, however, i really like how overlays can construct a story for the viewer within an image.eally like the idea of layers onto one thing.
So the idea of projectors come into play, some being slide, some being transparency, and others that are extremely high tech. These objects symbolize to me and my work, as a 'portal of truth imagery', meaning, showing somebody's wishes and hopes, their true past, what they wish for, and so on. These will normally not mean more than one of these things, partially because they would run over into other categories that might confuse the viewer.
The image itself that is portrayed through the machine is the truth, the past, the future, the persons hopes and dreams, the inevitable, and so on. I really like the idea of portraying things onto myself that remind me of Kenya. The identity issues are still very strong in my work, however, i feel that i want to test out this theory of projecting things onto myself, and other things. It sounds interesting, and could be a branch of my artwork for anothe time.

http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/uploads/Attie2002_180-thumb.jpg

Artist Blog: Manfred Leve

2009-11-09T07:52:00.003-05:00

Manfred Leve was born in Trier, Germany, he grew up in Dusseldorf where he studied law, middle eastern cultures, art history, and philosophy at select universities in Germany. Since his graduation, his focus field has been in working as a lawyer. He currently works for the Federal Institute of Labor in Nuremburg.
His inspiration and love in the arts had him jumping in the art scene at a young age, in his schoolboy days. This was where he first started using a camera, mainly for documenting and recording events in the art world. While still relatively young, he became introduced to Sigmar Polke, and started shooting him, both his life and his work.
I have found Manfred Leve's work to be very story driven, even if the photographs are of people looking at art and people admiring art. His work i feel has much more of a hidden meaning. They all seem to have their own story in each one, as if from a film still, where the viewer gets caught in a moment of sheer excitement and tension, yet do not know what or how the story will play out. I feel that Manfred Leve knew this about his work and he was able to carefully frame and 'catch' people in the moment, creating a story from one photograph that the viewer takes in and tries to understand.
This type of storyline photography is partially what i find interesting, and want a similar storyline. I feel that i will physically have to find someone else to take the photographs for me, because it is the only way i can act natural, as well as having the best chance to portray this same emotion coming out of Manfred Leve's work as well.

2009-11-05T00:41:00.004-05:00

These pictures are of cut glass that has been cemented into the top of walls, mainly used as a deterrent for people from breaking into the houses inside of the fence. I find these cut shards of glass as very important and visually interesting pieces of my childhood that i remember. These pieces of chipped bottles, and smashed glass remind me alot of the dangers of where i lived, and the situation we lived in, in relation to a wall, cut glass, and electric fencing. We also had a guard that watched the gate 24 hours of the day, which i found very interesting, and yet we still had our houses broken into. Safety there is a whole issue there, because of protection, and safety of your own life. There is no place where you are safe, even the police there are drunk most of the time, while they are working, and will try and pull people over to get them to give them money for them (the police) to buy more alcohol.
The situation there was terrible, and trying to connect it to a physical presence i feel requires me again to construct the cut glass in cement. The Rungu, which i am still working on (believe me, it takes a long time and quite a bit of effort to construct an object such as that) and the cut glass in cement, will both be in the photographs as well, in context as to which they would play in everyday life in Kenya.
My newest thoughts on these constructed pieces involve me taking photographs of me interacting with only one of these objects at a time, such as suggested during mid-term critique. An example of what i mean would be playing soccer with the plastic bag ball that i constructed earlier in the year. These shots would be in the moment, and i would want to be the one playing with the object, so i might get someone to take these photographs for me.
I thought of some of the objects in their context to life here: the dirt would be on the road, like pavement, the rungu would be in court/at a courthouse, and the plastic bag soccer ball would be on a field, and this is the direction i feel most drawn towards.

Artist Blog: Andy Goldsworthy

2009-11-02T00:08:00.005-05:00

Andy Goldsworthy is a British artist, photographer, and environmentalist sculptor that lives in Scotland. He studied at the Bradford College of Art in fine art, who was born in Leeds in 1956. His work is heavily nature based, and his pieces often involve time in almost unrealistic scenes, and outstanding outcomes. His pieces remind me of the almost vulnerable nature, in which we enact and react with in a constant basis. His pieces often do not last very long at all, because nature breaks down the pieces. His pieces are of nature, made from nature, and are destroyed and deconstructed by nature.
Here are some pieces that i find extremely inspirational and even though his pieces do not directly relate to my pieces, i still see similarities in between my work and his.
His pieces are heavily focused on nature and its presence on work. Whereas in my work, i also show heavy influence on presence in the world, yet instead of nature and its fleeting way, mine is focused more on the fleeting of me and my identity.
I watched a documentary on Andy Goldsworthy, and just a visual viewing of him and his artwork really inspires me to pursue what i want to do in my own work. I find his pieces also very emotionally reactive, and when i see a piece melt, or change color because of its exposure to sun, i almost breakdown, because of his hidden meaning in the fleeting of nature in our world. This reaction is very similar, i feel, to what i want to react from my artwork, and i urge everybody to pay attention to Andy's work. I find his work somehow inspirational for everybody, and i urge you also to watch documentaries on his work, because of his outlook on life, and nature.

http://www.woostercollective.com/images2/gold_treesoul.jpg
http://classes.design.ucla.edu/Winter09/9-1/blog/b/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/andy_goldsworthy_rowan_leaves_with_hole.jpg

Idea Blog: Background Hunting

2009-10-29T11:21:00.003-04:00

One of the biggest humps i need to address in my photographs is an issue of background. People said that the background was too distant from the action occurring in front of the background. I still want to show the idea of separation between the 'developed' and American background, but also has color, shades, and textures of those that remind me of Kenya. Here are a few test shots that i took, while i was searching. I feel these might function much better together with the concept and still resemble the imagery of a bustling and busy 'developed world' background.

These photographs i took quickly as i was exploring, and they feel like they would work much better in my concept than the ones used right in the city. I will continually search for more locations, and edit them, changing their colors in photoshop to match colors and tints that remind me of Kenya.
Some key pieces in here that are characteristics important in the background are broken, and cut down fences, splitting and neglected pavement and dirt, and an overall yellowy tint to the trees and grass.
I don't mind the blue sky because i feel like that resemble the city in the background.
I will continue to shoot and search for locations.

Artist Blog: Peter Keetman

2009-10-26T01:15:00.003-04:00

Peter Keetman is an Artist i have recently discovered, who was born in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Germany in 1916. He started attending the Bavarian State Educational Institute for Photography in Munich. In 1937, he recieved his diploma, and after that, he started working as an industrial photographer. During World War 2, he became injured and was unable to work, however, he continued to work, creating photographic imagery especially focusing on experimental work.
One piece i find very visually creative, as well as somewhat related to my work is this following piece.
This piece is a photograph of a man, through i wire mesh window covering, something that might keep the mosquitoes out, but let air in. The interesting thing about this piece is its duality in its function.
Firstly, if you look at the piece from afar, you can clearly see the man's face, without even focusing on the water droplets that have fallen into some of the wire mesh squares. it is a very interesting piece, that could possibly mention something about this man, feeling as if he is being separated from us, or something on the other side. The barrier in this case would be the wire mesh.
However, once you look much closer at the piece, you notice that each of the water droplets that have placed themselves uniquely in some of the wire mesh squares are a completely unique and new portrait of the 'man behind the mesh'. This brings into play thoughts of identity crisis, roles and people you 'act out', or 'play as' in reference to different groups of people that you hang out with, and even thoughts of different parts of your life could possibly be trapped in the 'wire mesh' of time and place.
This lovely flip-flop play between the two sides of the story is something that i am tempted to try and include, without losing the idea or concept of my piece, and hopefully some tips on brainstorming and word splitting will help me find a way to incorporate this idea.

Idea Blog:

2009-10-22T08:49:00.004-04:00

Right now, i am at the stage where i need to keep finding other things i can construct that remind me of Kenya. So far, i have had 3 and am working on a fourth. The three are a tire sandal, a plastic bag soccer ball, and dirt that follows me. The fourth that i am working and debating on, is the clothing. Right now, as you will see in my photographs, i have been using old and ripped clothing, that i have, however, i am debating whether i should wear the traditional clothing from Kenya, the ripped clothing, or even just regular clothing i have had from here. All three work in a different way, and have benefits. The traditional clothing reminds me of Kenya very much, but it might speak too much towards the concept, as in over-emphasis. The ripped clothing shows what other memories of Kenya remind me of, such as the slums, where so much of the population live in poverty. The American clothing could help to emphasize the location i am in now, in America. They all have benefits and i am not sure which one works better.
A new item i am beginning to construct is a Rungu. This item of power reminds me of more than just this stick of leadership, though that is its function; here are a few pictures of different looks.

These Rungu's symbolize the person carrying it has power, and a leader in his tribe or group of people, with importance, and should be treated with respect. However, to me, this represents corruption, cheatery and lies, partially because the rungu reminds me of the government, and the corrupt and selfish ways it functions. Here we have one plain, one of everyday life, whereas the one decorated with beads resembles one that one of the original Masaai tribesman would have, and the President of Kenya has a gold one. I would only construct mine simply, as the basic one looks like. I own one already, however, so much of this project is in the actual construction of these things that remind me so much of Kenya. This is the next object i am looking at to construct.
With this object, i will also be thinking of constructing a plastic bottle sandal, something that probably wont take as long, and that i have pictured before. These two objects will be the focus of my next individual project.

artist blog: Robert Hausser

2009-10-18T22:31:00.003-04:00

Robert Hausser is an artist that was born in Stuttgart in 1924, grew up there and he studied at the College of Graphic Design in Stuttgart. After graduating, he joined the army, and fought in World War 2. After the war, he married, had a daughter, and then started to take his first portraits. From there he went back to study photography in more detail. With that he joined the the German Society of Photographers (GDL), and established a studio in Mannheim. With this in mind, he has created some photographs that i find very influential. The following photograph i find very interesting, and feel that it is influential in my own work. The uniqueness of each formation in the photograph creates a very influential composition, and i want to somehow incorporate the uniqueness and novel compositions of each into my own work.
I feel that i could keep each photograph in similar ideas and thought processes, just like each door and windowframe are similar, yet each is unique and related to the other. This i would like to keep the same in each photograph.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/9/13928051_18c3db9436.jpg

Artist Lecture:Brian Ulrich

2009-10-15T21:57:00.004-04:00

Brian Ulrich, a famous modern photographer, and 2009 Guggenheim Winner, came to VCU recently, and talked about his work. He shared four main components or series that he really felt he enjoyed, and was successful, and his main motto or heading for his work was 'Not if but when'. He, however, started off with a sound piece, of clippings of his discussion with a security guard at a dead mall, where all the stores except for one or two had been closed. This got me thinking about other senses as well in my work. I thought of noise clippings from Kenya, that i might have in some older cassettes on some of my home videos. What if i ran them in the background with my work? Interesting... Once he delved into his work, he focused on four main series, starting off with what he considered 'street work' and 'Warzone Shopping'. I found both names interesting, thinking about how the camera interacts with the image, and how to control that aspect, as well as the subjects in the photograph interacting with the photographer. The ideas in these images were about how we as a nation consider shopping as a mechanized action, and being ordered by the government to spend, to help this economic struggle we are in now to pass. One piece that really stood out to me, as both very strong conceptually and artistically is the following image, which i felt very interesting, this idea of shopping controlling our governments outlook on the threat level. His second type of work was 'Thrift', in which he captured a completely different type of people group, who were rummiaging through all sorts of junk. These photographs are similar in dealing with the idea of controlling shopping, but focuses more on people's search for something they want, but can possibly not afford. Brian Ulrich also discussed work dealing with City Life, where people interact in malls, walking, and shopping, in which i feel he is trying to play with physical interaction with the setting around the person. The work i find most interesting, however, is the work that focuses on 'dead malls', otherwise known as closed down malls, with nothing in them. These malls intrigue me because some of them are kept well maintained, some with security guards still, and yet there is nobody walking around. These pieces are fascinating because they show a very void and empty space in which we almost have to be. We are expected to be shopping at Walmart in to the wee hours of the morning. There is never nobody in a huge mall, or store, while the mall is open, or during the day, and these are almost shots of the world void of people. They fascinate me to know end. Here is one example i particularly enjoy.

Idea Blog. Continuous construction

2009-10-15T12:22:00.004-04:00

Now that i have a direction that i can head towards, i am starting to think about other things that i can construct that remind me of Kenya. My goal in the end is to have photographs of me in an 'Americanized' environment with these things that remind me of Kenya. Some of them such as potholes and dirt can be originally photographed, and kept in an image, whereas other things i will need to construct. Then other things are more of mental ideas and concepts, and i am having a hard time trying to figure out how to incorporate them into the photograph. Some ideas i want to almost 'follow' me around, much like the physical rain in a music video called This Year's Love by David Gray. Here is The link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-tp0JZvUA
In this video, there is rain that physically follows this man around, as if a burden, or as if the rain is implying a mental connection to something personal. I have been thinking that for some of these things, i would like that idea of something being burdened as well. For example, i thought of, in the photograph, me standing in some dirt, where everywhere else around me is pavement. This picture on the right is partially what i mean, however, the dirt pile will not really be a mound, instead it will be just where my feet are, and it will be a small layering. The idea is that this dirt follows me wherever i walk, and where i stand it will be under me.

Also, i have a bunch of tribesmen garments that i brought from Kenya, that represents the culture there. I thought of including such things on my person as well, however, as long as it does not overpower the rest of the stuff.
I want this picture to be mainly full of stuff i construct with my own hands, therefore creating a much more personal interaction between the work and the pieces itself.

Artist Blog: Barbara Klemm

2009-10-12T08:55:00.004-04:00

Barbara Klemm is an artist born in 1939 in Munster, and received her photography training privately through a photographic studio in Karlsruhe. After education she first was employed by a company called Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), and she worked as an engraver. After a while, she moved on to working as a photographer on the editorial staff, which focused on politics and features.
Her photographs are seen more as cutouts of time, being that her pieces are heavily based on documenting daily events in economics, politics, and culture. Her pieces capture the mood of the incident that is affecting the world, and are therefore very powerful in my opinion.
One of her pieces, the one on the right, he depicts the opposite of two people, being that one is heavily burdened, struggling, and to emphasize the point, walking up hill. Then you have the opposite, who seems comfortable, wealthy, and is walking downhill. I especially what the picture says just by looking at the road, and how each are affected by the environment. The uphill climb represents the struggle the poorer man is having not only physically, but mentally too, and it speaks so strongly. The same is true for the opposing wealthy man, easily strolling downhill. This piece depicts the two sides of my identity, and i really like this thought of the two opposing sides confronting each other and dealing with the other in a specific environment.
This piece really flies far for me, because, with the work of construction that i have been doing about the dual construction, and identity, i have thoughts of creating two of me in every composition, each dealing with the same thing, such as shoes, and the benefit one gets, compared to the other. I really like this piece for that reason, and want to pursue the possibility of doing what Barbara Klemm has done in this piece. I feel like it will work very well with the work i am doing now, and incorporates both the identity issues that i was dealing with in photographs, and the dual construction i was playing with in physical things that mean "Kenya" to me.

http://www.actuphoto.com/imagew.php?image=files/news_11935_0.jpg&dst_w=260

Idea Blog: Shoe and Ladder

2009-10-08T01:32:00.004-04:00

Right now, i have been thinking of what means Kenya to me, and i have been thinking of physical things that remind me of differences between Kenya and the U.S. in reference to physical construction of things and objects. The first idea that came to my mind was a thought of a ladder, and its two separate construction types. In Kenya, we still used wooden ladders, and had nothing that is manufactured and processed by a machine, like what the U.S has. Here, ladders are made from metal frames, and are much more sturdy, trustworthy, and reliable, compared to what we had in Kenya.
These differences made me start thinking of other things that are unique to Kenya, that i miss, and remind me of what 'Kenya' is. One thing that is very different between the two cultures is the subject of shoes. Here in the United States people never not wear shoes. From wake to sleep, slippers, socks and shoes, sandals, work boots, etc always fit on feet. The difference in Kenya that even established wealth was if you had nice shoes, or shoes at all. In Kenya i used to never wear shoes and run around outside, inside, and everywhere just on my bare feet, which is a very interesting concept and difference.
How does this pertain to construction? Well, in Kenya, they had what was considered 'poor man's' shoes, called tire sandals. And yes, they were created from parts of used tires, with straps of rubber, and actual slabs of tire for the base. I have these shoes here with me, and it constantly reminds me of Kenya.
I think where i need to start heading is actually constructing something like this, physically, of something that reminds me of Kenya, and sets the U.S apart from Kenya. I will start constructing them, then purchasing the equivalent here in the U.S. and just stay in that environment for a while. From there, i might move onto objects that combine both elements into one, as if they were trying to co-exist with each other, like i am with these two identities.

I even found this photograph of sandals made out of ripped cloth and old plastic soda bottles. This really hits home, and i am looking forward to what i will come up with.

http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2006-07/water-bottle-sandal.jpg

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/wp-content/uploads/Ross/ROSS_JUNE/Silangsandal_1.JPG

http://www.thriftyfun.com/images/articles27/tire_sandals300x187.jpg

Artist Blog: Otto Steinert

2009-10-05T01:03:00.003-04:00

Otto Steinert is a German photographer, born in Saarbracken in 1915 and is most famously known for his outstanding personality of German post-war photography. He started, however, as a physician, and graduated with a medicine degree in 1939. After the war, he started taking photographs on the side of his regular job and eventually gave up his profession to follow his pasion for photography. Here is one of his ppieces i have found most interesting and inspirational in reference to my own work. It is titled simply "Pedestrians Foot" and is a silver gelating print created in 1950. This piece represents to me the feeling of displacement and this belending of two identities. The full foot form would represent my original and hidden identity, the blending is the part of me trying to co-exist with the world around me, a completely different lifestyle and way of thinking. The key for this piece is that it embodies and resembles my own work , and being that i am focusing back to the idea of constrcting something and trying to find what "Kenya" is to me, what is that object or idea, it give me thoughts of what i thought was a blessing to have, an object so simple, yet said too much in its owning, and that is shoes. Shoes are just one of the objects that i feel separated my childhood and Kenya from here.
Everything here is "shirt and shoes required" here, whereas in Kenya, even being more filthy, dangerous, and painful to walk on with bare feet, i rarely wore shoes outside of school, and the rest of the time i hwas barefoot. I could even go into stores with bare feet, whith no issue or second thought from anyone. Every once in a while i would walk without shoes on here, and people would flip out, and go crazy. This separation between the two highly contrasting positions bring about good thoughts and i look forward to finding more deep objects that resemble differences and contrasts throughout life.

http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/reviews/rosa/Images/rosa6-15-3.jpg

Artist Blog: Ernst Haas

2009-09-30T22:19:00.003-04:00

Ernst Haas is another recent artist that i just discovered that i feel is relative to the work i am creating now. Ernst was born in 1921 in Vienna. His passion for photography started when he was just a child, and his first real work was photographing very emotional compositions of prisoners from the war returning in 1950. From then on, he started focusing more on color and the explosion of mixtures between color and composition.
His artwork, like these two pieces, resemble my new exploration with color, and what it represents and resembles through my own artwork. The color is helping me look more at my pieces in association with what i remember and miss from Kenya. The lower photograph reminds me of the beauty, color, and wildness that Kenya reminds me of. This piece was also taken by Ernst Haas, and it reactivates my love with the work i am doing.
Things that i need to draw out from this artist that i feel resemble and will help me in my own work are the vivid, full, and rich color, and the subject matter in relation to what i am going to show in my art.
The color is extremely important because beauty and color in these images give me feelings of what i remember from my childhood. Kenya, in places were dirty, dusty, and unpleasant. However, in some ways, i find those things beautiful, even though physically, it does not resemble anything that someone would want to look at. This idea of 'beauty' is because i grew up in a place that i found beautiful, even if it physically was disgusting. There is also the physically pleasing beauty, such as the above photograph, which reminds me so much of the trips and travels we made, all over the country.
Secondly, the actual subject matter is in itself beautiful, and that is crucial to my imagery as well. Beautiful to me would mean the above definition of what i find beautiful is, the subject matter might not be physically beautiful, but it means something to me, and therefore has 'beauty'.
The next step is to find what i find is the central aspect of my thoughts on beauty in Kenya, because i feel that it would be directly related to the 'thing' that i feel is 'Kenya' to me.

9/13 Blog Evaluation

2009-09-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

Paul Thulin has read your blog up to this point/entry. Your blog is currently up to date and complete

Artist Blog: Lee Friedlander

2009-09-28T01:11:00.004-04:00

Lee Friedlander was born on July 14th 1934, and studied at the Art Center College of Design located in Pasadena, California. After finishing school Lee explored with his photographs for the next thirty years, and his work varied thoroughly. He started by photographing musicians for their covers and went on to take nude photographs of Madonna. During his career, he also published a couple of books, including a book on self portraits.

In his self-portrait book, Lee Friedlander, he has a quote that i find very interesting about what he feels about a self-portrait, and a face. Quoting him, he says "TO KNOW ONE'S OWN STATE IS NOT A SIMPLE MATTER. ONE CANNOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT ONE'S OWN FACE WITH ONES OWN EYES, FOR EXAMPLE. ONE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO LOOK AT ONE'S REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR. THROUGH EXPERIENCE, WE WILL COME TO BELIEVE THAT THE IMAGE IS CORRECT, BUT THAT IS ALL .

I interpret this as meaning how we can never really see our own face. We have to use other tools that are outside of our human anatomy to visualize what we might look like. His photographs in his book also resemble his work. The examples above show similarities in my own work. My previous work resembles the first photograph, only a shadow of the man, whereas the second reminds me of the work i am constructing now. With this second photograph, it reminds me of my own blending and opposing identities in concept. He has quite a few more of these portraits of identity, which i am continually looking at.

http://graememitchell.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/friedlander_nyc_1966.jpg
http://images.publicradio.org/content/2008/06/27/20080627_california_33.jpg

Artist Lecture: Spencer Finch

2009-09-26T12:19:00.005-04:00

To me, Spencer Finch creates work that is heavily based in a combination of scientific elements, technical savvy, and color infusion. His work involves quite a bit of color exploration and measurement, focusing a lot on changing the color that the sun shines through windows to depict a different color or time period. For example, he created one piece recently by measuring the light that the moon gives off, outside a building, and with the use of layering color filters in window panes, changes the light given off by the sun in the daytime inside of the building to the same measurement of the night sky.

His work really forced and challenged me to look much more into color related to my own work. His work seemed to show me how important color and light can change an art piece. Before going to this artist lecture, i found myself focusing much more on concept in my own pieces, without taking into consideration the color and light inside of the photograph, other than exposure. Afterwards, though, i can see that i should pay more attention to color and light in my own work to emphasize the concept, instead of being oblivious.

Another piece of Spencer's that i found to be very influential and somewhat related to my own work was a piece he constructed out of studio lighting gels. My artwork is partially about this internal struggle for identity between two differing and opposite identities. This piece of Spencer's really depicts what i feel inside of me constantly; this sort of explosive and violently raging 'thing', probably an identity. He captures what i feel might be an 'identity' in its violent and explosive nature, as if being confronted by an opposing identity. This piece really stands out to me, and has helped me think of expanding much more of my work into a physical construction rather than photography.

http://www.spencerfinch.com/project.php?project=moonlight

http://www.spencerfinch.com/project.php?project=sunlight_in_an_empty_room

Idea Blog: Dual identity Construction

2009-09-23T17:25:00.003-04:00

Dual identity construction is a phrase that i came along in the book Ideology, Identity, and Assumptions written by Howard Dodson. After reading and meditating what this phrase could possibly mean, i came up with a concept of physical construction that i could 'build' that possibly represents the two different sides of me that i struggle with. For example, i used a ladder, and i discussed to Jeff what i meant. My ideas of constructing a ladder, half made from materials that would seem natural to Kenya, representing that part of my identity, and then, the other half representing the 'developed world' idea, with their advanced technology. With the two halves i would assemble them together, then try and use its function to accomplish some sort of goal. The reason why i used the ladder example, is because i thought of its function, and how it relies on complete faith by the user that it will support its weight, and function as supposed to. With the physical construction i would build, i would try and use its function, but would feel that it would not work, giving light to my struggle within, and between the two.
I started searching the internet for this idea of dual identity construction, and came up with a few interesting photographs. These photographs just give me ideas of where i can travel. I like the idea of the sign and how it gives direction to people of where to go, but is in the perspective of two different opposing thought processes. I really like the sound of that. I can even use the sign in my photographs. The other artpiece reinforces my thoughts of my dual identity, and looking at both sides in the same piece, which i intend to do. I am thinking of combining a physical structure with my photography pieces that i discussed in my last post, but for now, i will work on both as individual pieces.

Ed van der Elsken

2009-09-20T17:37:00.006-04:00

This work is done by a man named Ed van der Elsken, a Dutch photographer, born in Amsterdam in 1925. After completing his studies in art in his home town, he became a freelance photographer in Paris, and eventually got a job working as a newspaper correspondent. His work originally focused on black and white prints, and considered preserving the atmosphere and emotions of the moment, and in natural lighting conditions. After exploring color photography, he started publishing photography books as well as written books on his work and his thoughts. He eventually died in 1990 in Edam, Amsterdam at the age of 65.
I found out about Ed van der Elsken through a book called 20th Century Photography , created by TASCHEN. His work reminds me of other ways to focus on identifying differences between people and situations. Through some of his photographs such as these shown in the post, one person in the photograph has a focus ring of a brighter exposure around their head, as if these people are different or need to stand out and be recognized. I could not find a better picture than the above, however, you can see what i mean by the man walking in front of the bench, and the ring of light around the persons head. The below is a similar situation, except created a little more naturally, and i like both ways. These photographs give me more interest as well as creativity as to how i can possibly show differences between me and other people in the photographs i will be focusing on in the next 2 weeks.

http://janjelle.web-log.nl/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/27/ed1.jpg
http://bahai-library.com/personal/huia/kassel97/kasvane.jpg

Idea blog: Sorry its late: Wholly Differentiated

2009-09-18T11:31:00.005-04:00

First of all i am sorry i am posting late, but i still need to continue posting. I have found that this posting as well as the individual meetings as a vital necessity for improving my work. This week, i focused on the phrase 'wholly differentiated', a phrase mentioned in the book Ideology, Identity, and Assumptions, edited by Howard Dodson and Colin Palmer. The phrase mentions that because of ties to history, kinship and culture, i view myself as wholly differentiated from competing social and ethnic groups. I started thinking about this phrase and what it means to me. Thoughts of separation and distinction came to me. I started thinking of how my photographs can tie this concept of separation, and being 'wholly differentiated', and thoughts immediately reminded me of my older work from the spring semester this year. The photographs of myself separated by exposure or movement from those around me still dwindles in the back of my mind, trying to pick at me and become another series. However, this time around i thought of a different type of separation between me and others; rather than being technically different through exposure or movement in a slow shutter speed, i thought of my actual physical and mental 'dressings' that would distinguish me from others. I thought about this and searched the internet for any inspirations. These photographs give me some idea of other ways of separation between the exterior and other world. With these thoughts, i also thought of images involving me with completely different clothes, from Africa, rather than the norm of everyday life. I can wear the original garments of a Masaai tribesman, which will make a very strong connection between being 'wholly differentiated'. I will continue to expand on this thought and consider this a major direction in my artwork this year.

http://kingmagic.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/alone.JPG

http://deepchurch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/alone-in-a-crowd.jpg

Artist blog: Philip-Lorca diCorcia

2009-09-13T13:38:00.007-04:00

Another artist that i have been paying attention to lately that is new to my artst base is a man called Philip-Lorca diCorcia. I have recently been introduced to his work and i can see some resemblence between his and my work. I picked up a book from the library of one thousand of his pieces and have found similarities and inspiration through his work. diCorcia was born in 1951 in Connecticut and studied at the school of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The American artist went on to Yale University, receiving a Master of Fine Arts in Photography. diCorcia now teaches at Yale, in Connecticut, and lives and works in New York. What i enjoy about his work is his meaning that is hidden behind the photograph.

Take the above photograph for example, the face of the model is incredibly similar to what i express and feel in my photographs. That face, to me, represents the troubles of life and the issues i deal with internally. These photographs give me more ideas because they are set up and use exterior flashes, as well as different scenarios. All of my photographs that deal with these internal issues that these photographs represent have all been photographed outdoors, and with mostly the sunlight and a flash on top of my camera. These internal photographs give me ideas and a different angle to look at my work. All of the photographs i have taken have been in exterior environments, however, because of photographs like the one on the left, i will be attempting indoor photographs.

With interior situations, i can more easily manipulate the hidden information within the photograph, such as other lights, and the background. The interior setting will also give me more focus on lighting and i can more easily manipulate the photograph, rather than have most of the environment as a hit or miss. This final image combines both the look of what inspires me, as well as the lighting that keeps the focus on the actual person and their internal struggle.

http://wmuphoto.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/dicorcia1.jpg
http://www.agitatto.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/philip-lorca-dicorcia_01.jpg
http://www.nyip.com/ezine/techtips/spotlight-dicorcia.html

Idea Blog: Multi-Culturalism

2009-09-10T07:15:00.006-04:00

Throughout my reading i have found quite a few synonyms between identity struggles and multiculturalism. The issues that they each address are very close and cross boundaries on each of their territories. Identity is, according to the dictionary, a distinguishing character or personality of an individual. Multiculturalism is relating, reflecting, or adapting to diverse cultures. What the connection between the two is, is the effect that multiculturalism has on identity. Where you grow up defines how you are, how you live, what you do, and when you do it. For me, i feel like i almost have two identities; one being the teenage boy from Africa, and the other is the developed fantasy world of college in America. The hard thing is that it feels like these two different identities that create multiculturalism inside of me are always competing. One wants to do what is right in that mindset, and the other wants to do the complete opposite, and yet is still right in its mindset. They clash inside of me, creating this internal struggle with myself. I started thinking about the word multiculturalism, viewed images, and found a few things that were interesting to say the least. If you type into google a search for images of multiculturalism, all you get are such images as below. Many different hands or people from many different nations, in the world, holding hands around the world, or holding the world up itself. Now, for me, this just seems ridiculous, because what if you might have two different cultures represented by one hand? People would not get multiculturalism. People assume by the color of my skin that i am American, which i find very sad. These images are not representative of multiculturalism, they are just a bunch of hands from different places, and of different people. The definition of identity specifies such details as an 'individual', so if multiculturalism defines identity, then why do people assume that multiculturalism has nothing to do with just one person.
After thinking about my art and its relation to multiculturalism, i have found that maybe my artwork should be a place to show others how to depict multiculturalism through imagery in more than just one way. After some searching i found this imagery of 'multiculturalism', which i find quite relevant to my artwork in its meaning. This is much closer to what i am looking for to help me generate creativity. This might be a simple photograph of flags, but it means something more to me, because it puts me as the viewer in a place of thought about how many of those flags represent me. And that is much closer to the multiculturalism i am looking for. To me this inspires me to continue dealing with conflicting identities, and really dig deep to find what it really means to be multicultural.

http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Atlas/Images/Glossary/Multiculturalism.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__hspjzfC024/SRf1jsQAo5I/AAAAAAAAArQ/WVl-BNqz8yI/s320/multiculturalism-freedom-equality.jpg

Artist Blog: Jeff Wall

2009-09-07T02:02:00.007-04:00

Jeff Wall is an artist that i have heard has similar ideas as mine. Quite a few people draw references to Jeff Wall's work when i discuss my work and the meaning behind it. I finally decided to give him a closer look and see what i could possibly take away with me that would help me in my art. Firstly though, a little background information. Jeff Wall was born in Canada in 1946 and received his Masters in Art from the University of British Columbia, surprisingly not an art school. After school Jeff Wall started his career as a teacher, not an artist. After some teaching, he branched into making his own work. This varied from all sorts of work, such as constructed settings with models, to large photographs of bare walls. Surprisingly, i feel that all of Jeff Wall's work has a characteristic that i enjoy, and want to include in my art pieces. His work, such as this one, called The Forest, is a silver gelatin print that he took recently, has a figure in the middle, blending into her environment, yet leaving a scene. This creates a story, that the viewer is left to interpret, and can lead to multiple stories. What really grabs me in this piece is the struggle that is involved in this piece. The woman is clearly not happy or joyous, more like hiding or struggling over something that nobody is helping them with. I can look at this piece for a while, just reading it, and it representing me in my own life. I can see myself in the woman's position, and that is key for my art that i make, as well as Jeff Wall's. I need the viewer to feel an emotional attachment to the piece, that they can tie what might be going on in the piece to their own life. I feed off the emotional reaction, and it is the biggest accomplishment i can get from any of my pieces. Another piece by Jeff Wall that is completely different yet still ties into what i am looking for is this piece, called Sunken Area, is a simple picture, yet conveys, at least to me, a huge amount of discomfort and interaction. This piece to me may be of such simple subject matter, but it feels as if i can put myself in this situation as well. I would hate to be put in front of this supposedly endless wall of siding. Here i am staring against a wall siding, yet i feel as if there is something behind that is my goal. Now, i feel that the siding is just stopping me from seeing the real picture, the skin underneath the outer layer. This feeling of displacement and restriction is affecting me, which is the object of the piece, and this is what i am looking for in my pieces. The difference is that in the work i am aiming for is more focused on identity and the struggles with being multi-cultured. Jeff Wall is still alive today, and makes pieces that push me to continue making artwork.

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/jeff-wall/
http://www.artnet.com/artist/17462/jeff-wall.html

2009-09-04T10:18:00.003-04:00

Idea Blog: "Identity"
Such an interesting thought, identity, why do i feel so tied to this word? Who am i? Why am i here? all these words deal with identity. We are defined by ourselves the most, and if we cannot define ourselves, we are lost as human beings. I kind of feel like this and try to express my struggles in finding who i am. Because i am multi-cultural, i have multiple opinions, feelings, and struggles from each of the places i have lived in. Each place has told me to think a different thing, to act differently, and to do things foreign to the other cultures in me. This really feels like it is tearing me apart. Words that are just coming to mind, tri-polar, in the sense of multiple personalities, a three prong fork in the road, and the three headed dragon.
Especially at this time of my life, where college is nearly over, and i am supposed to start settling down, getting a steady job, and so on, i feel alienated and split between three cultures. Which do i choose? I picked up a few books from the library on such topics as identity of the African and American experience. Hopefully some of this reading will fuel my art, and give me some creativity and ideas that i will depict in my own way.
Also, this notion of identity falls into other parts of literature and arts. There is a song by David Gray, called This year's Love. I will post the link to the youtube video. This video is a very interesting way of looking at identity, and belonging in a world that is foreign to you.
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-tp0JZvUA&NR=1
I have found that music has turned into one of the best ways for me to reveal my other 'identities', rather than the one i put on for show, whilst in other company. I listen to music, especially when i am alone, and just want to do some thinking.
Some art that i have been looking at that deals with identity and the 'struggle' has been some of
Jeff Wall's pieces. This piece below is called The Thinker, and
it was produced in 1986. This piece is similar to what i think i might be looking for in my work. Here is this man, who looks very simplistic, with basic needs, sitting on a tree stump on some concrete blocks. In the background is a huge city in which he feels a disconnection to. This disconnection is what i feel, his identity is confused because of his basic thoughts and actions that seem out of the ordinary in the modern day city behind him. He feels out of place, lost, and thinking about it too. That is what i feel, and what i fear to be endlessly sucked into. My art is an escape for the confusing things in my life to be released, yet this issue of identity has the deepest roots within me, being that i am my identity, even though i cannot define it.
The Thinker, 1986
211x229 cm, transparency in lightbox
Private Collection, Munich

Pan Walther - Artist inspiration

2009-08-30T13:31:00.008-04:00

This is Pan Walther, an artist that i only recently found out about. I own a photography book called 20th Century Photography, published by TASCHEN, and these images and some information have been taken from this book about Pan. Pan Walther was an artist that was born in 1921 in Dresden, Germany. He studied at the Waldorf School, and continued on to be an artist and teach for over thirty years. His focus in his younger years was all on portraits, and while travelling, he would come across gypsies, peasants, and many others whose face told the most interesting stories. Later on, he moved onto work that focused on issues of
Pan Walther - The German Michel, from the series:
Think About It, 1983. Color Print 29.8 x 30 cm
present-day life. These color photographs were mainly staged, and were shown as performance art that was documented. These two pieces are from his later work, both from the series Think About It. I feel that this work is similar in thought to my type of work. Whereas my work is less performance, i still incorporate the problems i face in present day life, and how they relate back to the past. His work that i have seen, especially from this series, i really enjoy, and i can feel his passion through his work. His work inspires me to continue working with this idea of inner turmoil and struggle, even though his pieces do not focus on that notion. I want my pieces to make people feel what i feel, and even though the subject matter between Pan Walther's work and Pan Walther - Fighter in the Japan Look, from the series:
mine are quite different, his pieces just inspire me Think About It, 1983. Color Print 28 x 30.2 cm
to continue, I don't know why.

Philippi, Simone ed. 20th Century Photography.
Los Angeles: TASCHEN, 2007.