Assignment #6

My goal for this project was take photographs my friend who is a dancer around her town. As if her town is the stage she is dancing on and around. She is a dancer but she is also a normal person; she is married, has a job, has things she has to care of and because of this she doesn't get to dance as much as she would like to. I wanted to showcase this part of her life that she doesn't get to show very often. 

We took the photos at night, so all the lighting is from lights we found around town. We kind of had to search out lighting, which was fun because we didn't have control over it. I was forced to make due with what was around, because of this I got some really interesting and dramatic shots. Also, because of the lighting I had to use a long shutter speed, which meant that I couldn't get photos of her actually dancing...she was just a blur. So she had to hold her poses for as long as the shutter was open, which tested her endurance.

I was also trying to make her be on a stage but not always the focus. In a few of the images the surrounding kind takes center stage and she is simply a part of it. This works for me because we sometimes feel like we are not the center or focus of our lives, that we are just part of our surroundings.

Assignment #6 - Work in Progress

So I took images of my friend who is a dancer...I was kind of trying to make it look like she was on a stage in everyday places. If you could tell me what images you think are working and for the ones on the street, whether you like them in color or black and white. Thanks!

Assignment #5

 I am going to do the written statements for all of theses images at once because they are all the same idea and very similar. I had a hard time with this project because I thought I needed to make something extravagant and I didn't have the time to do it. I was discouraged. So I started by taking images of my mannequin's around my house, as if they were real. But I wasn't happy with the result I was getting so exasperated I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I noticed the light on the ceiling. What a strange vantage point to see this light at...I took a picture of it. I then went around my house, laid on the floor, and took images of the lights around my house. The ceiling fans in my living room and dining room came out really interesting because the blades became a blur and look like a shadow. I really like how these are just everyday things that I pass by all the time and they look so much different from this perspective. I would like to use these images as a jumping off point for a larger project.

Work in Progress...

In-Class Image #17

Recreation #5

My Recreation

Fallout - Tim Head  Photo: Richard Davies

Semi-Contemporary Photographer: Constructed Reality - Cindy Sherman

By turning the camera on herself, Cindy Sherman has built a name as one of the most respected photographers of the late twentieth century. Although, the majority of her photographs are pictures of her, however, these photographs are most definitely not self-portraits. Rather, Sherman uses herself as a vehicle for commentary on a variety of issues of the modern world: the role of the woman, the role of the artist and many more. It is through these ambiguous and eclectic photographs that Sherman has developed a distinct signature style. Through a number of different series of works, Sherman has raised challenging and important questions about the role and representation of women in society, the media and the nature of the creation of art.

Sherman's life began in 1954, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. Her family having moved shortly after her birth, Sherman grew up as the youngest of five children in the town of Huntington, Long Island. Unlike some budding artists, Sherman was not particularly involved in the arts as a young person. Sherman's parents were not involved in the arts; her father made a living as an engineer and her mother worked as a reading teacher. Born relatively late in her parents' lives, Sherman's father was retired by the time she was in fifth grade. Sherman has said that, ""It wasn't until college that I had any concept of what was going on in the art world. My idea of being an artist as a kid was a courtroom artist or one of those boardwalk artists who do caricatures. My parents had a book of, like, the one hundred one beautiful paintings, which included Dali and Picasso among the most recent artists." Despite her parents lack of artistic interest, they were supportive of her choice to enter art school after finishing high school, though, according to Sherman, her mother did caution her to "take a few teaching courses just in case." Thus, Sherman's exploration of art began at the State University College at Buffalo.

Sherman's career at Buffalo began much differently then it ended. As a freshman, Sherman set out to study painting until one day, when she realized that she had enough. Frustrated with the limitations of painting and feeling like she had done all that she could, she gave it up. Sherman has said that she felt that " . . .there was nothing more to say [through painting]. I was meticulously copying other art and then I realized I could just use a camera and put my time into an idea instead." And this is explicitly what she did. In retrospect, Sherman has expressed that she never could have succeeded as a painter, stating that she is unable to react to painting in anything more than a visceral way. Lacking the critical connection needing to proceed with painting, Sherman turned to photography, which she studied for the remainder of her time at Buffalo. During this time, she met a person who was to become very important in her life: fellow artist Robert Longo. Together with Longo and fellow student Charles Clough, Sherman formed Hallwalls, an independent artists' space where she and fellow artists exhibited.

After Sherman's 1976 graduation, she decided to move to New York City to embark upon her career in art. Taking a loft on Fulton Street in lower Manhattan, Sherman began taking photographs of herself. These photographs would come to be known as the Untitled Film Stills , perhaps the most well known and recognizable work of Sherman's career thus far. In these photographs, begun in 1977, Sherman places herself in the roles of B-movie actresses. Her photographs show her dressed up in wigs, hats, dresses, clothes unlike her own, playing the roles of characters. While many may mistake these photographs for self-portraits, these photographs only play with elements of self-portraiture and are really something quite different. In each of these photographs, Sherman plays a type -- not an actual person, but a self-fabricated fictional one. There is the archetypal housewife, the prostitute, the woman in distress, the woman in tears, the dancer, the actress, and the malleable, chameleon-like Sherman plays all of these characters.

For a work of art to be considered a portrait, the artist must have intent to portray a specific, actual person. This can be communicated through such techniques as naming a specific person in the title of the work or creating an image in which the physical likeness leads to an emotional individuality unique to a specific person. While these criteria are not the only ways of connoting a portrait, they are just two examples of how Sherman carefully communicates to the viewer that these works are not meant to depict Cindy Sherman the person. By titling each of the photographs "Untitled", as well as numbering them, Sherman depersonalizes the images.

There are also very few clues as to Sherman's personality in the photographs - each one is so unique and ambiguous that the viewer is left with more confusion than clarity over Sherman's true nature. Sherman completed the project three years later, in 1980, when she "ran out of clichés" with which to work. This series gave Sherman much publicity and critical acclaim; she had her first solo show at the nonprofit space, the Kitchen, in New York City. In 1980 Sherman also created a series of what she called "Rear-Screen Projections" in which, similarly to the Film Stills, Sherman dressed up and paraded against a projected slide background.

In 1981 Sherman was commissioned by the respected magazine Artforum to do a "centerfold" for one of their upcoming issues. Sherman proceeded to submit a series of images with a cohesive aesthetic look: the camera was placed above Sherman, who was often crouched on the ground or made to look like she was in a state of reverie. This series, as well as an additional series of Sherman in a pink robe, was rejected by Artforum 's editor, Ingrid Sischy, who claimed that these photographs "might be misunderstood."

Sherman went on to change her style almost entirely in what are often referred to as the Disasters and Fairy Tales series. For the first time in her public career, Sherman was not the model in all of the images. Shot from 1985 until 1989, these images are far more grotesque than Sherman's earlier work. Often intentionally dressing to look scary and deformed, Sherman sets herself in strange, indefinable settings which often feature oddly colored lighting in shades of blue, green and red. At times, Sherman employs dolls parts or prosthetic body parts to substitute for her own and many a scene is strewn with vomit, mold and other vile substances. Sherman's intent is to explore the disgusting, yet these are things that she admittedly can find beauty in.

Sherman's second most known body of work came some time after the Film Stills had already been well received, around 1988-1990. In the History Portraits Sherman again uses herself as model, though this time she casts herself in roles from archetypally famous paintings. While very few specific paintings are actually referenced, one still feels a familiarity of form between Sherman's work and works by great masters. Using prosthetic body parts to augment her own body, Sherman recreates great pieces of art and thus manipulates her role as a contemporary artist working in the twentieth-century. Sherman lived abroad during this time in her life, and even though museums would appear to be the source of inspiration for this series, she is not a fan of museums: "Even when I was doing those history pictures, I was living in Rome but never went to the churches and museums there. I worked out of books, with reproductions. It's an aspect of photograph I appreciate, conceptually: the idea that images can be reproduced and seen anytime, anywhere, by anyone."

In 1992 Sherman embarked on a series of photographs now referred to as "Sex Pictures." For the first time, Sherman is entirely absent from these photographs. Instead, she again uses dolls and prosthetic body parts, this time posed in highly sexual poses. Prosthetic genitalia - both male and female - are used often and photographed in extreme close-up. Photographed exclusively in color, these photographs are meant to shock. Sherman continued to work on these photographs for some time and continued to experiment with the use of dolls and other replacements for what had previously been herself.

Sherman's life and work has been populated by more than just conceptual photography. She has been married to video artist Michel Auder for over 16 years and has found time in her busy career to add work in motion pictures. In 1997, Sherman's directorial debut, Office Killer, starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, was released in theatres. A self-proclaimed lover of horror films, Sherman draws on the characteristics of this genre as well as the visual motifs established as a still photographer. Sherman also made an appearance in front of the camera, making a cameo playing herself in John Waters' 1998 comedy Pecker.

Because Sherman achieved international success at a relatively young age, her work has had a considerable maturation in value over the past decade. In 1999 the average selling price for one of her photographs was $20,000 to $50,000, a hefty sum for a female photographer. Even more ground-breaking was a 1999 Christie's auction in which one of the photographs from Film Stills sold for a reported $190,000. This bid was perhaps inspired by the Museum of Modern Art's lead: in 1996, they purchased a complete set from Film Stills for one million dollars. These prices are indicative of Sherman's huge level of success, both critically and financially. Sherman's popularity continues to grow around the world, as she has exhibited countries including Germany, Japan, France.
Recently, Sherman has returned to using herself as model. At a recent show at her New York gallery, Metro Pictures, Sherman displayed a series of portrait-like images of herself in the guise of women from California. These women are again simply types - The Personal Trainer, The Ex-Realtor, The Divorcee, etc. Sherman further manipulates the notion of portraiture through the use of conventional portrait signs including the setting of the figure against a neutral background. Unlike some of her early photographs, these are more straightforward images of created characters, not narrative fragments. Sherman continues these projects in New York City, where she currently lives and works.
 -http://www.cindysherman.com/biography.shtml

http://www.lilithgallery.com/arthistory/photography/Cindy-Sherman.html

I chose Cindy Sherman for the same reason I chose the historical photographer without even realizing it...because she transforms herself through costume, make-up and setting. I am very intrigued by the idea that she is taking photos of herself and yet they are not self portraits they are stereotypes or cliches. And that she looks so completely different in each image, its so interesting. I remember seeing her in a spread and article in Vogue a few years ago, when I didn't know who she was or what she was about. I was so confused! There were so many different images of her and none of them were of her. Now I get it. 

Historical Photographer: Constructed Reality - Julia Margaret Cameron

After receiving a camera as a gift, Julia Margaret Cameron began her career in photography at the age of forty-eight. She produced the majority of her work from her home at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. By the coercive force of her eccentric personality, she enlisted everyone around her as models, from family members to domestic servants and local residents.

The wife of a retired jurist, Cameron moved in the highest circles of society in Victorian England. She photographed the intellectuals and leaders within her circle of family and friends, among them the portrait painter George Frederick Watts, the astronomer Sir John Herschel, and the Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson. She derived much of her subject inspiration from literature, and her work in turn influenced writers. In addition to literature, she drew her subject matter from the paintings of Raphael, Giotto, and Michelangelo, whose works she knew through prints that circulated widely in late nineteenth-century England. Summing up her influences, Cameron stated her photographic mission thus: "My aspirations are to ennoble Photography and to secure for it the character and uses of High Art by combining the real and Ideal and sacrificing nothing of the Truth by all possible devotion to Poetry and beauty." -http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=2026

Julia Margaret Cameron
British, Freshwater, Isle of Wight, 1865

The subject of this photograph derives from the French romantic novel Paul et Virginie of 1787, which was translated and widely read in Victorian England. The models are Freddie Gould and Elizabeth Keown, local children from the Isle of Wight, where Julia Margaret Cameron photographed. The novel centers around a shipwreck, during which the heroine must shed her clothes to be rescued; she refuses to sacrifice her modesty and drowns. Cameron does not attempt to illustrate an actual scene from the text; instead, she suggests the novel's tropical setting through a bamboo-handled parasol, scattered greenery underfoot, and the models' appropriately disheveled drapery. Cameron often took well-known works of literature or painting as inspiration for individual images and then interpreted them loosely to communicate a universal underlying theme. -from above website

I enjoy her work and that she used ordinary people as hew models to create images from novels and art. It's something that interest me since I was in the business of making costumes. I like the idea that you can completely transform someone through clothes and setting. You can make them into something else.

Assignment #4: Popular Media/Culture

For the above image: I was going to for a high fashion editorial feel for this image, kind of like the images you see fashion magazines of accessories shoots. The focus is the shoes of course but in a heightened way, I want you to really see them as more than shoes. What can these shoes do for you? How do they make you feel? How would you feel if you were wearing them? I made the background fabric black and white to make the vibrant blue of the heels really pop. The view point of them is also somewhat unfamiliar to us, usually when we are looking at shoes we are looking down at them, not straight on and at the back of them. I also think it is interesting that the reflection on the bottom of the shoes shows the actual color of the fabric, making it looks like it is not just black. This adds to the surrealism.

For the image above: This might be my favorite photograph of all time. This is not only because this is my family and I love them dearly (that is definitely part of it) but also I am so happy with the range of emotion that is happening. I was going for a family picture but instead ended up with what looks like a staged snapshot. I was trying to set them up for a family picture (there were more of my family there that are not in this picture) but as my Grandpa was walking towards the chair my Gramma said to him, "Grandpa, your fly is down." and he sat down and checked it. I have no idea why we thought it was so funny but it was and I was so lucky to get my sister, mom and Gramma's reaction to it just as it was happening. It was purposeful that it is taken where it was taken, I had scoped out a spot and put the chairs there and I am very happy with how it almost looks like a stage. Also the way the lines from the siding on the house and shed are leading your eye to them gives them more impact. 

I would love to use this as a jumping off point for a much larger project. I would get groups of people that either are family or are so close that they are like family and tell them I wanted to take a group photo or family picture. I would do this because I would be able to set it up where I wanted to make the surrounding area look kind of staged but I wouldn't tell them what my goal really was. I wouldn't want them to know because I would want all of their actions and emotions to be sincere and genuine, not performed. I could then take note of the conversations and actions that were taking place as I was trying to set up the "real picture." I think I might not get as good of one every time I tried, it would greatly depend on the dynamic of the group but I think I would get enough good ones to put them on display.

For the image below: For this I was going for an obviously set up shot. I had in mind bloggers who blog their homes (or Etsy ads for jewelry.) They set up these little scenes on their shelves or nightstands and photograph it showing how wonderful it looks and how wonderful they are for having these beautifully staged accessories in their home. I deepened the colors a little in photoshop to give it more of an antique feel. Overall I am happy with this image, I like that you can see the water droplets on the roses and the way the light is hitting the little treasure chest. I think my goal was achieved because the comments I got about it in the critiques were spot on with my intention.

#22 Watch the video in the link below. Write a few sentences in response to this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDYDxWSjVJw

hmmm.

#23

1. In what ways do you “construct” your identity? In what ways do you “perform” in your daily life?

2. Describe some ways in which your personal culture and social environments are “constructed”.

3. Describe some ways in which your physical environment/space is “constructed”.

4. In your daily life, what would you consider to be “real” and what would you consider to be “constructed/fabricated”?

5. Describe a narrative tableaux that you might create to be captured by a photograph. A narrative tableaux can be defined as “Several human actors play out scenes from everyday life, history, myth or the fantasy of the direction artist” ( Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler , 34).

6. Describe an idea for a photograph that includes a miniature stage or still life. A description of such an image is “The tableaux reconstructs events as in the narrative tableaux, but in miniaturized format, using dolls and other toy objects” (Kohler, 34).

#24 Describe your plans for your self-proposed final project (if the plan is the same as before, paste it here again and give a bit more detail). During the final critique for Assignment #5, you will discuss/present these ideas to the class.

hmmm.

Recreation #4

Contemporary Photographer: Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinley (born October 17, 1977) is an American photographer living in New York City who began making photographs in 1998. In 2003, at the age of 24, McGinley was the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was also named Photographer of the Year in 2003 by American Photo Magazine.[1] In 2007 McGinley was awarded the Young Photographer Infinity Award by the International Center of Photography. 
http://sweet-station.com/blog/2010/05/ryan-mcginley/

What I love about these images is that is a humorous twist on fashion photography. The poses and the facial expressions of the kids are like those that actual models would have but it looks so ridiculous because they are kids...it looks like they are just playing dress up...which I guess is exactly what models are doing...they're just grown-up.

Historical Photographer: Irving Penn

Irving Penn is perhaps best known for his fashion photographs that, beginning with his notable 1950s series of the Paris collections, defined a new look for magazines. By placing models against plain backdrops, Penn removed the familiar indicators of space or scale and allowed fashion to stand alone as the subject of his images. Many fashion photographs point to changes in aesthetic sensibilities as well as to changes in fashion itself, and Penn’s routine use of minimal, flat backgrounds can be viewed as the introduction of the modern age of fashion photography. Penn frequently stresses the ephemeral nature of life by bringing out interesting flaws and impurities in his subjects, such as wrinkles, hairs, or dirt, which would have gone unnoticed on cluttered, distractive, or ornate backgrounds. He additionally renders beautiful seemingly unattractive or mundane items including cigarette butts retrieved from the gutter and frozen vegetables. Penn’s attention to detail and his technical excellence are two traits fundamental to his entire range of work that includes fashion, still life, ethnographic portraiture and nudes. 

In the 1960s and early 1970s Penn turned his attention to so-called “primitive” cultures, those untouched by industrialization. Traveling with a canvas tent for a studio and using his characteristic simple backdrops, Penn revealed an interest not ethnographic or anthropological. Instead, Two New Guinea Men Holding Hands illustrates how Penn’s experience as a fashion photographer informed his ethno-aesthetic projects, as he focuses on the formal qualities of his subjects’ dress, pose and adornment rather than their individual identities, customs and surroundings. 

Irving Penn’s images have defined several generations of fashion and portrait photography. Penn, who was born in 1917 in New Jersey, worked in New York as a graphic artist in the 1930s, and spent a year painting in Mexico before starting work at Vogue magazine in the early 1940s. His photographs have been widely exhibited, included in major retrospective exhibitions, and are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm, among many other museums. --http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/penn_irving.php 

I am so familiar with fashion photography and never thought anything of the blank backgrounds behind the models and the fact that the fashion itself was the focus. But knowing the Penn was the photographer to do this first, that he is the reason it is so familiar now is amazing to me. I am a huge fan of his work in the past and today.