Imagery and events surround a person each second of the day. Things that people physically look at creates an emotional experience that can cause sadness, joy, excitement, enthusiasm, anger, so and so forth...If I knew that I was to go blind tomorrow, there would be many many things I would miss seeing. Faces of families, friends and loved ones would only be a part of what I would miss the most. Waking up to see the sun rising, clear sunny and cloudless skies, dark nights with the moon shining brightly, flower petals breaking into pieces as the fall approaches, leaves changing colors, roaring ocean waters, beautiful and luring pieces of ribs laid out on a dish, so and so forth...are only some of the things that I would miss seeing. Without my sight, a part of who I am would be lost into a world of darkness.
Photographing pertaining to this theme was challenging because there were so many things I wanted to capture. But I believe capturing the essence of what brings joy before my eyes was the most important quality to seize in the photo. Working with a conceptual idea from the start of my photographing session was challenging, yet exciting because there was freedom in what I wanted to shoot but with a specific intent and agenda behind the photos.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Your Own Voice, Your Own Eye
For the past couple weeks, I have been able to explore photography in various ways whether emphasizing genre, style, STFV techniques, etc... I even arrived at the point in carrying my digital camera around in order to capture interesting photographs on the fly. And what really tends to capture my attention, while photographing, are ways that I photograph to make the image look interesting. Whether it's close-up or far away, cropping in a unusual angle, or off-centering the subject, I realize I automatically try to set up a unique perspective on the image being captured. I believe that the main reason why I draw to these types of photography is to reemphasize the meaning behind the photograph being taken. I think the way the photographs are being taken, it can send across a strong meaning or emotion when considering the subject matter.
Personal photography, such as recording events and people in my life, have been the best of my interest. Included under that, photojournalism have been a strong interest of mine. Because of the trips I've been on during the summers, I've been photographing and documenting the environment, people, culture and their everday stories. It's been a great interst of mine since my first trip to Cambodia. Ever since then, I've been able to photograph places like China, Afghanistan, and Ivory Coast. Through the images I take, I've seen an interest in movement and activity where images of people carrying out their everyday tasks have been recorded. I've learned to appreciate photographs that are unstaged and natural. I believe that's why I enjoyed going through Robert Frank's photo exhibition because it depicted Americans in the 50s and their lives.
Photography have always been a means for personal expression and documentation of my life. It helps me to remember what I did, where I've been, things I saw and experienced, and how it changed my perspective. Photography will always be a personal way to capture such precious experiences of my life, even if there may be some images that I may not have any personal ties with. It can be an image of a couple who are embracing or showing some kind of affection and care. Although I do not carry personal ties with them, I begin to build a relationship with the photograph that has been taken because it creates and brings out a certain emotion. I have found that photography is an exciting vehicle in capturing moments of stillness in a life that's on the go (story-telling).
Photographer of the week:
Olivia Arthur
- can be categorized under photojournalism, story telling...
Her recent work, "Beyond the Veil" exhibits photographs of women living in Iran, living the life they want despite restricitions of the Islamin law. The series provide beautiful imagery of women living out their daily lives that look very similar to ours.
Photograph of a couple taking pictures of themselves on the Caspian Sea
In the kitchen during a house party in Tehran
Women only photography class in Tehran
Personal photography, such as recording events and people in my life, have been the best of my interest. Included under that, photojournalism have been a strong interest of mine. Because of the trips I've been on during the summers, I've been photographing and documenting the environment, people, culture and their everday stories. It's been a great interst of mine since my first trip to Cambodia. Ever since then, I've been able to photograph places like China, Afghanistan, and Ivory Coast. Through the images I take, I've seen an interest in movement and activity where images of people carrying out their everyday tasks have been recorded. I've learned to appreciate photographs that are unstaged and natural. I believe that's why I enjoyed going through Robert Frank's photo exhibition because it depicted Americans in the 50s and their lives.
Photography have always been a means for personal expression and documentation of my life. It helps me to remember what I did, where I've been, things I saw and experienced, and how it changed my perspective. Photography will always be a personal way to capture such precious experiences of my life, even if there may be some images that I may not have any personal ties with. It can be an image of a couple who are embracing or showing some kind of affection and care. Although I do not carry personal ties with them, I begin to build a relationship with the photograph that has been taken because it creates and brings out a certain emotion. I have found that photography is an exciting vehicle in capturing moments of stillness in a life that's on the go (story-telling).
Photographer of the week:
Olivia Arthur
- can be categorized under photojournalism, story telling...
Her recent work, "Beyond the Veil" exhibits photographs of women living in Iran, living the life they want despite restricitions of the Islamin law. The series provide beautiful imagery of women living out their daily lives that look very similar to ours.
Photograph of a couple taking pictures of themselves on the Caspian Sea
In the kitchen during a house party in Tehran
Women only photography class in Tehran
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Robert Frank: The Americans
"First published in France in 1958 and in the United States in 1959, Robert Frank's The Americans is widely celebrated as the most important photography book since World War II. Including 83 photographs made largely in 1955 and 1956 while Frank (b. 1924) traveled around the United States, the book looked beneath the surface of American life to reveal a profound sense of alienation, angst, and loneliness. With these prophetic photographs, Frank redefined the icons of America, noting that cars, jukeboxes, gas stations, diners, and even the road itself were telling symbols of contemporary life. Frank's style—seemingly loose, casual compositions, with often rough, blurred, out-of-focus foregrounds and tilted horizons—was just as controversial and influential as his subject matter. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the book's publication by presenting all 83 photographs from The Americans in the order established by the book, and by providing a detailed examination of the book's roots in Frank's earlier work, its construction, and its impact on his later art."
- text taken from http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/frankinfo.shtm
- text taken from http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/frankinfo.shtm
Friday, October 2, 2009
Response to Printing in Film
My experience in printing in film, so far, has been an amazing, frustrating, and interesting in that it helped me to understand the intricacies of creating a single photo that contains all the STFV elements and appropriate contrasts and lights existing in an image. Just for one image, all these techniques, calculations and most of all, patience, are required to produce ONE image that I really like. Phew. In the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing and the processes involved in making a print, but the more I do it, I realize it has become a pleasurable and enjoyable experience. The development of the film to its product, naturally, became a piece of art work with hopes that the final piece has become what the artist had intended to create.
The most exciting part in printing in B&W is creating the actual negatives! The steps in having the film latch on to the wheel has been a difficult process for me, but after all the steps involving chemicals have been taken and when you finally open the wheel to see if the images came out on the roll (remembering the time I thought my images didn't come out, nearly giving me a heart attack!) leaves me with a sense of accomplishment! The most difficult part in printing is choosing the right amount of light exposure in order to create your photo. Because my eyes are not easily adjusted to B&W photos, it becomes difficult to detect which photos are too dark or light, which ones reveal an array of different grey tones, etc...And your printing skill can indefinitely affect the artist's photography. The final outcome of the development of the photograph can either ruin or glorify the work that's been done prior to the last step in producing a photo. If the negative of the photo that's been taken is great in that it depicts exactly what the photographer intended, and doesn't come out the way the photographer wanted it to, then it becomes problematic in that the viewer may not understand the photographer's intent and may have the possibility of seeing it as a bad photo. Every element of the process go hand in hand. If the photos that are taken aren't great, then the final print won't be great either. If the final print is bad, then it doesn't do justice to the great photos that were taken.
The photographer's choices in the darkroom can affect the meaning of an image because it is the printing process or these choices that create an effect on the final imagery the photo conveys. If the photographer decides to darken the photo, creating more highlights and shadows, it can create a powerful and mysterious imagery to the viewer's eye. On the other hand, because each person's perspectives, dislikes and likes vary, the photographer's choice in the darkroom may leave a negative or positive affect on people who are observing the photo. Thus, dodging and burning may or may not be a technique the photographer may choose to apply. It's a fun yet straining process in that meticulous judgment needs to be made in making certain parts of the photo darker or lighter, depending on what the photographer chooses to highlight. I personally, like the dodging and burning technique but feel a little hesitant in that it is, in a way, a manipulation of the original photo being taken. Because I'm only a beginnger and have yet to be experienced in this area, I find it exciting to see how my preferences will change.
The most exciting part in printing in B&W is creating the actual negatives! The steps in having the film latch on to the wheel has been a difficult process for me, but after all the steps involving chemicals have been taken and when you finally open the wheel to see if the images came out on the roll (remembering the time I thought my images didn't come out, nearly giving me a heart attack!) leaves me with a sense of accomplishment! The most difficult part in printing is choosing the right amount of light exposure in order to create your photo. Because my eyes are not easily adjusted to B&W photos, it becomes difficult to detect which photos are too dark or light, which ones reveal an array of different grey tones, etc...And your printing skill can indefinitely affect the artist's photography. The final outcome of the development of the photograph can either ruin or glorify the work that's been done prior to the last step in producing a photo. If the negative of the photo that's been taken is great in that it depicts exactly what the photographer intended, and doesn't come out the way the photographer wanted it to, then it becomes problematic in that the viewer may not understand the photographer's intent and may have the possibility of seeing it as a bad photo. Every element of the process go hand in hand. If the photos that are taken aren't great, then the final print won't be great either. If the final print is bad, then it doesn't do justice to the great photos that were taken.
The photographer's choices in the darkroom can affect the meaning of an image because it is the printing process or these choices that create an effect on the final imagery the photo conveys. If the photographer decides to darken the photo, creating more highlights and shadows, it can create a powerful and mysterious imagery to the viewer's eye. On the other hand, because each person's perspectives, dislikes and likes vary, the photographer's choice in the darkroom may leave a negative or positive affect on people who are observing the photo. Thus, dodging and burning may or may not be a technique the photographer may choose to apply. It's a fun yet straining process in that meticulous judgment needs to be made in making certain parts of the photo darker or lighter, depending on what the photographer chooses to highlight. I personally, like the dodging and burning technique but feel a little hesitant in that it is, in a way, a manipulation of the original photo being taken. Because I'm only a beginnger and have yet to be experienced in this area, I find it exciting to see how my preferences will change.
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