Semi-Contemporary - John Baldessari

Background

Born in National City, California, John Baldessari has made education an important component of his life. In 1957 he finished his masters degree at San Diego State College. He has also received many honorary degrees in recent years. He has also taught at several colleges in recent years with artwork and photography as his subjects. His work has appeared across the world at over 200 exhibits and over 1000 group exhibitions. Upcoming works include exhibitions in Milan. He was also recently featured on PBS.

Photography

His work ranges from billboards to videos and features a unique style. He is known for drawing attention to small details through different angles and lighting. He also accomplishes his style by obscuring faces and other components of his photographs to direct the attention of the viewer. He uses phrases and text to bring humor into his work.

Historical Photographer Research - Leslie Gill

Background

Born in 1908 in the United States, Leslie Gill was known especially for photographing popular culture. He did a lot of fashion photography in which styles were becoming more and more available to different socioeconomic classes. A lot of his work appeared in Harpers Bazaar, many of which appeared directly on the cover page. He studied art in Massachusetts and eventually landed a job as an art director for a popular fashion magazine. One of the his major innovations was the lighting and style in which he was able to capture a scene or a subject.

Photography

Although his photographs proved to be unique it was his constant push to use different equipment and materials that make his truly different. He began using larger photographs to convey his work. His goal was to bring new relationships between common and uncommon things. His work was both used commerically as well as observed as appreciating artistic techniques.

Recreation Assignment #4

The original is an ad from Saloman running shoes that appeared in a running magazine. The shoe is faded on the left and becomes more and more clear as it goes from left to right. The recreation I made used a slow shutter speed and lighting that comes from the front to show the motion of the shoe. I simply rotated the shoe after taking the picture.

Blog Response #21

A. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of “news”-related photographs.: I find that news related aspects are usually portraits of people, very close up. I would say they generally have a large aperture setting and focus on one or two subjects with a lot in the background.

B. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of “snapshots”, including family photographs, cell-phone shots, photos posted to facebook,: I think these photos are usually impromptu and fun. Most of the time, the photos are not centered or composed well, but do a great job of capturing moments when people are candid. The angle of the photograph is sometimes off as well.

C. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of advertisement photographs, including fashion photography, product photography, etc: These are very high contrast usually. The composition is suggestive and the product only takes up a small part of the overall photo.

D. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of film/movie and television stills.: I find these to have blur because of the motion of a movie. The composition is usually very balanced and expressions seem to be a bit "harder" than in normal photographs. They almost seem to capture actors ACTING instead of being the person the are portraying. In other words, stills find actors to be who they actually are, and not who they are acting to be.

E. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of yearbook photos, senior pictures, and team/club/sports group shots.: BORING! These pictures are so organized and simple. Composition is balanced and generally good, but dont do a very good job of capturing people how they are, but rather how they are told to be. I always see black and white when I think of these - but really the image is just bland gray.

F. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of stock images. http://www.corbisimages.com/ http://www.gettyimages.com/: These images almost seem to good to be true. The lighting is in just the right spots and shows faces and actions which almost are surreal. Highly interesting to see how a photographer tries to make a planned scene seem unplanned.

G. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of fashion photography.: High contrast. The subject is usually lit from the bottom up and has very bright lights on them. The rest of the photo seems to fade out thanks to the darker lighting.

H. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of paparazzi shots or celebrity photographs.: Off angles with a lot of flash. These pictures are more just to capture something and not necessarily to capture a quality, well-composed picture.

Blog Response #20

#20 Describe at least one photograph that you could take for each of the following “place” prompts.

• An image of a synthetic “place” such as Disney World, Las Vegas, a Hollywood set, a diorama, etc.: I think immediately of a picture down the Las Vegas strip in which there are millions of people crowding the streets. It is dark and the picture is done with a long shutter speed. There are lots of blurry images showing the activity.

• An image of a fantasy/fictitious environment concocted from your imagination.: I can see the image of a treehouse with a lot of different characters from my life in it. The characters would be represented by different types of keepsakes, such as books, which would remind me of each person.
• An image of a placeless space such as the Internet, cell phones, e-mail, e-bank, surveillance, etc.: I imagine a black hole with a very small hole and a very bright light shining through. This image represents the potential for bad and good things that come from the massive space of the internet.
• An image of a public space.: I see a parking garage... But the image would be looking from the very top of the garage all the way down to the bottom, through the holes that form at each floor. The image would focus as far into the "floor" of the garage as possible.
• An image of a private space.: I see a bedroom, with high contrast. I see a lot of personal things such as books and magazine which someone reads just before they go to bed.
• An in-between space that brings to mind one of the following ideas: nomadic lifestyles, displacement, rootlessness, out-of-placeness, boundaries, movement, expansion, etc.: This is under a bridge in downtown Lansing where a lot of transients spend time. Its dark, wet and somewhat spooky, but still friendly.

Blog Response #19

#19. Can you think of anything that:

1) should not be photographed? Why?
I think in cultures where photographs are bad luck, there should be restrictions around this. In no way is a photograph more important than the culture where photographs are being taken. Additionally, there are some intimate moments in one's life that shouldn't be photographed. I think this is different for everyone, but there are lines of respect which one must be careful not to cross.

2) cannot be photographed? Why?
I dont think there is much that absolutely CANNOT be photographed. The only thing that I can think of are things we aren't aware of. For example, we have been able to capture and photograph things like space, which we didn't know enough about in the past to be able to even take pictures of.

3) you do not want to photograph? Why?
I would prefer not photograph people who are weak moments. I find that people dont want to be photographed during times in their life when things are bad or weak.

Assignment 3

Composition: The picture places the sunset to the left and shows a lot of the blank space to the right. The sun is placed at the center to create an effect of a longer, but even horizon.

Concept/Aboutness/Idea: This image is about the freedom and openness we have as individuals. When I see this picture, I see a world of possibility. The way I took the picture was to communicate this huge expanse. All in all, it should make the viewer happy about the future and whats to come.

Method: I took this during a flight and took many pictures and angles of the sunset. I included some of the parts of the plane in other photographs, but this one seemed to get across what I really wanted to show: Openness. I was cramped into a seat with a lot of people around, but that was freeing in a way to think more creatively. I aligned different angles and zooms to refined.

Motivations: To communicate an open world and openness to experience.

Context: This I think address some social contexts out there with how the world is fighting (Middle East). I think we lose sight, more often than not, about what the world really should be. This picture might be a reminder to the leaders that there is more to the world than just power. The photograph reminds me of some of the work by Richard Mosse insomuch that it is a similar subject to what Richard has done. The composition is slightly different.

PART 2- REACTIONS. 3.15.11
Interpretation: Many people find this to be a relaxing photo that shows early morning light. It is actually a sunset, but some feel it is more "morning light".

Evaluation: I think the composition is good and the lighting is just okay. Overall, I think the photo is somewhat boring and generic. Even after editing, it seems to make the horizon smaller than what I would have liked to capture.

Extension: I would like to use this as a starting point for a series of sunsets and sunrises... It could be a nice spot to start in capturing this type of light with different scenes.
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Composition: This picture is composed with the lights and street leading through the middle of the picture at a diagonal. The steam from the street is masking the lights which are at the top left and right of each corner.

Concept/Aboutness/Idea: This image is about the old and the new. Although the picture is of Lansing as it is today, it also represents what was in the past.

Method: I used a somewhat longer shutter speed for this picture because it was taken at night. There was very little light around me at the time. I used a tripod because of the long shutter speed. I worked from several different angles to get this picture because the steam was constantly moving.

Motivations: To bring together the old and the new in a different way.

Context: This photograph captures how we as a society are constantly looking backwards as we approach our own futures.

PART 2- REACTIONS. 3.15.11
Interpretation: Many people see this photo as something from the past. It was expressed that it almost looks "old" or "historical".

Evaluation: The composition is relatively good and the steam seems to frame up the subject. The photo is a little too dark and therefore loses some of the effect that I was hoping to capture with the picture. This got worse after turning it into a black and white.

Extension: I think this could be a starting point to show dark scenes in downtown areas. This could be a spot for dark alleys and even dirty areas (dumpster, etc.).
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Composition: This picture captures on the right most of the street lamp. Nearly the entire upper right section of the photograph shows the lamp and on the lower left hand corner is the statue. Overall, there is a balancing effect between these two key objects.

Concept/Aboutness/Idea: This image reminds me of New York City in the winter. It is capturing the serenity that seems to come with snow, even when there is a lot of chaos.

Method: I used an aperture around f/5.6 and took the picture from many different angles. It was during the middle of the day, so there was a lot of light to work with. In the future, I would have gotten closer to the subject and not used as much zoom. This would have helped to blur the background more. In photoshop, I sharped the lamp and blurred the rest of the photograph.

Motivations: To capture the serenity that comes with the snow in the city.

Context: The picture reminds me of the work of Pannos Kokkinias in some ways. The composition and colors are similar to Pannos'. Overall, this picture communicates how the world seems to wrap around us and changes, without us really noticing.

PART 2- REACTIONS. 3.15.11
Interpretation: This photograph was also viewed as somewhat historic. The lamp in focus seems to bring you back to another place in time, even though there are modern day things in the background.

Evaluation: This is my favorite of all of my photographs because it seems to be the best composed. I think it is interesting because of the background - it seems to capture your attention.

Extension: I'd like to do a series of photographs that show public lamps such as this one. All the lamps seem so interesting and almost out of place within the bounds of a city landscape.
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Composition: The airplane is centered in the middle of the photo and the sides are blurred. Overall, the subject takes up the majority of the photograph and other elements fade out.

Concept/Aboutness/Idea: The concept in this photograph was to capture something that was strange within its own context. The plane is hanging from the ceiling of a building and seems to be really out of place, but is not really noticed by the people who see it.

Method: I was using the escalator and riding up taking pictures. It struck me that the plane would be an ideal subject and my camera was already on a longer shutter speed. Somehow I was able to get the focus point at the propeller, but everything else blurred.

Motivations: I wanted to show the motion of the plane in a strange context. The photograph should make someone think hard and look hard at what is happening.

Context: In a way this photograph reminds me of Duane Michals. Duane has some work in which the size or perspective of his work is way off and much different. I think this photograph does the same thing.

PART 2- REACTIONS. 3.15.11
Interpretation: Most people seem to think that this photograph is actually a toy airplane. The picture was actually taken in an airport. Many people think that the plane looks like it is coming right at you.

Evaluation: I think I got luck with the focus point being in at the center of the plane, however, I wish more of it were in focus. I didn't have a tripod, but I think that the main improvement would be the overall focus of the plane.

Extension: This could be the beginning of a series of pictures in transportation spots, like the airport and train station.