4/28 Show Entry

I have entered a show that was listed in The Center for Fine Art Photography. It is an international call for entries for a show called Dreams.

THEME:

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Dreams

Dreams are a creation of images, ideas, sensations and emotions that occur in our conscious and subconscious mind. They can be the manifestation of our aspirations, goals, andfears both realistic and fantastic.

JUROR:

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Aline Smithson

Aline Smithson has been the Gallery Editor for Light Leaks magazine, writes and edits the blog, Lenscratch, and has curated exhibitions for a number of galleries and on-line magazines. Smithson is a national reviewer of photography and is a contributing writer of Diffusion, Too Much, Chocolate, Lucida, and F Stop Magazine. Her photographs have been featured in numerous publications including the PDN Photo Annual, Communication Arts Photo Annual, Eyemazing, Artworks, Shots, Pozytyw, and Silvershotz magazines. Her work has widely been exhibited nationally in museums and galleries.

idea 4/13 - Time

Time.

It's expressed in a linear fashion, but does it really move in that format?

Time is a theme that seems to be overwhelming my series this semester. Both conceptually and throughout the process. The entire series itself is a reflection upon my past and where it has led me to this point.

This Point.

Maybe that is where my mental/creative block is coming from. I have been solely creating memories from my past, which though there may seem like a lot... in reality I am 21 years old and have barely experienced life.

What if I was to create "memories from the future"? How would that affect my series and how the audience reacts to it? What would I include? How would I justify each image as holding the same importance of events I have actually experienced and learned from already? If time only is represented in a linear fashion, but infacts moves in all directions then who is to say that I can't produce images of things I have yet to experience but still anticipate experiencing?

My work this semester is so time based, that it makes me wonder where it is safe to end my series. Whether I should end it at present day, before present day but at a pivotal life moment, or somewhere I have not had the opportunity to explore yet.

As the semester draws to a close, I am full of all sorts of anticipations of where my life is headed and how much time I have for this and that. I feel this subject is something I have to address in my series. I'm just not really sure how to go about it.

Visiting Artist - Trevor Paglen

Trevor Paglen

When Trevor Paglen first started talking about his work, I was immediately lost. I was a bit concerned that I may indeed be in the wrong lecture. I'm not going to lie, there were moments in the lecture where I wanted to ask "is this a government lesson or is this an artist lecture?" It was not until the end that my questions were answered. Paglen spent an admirable amount of time researching his concept and photographing methods. But I question wether or not going through half an hour on Government Secrecy was necessary before getting to his art. But then again "would his art stand alone, without explaination" is what one student questioned.

As far as Paglen's art goes, I am especially fond of his work using high powered telescopes to photograph locations you cannot get to. The images are beautiful in a very backwards way. You end up seeing a town, or a power plant, but the way the light starts to bend in the image creates this hazy and dream-like quality that I am really fond of. Paglens lecture definitely sparked my imagination on what is in my photographs that I am not able to see with the naked eye.

Artist 4/3 - Brian Ulrich

Brian Ulrich - Photographer

http://notifbutwhen.com/

Brian Ulrich is an artist born in New York in 1971. He got BFA at the University of Akron and his MFA in photography at Columbia College Chicago. His work has been included in many publications such as Aperture, The Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times. Ulrich has also been displayed in many museums and group and solo shows.

I am a big fan of Brian Ulriches work for many reasons. From the aesthetic to the concept, I feel very engaged with his work. I find his work very inspiring to the work I am doing and the work that I generally produce. Though Ulrich and I have vastly different aesthetic appeal, we have one underlying factor: human interaction. I think that is why I thoroughly enjoy Ulriches work. Because he appeals to my curiosity of humanity and human interaction. I really enjoy his images without people in them as well. There's something profound about the absence of human presence. It causes wonder and forces the viewer to create a short narrative about why people are not in the frame and where they might be. I have done the same in my work in the past and have contemplated doing the same in my new series. Though I feel with this series it would not produce the effect I am working for.

"...not just the changing retail landscape, but also the change in our economy and an economic model that has been in place since the mid-20th century. It's an economy based on disposable goods, and a society that has a continual influx of leisure time and cash to spend on new stuff. But things are changing and happening so fast, it's insane. Literally, timing the photography of a lot of these sites and locations is key -- the places get bulldozed."

Apple, Lauren. An Interview With Brian Ulrich. Chicagoist. http://chicagoist.com/2009/04/17/post_12.php. April 2009. Web.

"The idea went back to 2005 when I drove weekly past a large closed supermarket on the North Side of Chicago. At night the space really transformed from one of neglect and misuse to something incredibly visual that described a Rothko-esque painting space divided in three parts (parking lot, building, and sky). I spent a few nights making some photographs to try and replicate what I saw. I had been working on a larger project dealing with American consumerism, and it was no surprise to me that these spaces would fail and dwindle as fast they arise. I was in the midst of a deeper project, photographing in thrift stores and recycling shops as part of my “Copia” series, so I shelved the idea."

Samadzadeh, Nozlee. Ghosts of Shopping Past. The Morning News. http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/galleries/ghosts_of_shopping_past/ December 2009. Web.

idea 3/30 - personality

I've been realizing of late that my series has a lot to do with personality. It ranges from experiences that shape my personality, to the personality that the series itself it takes on. I've also found that in a way it reads as multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder). I find that this last aspect has an interesting relation the my series. I mean, I am in fact playing each individual "character" within the scene. So while at first I read as different people in each image, upon closer look you begin to realize that each one is me. Which then raises the question of "which one really is me?" or even which experience is really mine?

"Dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is a fairly common effect of severe trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse"

WebMD. Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder

I found it really interesting that WebMD states that D.I.D. is usually the effect of severe trauma during childhood considering I have been picking some traumatic memories of my past to recreate. The article goes on to say that a majority of the population experiences mild dissociation such as "daydreaming or getting lost in the moment while working on a project." Though the disorder itself is a more severe manifestation of a distinct mental process "which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity."

To clarify, I am not stating that I myself suffer from Dissociative  Identity Disorder/ Multiple Personality Disorder. I am merely touching on the idea that my work this semester manifests itself in a state that is similar. It almost presents itself that way to the viewer and manipulates the viewers mind to confuse themself on what area or "character" that they relate to or view the image as.

Learning about this disorder, I believe, will help me to further shape the "personality" that my work is taking on. I'm excited to add this onto my research for what will become my final work.

artist 3/28 Blake Ogden

Blake Ogden

http://www.ogdenpictures.com/

 

I really enjoy Blake Ogdens work for many reasons. First off I really love the nostalgic feel that it creates when you are looking at his images. I also love the personification in some of the images that is created with the objects that he photographs. These images create somewhat of a narrative within the work that makes you wonder what the story is behind these objects. Ogden builds a relationship between the objects, himself, and the viewer that is unique.

Ogden's been in many solo exhibitions and publications. Some of which include The Photo Review  in 2001 and 2000, Plates to Pixels Magazine   in 2009, and Intimate History in 2009 to name a few.

The reflection on the past is what really draws me to Ogdens work however. I feel that in theme it may be similar to my own work this semester. Also the way he shows relationship between the dolls in two of the pictures is similar to the concept of relationship within my own work.

"I prefer to work with film. My black and white work is printed conventionally in a chemical darkroom, while my color work is scanned from film and then out put as digital pigment prints."

Art Review. http://www.artreview.com/profile/BlakeDOgden. 2011. Web.

3/24 Show Entry

I entered 3 pieces into the Anderson Gallery show. These are my images that I submitted.

And here are my entry receipts: