Thoughts on Photography

hey Teach, last blog probably ever (atleast for you?) I skipped Hiroshi because I already wrote a blog for him. In all honesty this blog may not have much to do with Abelardo. So. Book is done. Im not happy, and I went back and read my old blogs. I'm still unsure that my work is true, but I still agree that id rather fuck up 100 times trying something than make a perfect piece of work. I know that I didn't make a good one here, and Im a bit sad about that. I think that I did indeed stretch myself too thin. I snapped a bit this semester, and my work took a hit, not just in art.  I wonder if I can find what I had in digital photo 1 again. That fire veins work is so good. I don't want to make it again, but I definitely think there's a piece of me deep inside that has something interesting to say. I think I may try to find it again, and if I can I hope its just as beautiful. I was honestly mad that I couldnt work harder on the book. Theres so much I wanted to do and so litt...

 Hey Teach, I WAS WRONG!!! I thought we had the last blog, and our artist. Well.. uhhh.. awkward. So, Alec Soth, I think I remember you talking about him. I don't remember exactly, what he did so lets go look! I gave a quick look to what Alec Soth produces, and it looks very contemporary and made with meaning behind the art beyond what it is. To be specific his photos seem to be made to speak a message, and I want to look further at his art to confirm or to think about what that might be. As it stands the quick glance made me think it might be about the brokenness of the world currently.  I was wrong! (As it stands) I looked at two of his projects, and it seems more so a meta type of art. Im figuring based on how he looks that he may be a disillusioned or theoretical artist who has worked for awhile and has become bored of normal works. At some level I also do see a bit of an abstract, surreal, and worldview undertone. His photos show almost the perspective of people if that m...

 Hey Teach, lets get right into it. Gordon is cool. I think his work on himself is what interested me the most because it felt somewhat related to my work. Self-work is always cool, exploration of your own mind. His is a bit meta, exploring perception of others through changing how you look, and in some ways is even an inverse of mine. What he does is to see how he can change others perceptions of him regardless of what's inside, what I do is to see how I can show my perception of myself inside to others.  I do find it interesting though, because it shows how easy it is by just changing how you look to change what people may see, or think they see, and how his face fits differently on every style. Its really weird but really cool. He says its an ongoing project and Im excited to see more. I also find myself drawn in by how fully he gives into the look, he embodies it and wears it like he loves it, or like he lives the lifestyle his look would. It leans into the silliness too, ...

 Hey Teach,  None of these guys really appeal to my specific style, not that I don’t like their work but none I can really use to inspire me directly, So I picked the one I found the coolest. That would be Mr Rejlander, his art just seemed interesting and the image of the many people slapped into one almost last supper like or renaissance painting was incredibly cool, I was drawn in! My first foray into his work will be looking at his images before any biography and going my personal perceptions and thoughts on his works in relation to me. My immediate thought or impression with the wide array of his images is that he almost shows a childlike wonder or imagination, his images may not all be happy, but it’s very playful stuff, artsy and silly and simple but always with technicality and effort. I really feel drawn into the image of him posing with himself, something about that feels real to me. I read it as this, The pose of his photographer self, or a certain self, maybe even h...

 Hey Teach, Today I am looking more in depth at Matthew Rolstons work because I really liked the one image he took where the dude has blood on his hand it was super cool looking to me and it got me interested. I have to say his work is really really technical, and creative too buuuuuut. I feel like he’s missing something? Like, for my taste at least. You’ve said it many times but, he’s boring. His whole thing is being this super creative eccentric guy so why is every photoshoot the same thing in a different color set man! I’d rather you have 100 shitty photos from experimenting rather than all of them being perfect. I do genuinely think they are all incredibly good photos too, I don’t deny that. But perfection is boring to me, consistency is too. I think that’s something the entire world agrees on, someone who does the same thing over and over, even if it’s just as good as before is just kinda not interesting. I’m going to try and find if he has any more interesting portraiture and...

 Hey Teach, I don’t know how I manage to do this every semester but this time I’m blaming myself less, because I had so much work to do. Anyways, here’s my view of Irving Penn. When you first spoke about him and showed us photos my first thought was, Oooh. Because it’s not really a style I see often, sadly I am writing about his still life’s today, but who knows, maybe those will be just as interesting as his portraits. They definitely aren’t bad, and there’s a few in here that really evoke some feelings in me, ones that hold motion in the still life, specifically one of a flower. It’s incredibly gorgeous, morning dew sitting on it, twirling in the air, striped black and white. I get the feeling that Irving Penn was an eccentric with an eye for details based on these still life’s because a lot of them are absurd, but every few are composed perfectly to the point you can tell that it took a very long time to set up. Specifically the few that two in color that are play items and kitc...