festive photos

Here's some seasonal photos! Happy Halloween!

table top

Since midterm we've moved away from people for a bit and to the table top! ooooohhh pretty.....

lighting midterm

Here's my people images for midterm!

response #5

Aimee Beaubien

I was drawn to Aimee Beaubien's work because it really pushes the boundaries of what I consider a photograph. Her series, Found & Found, takes the two dimensional image and makes it seem more sculptural. She strips her pictures down to color relationships, textures and the basic forms. I'm intrigued by how she pairs images next to each other, and the shapes she chooses to cut out. The way she collages images has a fluidity to it. For me, I focus less on what the original images were of, but more on what her created images make that's new and different. As a lover of abstraction, I think it's interesting how these become abstractions of things that are based in reality.

Heather Evans Smith

Another artist I found really interesting was Heather Evans Smith. Her work is much more cinematic and theatrical. Her series, The Heart and the Heavy, are gorgeous images, but in each image there’s something that’s just a little off. The formal aspects of the images are beautiful to look at, including the lighting and textural details. The oddities of the scene give the images a surreal, dreamlike quality though that is quite nice. I really enjoy how she uses color in her images. Most of the image has a similar color palette, but then there’s one focal area that pops and draws your eye. Aside from the formal qualities of the work, I also like the concept. I feel like I can relate to the work because it’s about dealing with a struggle which everyone feels at some point in their life. I think the way she illustrates these struggles is really poetic and graceful. She illustrates a feeling in a beautiful way. 

Bill Miller

The last photographer I chose was Bill Miller. His work is also abstract and process wise reminds me a lot of my own work. Broken Polaroids, uses an inconsistent method of image making to produce abstract color studies. I like how he called the process a “photographic painting machine.” I’m really interested in that bridge between painting and photography. What I like about his images is the push and pull between how much information is actually recorded on the film versus how much the work becomes just the layers of color emulsion. While I’m drawn to the images on a purely visual basis because I like the simplicity of the colors and the unexpected alterations, the more I think about the process the more I get from the images. Personally as an artist I’m interested in capturing what the eye doesn’t see with my camera whether it be a snapshot of a fleeting moment, or drawing attention to something that’s overlooked. A broken camera in essence takes away the absolute of the photographic image. Instead of rendering what it sees, it picks and chooses what information it retains just like our brain does to what our eyes see. When I think about these images from that mindset, they really become something much more interesting.

Class in Narnia

During class today we took the alienbees and vagabonds outside in attempts to make Temple's campus look like a hidden oasis rather than the North Philly hood. We conquered the courtyard nicknamed Narnia and successful scared away all of the students seeking solitude there. Oh well, we looked great.

Studio Woes

So we had to get away from the perfect seamless and take the lights out of the studio. Too bad I never have time to ACTUALLY leave the studio, but I did, however, move them into a different room so it totally counts! Below are my images of how I feel most nights of the week....

What is a critique?

One of the greatest aspects of going to art school, but also one of the most intimidating, is the critique. I've experienced my fair share of both good and bad critiques in the last four years. While I used to dread "judgment day," critiques have come to be something I look forward to. This may be because I'm much more confident in the art that I'm making now, but also because I am more versed in critique etiquette than I was when I first arrived here. In the introduction to, The Critique Handbook, the author stresses the importance of distancing yourself enough from your work to be able to constructively dissect what is working and what isn't working. I couldn't agree more. A critique is more of a time to listen to how others respond to your work rather than to defend a singular viewpoint. I also liked how the author called it a "freeze frame in studio practice." Now that I'm working on my own artistic voice rather than short technical assignments, critiques are by no means the end. Usually critiques are progress reports that allow you to figure out how to move forward to make your work stronger.

Having the right dynamic is essential to a good critique. Personally, I favor more intimate critique settings because they can operate like conversations. With fewer people, a give and take can happen between the artist and viewers more so than a bigger group where it's easier to get off topic. I'm able to be more active and ask questions I want answered rather than reactive to what's being said. I can also ask why a viewer drew a particular conclusion. Too many people with too many interpretations can become overwhelming and I feel less in control. While I value the feedback from others, at the end of the critique you only get out as much as you put into it yourself. Coming unprepared, timid or closed minded won't help you better your work no matter how good the group critiquing it is.