My Morning Jacket & The Camera

I was watching this video, and it made me really start thinking about how easy it is to record information with the cameras that we have available to us in this day and time. It hit home with what we've talked about in class.

http://www.mymorningjacket.com/gogo/video/

JC

(Jessica was having trouble posting this, so here is her question.)

Most of us, while we have all spent a lot of time the darkroom, have not printed in traditional color format. The book addresses (P.305) the digitalizing of image making and the false innocence that follows. If each of you were asked to print in traditional color format would you choose different sorts of color assignments to pursue or would you continue with your original subject matter because the end result is still a two dimensional print? Also do you view traditional printing processes differently than inkjet printing (or images captured in digital format) and personally does it affect your overall view of the aura of the work?

Chapter 7

"The new malleability of the image may eventually lead to a profound undermining of photography's status as an inherently truthful pictorial form" (Ritchin)

Do you think this notion has already been solidified in how photography is viewed today? Does the truth even matter anymore?

It seems like people are becoming more passive about images that are altered, looking though a magazine one might say, "that's so photoshopped!" (now that I think about it, I hear this all the time) but people continue reading fashion/celebrity pollution*. What does this say about the society we live in? altered images find their way into "news" publications more frequently now, while most are caught, do you think there will be a time when these things commonly pass under-the-radar and are just accepted as fact?

* sorry?

And an additional sorry for being really bad at this.

And just because:

A day late and a dollar short

Hi.
Some things to think about and answer in your journal with regards to this week's readings:

1. If there were no financial gain to be had, would you prefer to own the Edward Weston image, Neil's Torso (1925)- or the Sherrie Levine copy, After Edward Weston (1981)? Why? How is her appropriation of Edward Weston's photo different from Duchamp's Readymades?

2. Grundberg mentions "photography's inherent strain of postmodernism" and claims that the photographs of Walker Evans and Robert Frank both exhibit postmodern characteristics by "attempting to create a text with [their] photographs". Do you agree with his statement? Are their other modernist photographers who could be included in this category?

3. Given that both Grundberg and Crimp's essays were written 15-20 years ago, do you feel that their analysis of postmodernism and photography is relevant to today's artmaking and photography? It is often difficult to define the current epoch in which one is living- do you think that we are still in the postmodern era?



3.

Chapter 6: Women/Identity

Women and their "role" in photography was discussed in conjunction with identity and misrepresentation of both.

Libby Anson states:
"The mere mention of the phrase of 'women's art' sends shivers down the art establishment spine - more radical feminists on the war-path! Feminism, advocacy of women's rights on the ground of equality, is usually misinterpreted to mean exclusively female, probably radical and, more than likely, shaven-headedly lesbian. It's curious how this misconception perpetuates!"

Do you believe "misconceptions" about women, such as this one, still exist in art? If so, in what way? Also, do you agree (why or why not) with the statement: "The presence of women photographers in the gallery is now taken for granted"? (pg. 282)

Chapter Six

In this chapter Wells mentions factors that made the twentieth century a key era of Artistic Change, such as:

-The Growth of publishing, where futurist, cubist, surrealist, and, constructivist announced birth of their new art movement through manifestos by publishing them in magazines and journals.

- Dislocation of Artist, caused by the war and revolution, contributed a sense of art movements as international, as artist migrated within Europe or to North America, spreading ideas and making work which suggested new ways of seeing.

1. Do you think now is a key era for artist change? Why or why not?

Trevor Paglen

We talked about Trevor Paglen's black site work in class a while ago. He did a talk with Google back in February, but I just found this video on VVORK.com so I thought I would post it here. Enjoy.

Ch. 5 Question (part 2)

1. Bring in an advertising image in which the "signified" is ambiguous or could be decoded "incorrectly" by different cultures.

2. Do you think that advertising strategies have changed to account for the increasing globalization of our consumer culture?

Do you think that "commodity culture" photography has in a way shaped fine art photography? Debord said that "ordinary people who are spectators of spectacle remain passive, un-creative, and therefor powerless in the running of society" and that "the world hid reality". Do you think that fine art photographers feel the need to photograph "the real" because commodity culture photography rarely does? Would they photograph differently if they did not feel like they had to compete/respond to this other genre of photography?

Also - do you think that high-end fashion photography or other commodity culture photography that is created with great technical and aesthetic skill could be considered fine art?

Ch. 5 Questions

This week's reading assignment:
- Read Ch. 5, pages 195-215.
- Read Ch. 1 of Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. See this link for the text: http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/16

1. "Read" the following image as a production of spectacle and as a construction of the relationship between celebrity & press.


Nicole Richie with husband & newborn baby.

Midterm Exam

Due: 1 p.m., Thursday, February 26. Late assignments will not be accepted.

Choose 3 out of the following 4 questions to answer. Your answers should be around 400 words or more and typed. Please proofread your answers making sure that there are no misspellings, no grammatical errors, good word choice, etc., as points will be deducted from answers that are unclear or poorly written. You may use your book to answer these questions, however, all thoughts should be expressed in your own words.
Please remember that this is a private endeavor, and your answers should be the result of your own inquiry, not conversations with others.

1. Trace the transition of the documentary photograph from the 19th century to our current conception of documentary photography, making sure to include examples.
What events and photographers have contributed to the way we define documentary photography today?
 Then answer the following questions:

- What are the inherent “problems” of documentary photography?

- How do you distinguish between documentary photographs and art photographs that are documentary? 

- Is it important to distinguish between the two?


2. Discuss the images below in terms of photography’s role in identifying and defining the “Other”. 
Also discuss how these images exemplify Foucault’s theory of knowledge and power. Then answer the following questions:

How does the classification of people according to type still exist in our society today? Give an example.

Do you think it is possible to build an archive of data that is “powerless”? What would that be? Be as creative as you wish.




3. Using the image below, discuss the concept of “objectification” of the female body within photography, as it relates to Freudian psychoanalysis and the male gaze.
Then answer the following:

- How would you define “the female gaze”? Is it different at all from the male gaze?

- Do you think the concept of the male gaze exists outside of a heterosexual framework? How?




















4. Discuss the characteristics of personal portrait photography, specifically the unique relationship that exists between photographer and subject.

- What is power structure within that relationship? How is it different from other photographer-subject relationships?

- How do Robert Rainey’s projects Walmartification and Self Portrait Family subvert that relationship?

Chapter 4 (part 2) Questions:

1. Both of the following are images, even portraits of Joseph Paul Jernigan, whose body was dissected for the Visible Human Project.

What do you think about the ethics of this scientific advancement? Relate these to a discussion of archives and power.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/mpeg/umd_video.mpg

http://web.archive.org/web/20020126123230/www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statistics/deathrow/executed/jernigan.jpg

2. Look at a few of Francesca Woodman's images here:
http://francescawoodman.net/

Read the Peggy Phelan article that has been emailed to you.
Come to class with any questions/thoughts about Phelan's assertion that Woodman's suicide may be viewed as a "gift".

Chapter 4 Question

Do you think that Galton's creation of composite portraiture has a legitimate use in society or will it always be construed into some sort of prejudice.

Finished Ch. 4 question sorry guys!

From an objective look per say the nude body is a natural form, but can be viewed as pleasurable under any circumstance (pornographic, artistic, medically). This being said, there is so much conflict when it comes to viewing the adult nude body, would you view Jock Sturges or Sally Mann's work on the same level (as pleasure) or would you consider it different, why or why not?

In addition, would you view photographing the nude body (male or female) a perverse use of photography if so is it because we have become too uncomfortable with our bodies (as suggested by Mikhail Bakhtin on pg. 173) OR do you think this type of photography has integrated itself into our society and is no longer an issue?

additional Ch. 4 Questions from Lauren

From an objective look per say the nude body is a natural form, but can be viewed as pleasurable under any circumstance (pornographic, artistic, medically). This being said, there is so much conflict when it comes to viewing the adult nude body, would you view Jock Sturges or Sally Mann's work on the same level (as pleasure) or would you consider it different, why or why not?

In addition, would you view photographing the nude body (male or female) a perverse use of photography or have we become too uncomfortable with our bodies as suggested by Mikhail Bakhtin on pg. 173?

Chapter 4 Questions

1. Do you think that the male body is objectified in the same way that the female body is? In what instances? Do you think that the power of this "female gaze" holds as much power as the "male gaze" in our contemporary society?

2. John Berger wrote about the idea of the surveyor and the surveyed in his book Ways of Seeing (1972) .

http://www.scribd.com/doc/243296/Ways-of-Seeing-John-Berger

Using the link above, read pages Chapters 2 (all images) and Chapter 3. Do you agree or disagree with Berger?

Nashville Art

Some good art happening this weekend...

Thursday, 5 - 6:30 pm, artist talk at 5 pm
Ron Lambert, Photography & Sculpture
Sarratt Gallery, Sarratt Student Center, Vandy.
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sarrattgallery/directions.html

Friday, 6 pm, Watkins Juried Student Show!

Friday, 6-9 pm (performance at 7 pm), Gallery talk on Sunday at 3 pm
Unusual Sympathy- Carlin Wing (Watkins photo faculty) & Amelia Winger-Bearskin
Gallery F @ Vanderbilt
- a story of a Creek Indian boy in the home of a president
- an installation of drawings, video, original songs, text & photography revolving around the Creek Indian boy, Lyncoya, orphaned on the battlefield & adopted by Andrew Jackson
http://www.scarrittbennett.org/giftshop/galleryf.aspx

Saturday night:
Sharon Hart (Watkins photo faculty) will have an opening at Tinney Contemporary.
http://tinneycontemporary.com/

The Very Average Arbus

When Sontag discusses the comparisons between Diane Arbus and Andy Warhol (and their behavioral tendencies when it came to fame and the freakishly absurd) she ends up considering Arbus' contrast from the boorish life she lived, and her desire to photograph the unseen oddity, relatively 'quaint.' What do you think happens to our contemporary visual culture when abnormality, freakishness, 'evil,' and anything else that had been previously excluded from normal society, is now very much a boring commodity of television/popular culture? And why do you think the idea of 'Shock' has been subsumed into the status quo?

Additional Chapter 3 Question

Do you believe that those photographs taken by everyday people for personal use, such as family albums, are of more, less, or equal importance to those photographs taken by professionals? Do you view them differently?
In addition, in the excerpt from Susan Sontag's On Photography, based on Whitman's idea that everything exhibits beauty and is of equal importance, she writes that "No moment is more important than any other moment; no person is more interesting than any other person." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

Chapter 3

1. Do you think that our move to digital photography has drastically changed the nature of family photo collections? As images are increasingly stored in their digital form (and sent via email or uploaded online) as opposed to printed out and put in an album, how does that change the nature of photography archives for future generations?

2. Has seeing yourself in a personal photograph influenced the construction of your own identity? Has it played a larger part in that identity construction at certain points in your life?

3. When you view family photos or personal photos as a reader rather than a user, what do you find? Bring in an example of a personal photo that may exhibit interest for both a user and a reader.

Chapter 2

1. Watch the following interview with Taryn Simon, photographer of the series An Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar and The Innocents. She touches on a number of topics that we discussed during class, such as the historical documentary role of photography and the context in which her photographs are viewed. Do you agree with her statement that "the museum is the purest form in which to show work"? What about her statement regarding collaboration with her subjects? What other points did she bring up that were of interest to you?

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8366


2. Answer the following questions that were recently posed in a public forum about documentary photography (from the "What is Real?" symposium at the ICP, December 2008)

Does the blurring of “documentary” and “art” attest to the failure of traditional documentary forms, or does it merely evince a drive to produce socially and politically relevant work, whatever the context?
Have documentary tendencies in art diluted the effectiveness or truth-value of socially engaged, “concerned” documentary?
Has the very impossibility of objective truth itself become a trope?


3. Do you think that Humphrey Spender's Mass Observation project bears any resemblance to the current proliferation of blogs, Facebook, etc. in which in which participants may share details of their daily life? How are they different?