Last Class and Final Project

Tonight is our last class. I am really going to miss it. It was almost like a meditative experience in the darkroom on Sunday mornings when hardly anyone was there. Just hanging out over the chemical trays walking through the process....many, many times. There was a direct correlation between the size of the test strips I used and the amount of unused photo paper I had left. As the count went down, so did the size of the test strip. It became a challenge placing the test strip in just the right spot to get the reading needed for the final print.

I wanted to go home after the work I did in the darkroom on Sunday to do the spotting...so I ran over to the Camera Company in Norwood and bought a bottle for $4. It was worth it to sit at home and touch the prints up....once I figured out what I was doing! While I was at the store a young woman from Adam's class was buying more paper and another student from Bridgewater College was buying supplies for her final project!! That time of year. I was also able to buy some black wooden frames at the Dollar Store in Brockton for $1 each. Touched up with a black marker they work quite nicely.

I have more than the 10 prints that were required....I tried to leave some behind but it seemed to put a hole in my story...and I really, really enjoyed doing this project. It is so completely outside of anything I've ever attempted or even thought about. I would love to do more like it.....

Anyway, looking forward to seeing everyone's projects tonight. I have sugar and chocolate chip cookies in the car (not homemade although I wanted to).

Dreams of Breaking Out of my Cube

I'm sitting at work right now..been here since 6:30am...and yes, it's a Saturday when I should be home dusting or vacuuming or running errands. Yuk! I'll be leaving within the next hour and am anxiously looking forward to having my two teenage models show up for the photo shoot. They couldn't make it Thursday and they couldn't make it last night but will definitely be there tonight. I hope the weather holds up. I have some ideas on the shots I want to take. Hopefully I can get the rolls shot and then developed tomorrow to begin working on some additional prints. I don't know the sequencing yet or how it will play out but I think that will be some of the fun part at the end...once I've got sufficient prints made. Anyway, I thought I would take a break from the stress of this job and daydream a little about being outside of my cube in the real world doing something that is 300% more interesting and fun!!! Until next time....

Girl on Park Bench-Emmanuel's Print

Print Analysis

I have Emmanuel’s portrait of the girl on the park bench. A few things stand out from the photo right away. The girl is situated slightly off center and her head is turned to the right, she is not looking at her photographer. Her hands are inside her jacket pocket and she is sitting very erect. She doesn’t look relaxed. Instead she appears to have something on her mind.

Also noteworthy is that to her right is just enough bench space for another person. She is not in the center of the bench, there’s a great deal of room to her left. But to her right, the space is more limited, more intimate. Someone is missing from the photo that should be sitting on the bench to her right. Did that person just walk away and she is looking at their departure? Is this person on the way to meet her and she is looking in the direction from which they should be arriving? Based on the controlled emotion showing in the girl’s face, I would have to say the person is one she if very close to, in a relationship with, such as a boyfriend. And the relationship is in a turbulent state. She is now not sure what to do or where to go….so she just sits and stares at nothing, seeking control. Maybe the argument happened days ago and they are meeting for reconciliation….and she is trying to keep her emotions stable.

This photo could be the beginning of a relationship or the end of one…or one of the many low points that accompany most long-term ones. Her lack of eye contact with the photographer is very telling. She chooses not to engage, has effectively locked out anyone from seeing inside her head, knowing what she is thinking. The photo is very low key, the only bright spot is her slacks and sneakers, her legs and feet, that can stay immobile, paralyzed by her emotions. Or they can enable her, free her to move on.

At first glance Emmanuel’s photo is a very nicely crafted print of a young girl sitting on a bench. Upon further reflection, I see a deeply emotional and telling photograph of young woman at an emotional crossroad.

The Role of Photography in Communication

One of the definitions of communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs. Years back, communication was delivered mainly through words with photographs for emphasis. I think, today, the balance has shifted toward photographs and video to deliver the message and away from the written word. Admittedly, television, with the power to deliver live feeds from battle fronts, natural disasters and school shootings has been a main contributor. However the emergence of the internet has made the photograph just as influential. This combination, along with the hurried lifestyles we all live today make it so much easier to just ‘surf the net’, peruse the photos and their captions and move onto the next item. No longer do we need to read the details, we have it all in one photograph and a few lines. Dozens of photographs can be uploaded to the internet for world wide viewing in mere minutes. Why would an individual spend countless hours writing descriptive details of the horrors of Iraq or the suffering of Katrina victims when they can shoot and upload hundreds of photographs that say it all? Last week, our professor mentioned the Civil War and the photography that took place then. I have a book on the Civil War at home as it is the one time in history I wish I had more time to spend understanding. Anyway, Richard, my 10 year old grandson was over. He, like most kids, has a non-existent attention span. However he pulled this book off the shelf and within 10 minutes, he was immersed in the Civil War. I explained high level what it was, why it occurred and how terribly tragic it was but the pictures in the book said all the things I didn’t say. He began to understand that this was a very sad and awful era in our history, he asked many questions and every time he comes to the apartment, he grabs the book. He’s not reading it, (although he is fully capable) he’s looking at the photographs and asking questions. So maybe the role of photography in communication is to get to all the people too busy to read, too young for a measurable attention span or those who want to know it all, about everything, right now. Sure, they may read more into a photograph than is there, or misinterpret, but this will spark conversation and that, too, is communication.

Lunar Ec;lipse

I had a tough time trying to capture the lunar eclipse, which occurred a few weeks back, with my digital camera but I did get a few half-way decent photos. The ones I took with my manual camera aren't very good as I did not have a telephoto lens and, subsequently, they came out looking like a white spot on a black background. My digital has a telephoto lens built in (but kept trying to adjust itself automatically). Anyway, I thought I would post these three. It will be a few years before we see another...maybe by then I'll have a lens worthy of capturing it!

Interesting Web Site

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this site already but there is a pretty nice website, photo.net, that has lots of photos to look through if you are just surfing around the net. The photos are uploaded by various photographers and the site is well organized. You can look through photos based on category, when they were uploaded, read critiques by members, etc. There are a wide range of categories to look through; Landscapes, Architecture, Street, Flowers, Fine Art, Events, Documentary, etc. The photos are color and are all digital but they are still nice to get a feel for composition and ideas for future projects. Speaking of motion the other night, there are some real great shots under the Sports category and grittiness of life is fairly evident in many of the Street shots. I included a couple I liked.

The sports one I like because of the way the rider is silhouetted against the light at the back of the tunnel and in the water on the street. The photo is dark but you can still make out the detail in the walls of the tunnel (even the grafitti) and what looks like street transit tracks on the street. I think this photo says a lot about teenagers, riding from the light of day, their youth, into the unknown world without hesitation or fear. The silhouette leaves his identity unknown making him any teenager in any city.

The street shot got me because of the sadness I see in the child's eyes and the look of despair in his dad's face. The child is zipped inside his dad's jacket to keep him warm. I sense a note of resignation in both their faces, how this can be apparent in a child so young I don't know but I think the photographer caught it well. The empty coffee cup is a mystery...did he just finish a cup of coffee or is he holding it out in the hopes of a handout from a passerby? The viewer can interpret this as he wishes.

Light & Shadow Assignment

I'm having lots of fun with this assignment...especially finding many different light sources, both inside and out. Not sure how the night ones will come out...I drove down to the Scituate lighthouse tonight (it's lit up in the evenings) and took a few shots...being there at night is a much different feeling than in the light of day. I hope that shows through in the photos (if they come out). Also, the light coming in my bedroom window this morning produced some great shadow effects on the wall. Had to stop what I was doing to take a few frames...

Shutter, Aperture and Compostion Assignment

Well, after spending three long nights in the darkroom, I think I finally have my six prints completed. I think by the time I got to the sixth one, I was comfortable adjusting the aperture, the exposure time and knowing what effect the filters would have on my prints. They are not perfect, for sure, but came out better than I thought they would. If I have time before next class, after all you youngsters come back from spring break, I might try a couple of things. My paper is getting low so I'll need to replenish before then. I'm already thinking of the next assignment, light and shadow, and am excited at the prospect of experimenting with it. The snow tomorrow should prove beneficial. I think I'll also try photographing my grandson's hockey game this weekend....but I don't quite have the knack for taking motion photos yet...especially shooting through the glass that surrounds a hockey rink. I'll read up on it a bit before I try it. Hope everyone has a good vaca.

Library Assignment

I finally found the stack of monographs (with a little help from a classmate) and began a very pleasant journey. I don't know any photographers or their work so I began by leafing quickly through books while sitting on a step stool in the middle of the aisle. I put aside those that made me hesitate. These were the ones I would peruse further. Among the photographers that compelled me to stop fanning pages were Eugene Atget, Roger Fenton, Jan Groover, Walker Evan and W. Eugene Smith.

Eugene Atget's monograph collection from "I Grandi Fotografi" included woodland and seaside scenes and architectural photos. Both subjects are near and dear to me, especially the architectural ones. I can't tell you how many photos of churches, homes and businesses I have from my vacation in Nova Scotia last year. He also photographed people surrounded by the wares of their trade that were obviously posed, yet somehow natural. One of my goals at the beginning of this class was to do just this, especially when away on vacation. The fact that he did it, I guess, is what made me slow down and pay more attention to the photos.

Roger Fenton's series in "Aperture Masters of Photography" was my next stop. His compositional ability was superb but the way he wove people into them, without obstructing the grandeur of the scene was uncanny. I'm constantly taking photographs of scenery but always hesitate to include 'humans' as I think they will distract from the photo. I can see that is not always the case by looking at his work. He, too, had many architectural photos, especially churches. There was one of two churches, one in the near distant, almost next door, that reminded me of the closeness of the churches I saw, again, on my trip to our Canadian neighbors in NS. Different faiths with a different look in the same neighborhood.

My third stop was a female photographer, Jan Groover, "Photographs". She had many still lifes which I tend to find both pleasing and confusing....sometimes I just don't understand what the artist was trying to say. There were many of hers that caused this same head-scratching. The mix of materials didn't make sense no matter how much I opened my mind. However, she did have a couple of beach scenes, one was a very soft seaside scene where I could just imagine a person had, minutes before, stepped away from the table. Another was so natural that I could almost hear children's laughter as they ran beneath the canopy. I think the most creative of her photographs were the closeups of the people. Rarely did you see their faces; she shot their hands touching and grasping, their feet intertwined, legs crossed. My favorite of these is one of an aged hand holding an infant's; natural, protective, a very soothing photograph.

Walker Evans "First and Last" was stop number four. So many scenes of everyday life. I've spent many days just traipsing around Boston taking pictures of anything that caught my eye (thank God for digital!) and his monograph reminded me of this. The clotheslines with laundry drying, the photos of the bridges using shadow and angle, ordinary people doing ordinary things. He used the available architecture to frame his photos, something I try to be aware of myself. The facial expressions he captured are so real, I don't know how else to describe them. The despondency, the boredom, the feeling of being lost. His ability to get this from these people who knew they were being photographed shows a true talent. From the tenements adorned with fire escapes in New York City to the shanty shacks of Alabama, Evans captured the full range of life in America.

My final destination was W Eugene Smith. He believed in honesty in journalism, a trait that gave him grief in his endeavors as not everyone wants to know the truth. He had many stirring photos that showed a realism in life that few people will ever witness. The one that both saddened and angered me simultaneously was of the KKK. He had many of the KKK, some guys had no issue with pulling back their hoods and being photographed, many remained hidden. There was one that showed a burning cross in the foreground, and in the distance a blurred image of an American Flag centered among a group of KKK members at a rally. The whole photo was a bit out of focus, even the burning cross. Made sense as the backward thinking of these men was totally unclear to me. The American flag amongst the revelers is what made me choose this one. The land of the free and the brave muddied up by a racist mob. I didn't like that they stood behind the symbol of my country spouting hatred. Smith had many photos like this of the KKK. They bothered me because they remind me of the hatred and narrow-mindedness of so many people. The desegregation, the race riots. I attended a local high school where my second day of school in the ninth grade I bore witness to the hatred. It was unnerving, especially in a city where the racial mix was not that unbalanced. We are still there, but its more global, and more violent. My fear is that it will become so everyday that we become desensitized to it. Photographs such as Smith's, where he was willing to stick his neck out and show it like it is, are desperately needed so that we don't lose our ability to feel some empathy for our fellow man, no matter his race or religion. (I could not find the exact photo in the monograph but I did find another of his that is of the same idea.)

Anxious for Contact Processing

I have my 3 rolls of film developed and sleeved and am very anxious to process the contact sheets. The negatives look pretty good on a light box but only contact sheet processing will tell the real story.

As I sit in a training class (where I'm only here as a consult) I have time to daydream a bit...can't wait for 4:30 so I can begin my long journey to class. My aperture roll and my shutter speed roll were done in 18 degree weather, one on a windy waterfront. But I would rather have done this 5 times in a week than study calculus for even one hour!!

Goodby 'Instant Gratification'

Just as the pinhole camera experience was a test of our patience, the film camera is also, although to a lesser degree. We are so used to taking our digital cameras and snapping away, instantly seeing the results and erasing those that don't measure up, that it is a bit disconcerting to compose the photo, using manual adjustments, snap the picture and then...wait...not knowing if what you saw in the viewfinder is what you'll actually get in the end. But it's a good thing. It's nice to be forced to slow down, think about what you are doing and experience one of the great virtues; patience.

I just took 36 frames of my very small, narrow galley kitchen. I found it to be a great experience, looking for different ways to photograph cabinet handles, cookie jars and refrigerator magnets. I was a bit disappointed when I hit the last frame! I wanted to keep going! I did have to use some extended shutter speeds for a few...I hope I steadied myself and the camera enough....but, I'll have to be patient and wait until I have the chance to run to school and develop the roll.

Pinhole Experiences

It was nice to read about everyone's pinhole experience. It certainly was a lesson in patience and perseverance! Can't wait to use the manual settings on my camera and see the results.

Pinhole Revelation

Looking at the pinhole photos in class last night I realized that I may be taking my 'business' senses into the darkroom. I saw how nice it was to think more freely and unencumbered. I wished I had gone with one of my initial ideas, which were very simple, but instead went after the still life idea. I like my photos, don't get me wrong, and they depict an activity I do every chance I get (hike) but they lacked a natural creativity, an edginess that makes for a good photograph. I'm sure this natural creativity was there when I was younger, I just need to go back and find it.

I've been told I over-think things sometimes, and this is good when you are in a tough retail environment like I'm a part of everyday, but with photography (or any of the fine arts) you have to let that go some. So I think when I work on these next 3 projects, my goal will be to let things come more naturally, let go of the analysis and the black and white (no pun intended) of the business world and try to unleash the creativity I saw pinned to the wall in class. I may go too far the other way but I figure before the end of the semester, I'll find the right balance.

Pinhole Camera Project: Part 1

Well I got the negatives completed tonight. Hannah is correct when she said in her blog that it takes a lot of patience. When you finally nail down the exposure time and distance (and use lots of black tape) its fun to finally see the results. Superbowl Sunday will be pre-empted by the making of the positives. I used up a lot of paper also but no matter, this beats any business course I've taken so far!
:)

Tiny Pinhole Cameras

I have been looking for a way to use all the 35mm film canisters I have stored in a box. I finally found one when I was browsing the internet at sites concerning pinhole cameras. This site shows a real easy way to turn those black canisters into tiny pinhole cameras with a minimum of effort. I haven't made one yet but will be trying it out next week.

Assignment #1: Four Photos Story

RUNNING AWAY

I first saw Photo #3 on the Jupiter Images site. I could not find the photographer’s name, however. I liked the photo because, on its own, the expression on the boy’s face can mean many things such as sadness, anticipation, and hurt. Mostly I saw sadness and a feeling of being lost. I liked the photo for the very clear reflection of the boy in the window, so deep in his own world that even as he looked out all he saw was himself.

I then found Photo #2 from Gina Hanf which I also liked. I’m constantly taking amateur photos such as this; dirt roads and hiking trails mostly, so it caught my eye. I like how the tracks stream toward the clouds giving a sense of infinite space. The absence of people gives off a lonely, kind of solitary mood, a track going nowhere in particular. It was then I decided to tie the two together and what more natural topic than a young boy running away from home.

Searching the web I found Photo #1 from Donncha which was perfect for the first frame. This young boy, walking alone on a busy sidewalk and completely ignored by the adults in the photo gave his reason for running away; he felt his parents weren’t paying him any attention. The boy’s eyes are looking down, there is a sense of sadness and he is not looking where he is going, possibly because he doesn’t know.

The last frame, Photo #4 from Paolo Pellegrin is because I like happy endings. I wanted the boy to return home. This photo is perfect because the mother’s face is somewhat blurred. I imagine a tear-stained and worried face. But because it is blurred it doesn't detract from the boy, whom the story is about. He appears jubilant with his arms outstretched for, after thinking it over, he realizes life at home is not so bad. There is a definite diagonal division in the photo, between the mother and the son that could signify the cause of the boy running away. However he is running toward it in this last photo, and it will be erased, and hopefully forgotten, by the time he reaches his mother’s arms.

Why Photography?

Hi-

I'm taking this course because I love to take pictures! When I go on vacation, my hand is permanently molded around my camera as I want to capture everything. In my everyday life I am constantly looking at things as through the eyes of a camera. Most of my vacation photos are of the buildings, the scenery, etc. Rarely do I take photos of people, even those I'm on vacation with. Not sure why not..... I am working full time in the business world and there is not much 'creativity' there. I was anxious to take a fine arts course as a creative outlet and when I saw Photography open, I signed up quickly. Also, I have mainly electives left for coursework at Stonehill and it will be nice to work hard at something I truly enjoy doing.

In this class I am hoping to learn how to use the manual adjustments to get some more creative photos. I think black and white photos are the more interesting because you are relying on shadows and contrast, as well as the composition, to make it meaningful. I took photography in high school many, many years ago and about five years ago took an adult ed course at a local high school. Both gave me a taste of darkroom processes but not in much detail and most of it is forgotten now. I also think I have a pretty good eye for what would make a good photograph (composition wise) but that is my opinion, it will be nice to get other's opinions and see if I can improve it.

My personal goals in photography are to be comfortable with my camera and using it creatively. I have always wanted to work as a photographer but common-sense and needing a reliable income took precedence. I'd also like to get more comfortable with asking the locals (when on vacation) if I can take their picture in their own habitat. I'm sure most wouldn't mind. Some of the assignments might force me to do this. Maybe if I improve my recreational photographic techniques, I'll hit on a great idea to make money at it, but right now its purely for my own pleasure.

Thanks.
-s
I