Fashion

A couple of weeks ago I found this book on fashion photography from 1980 titled Fashion: Theory. I found it really interesting, especially since all of the photographs are in black and white. When you think of fashion photography you generally think about high gloss color photos, but that’s not the case with these photos. The book showcases eight photographers and each photographer talks about how they executed each photo and their journey through the fashion business. One photographer I found most interesting is Jean Pagliuso. “Girl Eating a Peach” was one of the Pagliuso photographs represented. He said he created the photo using a Nikon and a ring light as well as a star filter to diffuse and refract the light. This is very useful information if you want to recreate the effect; however, he doesn’t talk about why he choose to have the model eating a peach or choose to have this type of effect on the photo. I find this photo among one of the most interesting in the book and would be interested in the why of the photograph. I noticed that most of the photographers in the book did not talk about the why and only about the how. I wondered if it’s common practice in the fashion photography world to disregard concept and only worry about the representation of the product sold. However, some of the photographs led me wondering what exactly was the product. Going back to the “Girl Eating the Peach”, for example, the girl is wearing clothing but the focus is more on the peach and the dress seems less important. I find this a lot in fashion photography, but maybe I’m confusing commercial photography with fashion photography. However, I still find these fashion photographs compelling regardless of the fact that I can not determine what goal the photographer has in mind. This book definitely peeked my interest in fashion photography.

Jason Salavon

This past Friday I went to see the artist talk with Jason Salavon and Penelope Umbrico at the Hagedorn Gallery. I thought they both had some interesting thoughts in regard to their work however I will spare everyone any further insight into Penelope’s sunset installation. What was extremely interesting about Jason his assertion that he is not a photographer and that his medium is data and not the paintings that he reformatted for this particular show. His work involves mathematical averages of data sets involving a seemingly random assortment of subjects and really has nothing at all to do with photography except for the fact that some of his series involve using photographs, such as his Playboy Centerfold series. Similar to that of the Dutch masters series this series is an averaging of every Playboy centerfold for the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Jason emphasized that fact that information can be read in regards to changing trends throughout the decades. He pointed out that in the 1960s one can see more hair and as the set progresses to the 1990s the forms become brighter. This seems to build a chart of information similar to a chart except in a more abstract form. Jason presented another series, which created more of a visual graph for the viewer charting the US production of shoes from 1960 to 1998. This series can be seen as a 3 dimensional animation or as a set of prints showing a steeply climbing form, displaying how production of shoes is drastically being exported as the years’ progress. This series is dramatically different visually from the playboy and Dutch masters series however, all of his series do have a concern with representing this data in an aesthetically pleasing work. This coupled with his innovative use of media leave me wanting to see more of his work.

Marina Abramovic

I recently went to check out the Marina Abramović exhibition in the Trois Gallery of the SCAD library. I had not really heard much about her work until Holly gave a journal presentation in class on an article that featured Abramović's work “The Artist Is Present”. Although I really didn’t understand the point, I had a lot of questions and was interested in having them answered. After seeing her work in Trois Gallery I have even more questions. There is no artist statement, but there are brief explanations of what occurred in each performance along with a photograph from each performance. With several of the works, such as “Rhythm 0”, I was really interested in knowing how people reacted and what people did to her. In this performance Abramović placed objects, which she lists below the photograph, in front of her and invited people to use them on her body in whatever way they wished. My first thought is: Why would anyone want to do this with objects like a pocketknife out there? I know there are a lot of crazy people out in the world and it would definitely make me wary. It also gave me a chill to read on the description at the end “I take full responsibility “. Wow, so if someone cuts her with that pocketknife, she takes full responsibility. This blows my mind as to why anyone would want to put themselves in this kind of position. Maybe her purpose in this particular performance is to comment on humans and how they behave. I still don’t really understand the work and maybe without ever seeing the actual performance I never will. This brings me to comment on how a majority of the performances are presented only with a description and a photograph of a piece of the performance. I wondered if Abramović intended for these photographs themselves to be viewed as pieces of artwork or if they were only taken as a means of documenting the art. Then maybe some photographs are only documentary evidence and should not be viewed as art. I believe this is one of the most interesting aspects of photography, considering that no other art medium can function as something other than a means to create art.

Ipad

This week I bought an iPad and I was really excited about the possibilities the iPad can offer. It's like an iPhone, which I have been interested in purchasing as well, because it has all the applications an iPhone has and more and it offers a much larger screen and the ability to use a Bluetooth enabled keyboard, allowing one to type lengthy documents at the same speed one would on a laptop or desktop. The applications are especially exciting, particularly when it comes to photo. The well-known app Instagram allows me to take photos or import photographs and use filters to create vintage effects, which is very appealing; however, I've found that this app works best in conjunction with other photo apps, such as Camera360 or photo booth. There does seem to be an abundance of apps that do the same thing or nearly the same thing, especially when it comes to photo effects. There are really so many camera and editing apps it's difficult to make a decision about which ones to install. I found myself obsessed with taking pictures using the mirror or kaleidoscope effects on photo booth and then using Instagram to make them look surreal or vintage. I have posted examples of some of these pictures I speak of. I have found this to be a lot of fun, however, the camera quality on the iPad is so low that one could not take detailed, clean images. On the other hand, if you are going for the vintage look and you are planning on putting a filter on your pictures, the grainy quality doesn't really matter. Some other things I found exciting and useful were the flashlight, softbox and Hellophoto apps. Working with film, I found that the flashlight app makes a great lightbox so that I can easily view my negatives. Softbox allows one to use the iPad as a lighting device for a studio set up, which I have not gotten a chance to try out. Hellophoto allows you to convert your negatives to digital format, which I have also not been able to try out because it requires the use of an iPhone or another iPad.

Now this brings me to the not so exciting or useful things about the iPad, which eventually led me to make the decision to return my iPad. Some of the apps require you to have access to an iPhone or a macbook, such as Hellophoto. Also, if you want to hook up a printer, camera, scanner, or another computer, you have to buy an adapter.

On top of that I can not just hook up any printer or scanner, it has to be compatible with the iPad and the printer I own is not one of those, go figure. Also,that keyboard I was planning on buying, it's 70 dollars and those adapters are about 30 a piece. In short, the iPad is a little inconvenient if you want to do any serious work, but it is fun.

Elinor Carucci

When I was looking up information on Jock Sturges I found this website that contains an interview with the artist. http://www.amadelio.com/vlog/2008/01/10/vlog-videoblog-jock-sturges-line-of-beauty-and-grace/
On the same website using this link:
http://www.amadelio.org/
there are three trailers for documentary films about different photographers on this site, one of which is about Jock Sturges. While I was exploring the other trailers, specifically the one titled People, Love, Photos, I discovered Elinor Carucci and immediately wanted to know more about her work. She had photographed herself while she was pregnant as well as her children after she had given birth. These photographs showed herself and her children in intimate situations without clothing; they very much reminded me of Sally Mann’s work, not because of any similarity between aesthetic qualities but because Sally Mann photographed her children in the same innocent vein. I imagined that Sally Mann felt the same way that Elinor did about her children and wanted to cherish every moment, even the vulnerable ones that her children might not be ready to relive when they got older. However, after looking at Elinor’s work on her website (http://www.elinorcarucci.com/recent.html) I began to get more of a sense of intimacy from her work than from Sally Mann’s work. I feel that there exists a greater affection for her children and desire to document everything about her children as they grow, including runny noses and haircuts. Even with her other family members Elinor has accurately captured emotions and vulnerabilities that I believe are missing from Sally Mann’s work, but does this make her work less provocative than Mann’s work. In her personal series Elinor captures moments that are difficult and painful to look at, but also captures images of affection. I believe that in this respect there are vast differences between the works of Carucci and Mann. However, both artists have invaded the privacy of their subjects by capturing vulnerable moments. I believe that this is the real issue that should be provocative about their works, not the debate over nudity.
Now, after viewing Carucci’s work in further detail I find it more intriguing than Mann’s work and empathize with her subjects.