Friday, September 28, 2007

Van Change

Hi again,
If you are taking the van from Calarts, it is leaving at 1:30 instead of 12:30.

Please meet at the front entrance of school no later than 1:30 p.m to catch the van. All others should meet at the Hammer entrance at 2:30 p.m. We will attend the lecture at 3 p.m. and tour the show afterwards.

Natalie

FIELD TRIP

Dear All,


There has been a slight change to our plan for Saturday. We will now see the artist's lecture first and then view the exhibition. Plan to arrive at 2:30 in the front lobby of the Hammer.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Field Trip

Dear All,

If you are riding in the van Saturday please meet at the front entrance of school no later than 12:30 p.m. All others should meet at the Hammer entrance at 1:45 p.m. We will tour the exhibition at 2 p.m. and attend the artist’s lecture at 3 p.m.

The Hammer Museum is located at the following address:
10899 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310.443.7000

Best,

Allie Bogle

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Comments on readings for 9/17/07

I agree with Melissa that the Mekas article is a bit phony in how the discussion goes. Although I have to say that I find interesting that they seem to get stressed out about the fact that nothing is happening. They are dying to do something, anything while filming. And maybe that's the point. The Empire State building is there day and night. The light changes, the noise around it changes, we do different things around it on a daily basis but the building is still. Like a mountain it becomes the stable part in our otherwise hectic and changing lives.

In Cartier-Bresson's article about telling a story through pictures he describes some of the challenges a photographer faces on a daily basis. A photo is a selection of what we see. It's a selection of time and space. No one can or should try to capture everything but the challenge is to select the right composition at the right moment. I really liked his passage on p. 44 of the mental process to go through when the shot is not exactly what you wanted. "Was it a feeling of hesitation due to uncertainty?...etc." The second part for a picture story is the selection post production. I was surprised by how casual he describes the relationship to the "layout man" and the willingness to let someone else select the pictures for publishing and even cropping.

I have to admit that I've read Lazzlo Moholy-Nagy's article a few times now and except for parts of it and I can't follow his thought process. I will be happy to read other people's postings on this one.

melissa wilson Reading response 9/17/07

The Jonas Mekas article I thought was very like, self-absorbed?? All the characters talking in the text were being random and artsy for the sake of being artsy. They were trying to be different and interesting but really just sounded like idiots. They were trendezoids! The article would have been more interesting in my mind if they had talked like regular people. The whole idea of shooting the empire state building for a long period of time is a good one. But I think maybe the length of the film is a little excess. Perhaps Warhol was trying to see how long people would stay and watch the movie, if they were trying too hard to be artsy by staying and watching the whole film. But there is also the question the viewer will ask. “What if I leave and something different happens?” so they will sit through hours of the same footage, hoping something different will happen. I wouldn’t stay through the whole film; I would leave after 3 hours.

I thought the Moholy-Nagy article was interesting I liked his thoughts about time and space in photography. I was interested in the part about motion pictures, it really made me think about my own work and how I could make it a narrative, how I can make my own still photography like a movie. I just have a hard time thinking how I could do it subtly, without being to obvious that I am purposely making a narrative piece. Something to think about…..

After reading Maholy-Nagy’s article, Bresson’s article brings about a similar idea about narrative. He suggests that a single picture should tell a story. I think this would be a very hard thing to do. The content of this picture would have to be very busy, and would have to feel emotionally charged. These two things are very hard to put together into one photograph. I think you are lucky to capture one or two emotionally charged pictures in your lifetime, never mind capture it and then have to make it busy and visually striking. I don’t know, maybe you just have to be a very skilled photographer to be able to do this. I guess it’s just something to hope for. Another part of the article I liked was about how to photograph for the consumer, you have to know who your audience is. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the context of photographs, mostly how other people present your work in a way that can askew your original meaning, or might make a mistake in displaying it, which can make the photographer look bad. Bresson talked about it but I don’t think ever came up with a solution to the problem. I guess you just have to work closely with the people handling your work and trust they know what its about and can accurately display it. I love Bresson’s articles, pictures and films so I really enjoyed this article.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Class Schedule Sept-Oct

Sept 10 - Introduction
Readings:
Henri Cartier- Bresson, Images a la sauvette (excerpt) (1952)
Lázlo Maholy Nagy, Space-Time and the Photographer(1942)
Jonas Mekas, Movie Journal, Warhol Shoots Empire, 30/July//1964

Sept 17 - no class
Reading assignment posts due today.

Sept 22 - Kaucyila Brooke presents work.
Readings for Saturday:
Interview with Francis Alÿs
INTERVIEW: The Celebrated Walking Blues

SATURDAY SEPT 29

1 PM meet at Calarts for van ride to Hammer Museum
2 PM view show
3 PM Artist Talk