WIP Critique #3

• What was/is the initial idea, how is it evolving?
• My initial idea was to examine the cultural and linguistic differences of each society, how those differences are perceived by people who do not belong to that culture, and how those perceptions affect our view of and relationship with others. This initial purpose seems to be evolving into something that considers solely the concept of the "other" or the foreign, as opposed to the cultural. I think the photographs I am now producing evoke a more other-worldly, unsettling, or provocative feel. I also believe that as I make the photographs, I am starting to think about how we "display" culture or the foreign, and how this process of exhibition adds a layer of uncertainty or distance from those who perceive what is displayed. 

• Why do you feel the images you selected to print for this critique are your strongest, from among the group of new images? (i.e., what was your criteria for selection)
• I feel that the images I selected to print are my strongest because they seem to evoke the most mystery and uncertainty, which coincides with my desire to examine the "other" or the unknown. As mentioned previously, the more aesthetic feel of the photos also motivated me to choose the new images for critique. This time around I realized that I started to take lighting into greater consideration, which produced the prints that I wanted to exhibit the most. I am starting to use the darker lighting surrounding the objects as a way to give them a distant or even creepy feel, which coincides with the topic I am trying to tackle.

• What specific questions do you have about the work in terms of how someone other than yourself might interpret the imagery?
• Do you have any suggestions as to how I could better convey culture through the images? Should I focus more on the concept of uncertainty and perception of any unusual or unfamiliar thing instead of on only culture? What are your responses to the images I decided to focus on? Do you think that the image works best with my theme with or without the border of the display case? Does the effect of darkness add or detract to the image? Should I continue to work with figurines or focus more on objects like spoons, teapots, flowers, and pottery pieces? Do you respond more strongly to images that show closeups or those that show the things I photograph farther away?

• Why do you feel the selected image most strongly conveys your conceptual content?
• I think this image conveys the significance I want to place on perspective and perception because it demonstrates items that can simultaneously hold different meanings depending on who perceives them, and because these objects are evidently contained or reside within an unreachable space. I think that the image has a claustrophobic feel that can impact how one sees and understands the objects. This image, I believe, draws the viewer in with its appealing colors and intricate activity, which then can transform into a more eerier feel when one considers the darkness and the crowded space that the objects exist in.

• How do you hope the formal treatment of each image impacts the interpretation?
• I hope that the formal treatment impacts the interpretation because in the first image I edited (bottom), I focused more on refining the detail of what was in the image in order to allow the viewer to see it clearly while also including the darkness. This was meant to emphasize that what the viewer sees is clearly being displayed and meant to be observed and criticized. In the second image (top), I erased the border that the display case created around the objects and attempted to make it appear as if these objects were floating in an otherworldly, surreal space. This was meant to illicit an uncomfortable feeling of confusion in the viewer, a feeling that would inspire an interpretation of the black space as a limbo, the objects forever suspended, waiting for anyone to allot them meaning.

Blog Review #9

www.bjp-online.com/midnight-modern-by-tom-blachford/
This week I stumbled upon Tom Blachford's Midnight Modern, displayed on the British Journal of Photography website. The Australian artist felt drawn to California's modernist architecture and decided to photograph the landscape at night after discovering the effect of the full moon's illumination. What initially struck me about these images was the color contrast between the sky and the architecture, as well as the smoothness of the background landscape against the more detailed texture of the rocks and architecture. The luminescence reminds me of the kind of light source that would be produced by a colossal explosion. The image displaying a closer view of the house's windows and the reflection of the city was interesting to me because it shows the lights of the nighttime city landscape, which contradicts with the apparent daytime lighting. This detail reminded me of the importance of closely examining any photograph for the imbedded meanings within its components.

All images © Tom Blachford

The archive as producer

Emerling's fourth chapter elaborates on the prevalence of the archive.

The concept of the "photographic," which brought about an investment of "unprecedented socio-political, ethical, propagandistic, and aesthetic value" within the image, highlights the consistent and unstoppable fluctuation of images that are preserved and then re-analyzed in a separate historical context (Emerling, 121). It is thanks to the archive that photographs can be examined through a contemporary lens in this manner, which puts the importance of the archive into perspective.

"One of the defining characteristics of the modern era has been the increasing significance given to the archive as the means by which historical knowledge and forms of remembrance are accumulated, stored, and recovered. Created as much by state organizations and institutions as by individuals and groups, the archive, as distinct from a collection or library, constitutes a repository or ordered system of documents and records, both verbal and visual, that is the foundation from which history is written" (Emerling, 121).

The very nature of the archive calls into question the relationship that it generates between the past and the present, of the coexistence between what the photograph once was and what it becomes after redefining itself within a changing world. This emphasizes the importance of perspective, especially regarding the different interpretations one can gain when analyzing a memory at a time that varies significantly from the moment of its inception. It is extremely important to keep this in mind as it permits present-day analysts to "expose the gulf between what happened in the past and how it now gets remembered" (Emerling, 122). The archive thus requires a responsibility to revive silent histories in order to give a voice to those that have quietly receded into the inaccessible confines of history.

"In an archive, the possibility of meaning is 'liberated' from the actual contingencies of use. But this liberation is also a loss, an abstraction from the complexity and richness of use, a loss of context" (Emerling, 124).

Although there is a notion that with the arrival of more progressive and forward-thinking times the circumstances behind certain images can be properly analyzed and allotted due respect, the removal of the objectifying and dehumanizing perspectives that provoked their creation when viewing photographs in a new era detracts from the gravity of the images. This again ties into the responsibility one has of understanding the often insidious contexts of photos taken in the past, of acknowledging the impact of a contemporary interpretation, and of re-contextualizing them in a way that benefits those who live in the now.

"As much as and more than a thing of the past, before such a thing, the archive should call into question the coming of the future...The archive: if we want to know what that will have meant, we will only know in times to come. The archive opens time" (Emerling, 158).

Emerling mentions the controversy that surrounds exhibitions like The Family of Man and layout styles like those of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Should the specific methods and reasonings behind the presentation of a photograph factor into their archival record? Why would it be relevant or important to include a museum exhibition into the archive for future reference? Does each examination of a photograph catalogued by the archive engage with the notion of the image's evolution, or can its meaning only be affected by broad and noticeable interactions with it, such as a museum exhibition? (Emerling, 133, 149)

Blog Review #8

www.inthein-between.com/rodrigo-pinheiro/
This week, the website In the In-Between introduced me to artist Rodrigo Pinheiro, who lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. According to Pinheiro, his series Tornaras - Portuguese for "you will return/become" - exhibits photographs that "take the form of a long and intimate letter to someone's memory." I was drawn to this project because of the overall color palette that adds a softness to the images. As I read more about Pinheiro's work, I became more and more intrigued by the effects of this documentary process after the end of a relationship. In the segment provided by In the In-Between, Pinheiro talks about the involvement of his ex-partner, J, in his series, and how he eventually had to replace J's body with that of his friend, a performer. The artist mentions that their collaboration allowed them to recreate what he had lost, "sculptures that materialized feelings, ghosts." However, he also clarifies that everything was brand new, redefined.

"Photography came as a rescue. Before the camera is the performance, the self-portrait and, paraphrasing a master of the juxtaposition between documentary and fiction, the dual imaginary function of cinema. This performance was made while we forgot it was a performance."

"It was curious to think of how I would share mourning with someone who did not live any of it." 

When I read his explanation, I associated this 'redefinition' with the influence of time on memory, on the effect that each recollection has on the remembrances that one romanticizes. Pinheiro's friend describes the new relationship as a form of mourning, and how the project was meant to transform the mourning process into something. I especially liked the artist's reflection on "the cry of the ending and the cry of seeing the series;" one, he explained, was differentiated by the longing that immediately follows separation and loss, and the other indicated a "getting out of it." Pinheiro had not revisited his departed relationship merely to reflect and ponder, he did so because he had not yet left and wanted to leave. The recreation of the love, companionship, and passion through performance photographs reminds me of the idealized memories we retain as vessels of escape from the pain of loss, and the significance of allowing these remembrances to live on while also recognizing their permanent existence only in that which once was and which is no longer.

Friend of Rodrigo Pinheiro, on performance and fiction in photography: 

"Photography didn't expand, photography has always been expanded. When photography came up it came as a fright, it came as a shock because it came as something that is not from here, and because it is fictional, it is not ours. This photojournalism thing, documentary photo, the so-called photo truth, it doesn't exist. Photography is a fiction. It is a way of looking at reality and making what you see a fiction. To create a cut."

All images © Rodrigo Pinheiro

Documentary, or instants of truth

The third chapter of Emerling's Photography: History and Theory concerns the implications of classifying certain photographs as 'documentary.'

The initial paragraphs point out that documentary photography, although regularly regarded as a "passive recording" of events, cannot exist without constructing a relation between "photographer and image, photographer and viewer, image and viewer;" it is not an end in itself, it is a means, an approach (Emerling, 83). Though the name implies an objective documentation of events, the idea of documentary photography as witness also implicates all the inaccuracies, misunderstandings, and false information that accompany an observer's impression. Furthermore, the author discusses the debate that concerns favoring a dispassionate approach that 'avoids' a person's influence over the incorporation of an aesthetic style that supposedly depreciates the validity of the photograph's truth.

 "Documentary photography demands addressing not only changing, often contradictory, notions of the relation between the photographic image and reality, but also how and why each and every photograph is simultaneously a document and a work of visual art. These are not opposing predicates, nor are they entirely isolatable" (Emerling, 84).

These points remind us that each photograph we examine must be done so with an awareness and consciousness of the conditions that produced it and that currently affect its meaning. This is what Emerling labels as our "civil contract," or our responsibility as observers to recognize the photograph's reality and that what is contained in the image is only a portion of what was present at the time. In actively observing our "civil contract," we can recognize that documentary photographs cannot be fully understood unless we incorporate context and observe the effect of a contemporary perspective into our analysis; all the while we avoid dehumanizing the photograph's subjects, we discern what separates one component from another.

The ability to transcend Western metaphysics showcases an aspect of photography that is immediately retained but rarely inspected. Hippolyte Bayard's acknowledgement of the "troubling relation between image and text, photograph and death, presence and absence" hints at the creation of a different existence or world to be examined, something that preserves what is physically gone, a past reality that is both immortalized and absent because of its unchangeability (Emerling, 87). Our inability to physically interact with photographs can promote feelings of dread or desperation because we cannot, either immediately or ever, affect those depicted scenarios that have occurred at some point in our reality. This challenge to Western metaphysics highlights photography's capacity to occupy multiple roles simultaneously; the various interpretations that a single image can provoke allows it to transcend the physical world.

"The photographic image transfigures the real because it refuses any simple distinction between nature and culture, subject and object, self and other, presence and absence. A photograph wields an uncanny power because it exists in the threshold between artwork and document (evidence, witness). This power results not from a photograph's ability to objectively describe or represent a scene, action, or result (the logic of cause and effect), but rather from its ability to repeat or double the object (whether an individual or scene) before the camera. In fact, even the phrase 'before the camera' simplifies things because there is no 'before' - as in a temporal sequence or a spatial positioning - rather we are always in the midst of photographs, representations" (Emerling, 88).

An interesting comparison between the styles of Walker Evans and Margaret Bourke-White calls into question the potential benefits and drawbacks of incorporating a specific aesthetic into documentary photographs. The work of Bourke-White delivers a meaning that is meant to be accepted by the viewer. By contrast, Evans rejects idealism and instead focuses on a simplicity that prohibits the observer from distinguishing his work as either art or documentary. For one artist there exists one specific interpretation of the work they create, for the other, there is an openness that must be deciphered by the recipient. Although Bourke-White's intention is clear in her photographs, the nature of photography itself inevitably permits the images she produces to be read in different contexts and different time periods, thus inescapably distorting its meaning. Through his photos, Evans isolates the viewer "by an uncertain distance that reintroduces the presence of the lens between the eye and the scene" (Emerling, 94). I interpret the 'lens between the eye and the scene' as the factors that separate each individual from the circumstances in the photo. In other words, the 'reintroduction' of any historical, contextual, economic, political, or social separations enhances the importance of recognizing one's position in relation to the artwork. Since each person will subsequently provide a different point of view as a result of their 'separations,' the world begins to change when seen through the eyes of a photograph.

"Several of the most canonical examples of social documentary photography were made by photographers experiencing another culture. A photograph is understood as the best way to narrate a story or point of view in 'the most condensed and vital form'" (Emerling 85). Do we as privileged people have a responsibility to observe and examine photographs that document suffering, pain, or death? Does the constant consumption of these images through photojournalism, advertising, and art harm or benefit our perceptions of their reality? Does this consumption assist or jeopardize those depicted in the photographs?

Blog Review #7

www.aint-bad.com/evan-tetreault

"Growing up in rural New England, my impression of Los Angeles (and all of California for that matter) was based off of films and books; a picture-perfect dream of a landscape, coated with a golden haze of idealism. This ongoing series is my attempt to depict the city through that vision; the blissfully ignorant picture one paints of a place or person before reality taints it/them. The less you know the better..."                            

The AINT-BAD website introduced me to Evan Tetreault's Los Angeles this week. His idea of examining the perfection we project onto and associate with specific locations and people really resonated with me. I liked his inclusion of culturally recognizable aspects like the city landscapes, suburban streets, and even the Burger King sign that all help the viewer connect with the imbedded nostalgia of the photographs. To me, this concept of idolization and the subsequent disappointments of reality is something that is both very relatable and something that I didn't think of associating with landscapes in addition to people.

The reason why I was initially drawn to these photographs was because they reminded me of my earliest childhood memories in Florida, always exploring the state and its various communities with my mother, aunt, and grandmother. In the interview featured on the website, Tetreault mentioned his allure to the nostalgic feeling he experienced after being in places he had never seen before. Through his photographs that romanticize the Los Angeles landscape, I believe the artist successfully imbedded his images with this curious feeling. They certainly took me back to simpler, happier times; to the memories of my early introductions to the world I was born into.

All images © Evan Tetreault

WIP Critique #2

• What was/is the initial idea, how is it evolving?
•  The initial idea that I proposed considered examining the cultural and linguistic differences that distinguish and compose the world's cultures, and how they affect the way we perceive things and our relationships to one another. In my more recent photographs, I am starting to focus more closely on perception and perspective, and the way our interpretations determine how we understand the 'unusual,' or what is culturally ambiguous. I attempted to reference how distant and foreign other cultures can seem like to one individual through the images with mirrors. However, in examining and producing my photos, I also started to realize that the incorporation of mirrors to reflect something that is out of frame references our ability to create 'parallel worlds' through our artwork. 

• Why do you feel the images you selected to print for this critique are your strongest, from among the group of new images? (i.e., what was your criteria for selection)
• I think the images I chose are my strongest because I believe they are the most visually interesting and impacting. Since I worked extensively with mirrors this time around, a lot of the images had imperfections that lessened the quality and broke the illusion I was attempting to achieve. I tried to display a diverse set of images in order to show the different ways that I am trying to visually convey my ideas. The adjustments I made to these photographs were meant to highlight their strangeness. For instance, I tried to accentuate the shadows as a way to make these photographs seem more 'otherworldly' and to highlight our perception of what is foreign as strange or intimidating.  

• What specific questions do you have about the work in terms of how someone other than yourself might interpret the imagery?
• How do you think these new images impact my main idea by themselves and in comparison with the previous set of pictures I showed? Do you think the latest ideas I am dealing with are better conveyed through these new images? What do you think are the strongest and weakest elements of the new photographs? Is the lack of focus on some elements distracting or appropriate? Do you think I should continue working with mirrors as a way to discuss the 'different worlds' of each culture, or should I focus more on the idea of the parallel worlds that we create as artists?

Blog Review #6

https://www.featureshoot.com/a-photographer-finds-peace
Chiara Zonca's Moon Kingdom series that appeared on Feature Shoot caught my attention this week because of the soft colors that permeate her photographs. I love that the warm and cool colors in the images do not clash intensely but instead seem to complement and coexist with each other somehow. Bill Murray's article on Zonca's work discussed her desire to explore "the switch" one feels when they encounter a surreal landscape and how through this exploration, the artist was able to gradually tackle and overcome personal obstacles.

"Through practicing photography, Zonca is overcoming psychological barriers and using the medium as a method for self-healing and introspection." -Bill Murray

I was interested in the artist's attribution of beauty to these conventionally desolate landscapes. The soft hues of the photographs remind me of minimalist paintings that acknowledge the magnificence of very basic elements in nature. There is a consistent yet subtle contrast between a smooth sky or body of water and a more rugged texture of land that adds individuality to these deserted places. The beautiful coexistence of color and texture in these images and the artist's endeavor to overcome her struggles showcase what we stand to miss in our world if we fail to recognize the value in nature's 'least appealing' components.

All Images © Chiara Zonca

Frame (matter and metaphor)

Emerling's discussion and presentation of different viewpoints regarding the photograph's frame exemplifies the significance of this seemingly trivial component of photography and the matters that arise from its examination.

The frame of a photograph functions as "a technology itself," as something that organizes the viewer's perception in a way that provokes the intricate processes that accompany any interaction with art (Emerling 48). This interpretation of the frame as a technology ties into the idea of photography as creation, exhibiting "something that did not exist before" (Emerling 49). Lee Friedlander's 'ambiguity of place' furthers this concept because it draws attention to the impact of the photographer's perspective, acknowledging the documentation of a specific space as a representation of a representation, a guide for the frame to depict the artist's specific vision, experience, and ties to the place. Such an idea emphasizes the importance of the frame and photography's status as an ever-changing medium, since both deliberately encourage distinct opinions of a single perspective, even from the initial moments of its conception.

Rosalind Krauss's take on Surrealism mentioned her discovery of photography as a means to an end. To me, this connects with the importance of the frame, since one interpretation of this medium is that it is created not to provide an aesthetically pleasing portrait but instead to inspire discourse through what is included and excluded, an effect of both the photograph itself and the frame that encloses it. What is meant to be viewed as art is not the image that one gains from just observing, but the framework that composes it.

Salvador Dali, The Phenomenon of Ecstasy (1933)

Photographs like Salvador Dali's The Phenomenon of Ecstasy display the necessity of the frame in order to visualize "what exceeds or transgresses it," allowing the viewer to discern the intention behind its use (Emerling 57). To me, the idea of the frame in the context of Dali's piece exemplifies the type of insinuations that can be provoked from its proper use. The closeup shots of seemingly unconscious, catatonic, or unwilling individuals and their individual frames add a level of discomfort and mystery that arises from the knowledge that the photographer retained some level of control when creating these images, and that despite his control, resolved to producing images as uncanny as the ones shown. The intentional inclusion and exclusion of the subjects' anatomies provokes discourse that questions the image in relation to its intention and in relation to one's personal reactions. Photography is thus set apart from other visual media thanks to the frame, since it is the frame itself that encourages a dialogue concerning what is within and without.

Emerling mentions that the out-of-field has two functions, the first, its designation of "that which exists elsewhere," and the second, its testimony to "a more disturbing presence, one which cannot even be said to exist, but rather, to 'insist' or 'subsist'" (Emerling 69). Is this designation of an Elsewhere unique to photography? Why do you think so? Is the frame's disturbing allusion to the Elsewhere provoked by the photograph's closeness to reality?

Blog Review #5

www.aint-bad.com/maggie-callahan/
This week, Maggie Callahan's current project that I found on the AINT-BAD website caught my eye.
What drew my attention to the diptych photographs displaying her work was the very distinguishable contrast between the colors of the objects and the white background on which they are laid out. The project's title, Strangefruit: Ripe with Circumstance, immediately reminded me of the song by Nina Simone that revolves around the lynching of African Americans in the United States. Though morbid, this connection seems purposeful, since the article explains Callahan's aim for this project as an effort to examine "the presentation of manipulated material and the residual effects of the fabricated display. The imprint left by the organic elements serve as evidence of theoretical acts or experiences. The things we are unable to get rid of - the stain of a situation." I think the title is a very appropriate and important component of the work, because although the theme can apply to a broad array of specific occurrences, the emphasis on the lynchings exposes one of the historical 'stains' that humanity has forever imprinted on the world. Callahan's work effectively and beautifully utilizes a diptych layout, visual stimuli, symmetry, and asymmetry to display the unavoidable and enduring consequences of our actions.

Images © Maggie Callahan