Sunday 13

Jeanne Dunning

Jeanne Dunning was born in Chicago in 1960 and continued to get her education from the Oberlin College. After receiving her BA in 1982, she went to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she earned her MFA in 1985. Her first show was at the Feature Gallery in Chicago in 1987. After that she had many shows in the US as well as in Europe. Her solo exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and the James Harris Gallery in Seattle. "Chicago artist Jeanne Dunning investigates the human body to create color photographs that question issues of identity, sexuality, and the interior and exterior self. Drawing from a variety of sources, Dunning’s images appear to be other than what they are: a piece of fruit resembles a human orifice; a woman’s head appears to be shaped like a phallus; a human hand takes on a smooth yet lumpy intimacy." The Los Angeles Times stated that her photographs fascinate and disturbm yet attract and repulse.

Gallery: http://www.jamesharrisgallery.com/Artists/Jeanne%20Dunning/dunning.htm

Interview: http://www.chron.org/tools/viewart.php?artid=489

Thursday 13

Expression




"Waller's affinity for abstract and complex photography has brought statewide recognition to the 17-year-old Hayfield Secondary School senior."

Tyrell Waller is a seventeen year old student at Hayfield Secondary school and he was recently awarded second place for a photograph he'd taken. Youths in Virginia ranging from ages 12 to 21 were asked by The Creative Vision of Virginia's Foster Care to submit photographs, writings, or other artwork that illustrated their personal experiences they've had in foster care. "It's a chance to express themselves while also making a statement about the system," said Mary Dunne Stewart, policy director of Voices for Virginia's Children, a nonprofit child advocacy organization that sponsored the competition. His second place photography titled "My reflection" was taken on an outing with Fairfax Families4Kids which is a program in the Department of Family Services. Its an opportunity for the foster kids to actively participate in the community and social activities which may lead them to possible adoptive families.

Orton, Kathy. "Contest Fosters Artistic Expression". WashingtonPost. 20 Nov 2008. 30 Nov 2008..

Sunday 12

Aaron Siskind

Aaron was born in 1904 in the heart of New York City and he spent his whole life there . He attended the City College and earned a B.S.S. in literature. After his honeymoon in 1929, he received his first camera as a gift given by his wife Sidonie Glaller. In 1943 and 1944 he began creating abstract photographs based on discarded objects found on Martha's Vineyard. Later, he taught photography in New Jersey at Trenton Junior college as well as at Rhode Island School of Design with Harry Callahn. Aaron had many achievements including founding the Society for Photographic Education , becoming the Co-editor of Chief Magazine, and being the founder of the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester. He received numerous awards such as the Gold Star of Merit award from Philadelphia College of Art, the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and the Governor's Prize for the Arts in Rhode Island. His work focused on the details of architecture and nature.

Gallery- http://www.mfah.org/home.asp?par1=1&par2=1&par3=1&par4=1&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=0&eid=&currentPage=

Website- http://www.aaronsiskind.org/

Interview- http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/siskin82.htm

VMFA

Thursday 12

Fuzzy




"I've been doing this for eight years and after eight years we get there at once," - Macintosh

The first photographs have been taken of planets outside our solar system. Two astronomers were sent to photography these four planets that resemble a tiny speck of white. These planets are trillions Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as tiny little specs of white. These "giant gaseous" planets are hardly like Earth and are remotely habitable. Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Lab led one of the two teams of photographers. He says, "It is a step on that road to understand if there are other planets like Earth and potentially life out there." His team decided to use two ground based telescopes and the second team chose to rely on photos from the 18 year old Hubble Space Telescope to create pictures of the " exoplanets" which are planets that don't orbit our sun. The research was published In the Thursday's edition of the Journal Science. These photos are important says Ed Weiler, NASA's space sciences chief. He compared it to a hunt for elusive elephants: "For years we've been hearing the elephants, finding the tracks, seeing the trees knocked down by them, but we've never been able to snap a picture. Now we have a picture." The picture above looks fuzzy because the star is 100 million times brighter than its planet.

The pictures taken of these four planets resemble the work I've been producing this semester. Macro photography is becoming used in other fields and photographs are becoming such a useful tool. The colors in these images are beautiful and the photographers were really able to document these planets well.

Borenstein, Seth. " First Fuzzy Photos of Planets Outside our Solar System." Yahoo News. 13 Nov 2008..

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Sunday 11

Lennart Nilsson

Lennart was Born in Strängnäs in 1922 and is a pioneer in medical photography. With the help of advanced equipment, he has been able to document the inside of man " down to the level of a cell". In the mid 40's he started his career as a photojournalist and published photo essays in Swedish magazines. It was on his first assignement that he took his first pictures of the human embryo. The pictures were publisehd and he contiuned shooting the origins of man. From 1965-1972 he was under contract as a photographer for Life Magazine. During this time he produced stories on heart attacks and microscopic views inside both the brain and body.
He was under contract as a photographer for Life from 1965-1972 and produced stories on the heart and heart attacks, the microscopic view inside the body and the brain. He has been able to establish a reputation for his films internationally on the human body. His work can be found in collections including the British Museum in London, Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and the Modern Museum in Stockholm. An award has been presented annually since 1998 in recognition of extraordinary photography of science and is sponsored by the Lennart Nilsson Foundation.

Article- http://www.lennartnilsson.com/q_a.html

Website- http://www.lennartnilsson.com

Gallery- http://www.britishmuseum.org/

Thursday 11

Internal


"He has made a hitherto unseen world of the human body visible and photographed objects measuring about one millionth of a millimeter." - Rune Hassner, Ph.D

For decades Lennart Nilsson has taken breathtaking photographs of the human body using a powerful scanning electron microscope. He has been declared a top photographer in Sweden and he is proud to have two of his photographs engraved on the back of the current Swedish 100 kronor bill. He began taking unique and terrifying images of the HIV- virus and " killer cells" using this microscope. In the mid-1950s Nilsson started to experiment with new photographic techniques that allowed him to focus on sea life and ants. A coulpe books including Myror written in 1959, and Close to Nature in 1984 were published by Nilsson revealing these macro studies. Fortunately, a specially designed endoscope was developed in the 1960's and it made it possible for him to photography blood vessels within the body. He was also able to shoot cavities inside body with the necessary depth of field. In 1970 a scanning electron microscope was used for the first time and it greatly enhanced his work.
"It is interesting to follow how he, with every advance in equipment, step by step, has closed in on smaller and smaller objects in his studies of the world around him, as more powerful microscopes have become available and opened new fields for his research.
Behind his quiet and somewhat shy exterior, there is an iron will—and a streak of fanaticism that seems to enable him to overcome all obstacles in order to get the picture he wants."
Nilsson has received numerous awards including Over the years, Lennart Nilsson has received a number of awards, medals and other forms of recognition for his achievements, including the Art Directors' Club Award in New York, 1965, 1972 and 1976; tthe Emmy Award 1982, 1983 and 1996, and The ICP Master of Photography Award, New York 1992.

Hassner, Rune. An Unseen World. 11/12/08..

October Lecture 2

Garth Johnson


Mr. Johnson's interesting attire let me know that this lecture was going to be interesting. He was young and down to earth and I enjoyed hearing him speak about his creative project ExtremeCrafts.com. Coming from a family full of crafty people, his mother being a master quilter and his father working with wire, crafts never escaped his mind. He attended the art school at the University of Nebraska and later received his MFA at Alfred University. He currently designs at Perkins+Will architects in Atlanta. He created Extremecrafts 4 years ago and it's popularity has skyrocketed.
In the lecture Garth mentioned that he sees extremecrafts as A compendium of art masquerading as craft, craft masquerading as art, & craft extending its middle finger. I thought that was a very bold way of putting his thoughts out there. This website contains work from a bunch of DIY artists ( Do It Yourself ) . Tracy Emin, Ai Kijima, and Sean Samoheyl are some of the artists represented on his site that I really enjoyed. Ai Kijima creates these beautiful fabric collages from found bed sheets, t- shirts, blankets, curtains and any other fabrics she can put her hands on. "Kijima's works incorporate familiar pop culture iconography in ambiguous, often poetic, ways." Another group shown on his website was called Booze and Yarn which is one of the many existing knitting circles . I feel that Garth knows a lot about both the business side of art and that's really important for his Carree. This amazing archive of artists will continue to grow over the years and Ill be interested to see its progress.

http://extremecraft.com/

Sunday 10

Born in New York, Carolanne grew up competing in gymnastics and continued her passion into her teens. After making it through the painful training at the pre-Olympic level, she found her real interest was in the human body. She focused on taking photographs and painting after she left her athletic career for good. Ms. Leslie received a full scholarship to the German School of Photography and also had training in the Fine Arts Department at Adelphi University. She has worked as a re-toucher for many years and is an illustrative photography in the book cover industry. Her series titled The Corruption of Flesh uses digital photography, illustration and painting too. Her work has been shown in many galleries in New york including the Sous Les Etoiles Gallery.

“Difficult experiences can ravage us, destroy us or force us to build a thick shell that we clamber around in like a turtle…or these difficult experience can inspire us on an inward journey, one in which we strip away the hardened exterior and find peace and new wisdom in living in the moment. Either way,” the artist says, “a transformation occurs in us on a daily basis: cells die and cells are born; new memories are added and old memories dissipate.”

Website
http://carolanneleslie.com/

Represented by Sous Les Etoiles Gallery
http://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/index.asp

Thursday 10

"If it were not for a digital camera and a computer, I would not be a photographer"
- Riva Berkovitz

Seventy-nine year old Riva Berkovits recently moved to Brookline Massachusetts where she decided to buy a digital camera. Her inspiration for the purchase came from living near Grigg Parks . She felt that its natural beauty could not be captured with paint so she explored photography for the first time. Her first camera did not come with the type of lens she wanted so she purchased a special close up/ macro lens. Berkovits has realized that equipment varies in sophistication as well as complexity and price." At first, Ms. Berkovitz thought she had stumbled onto the ultimate in low-cost close-up photography. Using Adobe Photoshop Elements software, she simply cropped small sections of flower photos taken with her Canon point-and-shoot camera." She was wrong. When her images were looked at on a monitor, they looked relatively good to the untrained eye. After making prints she noticed her pictures lacked sharpness and the noise was exaggerated because of the extreme cropping. The large diameter professional lenses can cost up 800 dollars and that's just too expensive! Macro lenses tend to provide their best results at close range.

I work very close to my subjects and my lens just doesn't cut it. I'm afraid that when I print these large, the noise will be so obvious. Right now I don't have access to a macro lens but I think its important for me to have if i want to move forward with this project. I have had to throw out almost two thirds of my images every time i shoot due to lack of sharpness and I would love to eliminate that problem.

Austen, Ian. "Macro Photography, Microscopic Details."New York Times. Dec 2007. 2 Nov 2008.

October Lecture 1

Simen Johan

Johan digitally composes his images which is a big change from the way he used to work. Each image he makes usually takes a couple years to perfect before its complete. In the lecture he said " Our world is unexplainable, we don't know our purpose." In a lot of his work this statement is evident with the overpowering environments the children exist in. His pictures are very disturbing and creepy. He said that children have minds that are too complex and he imagines them as psycho. Johan likes to base his work off of the idea of play and insanity.

Evidence of Things Unseen is a series he created between 2000 and 2002. Each picture was photographed by him and he wanted these to be about play and creativity. He wanted to expose emotions such as pain and fear. Simon said that he works intuitively and often works with religious pieces. By having ritualistic images in his work, he hopes that the viewer will see something special. In his series titled Until The Kingdom Comes ( 2004-present ) he uses animals rather than humans. These animals are more comfortable in their enviroments that hes created. He wanted these pictures to be about fantasy and how they have the ability to shape our lives. His images are sharp and have very bold content and seem to be perfectly composed.

Sunday 9

Nanna Hanninen was born in Finland in 1973 and currently lives there in the city of Kuopio. She studied at the Lahti Institute of Design in Finland and the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. Over the Past 10 years she has shown her work in solo shows and some of her images are a part of the International Institutional and Private Collections.
"Nanna Hänninen's minimalist photographs are dominated by the tension between the named and the unnamed, the visible and the invisible. Her works are aesthetically refined and delicate, cleared of noise and superfluous effects. One is prone to view Hänninen work as a purely formalist based photography. In the series "Fear and Security" however the artist reveals her obligation towards the social reality and her understanding of the psychological and mental mechanisms of society. Here as well the titles of the works are carrying sense, they are not just descriptive, but contain references to the artistic intention. Her works are both a commentary on the rational, functional society and at the same time a visualisation of the fundamental fear of anarchy within the system." - fiedler contemporary, Cologne, Germany.

gallery- http://www.brycewolkowitz.com/www/

website- http://www.nannahanninen.com/

Thursday 9

"Abstract art is a genre with facets that have developed a keen rapport that plays wonderfully into all of the established interior design plans--from the extreme minimalism offered by such prestigious firms as Minotti to the relaxed formal interiors of the Kreiss collections to the more traditional interiors of say, perhaps, Baker or Ethan and Allen," - Deljou

"It's an exciting time to be in the abstract market," says Steve McKenzie, CEO of Artaissance, an online art publisher that represents more than 110 artists. "All things modern are really resurging with all of the mid-century furniture and clothing. Abstraction is a part of that trend." Today, the market for abstract art is increasing and Mackenzie believes that Generation X is part of the reason for the popularity. He says that those born in the 60's and 70's generally dont like to be told what to do and how to think and this style of art allows them their freedom. Cristi Smith, President of Ford Smith Fine Art believes abstract art is growing in the corporate world too becuase, "Most abstract art is androgynous, not committed to a subject matter and most often not controversial," she says. "This is a huge appeal to this audience."
Trends are hard to distinguish becuase the abstract market is so broad. Randy Hibberd, an abstract artist represented by Third & Wall Art Group has noticed a few trends himself. He has seen more abstracted landscapes being created and he has also pointed out the trend of oversized work. The palettes for abstracts are changing to more sophisticated, muted tones. He believes that peoples understanding for this style of art will continue to expand.

This article was entirely about painting but the same issues exisit in my work dealing with photography. Its good to know that abstract art is continuing to grow in the marketing world. Its hard for a lot of people to understand the meanings behind abstract art. These types of images deal more with light, space, and shadows rather than content. Its not a style thats appreciated by everyone but its something im really attracted to and I think my work will stay in this direction.

Hilary Masell Oswald "Into Abstraction : Abstract art crosses new boundaries". Art Business News. FindArticles.com. 24 Oct. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HMU/is_3_35/ai_n24940802

Thursday 8

Still



"With the surrealism of the 1920s and 1930s, the world of things metamorphosed into a mystical universe. Most notably, the objects exude an aura of ambiguity. They reveal their hidden beauty, frequently erotically charged. Josef Breitenbach depicts the New Yorker's dynamic attitude towards life in a magical composition: high rise buildings illuminated at night, in conjunction with a human circulatory system from a medical textbook. In his fotografia metafisica, Herbert List investigates the mysterious marriages of randomly generated constellations. Man Ray's rayographies explore the expressive potential of photography without a camera. "

Dietmar Siegert is a fiml director and pruducer in Munich and he has collected photos from the 19th and 20th century. These found images have now become whats known as " The Life of Things". It is a collection of 150 pictures from the Idea of Still Life in Photography 1840-1985.
This Exhibit will be going on through Feburary 1st 2009. This collection is one of the most private and significant collections of this medium in the world. Its purpose is to provide insight into the concept of still life in photography. The subjects of these pictures vary from flowers and foods to " special finds" which are more abstract. The 20th century exhibit is a basic overview of the expansion of the traditional still life. " A Focal point is the broad selection of French and Czech surrealist works such as Emilia Medkova and Jan Svoboda." Other artists whose still lifes are being presented include Erwin Blumenfeld, Lewis Hine, Anton Stankowski and Hans Finsler. This exhibit covers still lifes from the past 100 years and its focus is "on depicting the world of inanimate objects that assume lives of their own beyond their utilitarian value."

My portfolio contains work in the still life genre and this article was perfect for me to find. The focus of my photography is very similar to the focus of this exhibit. One hundred years ago, still lifes had no purpose in the commercial world. Today, we have magazines devoted to these topics and I'm thankful that advertising continues to flourish.

Sunday 7

John Villinski grew up in Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson in the early 1980s. He bought his first camera in 1984 and fell in love. He left the University of Arizona to travel around the U.S and ended up returning to college five years later . John was unable to print or develop black and white film so in the 1990's he decided to start using color photography. He felt that it was the best medium for the images he wanted to capture. He recently was awarded 1st Place Photography: Southwest Arts Festival, Indio, CA, 2008. "After 24 years in Arizona, I cannot imagine moving back. The views, the canyons, the mountains, the desert, the sunsets; the sheer variety of the Southwestern US boggles my mind. This large-scale beauty is most noticeable first. But it was not until I looked closer, at the subtle aspects, or inner beauty, that the relationship really began to take hold."

Represented by Gallery M

http://www.abstractsouthwest.com/about.htm ( Home Website )

Sunday 8

Mark Raymond Mason grew up in British Columbia, Canada where he found his love for nature. His creative and curious mind led him in the direction of the arts but it wasn't until high school that he used his first camera. He left home and went on adventures for long periods of time. He enjoyed learning trades and teaching English. After selling an old beat up car, he purchased his first camera. Photography did not supply enough money for he and his family so Mason is currently studying to become a professional land surveyor. Most of his free time is spent making photographs, studying art, and showing his photos to others. He recieved the Merit Award for his " Brilliant Branches" in B&W Magazine's 2008 Single Image Contest Award Issue, Landscape/ Nature Category.
"My creative process has never been easy; navigating the rapids of a fresh idea can be rewarding but thoroughly exhausting. I work abstractly and non-linearly - however, my designs do have trends over time, usually with the goal of delaying recognition so a photograph may better dialogue with its viewer, free of labels. Recent techniques have included seeing without gravity, designing in soft focus, and using shapes to continue the photograph beyond the physical frame"


http://www.markraymondmason.com/

Ameila Douglass Gallery

Thursday 7

Surrealism


“Whether or not his movement of poets, painters and provocateurs won any wars is debatable,” said Michael Rush, curator of “Invisible Rays: The Surrealism Legacy,” and Henry and Lois Foster Director of the Rose. “But what is certainly true is that the surrealist preoccupation with dream states, the unconscious, and the blending of objects and ideas from different disciplines and cultures has had a profound influence on artistic practices to the present day.” The surrealists, Rush added, sought nothing less than the liberation of the human race by unleashing the powers of the unconscious. For artists this meant both a formal exploration of dream states (Georgio de Chirico, Salvador Dali) and a free form expression of ideas in collages and assemblages (Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst). - Michael Rush
The Rose Art Museum in New York City unveiled both a historical and contemporary look at surrealism. "Invisible Rays: The Surrealism Legacy" is a collection of historical works from the museum which includes contemporary paintings and videos that " carry on the legacy of surrealism". Over thirty artists are included in this showcase, Dali, Max Ernst, Gregory Crewdson and Joan Miro to name a few. Since 2005, The Rose Museum has been able to collect 60 different contemporary pieces that reflect the most current trends. The exhibition is curated by Randi Hopkins.

"Exploring Surrealism, a New American Century and the Manipulation of Film Stock". Artdaily.org. Oct 20, 2008..

I have been exploring the real meaning of surrealism this semester and I'm hoping I can get to NY to see this exhibit. I think it would be an excellent source of inspiration for me.

Sunday 6

Sara Remington


Sara grew up in New York but eventually moved to California to escape the snow. She recieved her BFA in cinematography and photography from Syracuse University's School of Visual and Performing Arts; film studies at famu(Academy of Film and Television) in the Czech Republic. Her inspiration for her photography came from , " the beauty of raw, unprocessed foods, organic ingredients, natural light, and fresh air." Sara has the "ability to tell stories with such poignantly simple, yet elegant images that speak volumes." Currently, she is working on a cookbook on organic soul food called Soul Grub. In addition to this, she is writing a book about the Big Sur Bakery for Harper Collins. Sara is also working on a personal project she has titled Swordfish. In this series, she has photographed hundreds of nostalgic objects from her grandparents house in New York. Her clients include : Food Arts Magazine, The Fruit Guys, LIFE Magazine, NY Times, and Williams Sonoma.

Website
http://www.sararemington.net/index.html

Interview
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/member/ProPass/magazine/V207/pdn30_breakingintobusiness.jhtml?id=0.1.14.12.82&lc=en#Sara%20Remington

Thursday 6

Valuable

"There is so much emphasis put on [website] design, whereas I think the photography trumps all that," Haggart explains. In his opinion, art buyers are looking for "a signature style," something unique that people connect with and that distinguishes one photographer from the rest. The best websites are transparent venues for that style. "I want these portfolios to be like your black leather portfolio; they just hold the pictures and make it easy to look at them," -Robert Haggart

Robert Haggart is the creator of "APhotoFolio.com" which is an online company that promotes the work of current photographers. He began his career working at Mens Journal but proceeded to do bigger and better things. Haggart left the Journal because he wanted to help photographers and in his words, " Push the photo industry to what he thought was the right direction." With this idea, he introduced himself to two very important people, Erik Dungan and Mike Caston which are the creators of BigFolio.com. In January the three became business partners and put together all of the details necessary to start their company. Haggart discovered that two designs would be appropriate for his site because he felt that photographers either liked big and bold, or simple and clean. Their website was made so that each photo on their flash sites can be linked to individually. They even have a website that is iPhone-friendly version, since iPhones don't support Flash. To have your website be shown through APhotoFolio, you must pay the high price of 1,000 plus $17 a month for hosting fees.

I found this article interesting because i also feel the Internet is an awesome way to have your work noticed. I'm glad that people are taking the initiative to try and help artists like myself. I'm just getting used to the whole "blog" thing and it's taken some getting used to. I definitely see the importance of knowing how to present yourself and your work over the Internet.


Johnson, Miki. "A New Online Portfolio Option". Popphoto.com. 04 Aug 08. 2 Oct 10..