Summaries

Chapter 7, "Revived and Remade", discussed the changing understandings of photography. It spoke mostly how contemporary photographs get their meaning not necessarily from the author's intent, but from references to other images. We, as the viewer, look at images and notice (whether we realize it or not) references to films, magazines, or other works of art. One example is Collier Schorr who who posed a German schoolboy in the same positions as paintings by Andrew Wyeth. The chapter also discusses how juxtaposition and grid work can be used to make an image (or multiple images) convey their meanings.

In the Sontag article, she discusses how photography has changed over the years. One of the more interesting things she talked about was how photographs used to be seen as an absolute truth but now (because of knowledge of editing and photographer bias) they are not seen in such an honest light. Although the perception of photography has changed, the importance of it has not. Photography is readily available to just about anyone and allows people to enjoy not only art, but experiences as well. The photograph allows the viewer to be a part of an experience, something that paintings cannot do. For this reason, photography is becoming more and more popular and will be around for a very long time.

Overlapping-Grid-Thing

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Project #3 "Self Portraits"

 

 

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"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."

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5 "Sketches" of Project 3

These images are VERY VERY rough, just some ideas that have little to no substance. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do with this project. The first four are ideas for the "Not a Self Portrait Portrait"and the one "sketch" is a rough idea for the "Self Portrait Portrait".

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Color Ring Around

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Project #3 Proposal

My idea for the “Self Portrait Portrait” is to show the exact opposite of what most others see in me, thus showing the side of me that only a rare few have known. I will most likely do this by using various words on paper and possibly objects to show the things that I feel every day (anxiety, fear, etc) while only showing one part of my body (I have not decided what part yet). I will attempt to cover myself in these words or objects

As for the “Not a Self Portrait Portrait” I am thinking of going a more traditional route with clothing and will possibly use my shadow as a guide. It will represent the shallowness and emptiness of an outside appearance. I would like the two images to play off of each other and to generally show that you never know if you actually know a person. I would do this by having each image taken in the same spot and in the same “pose” as well.

This idea is still in the early stages and I am working on perfecting it. Some of the individual aspects might change but I know that I want to deal with outside appearances vs. what’s actually going on inside a person.

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Introduction Summary

(I accidentally did a Chapter 1 summary last time instead of the Introduction so I am posting this one now.)

The introduction begins with an explanation of how photography has become such an important part of our society because of the use of images. It describes how the book will be broken up into eight categories: “If This is Art”, “Once Upon a Time”, “Deadpan”, “Something and Nothing”, “Intimate Life”, “Moments in History”, “Revived and Remade”, and “Physical and Material”. Each of these sections will highlight a certain facet of photography and show its importance in today’s society and the world. The introduction also makes a point of stating that the intent of the book is not to focus on photographers of the past, but to look at the importance and significance of today’s photography. The remaining pages of the introduction are spent giving a brief history of what has led to contemporary photography. Each one of the artists mentioned played an important role in how photography is done today.

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Practices of Looking Summary

The reading opens with talking about how the simple act of looking (specifically at images) is a choice or an influence. Living in an “image-saturated society” (11) it is important to understand what you are actually looking at. The reading then goes on to describe representation, basically stating that images and words allow us to construct the world around us and give meaning to what we see. It then discusses photographs as usually being seen as having the most truth in them. This is a little backwards considering photographs can be altered and edited so easily – and there is always a hint of subjective-ness in any photograph taken because the photographer must decide to take the photo in the way that he did. From these images we, as the viewer, interpret multiple meanings by looking at the image (signifier) and what we feel by looking at the image (signified). Overall, images are, and will continue to be, a very important part of our culture and it is important that we understand exactly what we are looking at.

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Project #2 Seeing [in RAW] Color

Harmonic Color

Dominant Color

Isolated Color

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