sametime 1:04

I have not posted anything about the "sametime 1:04" project because it does not influence me what so ever.  The idea is taken directly from our film photography teacher from last semester, Michael Lease.  I actually find it quite rude to directly steal someone else's project.  I would not be happy to know that someone else is redoing what I just finished doing.  Just changing the time from 7:30 to 1:04 does not make it a new project.  It's still a copycat.  Why not change other aspects of the project as well?

first friday 3/6

I have been meaning to post this up to my blog for a few weeks now, but my password slipped my mind for a bit. Anyways...

I was really excited to finally attend a First Friday.  I have not been able to attend any since the first month of freshman year because of my various jobs.  My plans once again got ruined because of a dinner rush at Kitchen 64, but really we should have just gone out to eat earlier.  Oh well.  I ended up visiting various galleries on Monday of spring break.  Little did I know that most galleries are closed on Mondays.... but a few doors were unlocked, so it kind of felt like a VIP tour being with only 2 other people viewing the displayed art.  I visited both ISHQ and Quirk.  ISHQ was the first gallery I visited, and I was impressed by the intricate patterns and details put into some of the textiles.  I like how they separated the various types of art; the paintings were displayed together, and the textiles were displayed together in another location.  I believe I was most drawn to all of the little random pots, stamps, and books that were underneath the paintings.  I felt as if they were little tidbits of inspiration that the artist took, and we just got a little glance into his/her world.  The woman that was in the gallery was very nice to us and answered any and all questions.  Overall it was an excellent atmosphere to appreciate art work in a medium that I am not necessarily all that familiar with.

We then adventured over to Quirk gallery, which I found quite interesting.  The front section of Quirk is basically a little store, and then it transformed into a traditional gallery setting (white walls, open space, etc), and then again into a chaotic little store.  I was a little confused by this meshing of appreciating art and buying souvenirs.  It did not bother me when we first walked in, because I was very, very interested in all of the handmade jewelry.  I am such a sucker for jewelry.  After pulling myself away from the objects that frequently do much damage to my wallet, I found myself viewing art work by my advisor for school, which I found quite delightful.  I did find much repetition in her work, which is not always a bad thing.  I know that sometimes there are things that one interprets many different ways, and that can be displayed through a simple color change or switch in direction of the detailed feet and hands that she created.  I found all the details and intricacy of these little drawings to be beautiful displayed against what looked like dyed pieces of ripped paper.  After viewing Susan's work, I ventured back farther into Quirk to find yet another little store.  This time I was not pulled into its tricks.  I did not find any of the objects to be worth buying, or even looking at.  It seemed like souvenirs, manufactured things that do not really mean anything to anyone.  I would much rather see something like the front of the store, with handmade objects and crazy colors and patterns, in which you can see the passion and time that the artist put into the object.  After Quirk gallery, we ventured around for a little longer, only to realize that most galleries really are closed on Mondays.  I have already called off work for the next first friday, and hopefully I will be able to get the actual Richmond first friday experience.

Amy Stein artist lecture

I went into this lecture with a positive outlook on things, since I really enjoyed the last lecture I attended.  I was initially very impressed to hear about the awards and other titles she has gained through her photography.  

When Stein began explaining how she got into photography, I lost a lot of respect for her.  She came into photography because she could no longer do what she really wanted to do, which was something with politics and the internet.  She made it seem like anybody could be a photographer, and that really offends me.  I've known that I have wanted to be a photographer for about four years now, and it's my passion, not what I'm gonna do when nothing else works out.  The latter is what I feel Stein expressed.  I'm not saying that her photography is bad, some of her photos were actually quite pleasant and interesting to look at.  It is the fact the she expressed that she is a random and late bloomer to photography that really threw me off and gave me a negative bias on the rest of her presentation.

In her series "domesticated," I was initially interested in the concept of humans and nature combining and clashing.  I then came to realize that all of her photographs were based off of stories from the people in the town.  I don't find that creative at all.  I didn't see the artist in the work, I saw the story.  I feel as if she's one of the top fifteen emerging photographers in the world, then she should be able to add a little bit more creativity to her work rather than just the literal interpretation of a story that's not her own.  I felt it was very unnecessary and repetitive to tell us every single story of every image as they came on the screen.  Her work cannot stand without some kind of explanation, which is good for a book with text, but not a gallery, or a presentation.

I found the idea of her "stranded" series very interesting, and I would, someday, love to be able to approach random people and take their photographs as she did.  I don't feel as if it is the safest method to find random people, but obviously it worked out for her. I found some of the photos from this series interesting, such as the shots of the children, yet I felt as if some of them were repetitive.  Car, road, person.  I would appreciate some weird angles or a higher or lower perspective to change up the very constant viewpoint.

When the end of the lecture was coming close and questions were being asked, I was very thrown off by one of her responses.  I don't even remember what the question was, but I do remember her responding with an "I don't know" numerous times.  It wasn't a difficult question, and it was directly related to her work.  Not having an explanation for a key point in your work is not a good thing, especially in a presentation to a room full of photography students.

Overall, I personally don't find Amy Stein to be a strong, independent artist.  I see her work as solely depending on the actions of other people.  This is not a good way to live as an artist.  People and things don't always do what you want them to do.  I wish she had more work to show us that would actually show Amy Stein, not a story.