I have entered the "Pride of Place" photo competition at Ph.Art Gallery. 

These are the images I have entered.

I entered a contest held by Photographer's Forum magazine. The images to the right are the ones I submitted.

First Friday 5/1

I'm sure this will come as no surprise, but my first friday plans were interrupted, once again.  I ended up having to work because a friend had to be at his other job and desperately needed me to cover.  So I covered.  And closed.  (that means 2am, he owes me a huuuuge favor!) 

Anyways, I ended up going to a few galleries, with Quirk being the most memorable.  I found this surprising because the majority of the work was paintings, and that is usually not my cup of tea.  I found it very interesting that it was a joint show, perhaps sisters? and their work looked incredibly different.  I really enjoy the juxtaposition of ideas on the same subject.  I started looking at Rita Root's work first, only to become bored with the repetition of horses.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are bad pieces, because technically they are absolutely beautifully detailed, but it was just so boring.  It seemed like they were all almost the same, that is, until I came onto the off-colored and distorted paintings of the horses.  This was sooo relieving to see a bit of differentiation in Rita's work.  The painting of the green horse stuck out like a sore thumb, but in a very good way, on the wall with the about 4 or 5 other paintings.  On the larger wall, she included 2 paintings of horses that extended from their rectangular borders, and made the outer white border a part of the work of art rather than just a method of displaying.  I enjoyed these 2 paintings over the rest, by far.  I also enjoyed the little detailed lines and circle on all the borders.  I feel as if that compensated for the fact that the pieces had rugged edges.  Good touch, not too much.

On the other side of the gallery, Erin Root's work was displayed.  It threw me off how different their work was.  Rita seems to be focused on the beautiful, colorful, the alive, while Erin is focused on concepts, pieces, and composition.  I found the subject of her work to be quite disturbing, but displayed in a very effective way.  I found her pieces of "life" and "death" to be more influential than the pieces of separate pieces. (deer parts I believe? strange.)  Erin definitely used composition and the juxtaposition of black and white to further her daring concepts.  I absolutely love her use of negative space, especially in the pieces of dying animals.  She associates black with death, and displayed them tiny, in the bottom corner, surrounded by this black death halo. The use of negative space, to me, pushes the idea of being alone.

Overall, I found this show to be interesting and different, but would probably not go out of my way to see their work again.

Interstitial - Hassan Pitts

When told that we had to go see your work a week before first friday, I was a bit stressed because my schedule is super crazy busy with finals and work.  I ended up going last Wednesday in between study sessions.  Of course I was in a shitty mood, and was expecting to be pessimistic about the work because that was just how I was feeling.  When the video started, I was definitely a bit confused, but the piece grew on me, slowly but hugely.  The double exposure plays with the fact that the act of shaving is such a repetitious event, and having the opacity change gave it a really creepy effect that definitely works because you switch it up what's in focus and what's not.  The thing that made it the most memorable for me was the intense music being played in the background.  I actually went with Blair while not many others were there, and boy we cranked that volume up.  You would expect such a mundane event to have either a soft, soothing tone, or no music at all.  The creepiness of the music made the boring very exciting and new.  I kept expecting something to go horribly wrong and you shave off an eyebrow or slice open your cheek. (first would be funnnnny!!! not so much on the second) There were certain parts of the video that would be excellent photographs, especially when one of you is looking down, and the other is looking straight ahead, causing a weird overlay of eyeballs on your forehead.

Overall, I found the piece very interesting and definitely a good break from my studies.  I came in angry and stressed, and left feeling a bit relieved and my mind racing. I feel as if you appropriately intensified the mundane.  Good work!