This is an image I took a while ago which I think would be perfect because of the smoke from the cigarette and also the wind blowing her hair.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Project 1 Proposal
My idea for project 1 is to use photography and more specifically portrait photography. I have always been interested in portrait photography so I feel this would be a good way to continue working with what I enjoy. I have taken hundreds of portraits in the past but I have never created a moving or looped portrait. I had a hard time coming up with what I could possibly do and still am not 100% sure about my idea. At first I wanted to do something with the dolly zoom, where I would keep the person in one spot but make the background zoom in or out. I then came across cinema graphs where one part of an image is moving on a loop but the rest is still but this has been done so many times. My last and final idea is to create something similar to a cinema graph but not exactly the same. I would like to shoot a video of a person as if I am taking their portrait but have them stay completely still for an entire minute. I will have them hold a lit cigarette or have their hair blowing in the wind or something to show that it is a video and not an image. I think it will be interesting to see if this works out and if people will be able to tell what I was going for.
Monday, February 2, 2015
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Walter Benjamin
Section 7:
I had a hard time understanding the entirety of the section but what I think the section discussed was the argument of the value of painting versus photography. It then goes on to discuss the value of film versus photography. I have always struggled with this controversy myself because photography has always been my favorite medium to work with. I constantly asked myself whether I thought painting or drawing was more artistic than photography because with photography you are merely looking into a viewfinder and pressing a button. I like what this section said when it was talking about how people only wondered whether or not photography was an art and not whether the invention of photography had transformed the nature of art. I thought this was interesting because I never considered this a possibility, that photography has just changed what art can be, and shouldn't be pushed away as an art form.
Film on the other hand is different. This section states that the question of whether photography is an art or not were nothing compared to the concerns raised about film. It's hard to think of a time when photography and film didn't exist as an art form but I can imagine the confusion people must have had when they were invented. Drawing, painting, sculpting and other forms of art have always been around and are undoubtably art forms but photography and film are much different. I think it is interesting to think about how new forms of art were developed and how scary/exciting that must have been for people. After much thought, I still am not entirely sure about my views on whether painting is "better" than photography or film or not. The one thing I am positive about is that photography and film are definitely art forms, just a different kind of art form.
I had a hard time understanding the entirety of the section but what I think the section discussed was the argument of the value of painting versus photography. It then goes on to discuss the value of film versus photography. I have always struggled with this controversy myself because photography has always been my favorite medium to work with. I constantly asked myself whether I thought painting or drawing was more artistic than photography because with photography you are merely looking into a viewfinder and pressing a button. I like what this section said when it was talking about how people only wondered whether or not photography was an art and not whether the invention of photography had transformed the nature of art. I thought this was interesting because I never considered this a possibility, that photography has just changed what art can be, and shouldn't be pushed away as an art form.
Film on the other hand is different. This section states that the question of whether photography is an art or not were nothing compared to the concerns raised about film. It's hard to think of a time when photography and film didn't exist as an art form but I can imagine the confusion people must have had when they were invented. Drawing, painting, sculpting and other forms of art have always been around and are undoubtably art forms but photography and film are much different. I think it is interesting to think about how new forms of art were developed and how scary/exciting that must have been for people. After much thought, I still am not entirely sure about my views on whether painting is "better" than photography or film or not. The one thing I am positive about is that photography and film are definitely art forms, just a different kind of art form.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Friday, January 23, 2015
No More Teacher's Dirty Looks by Theodore H. Nelson
In my education classes we talked a lot about how technology can help in the classroom and specifically how computers can help. I think that technology should definitely be used in the classroom but should not take the place of the teacher. A teacher should also never use technology as a way to give the student's something to do if they don't know what else to do with them. Technology should only be used as a way to enhance the student's ability to learn whatever subject they are studying. I don't think students should only use computers but should also be in the classroom setting to have teacher and peer interactions.
This article also talked a lot about the issues with our education system and why student's are not motivated. One part that really got me thinking was when it said "If everything we ate were kibbled into uniform dog food, and the amount consumed at each feeding time tediously watched and tested, we would have little fondness for eating. But this is what schools do to our food for thought." I never really thought about school this way but I think it couldn't be any more accurate. When someone is forcing you to do something like read a specific book, you're automatically not going to enjoy it as much as if you picked it out on your own. I do think computers can be a good way for students to be able to find more resources that they are specifically interested in. For example most students are able to use iPads in schools now so they can download apps that have books on topics that they choose and enjoy.
This article also talked a lot about the issues with our education system and why student's are not motivated. One part that really got me thinking was when it said "If everything we ate were kibbled into uniform dog food, and the amount consumed at each feeding time tediously watched and tested, we would have little fondness for eating. But this is what schools do to our food for thought." I never really thought about school this way but I think it couldn't be any more accurate. When someone is forcing you to do something like read a specific book, you're automatically not going to enjoy it as much as if you picked it out on your own. I do think computers can be a good way for students to be able to find more resources that they are specifically interested in. For example most students are able to use iPads in schools now so they can download apps that have books on topics that they choose and enjoy.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Art Event- 1/28 Robert Knoth and Greenpace
The event that I attended in the Boyden gallery was towards the beginning of the semester and it was a gallery talk. It featured Robert Knoth who talked to us about his project and showed us a slide show of his images that he took. He works for a company called greenpeace and the project he did was called Shadowlands. What he did was he went to Fukushima in Japan where there was a nuclear disaster and captured how peoples lives have changed. He showed us his documentary and had some videos of people and many images and talked to them about how their daily lives have changed and the horrible conditions that they are living in. Most people had to leave their homes and move to different places until their homes were safe, but many have not been able to move back home because there is nothing left of their homes. They are living in terrible conditions and even the water they have to bathe in is harmful to them. Robert Knoth captured images that showed the beauty of what used to be Fukushima and how the nuclear disaster has changed it.
Many of the images that were hung on the wall were of some form of civilization with nature surrounding it. The image that struck me the most was of an abandoned gas station, but the lights in the vending machine were still working. There was also an image of an obviously abandoned road but the traffic lights were still working. The images that he hung on the wall were mainly nature in the environment but the images he showed us on the slideshow were more of people and interviews. Robert Knoth risked his health by going to this place to document how these people have suffered and continue to suffer. If it weren't for someone like him who is willing to risk his health to show the world what is happening, most of us would have never heard about this tragic event. I find it really inspiring as someone who would love to be a photo journalist to know that by taking pictures you can cause social change to help people who are in need and who have a hard time getting their voice heard. I really enjoyed this event and would love to see more of his work and want to keep up with this terrible tragedy.
Many of the images that were hung on the wall were of some form of civilization with nature surrounding it. The image that struck me the most was of an abandoned gas station, but the lights in the vending machine were still working. There was also an image of an obviously abandoned road but the traffic lights were still working. The images that he hung on the wall were mainly nature in the environment but the images he showed us on the slideshow were more of people and interviews. Robert Knoth risked his health by going to this place to document how these people have suffered and continue to suffer. If it weren't for someone like him who is willing to risk his health to show the world what is happening, most of us would have never heard about this tragic event. I find it really inspiring as someone who would love to be a photo journalist to know that by taking pictures you can cause social change to help people who are in need and who have a hard time getting their voice heard. I really enjoyed this event and would love to see more of his work and want to keep up with this terrible tragedy.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Web Designer Artist Post- Mike Kus
Mike Kus is a designer from the UK who specializes in WEB/UI design, graphic design, branding, illustration, and photography. He has a worldwide client roster and his work is regularly featured in design related publications. He has been working in the creative industries for 15 years. He is known for creating web designs that seamlessly marries form and function. His work has been featured in many design books and magazines and he regularly speaks at design and web conferences across the world. He has designed works for the likes of twitter, Microsoft, berocca and mailchimp and many more. He really likes to take pictures and share them on instagram.
https://twitter.com/mikekus
Going through Mike's work is really interesting because he has such a broad range of what he does. Obviously if he is designing a website for another company he has to do what they tell him to do but his work has some sort of consistency. Most of the websites he designs he illustrates by hand the imagery so that there is a handmade aesthetic to it. It seems like he likes to use lots of illustrations and images in his work and has a eye-catching yet simple feel to them. One site he even does a "two color per page" theme where he has a foreground color and a background color. I really enjoy this because it is easy for the eye to navigate around the page.
Mike even did some of his own little illustrations for the Olympics in 2012 in London. He played with the idea of likening the athletes abilities to that of animals with legendary abilities in the same area. I thought this was really neat because he used the same type of hand made illustrations that you see throughout his websites. I really like his work because it is very colorful and artsy yet it is very simple and easy to look at. Even his website is artsy and fun but easy to navigate. He definitely has a style which he sticks to which is using illustrations and color in a simple manner. I think this style might not be as effective if someone were trying to make a web design for a serious company or something that shouldn't be so artsy. But for my interest and for what I am looking into, I really admire his work and his style.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
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