Elijah Gowin

Bio from Website:

"Elijah Gowin uses photography to speak about ritual, landscape and memory.  His photographs are in the collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Center for Creative Photography, among others.  In 2008, he received a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship.  Presently, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he directs photographic studies.  Gowin is represented by the Robert Mann Gallery, New York and Dolphin, Kansas City."

Quotes:

"Gowin collects amateur photographs through the internet and collages them in multiple layers before printing small paper negatives which are cut by hand and then scanned, causing the paper fibers to become a part of the final distressed image. The photographs appear to be both old and new, confusing to the eye and yet hauntingly familiar."--Robert Mann Gallery on the series Of Falling and Floating

"They look blurry and papery and scarred because the pieces of the paper image, which have little bits of pulp, when they’re scanned those pieces of pulp [are visible] as well. So you see the distress and blurriness of the paper as well as the image. Because I hand-cut the image, the funny shapes on the edges stay, but on the scanner they fight it out and start to get these stripes and bars—the scars and interaction between the old and new technology. It’s just like old people meeting young people—there’s miscommunication. "-- Elijah Gowin

http://elijahgowin.com/

Interview

Gallery

Symbolism

This semester I wan to take my concept a step further, by using objects other than just the light to become subject. i want the light to play more of the deliverer by transforming throughout the series into other objects. Symbolism will pay a huge role in this series if I go this route by correlating to ideas of obsession, oppression, and triumph. I want my objects to have mulitple meanings that have to do with the lighting as well as symbolism for every day life.

Quotes:
"Symbolic photographs can trigger multiple meanings, depending upon who may be looking at it, because symbols can often mean different things to different people. For example, people who might have little interest or knowledge of the Great Depression or World War II might see entirely different meanings in those two images. This is not a weakness of expressive photography. It is a strength. Images that offer multiple meanings will often challenge the imagination of viewers in unexpected and provocative ways."-- Gallery Twenty Eight

"Any image that encourages thought, moves the emotions, or stimulates the imagination can be a valuable experience. It all depends on how the photographer has used symbolization and how the viewer understands those symbols. "-- Gallery Twenty Eight


Bibliography:


"Gallery Twenty Eight: Using Symbols and Metaphors to Express Meaning Photo Gallery by Phil Douglis at Pbase.com." PBase.com. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. <http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/symbols>.

This article worked well in giving examples in the gallery of symbolim found in artwork. It doesn't necessarily have to be planned before the image is taken, sometimes one finds symbols in images that already exist.The artcle also addressed how symbolism can be very specific or it can be extremely general, such as with the photograph "Schoolroom". Symbolism can be portrayed by the existance of something in the image or by the absence of something. Symbolism is extremely open ended and can be interpreted differently by each viewer.

Anna Tomczak

Tomczak's work intrigues me because it uses the polaroid transfer as well as other alternative processes and is able to give her images the right amount of mystical qualities through this. I love the colors that are in the picture which show that she obviously picks each prop and subject for the color scheme and contrast that is particular to these processes. Also her use of the borders and imperfections due to the processes add rather than take away from the images.

Biography:

"For over 15 years artist Anna Tomczak has utilized the 20×24 camera to make hauntingly beautiful constructions.   Drawing on a large personal collection of unique and eccentric artifacts Tomczak creates an assemblage that only exists in time long enough to be recorded on large format Polaroid film.   These timeless compositions are heightened by her use of the Polacolor Image Transfer technique.   This process interrupts the normal peel apart development by separating the negative from the positive film earlier than intended and placed instead in contact with wet watercolor paper.   This technique mutes the color and softens the image, producing a more dreamlike and antique sensibility."- 20x24 Studio (http://20x24studio.com/?page_id=119)


Quotes:


 1."The Polaroid large format (20 x 24) transfer process lends a tactile quality to the photo imagery, and a one of a kind work on paper." - Anna Tomczak


2. With the impressive 20 x 24 Polaroid camera, I am able to paint, construct, envision, fantasize, and 'transfer' my ideas onto the piece of paper...There is a certain richness of color, combined with the visual clarity achieved with this camera and process, that I intend to explore as thoroughly as possible." - Anna Tomczak

Review

Gallery

Website

Polaroid Transfers

Over winter break I have been thinking about how I visually want to represent my images. I like how my concept has developed, but I feel the way in which I show this concept falls short. These images are meant to have a magical, other realm feeling, which the digital prints do not give. I am looking into other processes in photography, especially processes in the darkroom or that use film. I have had experience with the process of Polaroid Transfers, but have not used the process in years. My only dilemma is finding a way to create large prints, since unfortunately my equipment only makes 4x6 prints.


Quotes: 


1. "Polaroid transfers have a unique visual style that is a little ghostly, a little impressionistic, and often very moody"- Sarah Wichlacz


2. "t’s a fun way to spice up found slides and staged photos" - Sarah Wichlacz

Wichlacz, Sarah. "Polaroid Transfer Tutorial at Sarah Wichlacz." Sarah Wichlacz. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. <http://www.sarahwichlacz.com/?p=5>.


This article was extremely helpful in refreshening me in how to go about this process. The mixture of writing as well as images of how to complete the process will prove extremely helpful if I decide to experiment with this process. This article was also extremely helpful because through reading the comments I was able to find a place that would rent equipment to make 20x24 polaroid transfers.

Possession

In life we are obsessed with out material possessions by spending much time focusing on what we have, what we want, and if what we do have is better than what others have. Due to this we are fueled by a want for money in order to gain these new objects. But does it really matter? We can't take it with us. I feel this focus on possession has a lot to do with my series. The subject wants the light and isolates herself in order to keep it as just hers. No one else's. This is due to the preciousness that the subject puts on the light and resorts to cutting herself off in order to keep it hers. Through this decision, the subject is no longer in charge and is yet again dragged back into this obsession with attaining material.


"In the underground of the museum, down where the digs took place, one can physically see the layers of city and settlement on Pointe-à-Callière, from the initial aboriginal inhabitants through the founding of Ville-Marie, to the governor’s mansion that was once located there, through urbanisation, industrialisation, and so on.  The physical remnants of the buildings, and artefacts are there for the viewer to see." (Spatialities)


"Brighton has the remnants of the material culture of the Irish immigrants and Irish-Americans.  Finding glasswares with symbols of Irish nationalism on them suggests that the movement had some traction amongst the tenement dwellers of the Five Points."(Spatialities)


"Urban Archaeology & Material Culture « Spatialities." Spatialities. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. <http://spatialitism.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/urban-archaeology-material-culture/>
This article was a nice informative recount of the author's experiences with archaeology. It was interesting to see how she and others in the field interpreted the material they found at these sites. She also talked briefly about the museum that is centered around three sites and how the found material is on display in the museum.

Addiction

This has a lot to do with my project due to its new conceptual turn, in which it deals a lot with obsession and purposeful isolation. The movement of the photographs has this addiction undertone by showing first the subject controlling the light, but soon one sees the light is what drives the subject to draw themselves back and into isolation. This is the same pattern addictions follow. First it is something some one thinks they can control and monitor, but soon the tables turn and the addiction overcomes them, isolating them from friends, family and their life in general. The article talks about how prior to the development of modern psychology, people saw people with addictions as morally flawed, instead of having a serious mental disease. This idea of being morally flawed i think could extend to my series, due to this obsessive, magical quality to the images.


"It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain - they change its structure and how it works. "(Drugs, Brains, and Behavior)


"Those views shaped society's responses to drug abuse, treating it as a moral failing rather than a health problem, which led to an emphasis on punitive rather than preventative and therapeutic actions." (Drugs, Brains, and Behavior)


""Drugs, Brains, and Behavior - The Science of Addiction"" Web. 02 Dec. 2010. <http://www.nida.nih.gov/scienceofaddiction/>.
This article had a lot of information, but it did get a little too Above The Influence as it went on. It focused a lot on the psychological aspects of addictions and it briefly stated past opinions on addictions. The first two pages were very informative from a general psychology standpoint, by explaining the reasonings behind addictions as well as the actual brain's illness when dealing with addiction. On the next pages though, the focus was much more on preventing teen drug abuse and awareness of the harmful effects of drugs which didn't really have anything to do with my project. 

Tamara Lichtenstein

Biography:
Lichtenstein was born in Bolivia but grew up in Houston. Her work deals mostly with females in a fashion photography style, but she does have some images that include couples. She says Ryan Mcginley is a major influence in her work which one can see from the style she shoots in. She says she photographs everything which is very apparent when looking at her large flickr stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamgutlich/).


Like Sofia Ajram's work, her style in using the light in certain photographs is similar to how I am looking to have my last photographs look. While Sofia's was more fine art, Lichtenstein's have a much more fashion feel to them. I especially like the use of the light to block out the models face in the first picture. This idea could work within my series when it comes to showing how the subject is more controlled by the light.


"Inspiration is never forced, it just happens."- Tamara Lichtenstein


"Lately, I have been shooting a lot of people, which is my favorite thing to do. Everyone looks completely different, especially when it’s in a different environment, so there’s always countless ideas in my head." -Tamara Lichtenstein

http://www.tamaralichtenstein.com/

Interview