Julie Blackmon

Julie Blackmon's work was suggested to me in my individual meeting, as an artist to look at that uses a digital technique to change their work. Using some form of collaging and photoshop could change my images without the time consumption other techniques would require. I also am interested in her window scene. I feel using the idea of looking into a room from the outside of the house could be an interesting element in a photograph in my series.

Biography: 

Julie Blackmon is a photographer based in Missouri. Her work is inspired by growing up in a large family which explains her use of collage images into one image. Blackmon uses her family members to play the parts in her images, which center on family life and the hypocrisy of the family dynamic.

Quotes: 

" We live in a culture where we are both “child centered” and “self-obsessed.”  The struggle between living in the moment versus escaping to another reality is intense since these two opposites strive to dominate."

"I believe there are moments that can be found throughout any given day that bring sanctuary.  It is in finding these moments amidst the stress of the everyday that my life as a mother parallels my work as an artist, and where the dynamics of family life throughout time seem remarkably unchanged. "

Website

Gallery

Review

Color

Color plays a huge role in any artwork. Whether it is the decision to use grayscale or the decision to use vibrant colors. The color of an image plays a huge role in how other perceive it. What message and mood each color gives off to the viewer is a huge part of setting the mood of the image. I would not want to portray a dark concept and use colorful pastels. On the other hand, if I were to portray the happiest day of someone's life, I would try not to let my pallet contain mostly grays and blacks.

"Indigo is often associated with the right side of the brain; stimulating intuition and imagination."


"These olive green colors remind us of decay and death and can actually have a detrimental effect on physical and emotional health. Note that sickened cartoon characters always turned green."


"Psychology Color." Thinkquest. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://library.thinkquest.org/27066/psychology/nlcolorpsych.html>.
This article gave great general examples of what feelings certain colors trigger. It had a very psychological perspective which does have a lot to do with art.  

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.