What's Bakin'?

Here is a sample of my first Sunday of shooting with my new camera. None of the photos have been touched up, just cropped a little, as I am Photoshop-less over the summer :(

I don't really want to expain/talk about them because I want to hear your thoughts first.

More to come after the weekend!

Standard of Beauty

I still don't have anything to show as of yet. But I do have a lot to write. So... here it goes:

First, this quote just floors me: (from the back of a whitestripes album)

When ideas become too complicated, and the pursuit of perfection is misconstrued as a need for excess. When there is so much involved that individual components cannot be discerned. When it is hard to break the rules of excess, then new rules need to be established. It descends back to the beginning where the construction of things visual or aural is too uncomplicated to not beautiful. But this is done in the knowledge that we can only become simple to a point and then there is nowhere else to go. There are definite natural things which cannot be broken down into lesser components. Even if the goal of achieving beauty from simplicity is aesthetically less exciting it may force the mind to acknowledge the simple components that make the complicated beautiful.

Is our way of seeing passive? How do we interact with our visual world or this cyber induced "go green," crazed culture? Can or do we push to see and recognize the yellow flowers along the side of the road, the light rays reflected off shack windows, or even the folds in a little pink dress dancing in the sun?

How easily I forget about beauty. Easily I forget that beauty plays a part in my visual world and my mood, my emotions, etc. How easily I become passive to my world of appreciative opportunity-filled moments and days. At what point to I become numb?

Living is actively seeing. Seeing HAS TO BE active, naturally. But then again, can a blind person see? But is it taken as a passive sort of active. Non-interactive? These thoughts about interacting with my visual world make sense to me. Living, can you reach a point of passivity? Can you forget to seek out? Has the ability to see many things everyday hindered our acceptance of seeing new things differently. Or similar things in a different way?

I ask what beauty is to me. Do/can I actually "techicalize" it? Is there a standard of beauty to be realized? Can a prison be beautiful. Can poop be beautiful? I argue that beauty is situational and varies on a standard of personal taste. The general idea of beauty can be understood across the world. This is usually by association with the female body (a bride) or natural/grandios light situations (a sunset/sunrise).

Summer makes it easy to appreciate "beauty." But at some point I have to remind myself that this world, this visual world, the way I see is mostly relative to me. It is not interactive unless I make it that way due to the repetitive ability to simply see but not see in a new way. And no matter how surrounded I am with visual stimulants I am, at some point have to wake up and realize that our world is fucking beautiful whether I can see it or not.

Hello again...

Jackson and I will be posting soon. I am just finishing up a three week intensive course and Jackson is working hard. We both have lots to share about shooting, comments to people's entries, and artists we have researched. Give us by next week, and we will have our new stuff up. Great entries so far!!! I like to see it!

Personalized, if not personal

Masie Crow's work is personalized, if not personal. I often wonder if even Richard Prince could stake this claim of his work. What I know for myself, right now, is that I must find a way to do work which feels to me, work that speaks to those spaces below my neck, not just to above, if above at all. I've spent much time in the past few years finding intellectual solutions. It's time for me to rely more on my intuition, my heart.

What do you think (feel)?

Banksy.. some say he's an 'art terrorist' thoughts?

I was suprised SO many people don't know who Banksy is.. I thought he was pretty mainstream in art culture. However I just saw his documentary this past weekend called Exit Through the Giftshop, which I really enjoyed. Has anyone else seen it?

If you have answer this question... do you think that MBW was created by Banksy, Fairey, and all of those who agreed for him to film them? Someone asked me the same question. I am probably botching it, but do you feel like Banksy encouraged him to create art instead of film as a joke on those who would buy it? I guess I don't want to give it away if people haven't seen it, but e-mail me because I would love to converse with you! (monica.vonrueden@gmail.com)

Anywho... besides the documentary I am really fascinated about his art and the way that I feel he sets himself apart from other graffiti artists. How can you set your work apart from others that are doing similar projects? I have thought about that ever since I walked out of the movie theatre.

Sundays with Mom and Dad (not to be confused with Tuesdays with Morrie)

On Monday when I started working for my dad's landscaping business I realized that I forgot my iPod. How would I survive a full day on the John Deere under the sweltering heat of the sun without succumbing to sticky thighs, sunburn and boredom? With the blades buzzing a monotonous tone below me, I knew I was in for a long 8 hours alone with my own thoughts. I'm not going to even describe what kinds of things roll around in there when left undisturbed. That's scary. So...try as I could, I was unable to carry a tune inside my head from the last song I heard on the radio in the truck, and I decided I would think about something that was important to me. I pushed off all thoughts of "what will I do when I graduate in (count them) 6 months" and instead turned to a topic that I found comfort in: photography.

At first it was hard to pinpoint exactly what to think about as I still had to allot a quarter of my focus for driving back and forth in straight lines and avoiding making "race car tracks," as the lovely residents of the nursing home like to call them, around the trees. But as I tried incredibly hard to bypass the neurons that were firing at me saying, "think about everything that went down in the last month of school so you can have that not-so-pleasant-stomach-rotting-feeling" or "who is going to be the pre-(Pirman)-approved photo teacher? Lord help us all" I realized that they weren't as sharp as they had been. Maybe it's because of time and distance, but I think it also had to do with the fact that just because some of us have graduated or moved away, I still feel as though we are going to be vitally important to each other in the months, maybe (hopefully) even years to come. Just because things have changed doesn't mean we can't make the best of it, right?

Anyway, what my thoughts finally swirled down to were:
#1. what am I going to shoot next?
#2. what am I going to shoot them with?

1. After showing my grandma the prints that I made and seeing her smile - maybe a bit out of courtesy as she seemed confused why I took a picture of a tomato, the back of her head, and her feet - I knew I had to continue on with my family project. It hit me that this summer could be my last living at home, which means possibly the last time I might also work for my dad, and I felt both nostalgic and exhilarated at the same time.

That's what led me to the title of this post: Sundays with Mom and Dad. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays I work for my dad's landscaping business, then try to fit some tennis in and time with friends at night, so I only see my mom and dad for about 5 minutes as I grab some breakfast. Even then my dad is often gone working at dawn and doesn't return until it's too dark to see anything anymore...and then some.

SPOILER ALERT: My dad is a workaholic....which isn't much of a spoiler because you will soon find this out. My mom on the other hand (I hope she never reads this) is the equivalent of a '50s housewife. She does all the chores and has meals ready for the brief passing my dad will make to the house to use the "can" and grab a bite to eat -- and she does so without complaint. I love them dearly, really I do, but sometimes I just don't understand how I am actually their kid -- and other days I shake my head and realize, oh yeah, that's why. Ahh...I'll just let the photos tell you the rest :P

Tuesdays and Thursdays are spent doing my internship in Milwaukee, so I'm really not home until late late late. That leaves Sundays -- the day of rest for some, but not so for my dad, although much of his work is done around our farm (washing mowers, sharpening blades, cleaning out trucks and sheds). So in a sense he is "around," as is my mom. And although it's been some time since I've sat in a pew with them, after they get back from church is when I could technically say that I get to "see" my parents. Which is why I am proclaiming Sunday my day to photograph them. I will post the photos and my experiences with them weekly (as best I can -- someone make me promise so that I actually stick with this, but I'm confident that I will).

Mom (Carol) and Dad (John a.k.a. JC)

2. So that leaves what am I going to shoot them with? Well the photograph above was taken a few years ago with my current camera, a 2005 Panasonic Lumix 12x zoom, 5 megapixel digital point-and-shoot. I think it's time for an upgrade, don't you agree? I could keep shooting with my (uncle's --keep forgetting its not mine) manual Canon that I used this semester, but film and developing are pricey, plus I don't have a kick-ass scanner to use. So I've decided to use my first paycheck from this past month to buy a new DIGITAL SLR!!! :)

But I need all of your help trying to decide what kind to get. I'm leaning toward Nikon. Under $1000 please-- as much as I wish my last semester will pay for itself, I have to be reasonable. Any thoughts? Good or bad. I really don't know my stuff when it comes to these babies. Basically what I'm looking for is a camera that can capture action, low-lighting situations, and macro very well. I probably want a wide-angel lens as well. Doesn't have to be fancy, but something that produces great shots and colors.

Let me know --I'd like to purchase within the next week so I can start my project the following Sunday (this Sunday I'm back up in De Pere to move into Gries and recruit the youngins to join the Times at the involvement fair thinger).

[ Also, a HUGE THANK YOU to Monica and Shane for keeping the blog going :) ]

Keep posting everybody!

Off Broadway

Alright, so you guys aren't my students anymore...I suppose that means I can start posting my photos from time to time, eh? Feedback is always welcome (or, expected!?)!

I hope posting my work will be as inspiring to you as you posting your work (and thoughts and research) has been to me.

Cheers.

Suzanne Mejean

Remember when we used to post? Haha.. just kiddin, but really I would love to see new discoveries and thoughts and new work :)

Suzanne Mejean is a person that I have come across recently where I have a serious and contemplative emotional connection with. She filmed a documentary entitled "Still Here", which depicts families of soldiers who's fathers and husbands are deployed. I really feel like she captures some of the emotions which you wouldn't see, or even know. I do think of the soldiers that are deployed often, and we always pray for them at the dinner table, but we need to include thier families as well, because there have to be A LOT of families that cope with this every day.

Here's a part of her film statement:

The life-sized portraits become flattened bodies turning fathers from images into objects of affection. The image-memory is held in place but when everyday life comes to a standstill how does one picture the tensions and fears that surface when talking about death, loss or desperate times?

You can also read her essay on the photographic work she did if you are interested, otherwise take some time to browse her website and look at the film stills and photographs.




For some reason the first one makes me all teary eyed. To think that some children don't get that connection with their fathers or mothers for a few years is hard to think about. Just thinking of that little boy who might be 2? He might not have a huge picture of who is father is if he has been gone. The middle picture when the subject is the cutout really strikes me because it represents him, and he is the subject of the picture. I couldn't look at that image and think cardboard.. even though that is what it is. I really repsect those who decide to serve in the military when it comes to families. Not to say I single them out, I am thankful for everyone who makes this life decision. It would be such a different feeling if I couldn't see my dad for a year and only get phone calls, letters and e-mails. Thankfully with today's technology communicating has gotten easier. I am really glad that she explored this though, because I know I am not the only one who is curious.

LOOK!

The MOMA has some super fiiiiine Online Exhibitions and Projects right now, (including Cindy Sherman's complete collection of her untitled film stills!!!) check it out!