Category: General (Page 2 of 6)

Labels, when used on people, are words that are sometimes mistaken as descriptions. Words such as loser, extremist, overachiever, etc are not descriptions. The use of these words as descriptions is a product of assumptions based on, for the most part, little information and a lot of opinion, which is then projected upon the person. The use of a label to describe someone has the effect of eroding one’s identity, and thereby makes the label the most prominent thing that identifies an individual.

In this series, each subject provided a label, on that was ascribed to the subject by others, that was in turn projected onto their body using a portable projector. The subject was then photographed in a manner akin to a formal portrait.  Only the bottom half of the face is in the frame and that begins to fall to black. The prominent showing of the label then becomes the main focal point, and ultimately, the identity of the individual. It is important that the label provided be one that was ascribed to the subject by others, and not by him or herself. Self-ascribed labels become an integral part of a person’s identity, whereas externally ascribed labels take over a person’s individual identity.

For each image created, the subject is invited to watch while the graphic of their chosen label is created in Photoshop. This serves to help reduce the anxiety that comes with being a model. The anxiety is further reduced and the subject’s relationship to the label becomes more apparent as I take my time in shooting 3 frames.

The ability to see part of a face serves as a reminder to the viewer that therein is still an individual. This project does not aim to stop people from labeling others. In the end, it is up to the individual doing the labeling to decide whether or not to apply one to another individual. The goal of this project is cause an extra step into the labeling person’s thought process and force him or her to consider why they are labeling and what that label can ultimately do to another individual.

Over the course of about 17 months (2009 – 2010) I was fortunate to get to Minnesota on 3 different occasions.  On each trip I had my camera with me, with the middle trip actually being me wanting to take a photo tour of the state for a week.

There is no profound artist statement to be found with this series.  During a meeting with an art historian last Fall to discuss some of my work, I was asked why something couldn’t just be a picture of something.  The correct answer is that we should have a reason to create the images we do.  Sometimes they are a call for action.  At other times they are created in order to bring attention to something important.  Sometimes, though, the reason is nothing more than that we want people to see how we see what is in front of us.  That is the reason for this series – I want people to see what I saw when I went on those 3 trips.  These are here for you to enjoy, but don’t hesitate to leave a comment or ask a question.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the demands placed on us, we forget sometimes what it was that drew us into (for me, back into) the art world.  I took a photography course to learn how to take better concert photos and it reawakened the artist in me that had been lying dormant for nearly 2 decades.  After getting caught up in some of the pretense of art school, I found a little zen after watching the Bob Gruen documentary on HBO (it had been sitting on my DVR for several months).   That very night I was able to get back to my roots and have a little fun with my camera while enjoying the hell out of some of Houston’s local heavy metal scene.

These are all in black and white because, to be blunt, the lighting in that particular venue is awful.  They have the colors, but there aren’t enough and they aren’t powerful enough.  It’s ok, though, because the black and white in this instance helps bring out a little more of the fury of some of these performances.

I leave this to you to enjoy.  And when you’re done, check out Bob Gruen’s website (click here) and the work he did in the 1970’s and 80’s.

And Merry Christmas, and Happy Thanksgiving!  I’m probably being politically incorrect by mentioning the last 2 in the manner I did, but not saying their proper names is succumbing to groupthink, which is something to which most artists who do fall will not readily admit.

Congratulations first go out to my friends who made it into the P/DM program at the University of Houston.  I know they all worked very hard to achieve this goal and I can’t wait to see what they produce in their more in-depth studies of photography as an art form.

Now I want to apologize for going all of December without an update.  I had pretty much decided to just chill out for this semester break,  and it is mission accomplished.  The new semester begins on Monday (as in…  TODAY!).  I’m taking two classes – 20th Century History of Photography and Fundamentals of Video Art.  The video class today was only about 20 minutes.  Driving to school took longer than the class, but since it was the first day it’s ok.  I have 2 friends in the class, so that should make things a little easier as well.  The rest are mainly freshmen and sophomores who are barely into their arts programs.  This should prove interesting going forward, but we will see.  The photo history course should be very interesting.  My Traditional Black and White professor, who is a graduate student at the University of Houston, loved the class last semester and could not say enough about it.  The professor is the Director of Graduate Studies for the University of Houston School of Art and comes with quite an impressive Curriculum Vitae (that’s a fancy word for resumé in the art world).  I’m definitely looking forward to this one, but not to the 3 hours once per week lecture.

Speaking of school, I finished the past semester with a 4.0, bringing my cumulative since entering UH to 3.76.  I hope I can jack that up a little this semester, but we shall see in 16 weeks.

This past Saturday was rather good.  I went to the Catherine Couturier Gallery here in Houston to meet Maggie Taylor.  For those who may not know, Maggie Taylor is a photographic artist.  What she does is take vintage photographs and manipulates them digitally to create very colorful surreal works.  Contrast that with her husband, Jerry Uelsmann (yes, that Jerry Uelsmann), who creates surreal black and whites in the darkroom.  She was there signing her new book, No Ordinary Days, and exhibiting original prints from the book.  If you have never seen an original Maggie Taylor print, then you haven’t really seen her art.  The same could be said for Uelsmann…  his original silver gelatin prints are beautiful and even then you cannot find the flaws in his masking.   I met Ms. Taylor in September of last year at the Houston Fine Arts Fair while she was with the Catherine Couturier Gallery booth (this gallery represents both Taylor and Uelsmann in Houston).  I didn’t think she was going to remember me, and I didn’t press it, but I did reiterate that I was a fan of the work of both her and her husband.  All in all, I left a few dollars poorer but 1 book and 1 experience richer.

At this point the meeting has inspired me a little to work on my photographic manipulation skills.  I have started looking at some of my photographs and have gone on eBay looking for some negatives and photos for sale.  I have a few ideas I’m kicking around, and will get started soon.  At this point, I will leave you with this piece I completed about a month ago (after neglecting it for about 8 months).  Have a good night, everyone, and look for more updates soon.