Andy Warhol Inspired Photo Shoot

"I believe that everyone should live in one big empty space. It can be a small space, as long as it's clean and empty."
This project is inspired by an article by Andy Warhol titled, 'From A to B and Back Again' (1975) He talks of his hatred for nostalgia and his ideas about how a person can rid themselves of this nostalgia in order to move on with their life and to truly live in the present. He believes that in order to have a life that is fully in the present, you cannot be hanging on to your past in anyway. A way to make sure you are not clinging to images of the past, is to get rid of anything around you that will make you think of it. He suggests that a person should go through a monthly ritual where you sort through and throw away things that have no meaning to you and to also take your possessions and things around you and put them into a box and put them away someplace where you cannot easily access it. I find this to be very intriguing, as I look around my room I see so many things that I keep just because they remind me of an experience, a person or a time in my past that I want to remember. Why do I hang on to them? Am I afraid that I will forget if I am constantly reminded? And how does this constant reminder effect my day to day activities? Warhol believes that it distracts from the present to keep things like that around. As I read his article I though more about my things and why I seem to think they are so important to keep around. My desk is an area where I keep a great deal of nostalgia, I have pictures, trinkets, notes and random gifts from friends all about my desk and computer area. This is the place where I do a great deal of my work and I sometimes find myself looking up at a picture of trinket and drifting off into memories of my past. This is not a good distraction!
For this project I am going to take this cluttered and nostalgic space of mine and convert it to a place where I can sit and feel at peace with fewer distraction to take me away from what I am trying to do. I will remove everything that I do not absolutely need for daily work activities and put it all in a box and put that box away and out of my sight for one whole month. The whole month of May this box will sit untouched and I will see how the change in scenery changes my habits, behaviors and productivity.
While doing this, I picked a small clean box and labeled it May 09 and filled it with pictures from my board, gifts from my friends, and colorful trinkets that cover my desk. It was surprising to see just how much stuff I keep around that I do not actually need on a regular or even monthly basis. Without all these objects, my desk seems quite stark and empty, but at the same time very clean and easy to look at. I took pictures before I removed everything to show how cluttered and unorganized it had been before, I then took a few pictures of the objects I removed and then the end result, my clean and bare desk just waiting for me to sit down and be productive!


Thank you for reading!
-S

Clouds and Larry Sultan

I am getting closer to being done with this project, I'm gonna print these pretty small, not sure how small yet, but I want the viewer to be able to hold them in their hands. I want them to go from expansive, huge images to small precious objects that a person can carry with them. I'm going to mount them on mat board and trim the edges so you see no mat board at all. I hope they turn out as cool as they are in my head!
These are going to be for my class 'The Document' where we are currently discussing readings from Roland Barthes, Sarah Kember and Marjorie Perloff we are talking about the experience of photography as a viewer, subject and a photographer. We have discussed the way a person relates to images and what makes him or her like or dislike them. So far I'm not concrete on how to relate my images to the text, but I'm working on it.

OK now to Larry Sultan, Ryan and I attended his lecture at the U of O last night and it was amazing! I found him not only brilliant but also very personable and charismatic. He was quite funny and talked about his many successes, awards and books but also talked about his insecurities and problems as an artist. These were very comforting to hear because it makes me feel better about the questions I have of my art and myself.
He showed us images from all his books and talked about some of the process and his intentions with the images. It was amazing to go into this having already seen a great deal of his work and knowing about his many accomplishments. It made him seem like such a celebrity in the photo world! Along with images from his books he also showed some editorial work he had done on heiresses and wealthy individuals for magazines. Having him talk about his mental process and his own personality that he was determined to show even in images that they was commissioned to do. He offered up great words of advice through out the lecture;
"Engage in doing stupid things, build on those stupid ideas."
He said this while talking about his early work such as repainting billboards and creating street art. He felt that even his mistakes and stupid ideas lead him to some of his most brilliant work. While talking about the idea of advertisement his discussed his billboard work where he would remove all text from an advertisement and leave the image, he went on to say,
"Photography is a trace, a fact. We wanted to take their fact, our poetry and create our story. To dismantle assumptions of photography."
The lecture was amazing and well worth the time! I hope I get the chance to meet him one day!

Back to editing!
-S

Camera Lucida and Larry Sultan

Photo classes are starting to pick up speed and I am preparing for critiques in both 'The Document' as well as 'Conceptual Strategies' on Monday. As I get images edited, I will post them!
I am currently reading sections from the book 'Camera Lucida' by Roland Barthes. It is an amazing book that brings up some interesting points about the truthfulness of photography and how we as subjects, observers and photographers look at images and what goes through a person's mind when they look at images. Quotes to come soon from the reading.
I highly suggest picking up a copy and taking the time to consider how this art form has changed and how it effects many aspects of our lives in amazing ways.
Also,
tmro i will be going to an artist lecture where the visiting artist is Larry Sultan a photographer I like very much and whom I have been learning a great deal about this term. His artwork ranges from The Valley (2004) a collection of images that study the porn industry in California all the way to images of his family in Pictures From Home (1992).
http://www.filminfocus.com/article/larry_sultan
I am very excited! I will post afterwards about it!

Good Night
-S

Influences- Sally Mann

"Night-blooming Cereus", 1988, Gelatin silver print, 19-3/4 x 23-5/8 in.

"The Last Time Emmett Modeled Nude", 1987, Gelatin silver print, 19-3/4 x 23-5/8 in.
"Emmett, Jessie, and Virginia", 1989, Gelatin silver print, 19-3/4 x 23-5/8 in.
"Jessie at Five", 1987, Gelatin silver print, 19-3/4 x 23-5/8 in.
"Holding Virginia", Gelatin silver print, 19-3/4 x 23-5/8 in.

Sally Mann is one of my favorite photographers because of the overall look of her images, the subtle developing techniques and because of her ability to take pictures that both shock and intrigue. A majority of her images are of the members of her family, in fact most of these come from a book she compiled called "Immediate Family". I am amazed at how she can take such loving caring pictures of her family members in such vulnerable and interesting positions and situations.
The reason that I picked Sally Mann as an inspiration of mine is because she takes pictures how i wish to one day! She is not afraid to take pictures of people when they may not appriciate it or when they are having a personal moment to themselves. It is hard for me as an artist to get in someones face with a camera even if they are quite willing to be photographed. I hope to be able to take from her photographs some courage and curiosity to help me in my own life.
Another reason for picking Sally Mann is because of her bold and sometimes obvious choices during the printing process of her images. She uses techniques such as dodging and burning to make the subject of the picture stand out and grab your attention immediately. Her choices when printing can be very obvious but there is a grace to them that makes you look past the exaggerated situation and simply see the beauty in what is right in front of you.