Way of Seeing

The Ways of Seeing video speaks of how the reproduction and distribution of paintings has cheapened the experience of viewing them. This is due to the fact that outside factors can play into how one feels when viewing the image. Be it the music they are listening to at the time, or what one previously viewed before looking at the work. In museums the viewing experience is carefully monitored, and how one views the image is relatively uninhibited. This information is important to me as an artist because in creating an image I’d have to take into account the outside factors that may be playing on my audience. Be that music directly opposing the message I’m trying to send, or precognitive notions already held by the viewer.

John Szarkowski's 'The Photographer's Eye

Szarkowski charges that most photographs are less art, than a fleeting desire that even the untrained can capture with a click of a button. At the same time however, he says that photographs have a beauty of their own, which can be expressed no matter how much thought or training when into producing the final image. In spite of a photograph’s seemingly readymade finality, there are problems that one can encounter with them. One of the problems of photography is the subject itself, and the fact that as a natural creation the photographer must take into account how it is best captured. Along with this, photographs make it difficult to pose something as an artist of paint would; there is an amount of detail which is captures within the photo that does not allow for one to cover up mistakes. Be that of the imperfection of the subject itself or that of the artists own making.  Despite these shortcomings, photography is a medium that was created in its final form, it leaves little room for improvement, and unlike most inventions never truly need to be improved upon.

A few pictures of strong

Reflection over Word: Intense

Reflection over Word: The construction of the word was a lengthy and rather frustrating endeavor, as parts of our team did not meet the standards of the others, nor have their letters done on time. However when we did have all of our letters complete, we set out to take photographs, settings of which ranged from Behind the Art and Design building, to Wescoe. The placement of the letters, helped contribute to the Intensity of the word, because they allowed us to play with the cast shadows, build a tower of letters which stressed their extreme nature, and allowed us to place the letters high above, to further that sense of intensity.

Reflection: Big Letter Groups

Reflection over Team- Overall my team got along very well, though we did encounter problems with members not giving their all, or even finishing their allotted work by the date decided, namely with Mitch. Individually the problem I suffered through the most was the cost of the project on the whole, having spent more on this one segment of the project than I had on myself in the past three months, and that is not an overstatement. Despite this, Jared, Terrah and I got along smashingly and managed to complete both our letters on time, while Mitch still hadn’t completed his one letter. In the end though, everyone stepped up and completed the letters in time to take some fantastic photos.

Reflection:Giant letter + Photo Essay

Reflection over project- This project helped improve my skill in creating large 3-D objects, as I have not had much practice in 3-D art. In creating the giant letters I learned that double ply cardboard is a challenge and a hassle to work and cut through especially under a time crunch, though it does create a very sturdy form. The second part of this project, the photo essay, was much simpler and less stressful to complete. Though difficulties in encountered for the second half was in printing, as I did not have enough money on my card to print on a nicer type of paper, which annoyed me greatly. However I still managed to create a clean and clear photo essay using a regular printer and paper.

Photography Reading Reflection

Photography essay reflection- The photography essay pertained to the project because it shows you the difference between documentary and art-photography.  In the case of this project we fall under the second category as we are interacting and designing what is going to be photographed for an optimum finish.