Monday, November 29, 2010
Studio Journal- Collage and Portraiture.
In trying to figure out where to take the idea of nontraditional portraiture I decided to try using collage. I have always liked collage because of the way it brings together so many different elements. A person's character and personality is likewise made up of so many different elements- so it seemed a perfect fit. I began with myself and started shooting my environment, my belongings, patterns, and other things that I care about. I digitally combined all of these photos together to create a collage of "Mary". While I liked the collage on it's own I thought it might be worth while to pair it with a more traditional portrait, creating a diptych. Once I completed my own portrait I decided to include others. So I have been collecting images of family and friends in the same way and creating these collage portraits. Once I have enough images, they will be bound into a book. I really like that it gives two reads of a person- the view anyone could see just by looking at the person but also pairing it with tiny details you might not see but that really make the person who they are. It is a bigger, more complete picture and expression of personality.
Studio Journal - A New Cliche
In Design III we were assigned the task of creating and distributing a new cliche, I wasn't sure how to connect this to my thesis interest but I knew where I wanted to start: Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto For Growth. I knew when I read this that I wanted to do something visual with it and this was the perfect opportunity since the list consisted of so many design troupes, ideas that could easier enter the idea of cliche.
I decided that I would turn each on into a post card that could be mailed out. To create the images I used quick associations from either the tag line or the explanation of each point on Mau's list. All the images were found using Google images as my tool. Each postcard is numbered so that the recipient would know that they are receiving a part of a whole.
While I really liked the visual impact and idea of the postcard set, I was still unsure how this idea could work into my thesis. The biggest link was association. Each card would get part of my personality, since I created them with my own associations. Then I would be connecting with others by choosing who to send each one too and bringing their personality in to the mix.
I decided that I would turn each on into a post card that could be mailed out. To create the images I used quick associations from either the tag line or the explanation of each point on Mau's list. All the images were found using Google images as my tool. Each postcard is numbered so that the recipient would know that they are receiving a part of a whole.
While I really liked the visual impact and idea of the postcard set, I was still unsure how this idea could work into my thesis. The biggest link was association. Each card would get part of my personality, since I created them with my own associations. Then I would be connecting with others by choosing who to send each one too and bringing their personality in to the mix.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Collecting Images: Further Stumbling
In trying to find the Ellie Brown project I mentioned previously, I found this guy on flickr: Jason Travis. I really loved all his portrait work. The subjects seemed confident, comfortable, and therefor the portrayals seemed true to their own spirits. Maybe that's the case, maybe its not. But what i stumbled upon in relation to Ellie Brown's project and my own interest in beginning this search was a bag project of his own. A series called Persona. Instead of trying to sum this up I give you a Bio of Persona straight from Flickr:
[Persona Bio]
When he began taking photographs in November 2007 for his Persona diptych series, Jason Travis set out to catch up with old friends, learn more about new friends, and, most significantly, to capture a portion of their lives in terms of what each individual considered essential enough to carry around with them everyday.
Viewers of the Persona diptychs take a voyeuristic delight in not only glimpsing the items usually tucked away in bags and pockets, but in identifying with strangers by relating to the tokens they carry with them. Alongside the meticulously arranged items that each person carries, Jason situates a portrait in which the subject always seems confident and at home, comfortable in their own skin. In these snapshots, each person appears as Jason sees them, which is always beautiful. Assembling the Persona diptychs has not only allowed Jason to combine his love of photography with his knowledge of the uniqueness and beauty in each of his subjects, but also has allowed him to share this knowledge with others.
-Sam NeSmith
I love the system that Travis has set up. There is such a consistency in his style, (The focus of the background, the centering of the portrait, the neatly laid out objects) that the true point of the images, the capturing of individuality and exploration of usually hidden details is able to truly shine through. The focus on the background of the portrait images is something I especially love. It adds to the personality of the subject, without distracting from the portion of the actual person that we can see. Each is so unique, and I could spend hours going through each of them. There is always something new that you can notice in the sprawled out items. As the bio points out, the viewer has the chance to connect to the subject, to associate on some level even with just maybe one of the small details found in the contents of the bag. Like Ellie Brown, Travis titles each image simply with the first name of the subject. He includes even less detail than Brown , but with the same effect. It puts a name to a face. I think it's a nice touch.
[Persona Bio]
When he began taking photographs in November 2007 for his Persona diptych series, Jason Travis set out to catch up with old friends, learn more about new friends, and, most significantly, to capture a portion of their lives in terms of what each individual considered essential enough to carry around with them everyday.
Viewers of the Persona diptychs take a voyeuristic delight in not only glimpsing the items usually tucked away in bags and pockets, but in identifying with strangers by relating to the tokens they carry with them. Alongside the meticulously arranged items that each person carries, Jason situates a portrait in which the subject always seems confident and at home, comfortable in their own skin. In these snapshots, each person appears as Jason sees them, which is always beautiful. Assembling the Persona diptychs has not only allowed Jason to combine his love of photography with his knowledge of the uniqueness and beauty in each of his subjects, but also has allowed him to share this knowledge with others.
-Sam NeSmith
Melissa. Persona Series - Jason Travis |
David. Persona Series- Jason Travis |
Colby. Persona Series- Jason Travis |
Ben. Persona Series- Jason Travis |
Amelia. Persona Series- Jason Travis |
I love the system that Travis has set up. There is such a consistency in his style, (The focus of the background, the centering of the portrait, the neatly laid out objects) that the true point of the images, the capturing of individuality and exploration of usually hidden details is able to truly shine through. The focus on the background of the portrait images is something I especially love. It adds to the personality of the subject, without distracting from the portion of the actual person that we can see. Each is so unique, and I could spend hours going through each of them. There is always something new that you can notice in the sprawled out items. As the bio points out, the viewer has the chance to connect to the subject, to associate on some level even with just maybe one of the small details found in the contents of the bag. Like Ellie Brown, Travis titles each image simply with the first name of the subject. He includes even less detail than Brown , but with the same effect. It puts a name to a face. I think it's a nice touch.
You Are What You Keep
With and interest in the things people collect, hold on to, surround themselves with- the phrase "you are what you keep" kept coming to mind. So naturally, I googled it. And I came across this:
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/06/22/you-are-what-you-keep.html
In this Newsweek article Jennie Yabroff discusses the work of psychologist Sam Gosling and his book: Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.
"A psychology professor who spends his days poking around in other people's bedrooms, offices, and medicine cabinets, Gosling believes that our artifacts--our books, music, photos, posters, and, yes, even our bottle caps--serve as nonverbal cues to the rest of the world as to who we are and what we value."
I love the choice of the work "artifact" - it really captures my own interest in looking at people's belongings. They tell a story of history as well as comprise a present personality. Gosling says his main interest is personality differences. I think I'll have to check out Snoop for myself.
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/06/22/you-are-what-you-keep.html
In this Newsweek article Jennie Yabroff discusses the work of psychologist Sam Gosling and his book: Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.
"A psychology professor who spends his days poking around in other people's bedrooms, offices, and medicine cabinets, Gosling believes that our artifacts--our books, music, photos, posters, and, yes, even our bottle caps--serve as nonverbal cues to the rest of the world as to who we are and what we value."
I love the choice of the work "artifact" - it really captures my own interest in looking at people's belongings. They tell a story of history as well as comprise a present personality. Gosling says his main interest is personality differences. I think I'll have to check out Snoop for myself.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Collecting Images- The Bag Project
I have been working on a series for my photo class in which I am creating "personality portrait collages" with images of personal belongs or things that I associate with certain people. Each collage is being paired with a more traditional portraits. When I proposed this project, it was suggested that I look at Ellie Brown's "The Bag Project". This project is a series of diptychs where the subjects are both photographed on a neutral background and then their belongings are dumped out and photographed. The recommendation was certainly very appropriate. There were several things about the work that really stood out to me. The first was the title of each piece. It was simplistic and really just said everything about it. Each set is titled with the subjects name, age, and occupation. Using these as the only non-visual keys really adds to the way the diptychs work to convey personality of the subjects. Another thing that stood out to me that I hadn't really considered was the fact that the portraits were consistent based upon background, but the subjects it seems were encouraged to pose as they wished adding another element of self - expression. The subjects themselves are made up of such a variety of people. Here is a sampling of Ellie Brown's work from the project:
Ellie describes the project as allowing "the viewer a glimpse into the private world of another individual, revealing aspects of this person’s organizational habits, vanities, occupations and preoccupations."
She goes on to write "It is the tension between the person and what they are attached to that constitutes the main point of interest in BAG. What do people choose to hold onto? What are the materials they feel they need to carry around with them? What is the correlation between how the subjects choose to portray themselves in the world, and the story that is conveyed to us by their intimate objects? Furthermore, what is the story of the objects themselves? Some are sentimental, materially valuable, some are part of a current of shared objects that pass unwittingly from person to person--—pens, flyers, elastic bands. How many things are in our bag now that we are unaware of, that have been passed to us and that we will pass on, never cognizant of when they appeared and disappeared from our lives? What are the objects in people’s bags that they are sufficiently attached to in the present to physically carry with them, but will be lost or unaccounted for in a few months time?"
These questions that interest Ellie Brown are very similar to my own questions and fascinations particularly what do people hold onto and the story that is conveyed by their intimate objects. The phrase "you are what you keep" comes to mind. I am interested in stuff that people collect, things that some wouldn't even borrow with. I am also interested in the bigger picture choices of how people project themselves into the world, their individual self expression, and I love the way Ellie Brown combines and addresses these aspects of personality and identity.
Sophie and Sammy, 5.5, Twins 2010 |
Chris, 23, Park District Arborist, 2010 |
Cedric, 22, US Census Employee 2010 |
Ginger, 33, Magazine Editor 2010 |
Kathi, 48, Retired 2010 |
She goes on to write "It is the tension between the person and what they are attached to that constitutes the main point of interest in BAG. What do people choose to hold onto? What are the materials they feel they need to carry around with them? What is the correlation between how the subjects choose to portray themselves in the world, and the story that is conveyed to us by their intimate objects? Furthermore, what is the story of the objects themselves? Some are sentimental, materially valuable, some are part of a current of shared objects that pass unwittingly from person to person--—pens, flyers, elastic bands. How many things are in our bag now that we are unaware of, that have been passed to us and that we will pass on, never cognizant of when they appeared and disappeared from our lives? What are the objects in people’s bags that they are sufficiently attached to in the present to physically carry with them, but will be lost or unaccounted for in a few months time?"
These questions that interest Ellie Brown are very similar to my own questions and fascinations particularly what do people hold onto and the story that is conveyed by their intimate objects. The phrase "you are what you keep" comes to mind. I am interested in stuff that people collect, things that some wouldn't even borrow with. I am also interested in the bigger picture choices of how people project themselves into the world, their individual self expression, and I love the way Ellie Brown combines and addresses these aspects of personality and identity.
Thesis Focus Statement: trying to verbalize.
My thesis focus at this moment is on identity and personality through associations and individual choices concerning self-representation.
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