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Lake Isabella Pano

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MOPA

I visited the Museum of Photographic Art (MOPA) down in Balboa Park twice. On my first trip I looked mostly at the Ansel Adams display. I went to yosemite last year for a wedding and, although I have traveled to dozens of beautiful mountain areas for snowboarding, I was awestruck by the majesty of the great valley. It reminded me of the promised land in the old cartoon The Land Before Time, a valley of unspeakable beauty and resources. What was equally impressive was how well Ansel Adams captured this beauty, not only in black and white, but with the camera technology of the 1920s. 

A recurring thought I had throughout the exhibit was how well he presented the lights and darks. On every picture there was an area of true white and true black. Also, images so complex such as a pine forest were crystal clear using only shades of grey. Im sure he camped out for hours upon hours waiting for the perfect light to really capture the amazing site. I had seen his work before when I was younger and was very grateful for the opportunity to see it again with a more educated eye that could really appreciate the work that was put into these images to create something so beautiful with limited equipment and only black and white.

My second trip to MOPA allowed me to focus on the gallery of  Fazal Sheikh. His work focused primarily on portraits of women in India with the theme being exposing their suppression in society. I think the black and white photographs were particularly effective because the images were as bland as their expressions. Like Ansel Adams, the tones were extreme and really captured the detail of the subjects emotion. Thats what stood out the most in my mind, emotion coming through so well in an image. Even though most of their expressions were blank, I felt empathy for these women and an emotional connection, similar to what I experienced with Old Soul by Ralph Lee Hopkins. Even though I lacked a full understanding of the message of the photographs, the effectiveness of the images was striking and I could really appreciate the talent Fazal Sheikh had to capture such full emotion with just a snapshot. 

Ordover Gallery – Balboa Park

I went to the Ordover Gallery to see a presentation but Ralph Lee Hopkins on Baja California. His talk really opened my eyes to just how much exotic beauty is just south of the border. When I see these images on TV or in magazines, I think of these places as being so remote and far away that I would never see them. In actuality, amazing plant and animal life is within a days drive. Once Ralph finished, an environmentalist discussed with us how the beautify of Baja is being destroyed for resorts. It was incredible seeing coastlines torn apart to literally create gigantic bays. The structures were so incredible that they had to build adjacent cities for the staff. The main issue was these cities had no facilities to support them, leaving waste and sewage to ravage the environment. It almost made me thankful that Mexico is too dangerous to travel to recently. 

After the talk, we were able to see his gallery. The images of landscapes and sea life were stunning; most seemingly unedited. It was very impressive. I connected with one picture in particular: old soul. It was a close up photograph of a baby whale, focused on it’s eye. When I looked into that eye, I got this feeling of deep wisdom and age that made me feel so insignificant.  Many people can take pictures of nature, but a select few really capture the beauty and life behind it. I wish I knew how long he followed that whale to get his perfect shot, or if the old soul swam up and posed for the younger race.

first try at a pano

Outside my classroom

Few photobook images

My idea is a week-in-the-life book showing my monday – thursday at CSUSM in cool colors and my usual weekend routine in San Clemente in warm colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

texture

My image using textures 

James Nachtwey

Wow. Its all fun and games until Deborah shows us a presentation by a war photographer. We all know the lines: the horrors of war, a necessary evil, the ugly truth. Until you see a perfectly shot image of a young boy who just died of starvation, it never really hits home. Content aside, what I appreciated about James’ work was the methaphorical aspect. Each image was striking alone, but it also represented something broader such as the photograph of the burned silhouette of a man resembling cave paintings and thus reminding us of how primitive we still are. The photographers that we’ve seen before were primarily concerned with getting a good shot. Nachtwey wanted a good shot that meant something. Also the intonations were very subtle. Once the images were explained they took on an entirely new light.

snapfish images

Here are the six images of my cousins that I sent into snapfish to be printed as greeting cards.

They looked great on the computer but, just as Deborah warned me, they came out somewhat dark in print.

Roni Horn

Roni Horn was amazing. What I thought was the interesting about her was the variety of work she did. From photoseries to installations, she was able to take complex ideas and create art in the simplest ways. As we saw with the faces and the water, something that is seemingly very simple can actually be done to create very interesting and deep concepts. Also I was struck by just how eloquent Roni was. I always struggle to describe my work and it’s intent; however, Roni, when talking about her art, could create an equally beautiful image with her description.It definitely makes me want to exercise both sides of my brain more.