Assignment-Symbol

“Photographers are forever faced with the problem of portraying something they can see in their minds but can’t readily photograph.”
-John Szarkowski

Make 40 photographs that could be used to describe or represent something that is not in the frame. You will only turn-in/print/submit 6-8 of these images but I will ask you to create a proof print of all of the pictures so that I can have some idea of your vision for the project.

What are the common symbols in our society or in your lives? Clocks represent time, the American flag may represent freedom, a wrinkled hand may symbolize aging. What does the dawning of a sunny day usually mean in a story?

Before going out to photograph, you might choose some subjects to describe as a starting point.

Hints:
Get closer, have a detail of something represent the whole
Think of objects or talismans in people’s lives that may symbolize their personal beliefs

Bring your images on Monday. You will have some work time in class but you might think about beginning the editing process before then.

Writing
Choose a photograph on exhibit at the Henry or Jacob Lawrence Gallery. Fill a single sheet of paper with as much as you can think about regarding that photograph. You may approach this writing in any way you see fit. You may describe, evaluate, judge, rant, and ramble. Your writing, however confused, should always return to the work of art as reference point. Consider today's reading as a starting point for your own beginnings of art criticism. You will turn this hand-written paper in on Monday.

Homework from 4/26 due 4/27

For Wednesday:
Fix and post 5 different images from the Color/Neighborhood assignment to Flickr by 8PM Tuesday. You’ll have time in-class today to work on this

Post both the straight and manipulated image for a total of 10 uploads. You MUST re-size your image so as not to use up all your online space. I showed you how to do this in class using the export for e-mail or export as JPEG by changing the longest side. In my case I used 1200 pixels.

Include a sentence or two with each image explaining why you chose it. What do you think is successful and not successful about the pictures? Did the assignment give you a chance to look at your neighborhood differently? Record whatever your thoughts on the image might be.

Redo images that I mentioned earlier and return them your folder in the Artshare by 8PM Tuesday. Please put it in the same folder you did as before. Delete the other images if you like. E-mail me when you’ve put it there so I don’t have to dig around everyone’s folders.

Read Terry Barrett extract.

The pinhole camera is in the monitor's closet in the lab. Please make ONE good image to bring to class next Monday.

Homework from 4/22

The homework from 4/22 was to manipulate the 4 images placed in the ArtStudentShare under
Spg Qtr2009---Schaffer---Demo RAWWWWW---Homework 4/22---

Manipulate these images in Lightroom to the best of your ability and EXPORT them as ORGINAL to the file in Homework 4/22---Your Finished Homework.

Check your Lightroom export settings carefully, otherwise you'll end up exporting as JPEGS!

This should be done by 3PM on Sunday.

You can only get to the ArtStudentShare from the School of Art. I am working on a better solution so we can use FTP from anywhere. Thanks for your patience.

Selections from Class on 4/15

Write about:
Five favorite things, a haiku, an art experience you have had, and something you like/dislike about the class so far.

Favorite thing:
dogs and other non-human animals
the earth
interfermaetric imaging below diffraction limits
God
Whales
Mountains
The Internet (had to have one geeky thing in here)
Elephant ears (the carnival treat)
An album I like on vinyl
Balance
Grass
coffee
Cats (Lions, tigers, leopards. cloudy)

Haiku:
rhododendron quilt
collapse into the flowers
grow your hippy hair

one year and three months
I will marry my true love
(sorry-I'm corny)

sleepy morn
spontaneity
no ideas

Washington
Eating many apples now
Stop raining

Yoyo falls
To the string's limit
Up again.

Dinosaurs
are really awesome
but they're dead

I ate Mexican,
spicy enchilada sauce,
careens through me now

An experience with art:
The difficulty here is in choosing between something too intimate or something too superficial. The First, more so since it has been illustrated that there is no expectation of confidentiality. I also have difficulty with personal expression on demand... contemplation takes, well, time for contemplation. My experience of "art" is largely the formed Framework of "art education" while by another interpretation art is the experiencing of things more so than the creation of formal works. So for it to be "art" in a truer sense, it is implicitly intimate and therefor beyond what I would feel comfortable sharing with a room-full of assorted strangers. I guess that's my art experience.

In kindergarten we had periods during the day where we would go to different parts of the room & play different activities. I remember one time distinctly when I was at an easel painting at one of those stations. I remember thinking how paint dripped down the pages & trying to decide whether I liked the effect or if I should try dripping my brush in less paint. It's a brief memory but I think the reason I remember is because very soon after I got sent to time out. I started crying because I didn't understand why. Apparently I had rolled my eyes at my teacher when she asked me a question or was talking to me.

On our first three weeks of class:
I don't like the Orozco project-too forced. I like posting to Flickr instead of spending $ on prints.

I wouldn't mind a bit more technical depth. I don't like early morning schedule. But huzzah for coffee.

I like the group projects in this class, because collaborating with one another and then producing something beautiful and creative is a lot of fun and rewarding. It would be nice to get the links to some of the informational web-sites...

...enjoyed looking at other photographers and discussing our thoughts. One thing I've disliked is that knowing what the homework assignments are has been a bit confusing. The blog has been more helpful

I've met a lot of interesting people in this class doing group work...I wish on the individual projects they were more "photojournalism" type assignments.

Something I dislike about this class: We spend a lot of time doing activities like this. However!...

So early! Group creative work can be frustrating

...I also like the organization of the class, starting with something random, then talking about art, and then doing something.

I dislike working in the same group for many of the in-class assignments.

I like that this class is inspiring me to do silly things without making me feel embarrassed about doing them.

Monday

Image by Christian Widmer
Don't forget to bring a way to upload your COLOR assignment images to the computer on Monday! We may have a card reader or two but you'll be better off bringing your own gear. Otherwise you will not need your camera for shooting.

If your camera can do RAW, we will upload that file type. If you have JPEG, that's okay, too.

For Monday we will be having some discussions and demos but you will work on your own images a bit as well. More of Wednesday will be spent on your own pictures.

I'm headed to the UW now so it's your last chance to upload the Orozco redo. So far they are looking great. If you have any problems with Flickr, please e-mail the shot(s) to me instead.

Let me know if you want more comments on your Flickr. I will provide them as I have free time.

Looks like we'll be in ROOM 329 tomorrow barring disaster! Unfortunately there is no support in the ART building for rooms before 9AM.

Homework from 4/14, Orozco, Color

If you didn't get a good pinhole image, don't worry. You'll have a chance to try again later. Thanks so much for everyone's participation. I know it can be frustrating when things don't work out perfectly.



I will work on posting comments for everyone who submitted the Orozco assignment. Thanks for your input in class. They will be up by tomorrow. Most of them are already done. Please make sure you have the option to let people post comments turned on!

Redo Orozco assignment and post it before Sunday

Your sculpture might:
Make use of materials found outside
Describe both the state of the world as it is as well as disrupt the apparent order of things
Create juxtapositions that display a thoughtful, playful intelligence
Seem simple yet avoid simplistic meaning

Color in your world
What colors are around you? How can you use the photographic frame to represent them? What time of day will the color be brightest? What feelings does the color represent?

Pictures 1-5, FAVORITE COLORS
First, take 5 pictures of your favorite color outdoors. Look for this color in places you would not expect to find it. Be sure you have enough light to take the picture. You can use close-ups to describe a place, using details only you would recognize.

Pictures 6-15, time and place in YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
In 10 outdoor pictures, show color in your neighborhood related to:
* the time of day;
* the time of year;
* creating a sense of place or of your neighborhood;
* the mood, atmosphere, or emotional impact you want to show.

Pictures 16-30, unexpected DETAILS
Find unexpected color in the details of nature. Spend time looking around your world and observing it close up.

You must bring a way to plug your camera or memory card into the computer to upload this assignment on Monday!

World Pinhole Photography Day

http://www.pinholeday.org/ By Dick Chua: http://www.flickr.com/photos/d1production/

Homework from 4/13 due 4/14

Picture by Bill Jenkins, a former teacher of mine
Homework:

Each person in your group should post your two “best” images to from today’s group assignment to the web. There should be two good examples of images you shot, preferably one with lots and one with little depth of field, but if you don’t do it that way, it’s okay.

Make a photograph on your own in the style of Gabriel Orozco. Walk around, think about where you are, and make a spontaneous sculpture out of found materials. Photograph it. Post it to Flickr. Don’t make art, make the experiences you already have into something new.

Post 4 of your previous zoom images, two zooms w/stationary photographer, two w/moving photographer moved in space to compensate for the zoom. Some of you already did this so there’s nothing else to worry about!

Bring your pinhole container for Weds. I will bring the materials.

You don’t need your cameras on Wednesday

We will take our photograms down on Wednesday

Please post your images by Tues. 9PM.

Examples of Pinhole Photographs

Slawek Brdek
http://pinhole.org/

Examples for next assignment

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44246029@N00/sets/72157616553525217/

Bring a photograph to class, write about it

Adam Mina
I choose this photo because of its somewhat forshadowing effect it has on my life in high school. In grade school through early high school my dad would always try to get me into running, but I always chose other sports like soccer and basketball. I finally tried out running in my junior year of high school, and it bas become my favorite sport. More importantly running has been a significant point of bonding for me and my dad.

Michael
Why this picture? There is nothing significant in the picture itself – what matters is to the left of the frame and closer than the underside of the building. 3 days after I take this picture, sitting in the same spot, looking at the same hillside while dressing in apron, hairnet, gloves & protective armwear (after a meal) I am exhausted. It is darker than this, cold. We are about to enter the “freezer” to slice salmon fillets for the next 3-4 hours. I look up, to my left and there is a girl looking at me. I know she is Ukranian, would find out later that her name is Anastasia, 3rd year university student in Molecular Physics traveling around the US for the summer. At that moment I do not know her name, only that I have been trying to work on the same line as her for the past two shifts. She approaches me.
She asks me to tie her apron for her, quickly turns around. We work together during that shift, and the next day again, and again the next day…

Callie Arnonld

Change- This girl is no longer obsessed with traffic cones. She no longer lives with her mom, or any member of her immediate family, nor does she live in the Pacific Northwest. Where she lives she probably does not have a yard. Her mom does not have as many opportunities to take photos of her.

Is photography important or not, why?

Kelly Graham
I think photographs are important in our lives-they provide a way to record a moment in time that can never be fully recreated. Photos let us look back on an objective (well, the photographer is subjective) view of events captured on film. Photographs keep a record of what might otherwise be forgotten or distorted in memory, as well as being art in their own right.

Joel Azose
I think photographs are important in our lives because memories are fleeting. Photographs allow us to relive moments in a way that would not be possible without some aid…


Michael
Without photography we would still survive as a species, still lead (probably) similar lives…

Tiffany Lim
…the joy of meeting an old friend would be more clearly and strongly felt in our expressions in a photograph than in a description of our expressions and actions.

Renee Takara
Photogarphs are important in our lives because they capture a precise moment in time that can never truly be revisted…Memory is faulty whereas pictures will hopefully last forever.

Isabelle Woodward
…[T]hey let us se things we might not have otherwise gotten to see.

James Gray
I think that p.g.s are important historically but only important “in our lives” via assigned meaning rather than implicitly.

Tiffany Vu
A photo of someone is almost a part of that person

Jason Hirata
Unimportant because it is a representation of reality- a dumbed down version that can be altered faked and used to lie.
Important- story telling device. Fantasy is the truest form of creation.

Kathleen
Quite plainly our society tends to be very stimulated by visual elements. People will pay a great deal to see this movie, or that picture of a celebrity…It is a way for me to reflect on my life, share my experiences at a given point in time.

Dylan Antonovich
Photographs are important (to many) because they have the ability to document a personal memory, a historic moment, a thing of beauty or an idea, then preserve, intensify or alter it completely to fulfill the photographer’s vision as an artist to…

Erik Turnquist
Important: They capture an event in history for others to see. Photos allow people to experience how another person sees the world.

Homework from 4/8

Homework:
Please bring prints from today’s group assignment for Monday

Post best examples of today’s pair assignment to your Flickr page. Do this by Saturday night as I will look at them on Sunday!

Put a real image of you on your Flickr page as the icon

Someone from your group should collect objects for multiple objects in the landscape assignment on Monday. I will try to make an example before Monday and post it to my stream. Perhaps two people could bring objects.

Photograph a large object or person outdoors using a variety of focal lengths. Try to keep the size of the subject in the frame the same but vary the distance from it by changing the degree of zoom. Make at least 4 pictures doing this.

Similarly make a series of 4 photographs utilizing zoom to show the same place, thing, whatever but by zooming in and out and not changing your physical location. Keep the center of the frame in the same place, but zoom in and out to create 4 very different “looks.” They don’t need to be good pictures, just good examples of focal lengths.

Optional: post your previous group assignment to Flickr
Reminder: you will need a container that can be made light tight for next Wednesday