Thursday, December 30, 2010

Flashing Christmas Lights

So I have a fascination with lights and I often find myself snapping pictures of lights of all sorts.  I really enjoy lights on a beautiful dark background because of how it allows the lights to jump out off of the photo.

Every year the Denver Zoo host "Zoo Lights" which is a display of animals created by lights.  It's a gorgeous display that captures the attention of children of all ages.  So here are some pictures from "Zoo Lights".




Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Myself When I'm Great (For Colored Girls Only)

Here are some images of the finished product from my on-going installation For Colored Girls Only.  It was very hard work and exhausting, my feet were swollen, my knees were swollen and in a 4 day span I had about 8 hours total of sleep.  Nightmares and I thought I was going to have a nervous break down, but I didn't I'm still healthy and it was worth every bit of it!

 These are images of the grid I put up before I start to place the heads.  It took me about five hours to put this up.
This was towards the end of the installation, I was putting up the very last head, but it wasn't done just
yet.
 
I'm taking the grid down and preparing for the touch-up's

Steaming the heads gets the wrinkles out and helps them lay flat on the wall.
 
Setting up lighting to take some awesome pictures!

 









PEACE!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Week 11 Now Let us Gather All Information

In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster

 

This series, photographed in New Orleans in November and December of 2005, portrays the cost of Hurricane Katrina on a personal scale.


The first chapter i used in relation to theory is chapter 2 Surveyors and Surveyed.  Chris Jordan photographed images of Hurricane Katrina's devastating results.  As a photographer he did it in a beautiful way.  I am relating his photos to documentary style because nothing has been staged and these photos are images of something that was there before he came, he just put in a form for the world to see.  Jordan talks about the reason for documenting this disaster because it wasn't fully a natural disaster, but half was the result of a man made issue that is linked to global warming (link to project statement).  In our book Photography: A Critical Introduction it states "photography's obsessive concern to record, catalogue explore, reveal, compare and measure the human body was one way in which it could be seen to be an important form within the disciplinary process" (p.105).   I think that quote describes documenting in one sentence.  Documenting is our way of exposing and letting others see what we see.

The next chapter I am going to relate Jordan to is chapter 3 'Sweet it is to scan...'.  This chapter doesn't relate directly but put into context it can very much relate.  In the section Beyond the Domestic photos being created to show others what the next persons life was like and 'the tourist gaze' (p.123).  In relating this to Jordan, he visited and area that was demolished, he took pictures for people that wasn't there so they could witness the devastation.  This section talks about the untraveled parts of the world and Katrina was in a state of emergency.  It was definitely "untraveled" and even though they probably experienced, it was of limits to "the tourist gaze".  Pictures always had some type of desire because what they could bring to your home without leaving it as explained on page 123 "by the later years of the nineteenth century, photographs of parts of the world, impressive because of their distance, their strangeness or the difficulty experienced in reaching them".

The third chapter I am going to relate is chapter 5 Spectacle and illusions. the section Photojournalism, glamor and the paparazzi talks about the spectacle of photojournalism.  Jordan and created beautifully constructed photos of a very ugly place, he has created art out of it.  Although these image are aesthetically pleasing we all know the back story and can't help but think about what happened to this place and why he has these images.  He zoomed into the refrigerator with pictures on it and created another picture with his camera.  "The frequent adjustment of the scenes by photographers creates a demand in the viewer for a constant spectacle and drama to be presented" (p. 198).  Being in that space in time and photographing it for more to see is a form of the pentacle.




My Personal Images

My Grandparents 20 something

This image I scaned, I got this from my grandmother a few weeks ago.  My grandad is the handsome tall one in the white suit and that is my gorgeous grandma he is holding.  This picture is definitly a keeper!


Side view of my installation For Colored Girls Only 2010

This was my second year being apart of the Advance Student Exhibition on campus and this is a side view.  This is such a great perspective, awesome depth of field.


 Light play at the TMRRW PPL Show 2010

This an image I took at a local show, with a 10-15 second exposure time...I think.  I love how you can play with and alter light.



Thursday, November 18, 2010

The New New

Sneaker Prom, 2010
My boyfriend and I went to Sneaker Prom last month, his shoes are the eggplant color and mine are the grey ones.  Sneaker Prom is an event that takes place every year and the dress code is formal wear with your best sneakers.  They crown a prom king and queen for best dressed.  I am not a sneaker type of person, but I love the designs on my shoes, it's pure art.

Disco Ball, 2010
The disco ball has reflected an awesome design onto the ceiling. I darkened the picture to emphasize the the design and add an abstract look.


Thursday, November 11, 2010

These are private!




My cousin Othello, 2010
My cousin happy and content.

My cousin LaLa drinking champagne, 2010
Flash was used on this photo and I like how the flash created a spotlight on my cousins face as she puts back a glass of champagne.

Lawrence, 2010
The guy in this picture is my cousin too, the youngest brother to the other two in the previous pictures.  Its a family affair.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

The body as an object




"Objects Of Desire" In Orlan and Berkeley's photo's these images of women and have put them on display, an objectification of the "male gaze."  Their are signifiers in each photo that plays into the object of desire.  In Orlan's photo a woman is photographed in a frame naked, she has turned her into something to look at.  She has long flowing hair and a full face of make up, which are both "props" that are used to entice men.  
In Berkeley's photo a woman stands in a white dress, the white dress could be a signifier of being pure (like a virgin).  She has a fake tan and she is a beauty queen,  she is only looked at as an object of desire because nothing else is required to win the competition.  Who is she displaying herself for? What is she being judged on?  
In chapter 4 Henning talks about how "if women are already objectified by the male gaze, and if objectification is in any case what photography does, then photographic images of women are doubly 'objectifying'.

These photo's are also very different because Orlan's has constructed a setting just for the photo.  Berkeley's photo was taken from a competition and the look on her face is almost disapproving, she has been idealized.  Orlan has taken a different approach by creating this image of desire.



My Images
Local Show, 2010
I like the silhouette images and how they stand out and flatten at the same time, up against the wall and the bar signs.


Flotilla Ghost, 2010
This was a picture I took while working the lights for an Allied Witches Production called "Apparition in Palestine: A Modern Tragedy.  I chose this picture because of the blurry effect, it adds to the ghostly look.  The ghost in the middle has black holes for eyes and the ghost on the right has great movement!


Halloween alter ego, 2010
I took this image of myself on Halloween.  I enjoyed the "Hottie Police" outfit, but this picture also fits in perfectly with chapter 4.









Tuesday, November 2, 2010

My personal/private images

William and Dawit, 2010
Two of my good friends hanging out at our local "Cheers" having some drinks.






Resting, 2010
I posted the same two images, one in black and white and the other in color.  I couldn't decide which one I liked, but I like how they are both paired up together.

My personal/private images

The Red Car, 2010
I thought  this was an interesting picture.  I took it on my way home going down 13th.  I love the vintage car next to the vintage house.

For Colored Girls Only (2nd Installation)

For Colored Girls Only

This is my ongoing installation project in my Drawing V class. It is eventually gonna fill the main 3 walls in gallery 199.
This project I am really enjoying and I want to incorporate my photography on the same level as far as content goes.
The idea came from a book of chorepoem called "For Colored Girls who have considered Suicide when the Rainbow is enuf" written by Ntozake Shange. It is a collective of 20 poems about the abuse of 7 women all referred to by colors.
My piece is about recognizing identity.

Make sure you go see my installation on November 15-17, 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Week 7 "New Photography"

Roe Ethridge 

I have family back east and I spent a lot of time in the tri-state area and I was always amazed at how these shopping centers would fit so many stores in one small space.  I now spend a lot of time in California and the same thing is going on out there too.  So many stores in one spot makes it impossible to see every store.  I think these stores show just how much we consume and everyone is trying to make make money.




Judith Ross

I love how the focus of this photo is on the girl and the background is blurred.  Plus the glasses are awesome.


I think what is similar in these two images is that they both have a vintage look to them, but only Ross's photo was taken in the 80's while Ethridge's photo was taken in 2004.
The differences are one is a color print and the other is black & white.  Ross has taken a portrait type picture while Ehridge has taken a picture of signs.

to be continued... 

Week 6 Elements

Deborah Willis


I feel this image relates to my own images because of the snapshot quality of the picture.  Its not a real pose for the camera, but could be read as one.


Ryan Mcginley


I can relate this image to my own work because of the natural beauty that is captured in this photo from the young lady.  I love to take photo's of my sisters natural beauty.



Garth McConnell


The vibrant colors in this picture reminds me of the rich color I capture in my color prints and in my graffiti photo's.



My personal images:
Mink Coat Smooth, 2010
Very talented up and coming group managed by Fam 1st Management.



Plat, 2010
Aspiring rapper, Fam 1st Management. 



Photo from my installation in progress "For Colored Girls Only" 2010
This installation is an ongoing project that I am documenting.















Friday, October 8, 2010

Week5 Whitney Biennial

Dan Colen

Derived in part from a detail of Jeff Wall's photograph The Vampire's Picnic (1991)




Cameron Jamie

Cameron Jamie’s work—a blend of video, sound, performance, photography, and drawing—deals with European and American history and culture, in particular their dysfunctional manifestations. 




Ryan Trecartin


Ryan Trecartin's video A Family Finds Entertainment (2004) is a carnivalesque, meandering narrative that chronicles the coming-out of a gay teenager named Skippy.


All three of these images are either still's from video or in Colen's case it was a image derived from a picture that had a cinematic feel to it.  They all come from the not so "normal" peoples lives.




My own images

My daily walk, Oct. 2010

I took this picture on my daily walk on the trail through my neighborhood.  There was a small patch that had been burnt and I thought the contrasting colors were beautiful.


T.V., Oct. 2010

This was a t.v. sticker stuck to an old door downtown, it's cute.



Street Sign, Oct, 2010

I love taking pictures of street signs that have been covered with other peoples collective of signs.  It's great to leave your mark in the world.