Idea of Cuba...Idea of Rodeo....

Photographer Alex Harris documents various locations and individuals, all in their natural habitat. In a way, i find this very similar to my own personal style of documentary photography, or at least very similar in the direction in which i am capturing what i see around me in the rodeo world. Harris has a way of moving about his subjects in a way that does not inhibit them in any way, it leaves them free to move, live, walk, eat, sleep, sit, stand. In the scope of rodeo, this is necessary to have freedom of movement, for both photographer and subject, i have found that an incredible dialogue and dance is created in the whole environment of rodeo. Between the livestock and handlers, between the participants and the spectators, and i have even found that my own presence has its own peculiar role in the rodeo. Harris manages to move about his subjects as they are continuing on with their lives, yet there is a comfortable awareness that his subjects contain. I am, and have been working on attaining this in my photographs. Largely, i am trying to place myself in the midst of the action while allowing my subjects to move naturally, capturing the moments before and after...i am working to capture a stillness within the action.
I have found in Harris' work he creates a setting and a habitat for these people, without "othering" them or forcing them to appear one particular way or another. He is capturing these people in their natural habitats, as they have a living dialogue with their environment. In a way, the rodeo is a cowboy's natural habitat, he is in the midst of what he knows, what he has always known, his comforts and fears all brought together in one place. I can see the parallels in how Harris creates an environment in his work with my own. Neither the subject nor the environment completely dominates the other, they work in a harmony to tell stories about each other. In Harris' photograph Lazo de la Vega, October 2002, there is a moment of action, where we see four young men playing a game of soccer in what looks to be a park square. While there is dynamic action in this photograph, the icons in this photo add a sort of stillness, the environment speaks volumes for these subjects in a simple setting, and i find that neither dominates or takes away from the other, the photograph is balanced in harmonious union. Harris himself said that there was a sort of moment of waiting in this series, as though his subjects, the Cubans, are all waiting for something to happen, for something to improve. In my work, i find that there is a similar anticipation in my subjects, an anticipation to witness something grand, to do something grand, to witness a spectacle, and to make a spectacle.
Similarly, i find my composition "style" to be quite similar in some ways to Harris'. A lot of his photographs seem to be dominantly composed with the subject in the center of the photograph. In addition to this, there seems to be a lot of varied perspectives, such as capturing a scene through a window, framing though a doorway or glass. Harris in this series used multiple times a car dashboard/front windshield, creating a narrative of the outside world within a specific environment that helps to narrate or causes the viewer to question the relation between the two. In this manner, i find that i am capturing photographs that are framed by using the environment of the rodeo. Using fences, bars, posts, and ropes have all at once been a hindrance and a help for composing photographs. In a way, all the fences and pens that separate the calves from the riders, the riders from the bulls, the bulls from the audience, can and do very much inhibit some photographs, they create lines that separate the subjects in detrimental ways and interrupt various forms and scenes. In other ways, these lines provide beautiful frames for people, actions, scenes, they isolate or group together various subjects making some images incredibly dynamic and powerful.
Another perspective or focus that Harris seemed to capture in the Cuba series was the idea of "the gaze." With a dominant presence of almost identical looking, mass produced busts of Jose Marti, there is a looming sort of feeling and intrusion of the lives of the Cuban people. There are many varied glances throughout this body of work, we see people looking at others, people gazing directly into the camera, surreptitious glances, even seemingly voyeuristic glances of the viewers themselves. I find a parallel in my work in this manner, there are people constantly eyeing up their competition, whether it be other people, or a raging animal they are about to climb onto. Likewise, there are the often looked-past animals, and their gaze and their own role and outlook that they have on the situation which they have been thrust into. I have found all of these various glances and gazes fascinating, how there is a multitude of complexities within a simple glance.
Overall, i found Harris' work to be interesting and beautiful to look at. There are so many parallels that i find i can draw between his work and mine. From the perspectives, to the capturing of a moment within a unique environment, i found looking at his work extremely useful and helpful while being inspiring and motivating to finish, and even continue my documentation of rodeos.

CCP Viewing

The photograph which most captured my attention was a photo depicting a western rodeo scene taken by photographer Kozo Miyoshi. The photograph was captured with a large format, black and white film camera, giving the photograph a large range of vivid details. This black and white photograph has a variety of textural qualities in the richness of detail from the foreground to the background of the photo. The contrast was perfectly balanced, with dark shadows balancing out the white highlights, giving the image a dynamic feel to the stillness of the photograph. The scene depicted in this photograph shows two men standing next to/holding a horse that is being hosed down with large amounts of water. There is a sort of stillness to this image, a moment caught in time which gives the photo a timeless feel, as though in the midst of a busy moment, there was a pause. What most grabbed my attention are the subjects and how they stand out from the setting. The setting/environment is a beautiful western scene, with mountains in the background and what appears to be a fall/winter cloudy sky. The subjects, two men in waterproof trenchcoats and rubber boots are standing next to a horse, one with the reigns in hand, while the horse is being washed with a hose from far off. The horse is a beautiful, short and stocky long-haired horse, seeminly untypical of rodeos.
To me, it communicates a moment of stillness in its dynamic nature. It conveys emotions of tradition and ritual through the eyes of someone who is not familiar with such actions. There is almost a whimsical hint to the two men, as they stand there being photographed during a banal ritual of washing a horse. However, all in all there is a beauty and a stillness in the dynamic action of the photograph.

WAR PHOTOGRAPHER

The documentary "War Photographer" was in the most basic terms a very moving, compelling and insightful film into the realm and into the personal life of a war photographer. I believe every photographer with aspirations to document "real life" wonder where their careers will take them, what they will see and document, and whether they will actually be able to hold up a camera in the midst of a unimaginable situations. This film exposed many of these aspects, showing the first-hand experiences of photographer James Nachtwey in the very midst of war torn villages, slums, and battles. I found this perspective from a "camera cam" to be an insightful view of how Nachtwey himself worked, moved, captured, thought, viewed and lived in the most dreadful of situations possibly imaginable to man. Bombarded with tear gas, caught in the cross-fire, faced with misery, suffering, and even death, Nachtwey showed determination that seems impossible for one to posses.
Personally, i wondered what kind of person Nachtwey was that could even get in the personal space of intolerable pain and suffering. He enters the lives of these people because they let him, they want him to, they maybe even feel empowered being utterly human in front of the lens, as though it is giving them a voice. Nachtwey's mannerisms are gentle and understanding, and i believe that his genuine nature speak to his subjects. While he may not be weeping with them, or suffering with them, i got the feeling that his subjects could sense his compassion, allowing them to be open to him. Personally, i would feel too shy and intrusive, and heartless to want to get into the face of someone who is grieving, or shoot away while there is death and pain all around, but perhaps i simply could not handle all the emotions and drama around me.
To me, i was most drawn to Nachtwey's images of the aftermath of such wars and battles. The photographs of grieving people in such emotional agony were in a way so beautiful to me. The way that grieving people interact with others grieving is completely unique, the body language transforms, and to me it almost becomes other-worldly, even angelic. The photographs of the weeping women in Kosovo and others such as the photographs of the weeping girl all possess a sort of classical painting feel, how their bodies are positioned with each other, and how they carry themselves convey so much emotion, it is almost as though i can feel myself physically moving through the photograph. These photos containing loss and suffering were the most beautiful photographs to me while they were still incredibly emotionally compelling.
I was most astounded to watch Nachtwey work in his element. His element is war-torn villages, the most desperate slums, and the battle field. He moves and works like fluid, and what is most astounding to me on an instinctual level is how he simply has not been killed in the line of duty. Out of pure fear i find such a thing imaginable for me to do, and it made me wonder and just what kind of person Nachtwey really is, living day in and day out in the midst of death and injustice, how he keeps going, how he copes, and how he simply does not get depressed to the point of wanting to end his life. While i greatly respect and marvel at his work, i don't believe i could ever photograph in the way that he does, i could not live day in and day out with those first hand experiences of death and injustice, it would simply be too much for me to handle. I concluded that Nachtwey is simply a very different kind of person, his drive and his love is his compassion for exposing the wrongs and digging up the injustice with his camera, i believe he is equipped with this ability and an art that virtually no one else contains.

Worth a Thousand Words

Fifteen

Here are my Fifteen!

Project Proposals

Idea One

Abandoned- My first idea revolves around the subject of abandoned houses and other human structures that were once occupied, or had the intention of holding or housing people. I find the structure and nature of abandoned human structures fascinating, what they hold inside, if anything, and their exterior structure, how they affect the land and how the land affects it. I would like to go about capturing the photographs in a very straight forward manner, by photographing the structure itself inside and out. I am currently torn on how i wish to portray the body of work, and as of now, i wish to both print and mount photographs as well as having video of my experiences and of the houses side by side, because i think they would both supplement each other. As far as execution for this project, i believe it will hold both components of ease and accessibility, where other structures will be more difficult to access, perhaps even tread the line of illegal trespassing. I believe i will have regular access to one or more of these structures, seeing as they stay put and do not move location to location or have any changing agendas. However, some houses i have in mind that i wish to photograph do require some lengthy travel to reach.

The significance of this project derives from my personal fascination of abandoned houses and stems to more important issues of how they interact with the land and with people, and ultimately the character they take on after they have been vacated. I plan to develop the project with a time-based element that will require constant documenting of some structures, and document how they change and morph over the changing seasons. I may even choose to do some very, very long (weeks to months) pinhole photographs of certain structures. I would like to photograph these structures at any and all hours of the day and night and witness the different characters they take on. I expect that there can be obstacles and trials to this project, perhaps legality being one of them, as well as straight up being terrified of some of these places, i plan to have at least one other person there with me...at least at night. As for costs, i can not imagine it will cost too much, seeing as i already have my digital camera, tripod, various lenses, some lighting equipment (that i do not forsee needing). I do forsee costs in printing, gas money to drive places, and other small costs such as making various pinhole cameras. Overall, i am very excited about this project, i believe i will find new components about my fascination with abandoned houses/structures to develop and perhap reveal to me aspects that i have never known before, and i am more than excited to share this with an audience.

Rodeo- My other idea has become almost equally as fascinating to me the more i have thought about it. There is a culture of rodeo that springs up in small pockets here and there, mostly in the southwest, that hosts an incredibly diverse and peculair group of peoples. From the "performers" to the "athletes" to the crowd and surrounding people it draws, the rodeo culture is a very fascinating one. With a long history behind it, traditions can be seen all around. There are so many aspects to a single rodeo, however, that i find it would be hard to narrow it down to one, or a few. My method of capture would be to go with my digital camera and try to capture the action, as well as the people in stills. As in the other project, i believe i would want to capture and print photographs to portray the stillness that people may not necessarily see at such events.

I believe this project could be much more difficult in many different ways. First of all, the project would be incredibly event based, and the events themselves would dictate when and where i would be photographing. Having looked at the list of rodeos in Arizona this season, there are one to two every month in various locations around the state. Also adding to the costs of transportation would definately be admittance fees and other costs. Knowing that i would want access and availability to more intimate settings and shots, i would perhaps look into getting a press pass or back stage pass of sorts to gain access to more variety of photographs. This project would require of me a lot more effort and time and committment to the events. Overall, this project may be one that i wish to take on at a later point in my line as a photographer, once i can become more comfortable with my camera in such overwhelming situations, and once i can become more comfortable taking portraits of people. This project does really excite me and hold a lot of interest to me, and i would, at one point or another, love to photograph such subject matter.

Project 1

Project 1 Statement

My images for this series all contain the necessities that i find essential to my life and to my existence on this Earth. With the mindset that i may never return to these things again, or a place relatively similar, i would want to bring photographs with me that are dear to me, physically and emotionally. Such photographs portraying this physical yearning and memory include phenomena and events that i believe are exclusive to our planet, as well as my life and experiences on it. The photographs that contain imagery of rain, clouds, the seasons, and the sea, i believe are beautiful and exclusive to Earth, and i would want to remember those. Other emotional needs come in the form of photographs portraying memories of childhood, emotions of safety, warmth, and comfort as well as emotions of freedom and escape. I would also like to remember myself, my identity and image through a self-portrait, assuming there would be no mirrors on a spaceship. Overall, these photographs would sustain me physically and emotionally as they portray what i hold dearest to me.

What Remains Film Response

The work of Sally Mann is nearly the definition of intimacy itself, considering her photographs document the vast majority of her own personal life, in all stages, in all circumstances. Her work is also the intimate view into how she as an individual views her life, her reality and beyond, reaching into the depths of death and the unknown and what defines what she may or may not know. The processes as well as the film products all echo Mann as an individual as well as an artist, they embody a beautiful sort of romanticism and yearning, while they embrace the serendipitous, random chaos that is the way and order of nature. Her various series of work displays this relationship she has with all that is close to her, from her family, to her land, to her own personal views and beliefs of death and decay. She does this with an unapologetic eye, documenting what others might view to be images too intimate or too close of one's own personal life. While there was and is sacrifice in her life as an artist and photographer, there we also large benefits for her as an individual and an artist.
In my own personal life, i find such close documentation to be almost a difficult task, one that i may not come close to capturing, at least not at first. I'm almost sure that a great amount of timidity would come with the diligent photographing of my life, perhaps revealing much more to others, or even myself, that i wish for them to know. However, I'm sure that after the first initial trials and errors, or just overcoming some fears and boundaries I would grow to nurture a fondness and a sort of value to the documentation of what i hold dear to me. Often times, I feel as though such a task would sometimes prove a burden, in all honesty. I found that Mann was living her life as though she were constantly looking for something to capture, she was looking through her eyes as though they were her camera lens. I desire to take my life, my beliefs, my close personal reality and impose it into my work, whether that includes documenting that which is physically and emotionally nearest to me, or whether that includes imposing them into my work in other ways.
In my own experience, i find that i have, over the years, been a documentor of some things over others. Growing up with my maternal grandmother, i have always had a peculiar interest and fascination with her and her lifestyle. Living in Sierra Vista, Arizona, my grandmother is of full Mexican heritage and has always opened my eyes to things that I am not always aware of. When i got my first camera in middle school, i was constantly taking photos of everything that caught my eye. When i went to my grandmother's house, i was fascinated with virtually all that surrounded me, from her home, to her garden, to the mountains that basically grow out of her backyard. I was interested how she had lived, raised her children, mourned the death of her husband there, and was always surrounded by her friends and loved ones. Her house shows so many of her countless memories, the walls are filled with photos, trinkets and seemingly insignificant items that hold nostalgic value to her. Even as she lives there, dust seems to settle over everything, and everything seems to be in a constant state of nostalgia and antiquity, and this is what fascinates me so about her and her home.
Some of my most favourite photographs are of her yard and garden, exploring the tall grass that grows out of once planted flower pots, wheelbarrows, cracks in the concrete. Others include the beautiful mountains that surround her entire house and the tiny dirt road that lead up to the house, dotted with other little farm shantys. But most recently, i have become interested in photographing her. As she has been aging, her memory has not been the most faithful to her, and i often find myself repeating the same stories to her. Yet she still has the same vivacious spark to her, and she lets none of it stop or slow her down. Some of my most favourite photographs of her include close ups of her as she sits in her chair, illuminated by the lamp that is next to her. Her eyes are sparkling and the wrinkles seem all that much deeper, yet she still has such a proud and stately grace to her. While it often times is difficult to see a general decline in her memory, it makes the photographs all the more precious and valuable to me, to see images of this great, aging woman on the outside and knowing just by a single look or moment in a photograph just how much more depth lies beneath.
With this in mind, it seems so much more valuable and urgent, in a way to capture what is there, while it still remains. Even my own life, which seems to have constants, is constantly changing. Every day is different, and every object, person, idea and place is not the same one day to the next. That is what i believe Sally Mann has in mind with her photographs. She diligently captured photographs of her children because they were precious to her. She documents the slow decline of her husband's health because every day spend with him seems to have a greater value to it. Perhaps this is why many people document through photographs, and it is not for the pure sake of nostalgia or memories. It is because the art and beauty in something today may be completely gone tomorrow, changed and never to come back. Although tomorrow may hold something as great, or even greater than the days preceding it, it would be tragic to lose and forget about the art and beauty of today.

For Memorie's Sake Response.

Out of compulsion, habit, and seemingly an extension of her own life, of her own being, Angela Singer is a daily dedicated photographer who has captured photographs every day of her life for the past 30 years. Singer herself even admits to and wonders at this peculiarity of decades upon decades of diligent photo documenting, she concludes that it is just what she does, something that she must do. In her granddaughter's short film documentary, we explore that Angela Singer has not only been snapping pictures, at least ten to twelve daily, for the past three decades, but she was also videotaping and documenting her life and surroundings that she knew. All in all, Angela Singer is a peculiar photographer, and an artist in her own right, amasing such a vast collection of photographs that can hardly be believed.
Having never left a radius of twenty miles of her hometown, Joelton, Tennessee, Angela Singer is a mother of nine and a grandmother of many, and seemingly a "typical southern woman." On the outside, Singer raised her nine children, was a steadfast wife to her alcoholic husband, a God-fearing Christian woman, and caring, warm woman. She found the idea of travel and novelty strange and even frightening, was diligent to be home before dark, yet she always had her camera at her side, she would even take it to the mailbox with her on her daily walk to check the mail. This is what gives Angela Singer a distinguishable nature and being, she is such a careful documentor of her life, her surroundings, and her memories, that her camera can easily be considered an external brain, an aid and companion to help her remember, percieve, and document her life.
Angela Singer's photographs are incredibly important because they allow photography to all at once be a love, a hobby, a devotion, a necessity, and an artform. Because they include a vast variety of aspects, including consistency, truth, honesty, and even artistry, Singer's body of work has powerful impact. Her diligence is the most astounding aspect of her work, and in it, there is no escaping from the truth that is and surrounds Singer's life. While her lens is almost constantly pointed outwards, what i find most peculiar and astonishing is when her lens is pointed at herself. Singer's self portraits to me are the most compelling aspect of her body of work, and when put into perspective with the rest of her images, is almost a completely different realm. Yet we can see Singer is the same person in her self portraits, where she dresses herself as a Native American, as the person behind the camera. She is constantly finding nuances, finding adventure and an escape in her twenty mile radius, and when she transforms herself into a southern woman wearing Native American clothing, that is when she flies away.
As a photographer, i am often in the midst of an adventure or some sort of escap when i find myself with my camera. In many ways, i find average and ordinary life to be unworthy of documenting, however dear many aspects of it are to me. When i see new, and when i am challenged as a person with something that i do not recognize is when i lift my camera. Perhaps i feel as though a camera to me is a box, a box with which to store and conquer images, ideas, thoughts, dreams, imaginations, and after that is boxed, it is stowed away, and something new is searched out. Perhaps i am not so different from Singer, constantly looking for something new, searching for an escape, however, i am not so diligent.