Ruth Ann Olivares Post #8

Oh dear what to do!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm still dealing with Monkey Mind Mapping.....that's what it's gonna be called. But, how to accomplish that is still challenging me to no end.  I went to Sams today to print my huge 20x30 and my file wouldn't open. I got so mad!!!!!!!! I had it saved on 2 different memory cards in case this would happen...and it happened....with both......SUCKS! TECHNOLOGY SUCKS!!!!!!!!

Got so mad...I went home and now I'm here working in my cave.
However, I do like Jason Salavon's Doilies so that is my inspiration for my final!

Ruth Ann Olivares Submitts Jason Salavon

Check this guy out! He likes to layer images of class yearbooks. I think this is interesting only because he makes something identifiable but at he same time ambiguous.

 Why do I wanna see the Mona Lisa here?..."I'm every woman...la la la..."

He also has one called MEAT DOILhttp://salavon.com/work/MeatDoilies/grid/29/IES THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION!

Scott Cochran submits Trent Parke

I found Trent Parke while reading a book about Magnum photographers and was immediately drawn to his high contrast style of street photography and photojournalism. Check him out if you like that sort of thing.

Nely Mendoza, Allan Sekula, artist#4

This photographer he not only is a photographer but aswell a writer that create essays and other texts by using immages, this way his works make reference to some critical contributions on the social reality and grlobalization as we can see on some of his works presented here, he is focusion on the description of thethe imaginary and material geographie.

 Allan Sekula,  http://www.the/ mainlander.com

Ruth Olivares Post #7

Wasn't a very productive day today. Many things to do but everything in hell getting in my way of achieving them. Hair cuts, formatting hard drives, software not working properly...sucks!....dropping of and picking up kids! Where did the day go!
I had to cook meat for my MAN today. The aroma was quite hypnotizing. I found myself wanting to take a pinch of meat from out of the pan but I fought the sensation! I won!

Fabiola Post #4

Newsha Tavakolian’s “Listen” portrays six female Iranian professional singers who are subjected to severe restrictions due to the country’s Islamic laws. The project shows how these women who have become celebrities on their nation, are really just slaves under the microscope of an oppressive regime. Each of the portraits of them singing in the dark with eyed closed shows a person who for a moment, has escaped her turmoil. It’s interesting how great skill in the US could lead a person to escape their heartache, yet in Iran for women, all it did was further shackle them to their servitude. 

Fabiola Post #3

JOSEPHINE DVORKEN / A. Blessing

In her project, Josephine documents the life a man slowly falling to the ills of dementia. A man call Blessing, he is a person who is reminiscent of another time. From the first time they men, Blesssing was clearly special wearing a brown suit and matching bowler hat. Through her skills, Josephine has managed to reveal the true soul of the widower and the strange relationship he has with Mariette, the caretaker of his house. The photographs are quite incredible because she has managed to show the loneliness of man who is never quite alone, all while never posing or manipulating him from his real life

Fabiola Post #2

Matt gainer, in his project Imperial, is trying to focus on the American Southwest borderlands, while bringing together two contradictory ideas; the old west meshed with modern illegal immigration. In a very striking manner, he shows how modern Americans fighting against illegal immigration are holding onto the ideals of the old west and the cowboy way where one could argue there was no such thing as illegal when everyone did what was necessary to survive regardless of morals.

Its further interesting how he captures the tiny town Imperial. This impoverished community is where people from around the nation find themselves struggling to survive.

Kat Post #4

Currently working on the mapping project (a.k.a. being a creeper at a coffee shop) because I couldn't focus today. I thought that observing other people might make my brain wake up. I feel like there is just a bunch of cotton between my ears. I have been thinking heavily on how to visually portray the symptoms of depression and anxiety and I feel completely stuck! I want to make this work because that people have a very distorted view of psychological conditions and I want to help change that. I'm just not sure where to go with my ideas at this point

Stephanie Price presents Jasper James

Jasper James is a UK photographer who experiments with double exposures not sure if its digital or film but i'm thinking more towards digital

http://www.jasperjames.co.uk/project/people-and-places-2/

creates an interesting subject matter more interesting than a typical portrait more artists to come...

Ideas for Multiples: Double Exposures Stephanie Price

I saw an article on Photojojo about "dreamy double exposure portraits"
http://content.photojojo.com/diy/how-to-shoot-dreamy-double-exposure-portraits/
where you take a back lit picture of a person that is underexposed and then shoot an image of textured background at a normal exposure i.e. city scape or plants
i will be researching some artists who deal with these types of photographs
and attempt these myself

Ruth Ann Olivares #6

I was thinking about raw meat on canvas, beacuse we made turkey burgers and as I mixed the meat around in the bowl and added the wonderful spices I began to realize how pliable the meat was to the smooth surface of the bowl. I could draw into it and I liked the way it felt.

Ruth Ann Olivares #5

Was really tired on Wednesday. Still chewing but not sure on what :~\

Amanda S. #3: Adams & Tal

Black and White or Color... that is the question of the day. 

Ansel Adams has always been my "hero" and I've always felt he was a kindred spirit it the way we see the world. Obviously I am still learning how to represent what I see in a similar fashion, but it's a very tall order to achieve that goal. It was only recently I realized our personal connection. Not only do I wholeheartedly admire his photography, but he was an acquaintance of my parents through the Sierra Club in New York City in the late 1960's. When I was a child, they shared stories of their interactions with him on a human, more personal level than you usually hear. My favorite story is when Ansel Adams borrowed my mom's tiny Scottie puppy for an entire day of Sierra Club meetings, "hiding" her under his coat. He begrudgingly handed her back to Mom at the end of the day, sad to see her go. Now, how many kids out there hear stories like that?
I feel it's important to preserve the world's natural spaces for future generations. Humans have made such negative impacts on the environment, it's time to slow it down the destruction and find a way to live in balance with nature, instead of destroying it. Ansel Adams played a huge part in capturing images of our country's abundance of beauty, especially in the west. I've always admired his ability to compose the image in his mind and capture it so accurately with the extremely basic cameras of his time. As I've learned to use medium-format cameras this past spring, I appreciate the lengths he went to in order to capture on film what was in his mind. Plus, working in the darkroom to print an image just the way you want it has been a lot of fun, too. Knowing he manipulated the images as he printed them helps keep it real, as the images were not taken exactly as they are presented to the world.

This brings me to a more modern photographer, Guy Tal of Torrey, Utah. Guy Tal captures very impressive representations of nature with a mind's eye similar to my own. The first time I saw his photos I yelled, "That's it! I've finally found another photographer to pay close attention to!"  It would be an incredible honor to apprentice under this talented photographer. I appreciate that he works with both black & white and color images.  It's amazing how one can present the same subject, here it's sandstone, and create two very different but equally stunning images.

 Images from Guy Tal Photography

So, the question at hand is, "Should I shoot in black & white or color?"  I think the answer is: both. From the traditions and pure beauty of black & white to the incredible richness of color, I need to do both to keep  my creative juices flowing.

nMendoza submits jan Dibbets

just doing little research and came accross with this artist probably we saw already probably, however was thinking in how to take photographs in different perspective and rearrange them and create my work this artist is doing that by changing the perspective correction, and utilizing the object and sapce and he end up in result of vision and reality which i encounter facinating.
Jan Dibbets
http://juhunham.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/jan-dibbets

nMendoza submits RoberParkeharrison

the way i see this artworks by the artist is they are interpreting how we as human struggle, how we have change in many aspects, we can see the artist is showing a different perspective of how we tend to see our lanscapes and things that surraound us which i considered to be intriguing.

nMendoza submits Michael Kenna,

 I am more interested in hte way we tend to see or look at things, I had always question in different manners we as hummans tend to react in certain situations and I always wondered that, my fascinations renders in the organic non subject matters, and i kind that  see that in this artists artworks. Michael Kenna     http://orangefruit.net/page4

Memory, "what is a memory, how does it work?" Katy Schmader Post #2

I am incredibly interested in memories and how our mind attaches moments to objects, landscapes, music, food, etc, making these seamlessly unimportant objects important to us. It is as if we have attached these moments physically to every item we own in order to give it importance.

So on this mind frame, I set out looking for books, so that I could delve into this subject. I typed "memory" in amazon.com, and Joshua Foer's book "Moonwalking with Einstein" appeared. I love Jonathan Safran Foer's novels (Everything is Illuminated, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close just to name a few), so I of course had investigate the novel... what was this all about?


GOLDMINE. (in other words I have hit the jackpot.)


"What is a memory? How does it work? Why does a memory sometimes not work? What does that say about us? To what extent does our memories make us who were are?"


Needless to say I have checked out the novel (more to come later.) I think this really help me to unravel exactly what memory is. 


Also, quick side note, I love the idea of a "memory palace." 

Katy Schmader's Favorite things, or POST #1

I finally sat down, and free wrote for a couple of minutes, really focusing on what interested me, and how my interests spark other interests. It ultimately became a web all of these many different things I could pull from including, philosophy, film (moving, not still), traveling, language, communication, memory, literature, culture, and trees.  What I found most interesting in this exercise was how easily one interest sparked another, and how in a way they all seem to be interrelated.

Kat Post #3

Tadao Cern did a funny project called "blow job" in which he put his friends in front of a leaf blower and turned it on max. The images are hilarious!

I have always enjoyed images that can make me laugh, and I would love to create fun imagery. I feel that Cern has created something funny, but I don't really take anything more from the work.
For my final project I want to try making imagery that is a combination of funny, awkward and creepy and still have it be intriguing. I'm considering continuing my images dealing social anxiety. I want to make images that involve one person (the character with social anxiety) doing awkward things like spying on others with binoculars while hiding and/or being really close to a group of people. I want to do this because I feel that I have a tendency to watch people instead of interacting with them. The concept needs more work, and I need to work out more images.
Any suggestions?

Ruth Olivares Submits Randi Berez

I love sports photography because it shows so much action and emotion. Randi Berez shoots different sports but the photos I admire the most are his Rodeo ones. Gary Winogrand has a few and he reminds me of him somewhat. His photographs don't necessarily stop motion...they show movement and that to me is sometimes good and sometimes not. I like stop motion  only because it captures a split second in time, reaction on faces and I really enjoy seeing how muscles show tension on sports figures and animals like race horses and bulls, etc..

http://www.berez.net/gallery/bucking_horse/#/1/

Ruth Olivares submits Michael Eastman

Now this guy ROCKS! His work is made up of oversized prints of interiors in different places like Havana, Cuba and Paris....etc.....I just love the juicy saturated color that most of us don't like! He really hits on architectural form and decay. Check out this link if you have a Romantic bone in your body! ...reminds me of "THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO" story..... even though these are shot in Cuba
.http://www.featureshoot.com/2011/02/qa-michael-eastman-st-louis-missouri/

 He plays with complimentary colors here to make it really pop!

Ruth Olivares submits Tim Roda

Here's an unusual photographer.  His name is "Tim Roda."He uses his family..wife, kids...to make up his imaginary scenes. He is into homemade costuming and exaggerated narratives, the write up states. I truely enjoy photographing my daughter and have done so for a few years now..remember the Native American thing in one of my earlier posts...but this guy takes the cake. My daughter is a real trooper and whines less and less as she's gotten older. I just can't imagine how his kids put up with their dad! love it!
http://blog.re-title.com/features/2009/09/index.html

I like...oops!...admire Sally Manns work because it seems really honest to me. I don't think I could ever ask my kids to do something like this though! lol! Poor things!

RUTH OLIVARES POST #4

YIKES! Monday came and went! Still no internet at home.....it's the internet people with their towers and antennas and stuff. You know how that goes. Well okay, it's Tuesday and I will just have to gather yesterdays thoughts and pile them on today...(didn't have any yesterday). This morning at about 5:30 a.m. I had MONKEY MIND SYNDROME! Yep, my mind was jumpin' around everywhere. I had the wildest thoughts folks. I began thinking about this BEEF obsession! I wonder if my body is going through withdrawals at night and I'm not even aware of it. I'm use to eatin' a steak pretty often at Hondos  wonderful steakhouse called HERMANSONS. Anybody been there. I guess you could say my family and I would all make it a monthly pilgrimage to make the drive over there. It's the best steak you will ever taste and at the best price...far better then Long Horn Steakhouse or Saltgrass...WHY AM I PROMOTING THEM! I WANT TO STOP EATING STEAK AND SAVE THE ANIMALS WITH THE BIG FACES THAT STARE BACK AT YOU! .....okay, okay.....lets get to my ideas for my project.  I'm still thinkin about beef here.  I was takin' a walk down one of our country roads near me...didn't trespass this time but almost....this sign...I see them all the time out in the country but for once I stopped and asked myself WHY do people have them..POSTED, KEEP OUT.....What are they hiding or protecting out here...then it came to me.  Their investment, which isn't so much their land (well yeah but..) but more so ...THEIR BEEF! They don't want people messin' with their cattle! So, I think this is where the monkey mind thingy came to play....I was thinking about that in my half sleep, half wake state...I started thinking about people having BBQ get togethers and how that some how seemed like sacrificing the BEEF!
The Beef industry is sooooo huge! My X husband use to be a cattle hauler there at the end of our marriage..I remember going with him on a few nasty trips to HAUL cattle  from the dreadful  feed lots to the kill plants. I hated it! I saw all the abuse...and still ate Beef. Although I was eating organic grass fed just a few weeks back, I got to thinking about how now we make sure we kill them NICELY.....Nice pristine living conditions but they's still wind up on my table. US BEEF EATERS OF AMERICA! That was one of my thoughts..why? not  sure but this whole idea is going somewhere people. I'm not sure if I can make it all come together in a few weeks but like Libby said, it may be MOOOOOVIN' me in aWHOPPING direction.
....I think my mind meant WHOPPER.....passed by a Burger King yesterday......

mendozan submits uta barth/ Ray Metzker

Artist: Uta Barth

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/426054212/untittled.html

Just doing  some artists research and i came across with this images which intrigue me  this in particular captures my attention in how the artists both playing with different perspectives and shadows and how they are utilizing the space and that drags my attention towards this artist works. which  allows me to improve my artist vision.

artist: Ray Metzker
lisathatcher.wordpress.com

nMendoza Photoadvance

Hello! just doing research for my following work i am being having some thoughts such as thinking in how amazing is what is suuround us no matter what it is and deeply enjoy that nature of that. however, i was sitting on my back yard the other day and i just thought in observe  and look up to things that sometimes we don not take in consideration that might be useful.

Ruth Olivares post# 3

What a day! Still no Internet at home....tried all day while running errands to find somewhere with free wifi but no luck. Did some shooting today at Wal-mart....and down the highway for assignment 2...lets see how those come out.
Still thinking about BEEF for the final. Since I'm an alternative history buff kinda gal I've read a bit on Sumerians and what they worshipped...Also those in India...HOLY COW! SO, maybe I should think about sculpting an idol out of my ground meat! Make something to the Altar most of us Americans worship at. At least those of us in Texas, if you're a RANCHER!  The Altar of ....Sacred Cow maybe? Not sure....still chewing, chewing, chewing!

Kat Post #2

Found this guy, Leon Alesi, who did a project called "Personal Space" some of which I found kind of interesting. I like the idea of photographing people in their homes and their intimate spaces. Something like this would be difficult to do for my final project, given the short amount of time. Also I think it would really difficult for me personally. Something to think about though

 

NMENDOZA Photoclass#1

Hi, still struggling get to know the lightroom program, however I do have some time to think for my project and looking for some websites link that might hel am still thinking in nature and textures in a more profound way such as textures i enjoy the idea of making the viewers to touch my work through their eyes and enjoy that experience, i liked the artist we saw Jay Gould and others i will searching into as well.

Ruth Olivares Post#2 Ideas

Okay! NO FREAKIN' internet at home.....damn storm! Doesn't that storm know I live an hour away from school...UUUUHHHH! It's all good......

More ideas..... this project is gonna come together I just know it. I have a lot of meat in the freezer.  One, I could auction it off to the the highest bidder (organic, grass feed beef!) or I could use it in my final project some how. Wow, this is an idea to really CHEW ON! pun intended........

Kat Post #1

Things that I am interested in/influenced by:
Wes Anderson! This man is so brilliant. I love how visually ornate all of his films are, and I feel that with each film he has simplified his way of doing things but maintained his visual quality. What I most enjoy though is how awkward and funny his characters are. Anderson brings up deeper issues (family strife, death) but does so in a way that isn't depressing or off putting.

I am also intrigued by the ideas of the traditional family and roles of people in the family.
What is a traditional family? What are the roles of individuals with in the family? How do things change as people age? What happens when there is strain/stress with in the family? Can your friends/roommates be your family? What does the extended family mean to people?

I am also very interested in psychological disorders. The way the mind changes and reacts when people have a psychological condition. How do people change when the cycle? Some one with manic-depressive disorder cycles through mania, depression, and normalcy. What exactly is normal? And can these people or people around them tell what the "real" person is like? Are the thoughts in their "normal" state who they really are, or is a combination of all three states? How do people cope with this?

I have social anxiety and would like to do more work based on that concept.
I have certain things I do as a way to cope with meeting new people, and these allow me to interact with a bit more ease. However, coping mechanisms don't always work. Plus, I have to employ these methods to be at ease, so they help but also hinder me simultaneously.
Here is an image I made talking about this idea:

This is work by Sarah Hobbs which is similar in concept. Also the images are just awesome

Insomnia is also something that I have do deal with when I have issues with my own psychological and family issues. In my work I would like to further explore the ideas of rapid flow of thoughts, lack of memory, hallucinations, and use of multiples.


Here's an example of images about this:

 Fractured imagery is also something I would like to explore. I think that type of image could be utilized to talk about some of these concepts


Meeting new people is difficult for me because of my social anxiety, but I really enjoy people watching. I don't necessarily have a desire to introduce myself to people and interact with them (because that sounds super scary) but I do like observing people and learning things about them (not in a creepy way, I hope).  This has lead me to be interested in ideas of voyeurism and privacy. What do people do with their private time? What do those things tell us about that individual? Is there even such a thing as privacy in an age where everything is posted on social networking sites? Do we need privacy? Is it okay to intrude on some one's privacy? What constitutes an intrusion?
Sophie Calle is some who works with these ideas, and is just and interesting character.

Amanda S. #2: shifting ideas

I have decided to postpone the childhood memories project so I can do it right.  It will take a lot of time and coordination. It would stress me out to rush to finish it within this short summer half-semester. I look forward to pursuing it for myself using my digital camera.

A lot of my inspiration comes from nature, patterns, and natural processes, such as geology, atmospheric conditions, weathering, etc.  I find it fascinating that our planet is a living breathing thing, constantly changing.  Sometimes the processes are so slow you may not even notice, such as weathering and plate tectonics.  I recently took a class on weather and climate, exploring the atmosphere as it interacts with Earth's other spheres.  It's fascinating stuff and I find myself even more excited about the approaching thunderstorms because I understand their "life cycle."  I'm one of those oddballs that actually likes thunderstorms and appreciates their beauty (yes, I stay out of harm's way). There are also optical phenomena such as blue jets, sprites, aurora, elves, trolls, and superbolts that would be incredible to capture on film, but you have to be in the right place at the right time.  Maybe someday...

For the last month I've been inspired on architectural and structural photography, such as the many columns that hold up a building, stuructural members of a bridge, large glazing and glass curtain walls. I have been focused throughout the year on architectural photography and it has become a theme within my recent body of work as I find the shape, shadows, geometry, colors and composition of the structures highly interesting to photograph.

Find attached a link of some of the work from photographer Zsar Chankian (Istanbul, Turkey)

http://www.behance.net/gallery/STRUCTURE/539985

Fabiola Barragan

I’ve noticed that no matter where a person travels, they are always connected with technology. It has become so much a part of our lives, it can’t be escaped. One common goal our nation finds itself trying to do is the technological connection of persons from every corner of the globe. More importantly, people are dependent on technology. Even if we could shutdown technology, we couldn’t abandon our technology even if we tried. We have become so wired, we don’t even realize we give up important private information that was once secretive. Even though we people complain about stopping government from intruding in our live, we willingly give up addresses, contact info, schedule, vacation dates, and family info on on Facebook all the time. Nothing is private anymore.

For my final project, I want to show that technological dependency. Although computers and cellphones are gaining ground around the globe, the most recognizable piece of equipment that most people either have or are in daily contact with is the television. Whether it’s sporting events, news programs, or religious sermons, much of the world is connected by television programs. For this reason, I want to show everyday activity connected and influenced by television.

Nely Mendoza ideas project

 The thing that inspired me to create my work is nature, i love how things develop naturally and organic, in some sore of way, i love to observe people, places, everything that surrounds me and create my own  idea of how to create my work. Painting is my passion i love colors , specially textures,  investigate beyond and understand them from the way they are, and that is what i am planning to do for my future project.

Violet....chillaxin.

Ruth Olivares posts her Ideas :)

Okay! things that are inspiring..things I care about, think about, are incensed by...Wow! Where to start.....Okay lets see...Got it!

Things I like to do, maybe you could say or just things I wanna do to pass the time with comfort. I love going to Half Price book store, act like a hippie and sit on the floor and look through books for a few hours at a time. The people there are quite different and I guess that's why I'm there as well. I love the smell of old books and seeing thousands of them on shelf after shelf feels very nostalgic. I of course go through photography books as well as art books but I also love thumbing through the ones with pictures of Native Americans and the Old West. I think Native American people are beautiful to look at. I especially like the way the men look!!!!!!! My favorite actor Jay TAvare is in a lot of movies where he portrays them. Gorgeous!

I think this is a little weird but I really like cemeteries! When I was a kid we use to party at the old cemetery on the outer side of town. I know that's really creepy but I like the thrill! I love photographing old mausoleums that look very weathered and have that mossy patina finish. The statues have a texture that has wonderful grey scale values to them. Creepy, I know.

Open fields with nothing is very soothing to me. When I was very young I grew up on a very large ranch and I often walked it daily as a teenager just to get away from my parents. I'd walk through open fields of grass, flowers, weeds and sometimes just sand. I liked and boy still do enjoy going into old barns or abandoned buildings....Sometimes I trespass when I see one I really like, just to get near it to take a photo! It's exciting...not getting caught!

I am very attracted to places where there is a lot of line and geometric shapes.  Down town cities with skyscrapers and windows, stair wells, highways....long stretches....( I love line).

I love singing! When I was younger I use to sing and did so for years in different groups. I haven't' sang in over 10 years but I sure do crank up the radio in my car every morning as I'm driving to school. I know people think I'm crazy but who cares!

Things  I DON'T LIKE....I can say I don't like organized religion....this is a personal preference; I by all means do not judge anyone who does. However, it was a part of my life for 21 yrs. quite fanatically and I was able to escape those ties and now say I am SPIRITUAL but not RELIGIOUS.

I absolutely love God and read up on Alternative history quite often. I have learned so much by diving into THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS and realize how warped my religious foundation was. When I realized how little I really knew I decided to start fresh with my research and relearn things. It has made me very happy to go my way.

I think a lot about things like Quantum Physics....funny but this is a new way of thinking when it comes to my existence. I've run up and down through all kinds of rabbit holes.  I may not speak about it much but I think about it quite often. Who am I and where do I come from....stuff like that.

Amanda S. #1: Irina Werning & my project

Photos by Irina Werning's "Back to the Future" series
Her images are similar to what I have in mind for my project. I thought they were well-planned and quite humorous. My project would also require planning and staging, though not replicas of existing photos.
----------------------------------------  
My thoughts on the project...

I was haunted by smiling images of my sister's recently-deceased nephew as I tried to sleep the other night.  He was always such a loving, caring, very good-looking kid who, at age 21, succumbed to the hell of drug use.  I forgave him the moment I heard of his demise... I knew he could not shake that particular demon. He shared his love freely from the moment he was born and I always had a soft spot in my heart for him.

Augie's beautiful smiling face is what inspired my idea for recreations of what I feel can be described as "Solitary Bliss." I want to recreate moments of our childhood that impacted us in a positive way.  Moments that made us smile or feel content. Chicken noodle soup on a cold rainy day, fishing or skipping rocks at the lake, the free feeling of flying on a playground swing, or the thrill of a roller coaster ride. These moments do not require anyone else on Earth to participate, hence the "solitary" part of it, but most of the time it was wonderful to share them with someone.

I would like to create a series of pictures of my friends of family, each recreating a favorite moment or activity from their childhood. I'd like to help them conjure up long-forgotten warm and fuzzy feelings. In a way, it's a tribute to Augie, who is gone way too soon. I remember him at every stage in life, always with a loving smile on his face and a kind word to say. I'd like those involved in the project to slow down our hectic lives just long enough to enjoy a few precious moments of bliss.