Graduate School Research: Rhode Island School of Design

I am interested in RISD because I like the idea of their loose graduate level structure. They focus on individual study and research, unlike their undergraduate program which is more structured. They define photography "broadly as an ever-changing set of technical, conceptual, and aesthetic conditions that have emerged from the histories of the medium and that exist within broader social, cultural, and aesthetic contexts."

In comparison with the School of Visual Arts, the SVA seems to focus on a rigorous structured program, different from the independent research driven program that RISD has.

Faculty: Michael Bühler-Rose

Visiting Assistant Professor of Photography

MFA, University of Florida

BFA, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Alumni: Brandon Herman

Born Hillsborough, CA 1983

Education: B.F.A. Rhode Island School of Design

Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

UNTITLED (chicago alley) 2004 c-print 44×55 inches edition of 3

UNTITLED (ian against wall) 2005 c-print 30×45 inches edition of 3

Idea Entry #10: Framing

Framing is something that has been really important in my project so far. Like the quote says below, framing eliminates what is not essential to the final image. I am using framing to take away everything except for the minimum amount of information needed to give the viewer a chance to place themselves somewhere.

“The human eye is less accustomed to vertical framing, because it has to scan it from top to bottom. This will lead the eye to not pay much attention to elements placed on the borders of the frame. So, vertical framing is used less than horizontal framing and is more appropriate for shooting portraits, architecture, and scenes where vertical lines play a predominant role in defining them.”

"The Importance of Framing in Photography." Digital Photography Tips, Photography Blog - Photopoly. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.photopoly.net/the-importance-of-framing-in-photography/>.

“The process of framing is intended to eliminate what is unessential in the motion picture, to direct the spectator’s attention to what is important, and to give it special meaning and force. Each frame of film, which corresponds in shape to the image projected on the screen, forms the basis for a graphic composition in the same way that the frame of a painting encloses the area in which the painting must be organized.”

"Motion Picture :: Framing -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/394107/motion-picture/52241/Framing?anchor=ref508567>.

Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity:

This book discusses plastic cameras and various techniques and the history behind them. When I think of unique framing, the Holga and Diana F+ cameras are the first things that come to mind. The author gives various tips and suggestions for coming up with some creative uses for the cameras.

Bates, Michelle. Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity. Burlington, MA: Focal, 2007. Print.

Graduate School Research: School of Visual Arts

I am interested in the School of Visual Arts for a few reasons; first I am interested in it because of it's location. Located in the heart of New York City, it is in the middle of a huge mecca for arts and that alone is a huge advantage. I would like to relocate to NYC at some point for a little while; second it has 19 graduate programs, several of which I am interested in, but for the purposes of this entry I am going to focus on their MPS in Digital Photography.

I know a friend who is attending SVA for his Undergrad studies and he really has had a great experience there. While I was in NYC I went to one of their Graduate exhibitions. The gallery was located in Chelsea, right near the High Line. Perfect location in the middle of all of the upscale art galleries there. All of the work presented was excellent and I really enjoyed seeing the difference in the work between VCU Graduates and SVA graduates.

The MPS in Digital Photography really places a great importance in technical skills. Graduates from the program are often hired at some of the best studios and labs around. "The program benefits greatly from both its outstanding faculty and its location in the heart of the photo district in New York City. Our instructors are working professionals with extensive expertise in professional photography and digital-imaging technologies. In addition, a variety of guest lecturers from the industry complement the core faculty to further enrich each student's learning experience."

Graduate Student Profile: Yulia Gorbachenko

Bio:

"Fashion and Beauty Photographer | New York City

I am very much intrigued in the unpredictable results obtained from the experiment between a subject and myself. The discovery of a model’s charisma, mood, and emotion at the exact moment the shutter clicks is what makes “fashion imagery” more than a mere shot. No outlined storyboard or plan is needed. Staying within preset lines causes the magic of that connection to be lost. Yes, I do start with a concept in my head but once I’m on set I just let the energy guide my subject and I through the creation of each image.

Color, flare, and beauty are my addictions. My heart serves as guide – it never fails. My inspiration is unpredictable but its beauty precise. I see it, touch it, feel it, smell it; I find it everywhere.

All of my images capture the unique and irreplaceable beauty of a model’s essence – nothing else is enough to please my demand for utmost expression.

My desire to reach perfection is an obsession. It’s an insane illusion that will never happen but it fuels my Art.

EDUCATION:

School of Visual Arts Master’s Degree in Digital Photography

New York, NY

Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics Bachelor’s Degrees in Marketing and Linguistics

Yulia Gorbachenko.com

Faculty Profile: Andy Batt

Bio: Professional photographer Andy Batt creates moving images for editorial, advertising, interactive and corporate clients. His work is high energy, capturing the speed, beauty and grace of his subjects. He is known for his dramatic sports photos and his portraits of interesting people. Andy has been a panelist for Canon Cameras, APA San Francisco, and is now an adjunct professor for the School of Visual Arts' Digital Masters of Photography program. His photography has been featured by the Annenberg Space for Photography, PhotoEidolo Magazine, Foto & Video Magazine/Russia, Avante Garde Living Magazine/Hyderabaad, India, and recognized by Outside Magazine as one of their top 10 published images. Hannah McCaughey, Creative Director at Outside Magazine said: "This photo makes me want to run and run and run, and then go to Jenn’s house afterward to hang out. It was also Andy’s first shoot for us, and he did impress!"

AndyBatt.com

Artist Entry #10: Sze Tsung Leong

Brian Ulrich told me about this artist's series Horizons. I've been trying to pay attention to how I am framing the images I am taking for this project, specifically how I am using the horizon line to my advantage. I like the idea of just providing enough information to give the viewer a place they can connect with mentally. Tsung Leong said that he feels that his images in the series are pieces that can be rearranged, and the viewer can fill the empty spaces with their own horizons. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

"It is this relationship to the outside that gives the horizon an additional implication: that it establishes a sense of imminence, or

of something just becoming apparent, as suggested by the phrase “on the horizon.” What is not yet seen or not yet known

always surrounds and encroaches into the visible or known, and permeates thinking about and looking at our extended surroundings. The challenge that the unknown presents can drive the wish to solidify or reinforce borders, to build walls. But the interest and curiosity that the unknown also elicits can drive the wish to draw new maps, to roam unseen territories, to observe the

seemingly empty regions of space. This drive is an impulse to approach the unknown, that is, to drift towards the horizon."

"These images were not made as documents holding any set truths. They are meant only as suggestions. They are not necessarily images of moments, events, or objects. They are incomplete fragments of the globe. Their order can be rearranged—they

are not without a degree of arbitrariness. They are emptied, to whatever degree is possible or impossible, of specific meanings,

sometimes as physically empty as possible. They are attempts to depict space on the surface of the photograph, spaces into

which viewers can project their own horizons."

Tsung Leong, Sze. "Uncertain Distances." Szetsungleong.com. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

No image information is available.

Link to his essay "Uncertain Distances": http://www.szetsungleong.com/Leong_Uncertain_Distances.pdf

Artist's Site: http://www.szetsungleong.com/

Gallery Representation: http://www.yossimilo.com/artists/sze_tsun_leon/

Idea Entry #9: Sublime

While doing some research for the presentations next week on awe, I came across Edmund Burke's treatise on aesthetics, in which he stated that the sublime and the beautiful were mutually exclusive. Sublime was mentioned quite frequently with awe, so I was curious to do some research on it.

From dictionary.com:

sublime (səˈblaɪm)
—adj
1.	of high moral, aesthetic, intellectual, or spiritual value;noble; exalted
2.	inspiring deep veneration, awe, or uplifting emotion becauseof its beauty, nobility, grandeur, or immensity
3.	unparalleled; supreme: a sublime compliment
4.	poetic of proud bearing or aspect
5.	archaic raised up

“I know several who admire and love painting, and yet who regard the objects of their admiration in that art with coolness enough in comparison of that warmth with which they are animated by affecting pieces of poetry or rhetoric.”

“It is our ignorance of things that causes all our admiration, and chiefly excites our passions.” Burke “On the Sublime and Beautiful” part 2: 5

“There is something so over-ruling in whatever inspires us with awe, in all things which belongs ever so remotely to terror, that nothing else can stand in their presence.” “On the Sublime and Beautiful” part 4: 24

Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. London: Routledge and Paul, 1958. Print.

Contest Entry: Photographer's Forum 32nd Annual College and High School Contest

Contest Entry: National Geographic Photo Contest 2011

Lecture Questions/Response: Fionn Meade

1. When you are writing about the shows you have curated, how important is it for you to really have a relationship with the artist's whose work you're including in the show?

2. As a curator, how do you find a balance between the various elements of a group show or collection? Do you prefer to find a particular theme to go by? Or do you let the work inform the overall idea behind a collection?

Response:

To be honest, this lecture was very odd for me. For starters, it was different hearing the thoughts of a curator and writer, but I also found that I had a bit of trouble accessing what he was saying. He introduced a lot of information and thought into a short amount of time, and often the transition between topics was a bit off. There was one moment when he talked about Franz Boas that I connected with, having just talked about him in my anthropology class recently. It was interesting hearing about him from an arts perspective rather than an anthropological one. Meade talked about how Boas took a secret image (of the Hamatsa ritual) and put it forward as a representative image. The image was blown up into this huge deal, and was appropriated well beyond the intended reasons.

Something else that was very interesting was the statement Meade opened up with. He said that the image was an "object or container of belief". Meade also questioned what came after images, and what remains after you close your eyes. He also touched on appropriation and montage.

3 words:

appropriation

montage

object

Artist Entry #9: Troy Paiva

I have chosen to write about Troy Paiva because the work that he produces is relevant to what I am trying to work towards now. He does a lot of long exposure work at night and really focuses on using the available light to create his stunning images. He does use some of his own hand to paint in some of the details in his images. His work focuses on the urban exploration culture and the exploration and expansion westward.

"Troy Paiva, AKA Lost America, has been shooting full moon and light painted time-exposure night work in abandoned locations and junkyards since 1989. His surrealist and whimsical work examines the evolution and eventual abandonment of the communities, structures and social iconography spawned during America’s 20th century expansion into the deserts and cities of the West--and the modern Urban Exploration culture that finds strange comfort in dancing through its ruins. Troy’s low cost, high impact light painting techniques have been emulated all over the world." - from the artist's site.

"The photography of Troy Paiva treats us to canted visions of a crumbling, post-industrial America — decommissioned military bases, aircraft ‘boneyards’, abandoned desert towns. The scenarios are all shot at night and the work is presented straight out of the camera, mostly untouched by Photoshopping or other post-processing techniques. Troy uses available light, such as moonlight or sodium light (the latter of course plentiful in the modern-day archaeological ruins he haunts), but he also uniquely marks the shots with his light-painting skills (the introduction of hand-held, hand-applied light during the exposure) and the unearthly effects of red, green and blue-gelled strobe flashes. "

"Ballardian » The Light-Painter of Mojave D: An Interview with Troy Paiva."Ballardian. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

On what draws him to the places in his pictures...

"The atmosphere. The sense of isolation and loneliness. I love the surreal feeling of wandering through an abandoned subdivision, alone, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. Your senses become heightened and you feel the weight of time. Not spooky hollywood ghosts, but ghosts none the less. I try to bring all these sensations and emotions forth in my photography."

"Mental_floss Blog » Nighthawks Behind the Lens: Interview with Troy Paiva."Mental_floss Magazine - Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

No image information available.

Interview: http://blogs.photopreneur.com/lost-america-discovered-niche

Artist's Site: http://lostamerica.com/index.html

No gallery representation.

Idea Entry #8: Skyglow

While looking at the work I showed at mid-crit on Monday I was asking myself what I was interested in with the images I had. After looking and thinking, I decided that I was interested in the skies, the reflections in the water, the horizons. I was not interested particularly in the specific location's role in the image, and I have decided that I really don't want to go the direction of manipulation. So I decided to look into light pollution, and while googling it, came across the term "skyglow". So here is this week's idea blog.

"Skyglow occurs from both natural and human-made sources. The natural component of sky glow has five sources: sunlight reflected off the moon and earth, faint air glow in the upper atmosphere (a permanent, low-grade aurora), sunlight reflected off interplanetary dust (zodiacal light), starlight scattered in the atmosphere, and background light from faint, unresolved stars and nebulae (celestial objects or diffuse masses of interstellar dust and gas that appear as hazy smudges of light). Electric lighting also increases night sky brightness and is the human-made source of sky glow."

"What Is Sky Glow? | Light Pollution | Lighting Answers | NLPIP." Lighting Research Center | University-based Research and Education Organization Devoted to Lighting. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. .

"Urban Sky Glow is a problem that used to be limited to big metropolitan areas. But today, the problem has reached epidemic proportions. There are only a very few truly dark areas left on the east coast. Certainly here in Northern Virginia the sky is full of misdirected light. And the problem has worsened significantly over the past 5 years. Growth in our area and increased competition between business and even between the new breed of "super neighborhoods" have led to the rapid degradation of the night sky."

"Skyglow." Virginia Outdoor Lighting Taskforce - VOLT. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. .

"Sky-glow conscious lighting design" NE Pollard

"As society becomes more environmentally conscious the problems of obtrusive light, and particularly 'sky glow', have led many road lighting engineers to demand full cut-off luminaires emitting no light whatsoever above the horizontal. This paper looks at the range of existing fixed-angle exterior luminaires and suggests a classification for them which accommodates the wide variety of designs and requirements for the aesthetic appearance and need for light on some high vertical surfaces. The brightness of floodlit buildings is also discussed as a growing number of people feel that luminance, not illuminance should be the design criterion for helping to reduce the many over-bright installations that are also causing unnecessary light pollution."

Pollard, NE. "Sky-glow Conscious Lighting Design†." Lighting Research and Technology. Web. 02 Nov. 2011.