After listening to Emmet Gowin’s amazing lecture at Mass. Art, i was so inspired to shoot something very personal for my final open project. I was able to use going home for thanksgiving as an opportunity to make the images that i have been replaying over and over again in my head. Austin and i woke up on two gorgeous mornings to head out and make photographs that revolved around fishing, being outdoors, and that bond that the two of us have between the lens. There’s always good chemistry between Austin and i. Where brothers and he knows what i want when i’m making photographs. However, making images of him with the 4x5 was knew to the both of us and proved to be a test of patience. It felt good to be out on a frigid morning, watching Austin cast through my ground glass, and waiting for the light to hit his line just right. I had a pair of waders on. I was chest deep in the Little Brook. My tripod was almost fully submerged within’ the water. He was hunting for his prize and i as well. A photo shoot worth remembering...
I found myself returning to the Fenway Gardens to make photographs for the still life unit. I’m somewhat attracted to still life’s due to the nature of how i photograph the spaces i enter. I thought the individual plots at the public gardens would work well since every spot seems so unique and individualized. Plus photographing such spaces would seem to push the idea/definition of what a “still life” really is. Is it something we come to make within’ a studio setting? Or can we apply it to the exterior? The days i shot the photographs, the light was perfect for what i had in mind. The actually spaces are bordered in and locked up, so i had to jump a fence with my 4x5 for most of the shots. Never the less, it was more exciting than anything. I found success with developing as well. The center image i would crop differently, yet for the most part i’m certainly happy with how these came out...
When it came to studying a published photographer's work, my mind was all over the place. I went from Philip-Lorca diCorcia to David Hilliard and eventually landed on Aaron Siskind. I have always been into his work and i felt being here in Boston, would accent his style well. I knew the 4x5 would pick up every bit of fine detail that makes his photos what they are and also printed them leaning more on the high contrast side of things due to thats how he printed. I ended up experimenting with multiple surfaces; bricks, tire marks, tar filler. Yet when it came to crit, i ended up being satisfied with these two…
I'v began to scan recent work from the black and white 4x5 class i took with Laura McPhee and Abelardo Morell this past fall. I'v decided to go through all of it in chronological order, beginning with the night photographs. However, it's certainly nice to look back and see my work as a whole. With the exception of the triptych that i made in The Fenway Gardens, i feel the night photographs are concrete evidence of progression. This is when i began experimenting with development times as well as bracketing to get the perfect negative. It was definitely stressful making a photograph at night with a dark cloth over my head. I was constantly paranoid about something happening to me or my equipment, especially when i was in abandoned parking lots and pitch black alleyways. Yet, it's all worth it in order to make a good image…
I got back into Boston last night and it feels so good to be back! I was closing in on insanity back in Vermont. I love it there, but i can only sit around and watch so much television. I quickly figured out that there's not much to do in Vermont and i missed a lot of things back at Mass. Art. The workrooms i missed the most. I craved to paint at home, but i had no space to do it. When i paint i need to get really messy and spread my shit out. I can only do that at the Artists' Residence. I made this self portrait this morning with my point and shoot digital camera. I then photoshopped a 4x5 boarder on it. I like the look. It feels so refreshing to create again...
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Before leaving for the Holidays, i shot a roll of Tri-x 120 on my Holga. I haven't had much luck with it this semester. During this roll, the batteries died and i was without a flash. I was kind of bummer to see that i got nothing i really liked after processing. Never the less, i happen to like this shot a little bit. I took it out of my living room window which over looks the Mass Art campus. The blurriness reminds me of when it rains; the window becomes all wet and foggy. Such a photograph creates a new way of looking at something so routine and overlooked. Hopefully the next rolls will come out better with a functioning flash…
