Blurb

I made a book of my 30 best photographs from the past 10 weeks, check it out!
http://www.blurb.com/books/1739355

Final Project

For the last assignment in my photography class I wanted to try to connect my photography to what I have been learning in my Literary Inquiry class on the pastoral. The project I just completed in that class was on the environmental artists Andy Goldsworthy and Robert Adams. These photos are sort of a spin on the work of Robert Adams showing a small park near the University of Denver that is a great example of the country overlapping with the city. In each photo I tried to capture a human element and a natural element; I did not intend for this to be a work on urban decay, but the amount of litter and graffiti encountered in the park made it impossible for my photos to not show that issue at all.

Julius Caesar!

            Before today I had never seen or read Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, but like most people I knew the storyline: Caesar’s friends betray him and kill him. I did not come to the play with high expectations, not because I did not have faith in the actors or the rest of the theater department of the University of Denver, but because I did not really feel I would connect to the highly political Roman tragedy.

            There were such parts where I did not feel a strong interest in what was happening onstage, but I blame this on tired actors. This was after all, the final performance of Julius Caesar and just the day before they had put on a double show.  Indeed, there were several actors who seemed to just be going through the motions: saying their lines, moving to their mark, but without any real passion or energy behind it. Others slipped in and out of energy throughout the play, but the actors playing Cassius and Brutus were consistently passionate and energetic through the entire play. Cassius especially was full of energy, every line was delivered loudly and her screams and laughs conveyed a certain mental instability in her character. Brutus’s best parts were the lines he delivered while making direct eye contact make eye contact with members of the audience.

            When the first part of the play ended with Caesar dead I found myself slightly confused. I had no idea that the play actually extended past the plot to kill Caesar. This was a pleasant surprise and the fight scenes that occurred in the second part of the play were amazing. The use of lighting, music, chanting, and slow motion made the play feel like an epic movie playing outright on stage.

            The use of fake blood was also a pleasant surprise. Without the blood, the murder of Caesar wouldn’t have been the same. It was so disturbing to see the actors rubbing the blood of Caesar all over their arms and hands, and then to watch them walk around for the rest of the scene with the blood dripping onto the stage. It helped me feel the passion and madness motivating the characters to kill Caesar. On the other hand, I kept feeling distracted by the puddle of blood in the middle of the stage and kept worrying the actors were going to slip in it.
         Overall, it was an enjoyable play, and I look forward to my next chance to see one of the theater department's productions.

Friday Night Art Walk on Santa Fe

          

       For Denver Arts Week, I wanted to participate in at least one of the many events going on around Denver. I chose to go to the First Friday Art Walk; although I have been to a couple Art Walks in the past, I had higher hopes for this one. After all, it was Denver Arts Week, and the Art Walk was occurring in 7 different art districts. I chose to go to the one on Santa Fe, hoping that with all the other places open, this one would be less crowded than normal. 
      Perhaps this would have held true if I had made it to the art walk when it opened at 6, but I was only able to attend it for 8-9 hour. By the time I arrived, the galleries and streets were packed. I like being around people, and a giant party focused on art is fun in theory, but instead of feeling excited by the energy of the people, I found myself annoyed. Socialization was clearly the main event, people cluttered around each other, blocking hallways, doorways, art, the sidewalk. I felt like I couldn’t even enjoy the art, or visit all the galleries because I got sick of having to navigate through the endless stream of people and feeling increasingly claustrophobic. It also doesn’t help that many of the people were drunk off of the free gallery wine, making them even more oblivious to the people like me who were actually trying to view the art.

            However, despite this I still enjoyed going to the art walk. It is exciting to see so many people out on a cold Friday night in November trying to look at art. The Sizzle & Bang Gallery was the first place I visited and it was my favorite. As always, the art there was bold, contemporary, and colorful. While my boyfriend and I were discussing the works of one artist, the artist himself came up to us, introduced himself and told us to grab a card because he was always selling prints. This was pretty awesome and reminded me why I like First Friday in the first place.

Around Campus Again

Went for another walk around campus to de-stress, this time I took photographs to try and find beauty in the banal, sort of a pre-exercise for my final photography assignment.

Cindy Sherman

 

The documentary "Guest of Cindy Sherman" was not exactly what I had anticipated.  I expected it to be another documentary that was largely composed of the artist talking about their work and life, but instead Cindy Sherman was not interviewed at all for this documentary (unless you count the interviews Paul H-O did with her for his show Gallery Beat). This documentary chronicled the lives of Cindy Sherman and her former boyfriend Paul H-O almost equally. I found it interesting to see what is was like to date a famous artist, instead of just what is was like to be one. It showed that it can be hard to maintain a strong sense of identity when your fame is not as great as your significant other's.

I was surprised by the amount of famous non-artist people Cindy associated with. I always assumed that famous artists either kept to themselves or associated with other famous people within the art world. Also, Cindy Sherman herself was not at all how I imagined her to be. She seems so cute and timid on camera, not at all like the strong characters she takes on in her photos. At the very least I expected her to be strongly opinionated, but if she is this documentary did not show it.

Looking at Myself

Honestly, when I first heard that my next photography assignment was going to be self-portraits I was not thrilled. When I take photos of myself, they're usually the typical Facebook photo, or family photos. I've always associated my identity mainly with my face. So, after much thought and frustration I decided to focus on the two parts of my body equally apart of my identity as my face, but often overlooked: my hands and my feet. I've often half-joked that I have "sausage fingers" and "box feet" so it was nice to make my less-than favorite parts the focus of my photographs. I tried to make this series of images represent a journey for self-discovery, since I am still very much unsure of who I am and where I fit into life.

Flowers Still in Fall

 Even though I'm pretty sure all the flowers should be dead, many of the ones in my backyard were still thriving when I visited them this past weekend.

Sally Mann

     The documentary on Sally Mann is not my first exposure to this interesting artist. A friend of mine had recommended her to me a year ago as a photographer I might be interested in. Indeed, I find Sally Mann’s work to be beautiful and intriguing, and after this documentary on her I see that she is even more fascinating than I had previously realized.

     I was most interested in her use of the large-format, glass negatives which are not only a pain to prepare but subject to so many faults. Instead of being frustrated with their imperfections Mann embraced them, and felt they added something to her art. In this era of digital cameras where just about anyone can shoot a decent image it is refreshing to see someone who is not afraid of making mistakes. Mann’s take on death was chilling but still beautiful, while watching her walk through the corpses I felt myself mostly repulsed, but upon seeing the images she captured I was suddenly fascinated by them.

     Mann’s relationship with her husband and children was just as interesting as any of her art. It is touching to see a couple still in love after so many years, and with three children whom seem to all get along well.  Mann’s earlier portraits of her children were so beautiful; it is hard for me to understand how anyone could look at them and declare that they were child pornography or exploited the children in anyway. And now as adults looking back over old photos the children do not seem distressed or alarmed, but see them as their family album, the record of their childhood.

Time

Our second assignment for my photography class was to take photographs about time. My first thoughts were that I would probably end up taking a bunch of photos of clocks, but I decided I wanted to be more abstract than that. So, on a weekend home I stayed with my boyfriend and used him as my model to try and capture a series of images that would tell a story, almost like a film strip. When I printed these four photos of him, I felt I was still missing something, so I added a photo of an open gate to show at the beginning, and a photo an open door in a room to show at the ending. I felt like these additional photos added a level to the story, like perhaps the man came through the gate, had a confrontation, and then left out the door in the end. I don't want to say too much more than that because I would like the viewer to decide on their own story!

Just Around Campus

 I was growing restless this morning so I decided to take a short walk around campus before I headed to class.

 The lily ponds are my favorite, quiet place on campus.

 Look! A new blossom!

Looked like some storm clouds were rolling in.

Cultural Review of the Alumni Exhibit

Click here for this picture's source.

           I was excited to hear about the "2010 Juried Alumni Exhibition" in the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery in the Shwayder Art Builiding. The Myhren gallery has had some interesting exhibitions in the past, but this is the first one I've heard of showcasing solely DU artists. This exhibit is appropriately timed with the new annex finally being completed and the interior of Shwayder being currently renovated; it will surely bring extra attention to the art program here at DU.
        I made sure to attend the opening of this show on September 30th. The first thing I noticed when I came into the gallery was the variety in mediums of art, from functional ceramics, to painting, to photography. Nearly every type of art was covered by one of the 19 artists. I liked that the mix of artists included art teachers, professional artists, and people whose professions had nothing to do with art. It was nice to see that art was still an important part of their lives.

        By far my favorite piece in the whole exhibit was the out of work Space Invader who was begging for money just inside the entrance of the exhibit. I liked it mainly for the nostalgia it brought on of playing Space Invaders as a child. I also really liked the porcelain bird installations by the ceramics teacher here, Mia Mulvey. My favorite of hers was the one with the birds wings bound to their sides with twist ties. 
       What impressed me the most was the amount of talent that has come through the University of Denver. Our school is not particularly known for its art program, but it just shows that great talent can come from anywhere! Maybe one day I'll be hanging my art up in the Myrhen Gallery for an alumni show! At any rate, this exhibition has encouraged me to continue making art, even though I've pretty much ruled a career out in the arts.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

This french photography created not only beautiful and interesting photographs, but his work inspired – and continues to inspire – many other photographers and photographic movements. What makes Cartier-Bresson so interesting is his ability to compose and catch a photograph off the street that looks like it was set up in a studio and taken from a million different angles. Part of this unique ability was the “decisive moment” a term Cartier-Bresson coined himself to refer to the moment when all the elements in photograph were perfectly lined up. Cartier-Bresson was able to use his artistic timing to capture motion and everyday events, such as children playing, a man jumping, a train passing over a bridge, and give them new life and make them far more interesting. The fact that Cartier-Bresson hires someone else to develop his photographs shows that for him the art of photography lies in the act of taking a picture, and the rest is just technical.

The Dogs in my Life

 Was home for the weekend again, and this time I decided to spend a little more time playing with all the dogs in my family. Up top is my dog Rosebud and her new best friend, my mom's dog, Buddy.

 This is the baby of the family, Rampage. Don't let his innocent face fool you, this dog can be a total terror (as his name suggests).

Euphoria, my brother's dog, is a calm and loyal one. Here she is in my backyard staring off at the other dogs playing.

At the Library

 I know that many people on campus view the Penrose Library as a big 1970's eyesore, but I have a fondness for the bright red walls, the orange carpet and the funny little study pods.

 I suppose they were currently sorting some of the books because on the 2nd level that had hundreds of them laid out on the floor, inconvenient to get around but looked cool.

Seriously, I love the colors in this place. I might be crazy.

Annie Leibovitz

Before watching the documentary on Annie Leibovitz, I had very little sense of the photographer, knowing her only through a few of her earlier photographs and some of her work in Vanity Fair. Watching the full documentary enabled me to have a greater appreciation and understanding of her work as now I saw it as an evolution through her whole life. I found it interesting how Leibovitz had transitioned from shooting simple portraits with relatively little staging like her work in Rolling Stone, to her highly stylized, dramatic, and fanciful covers for Vanity Fair. Personally, I prefer her earlier work to her more recent photographs. While all of her work is beautiful, I feel that the simpler portraits have a more intimate feel and provide more of a slice of truth of their subject. For instance, the portrait of John Lennon,  naked and clutching Yoko Ono. I had never really considered this photograph before the documentary, I was familiar with it but found that it made me uncomfortable, I did not like how weak and desperate Lennon appeared while Ono looked just relaxed and reserved. Hearing Yoko Ono talk about this portrait I was able to see it in a new light, I could now see the beauty and strength in Lennon for being able to show the world his vulnerability and his love.

It is clear that Leibovitz has is a master of portrait photography.

Masculinity and Feminitiy

First assignment for my new photography class was to capture a masculine element and a feminine element within the same photo. It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do with this project, in fact I used a couple rolls up on just random stuff trying to work out how to use my camera and hoping I would stumble upon some cool photos. Finally, I took a trip down to 16th Street Mall and I found the awesome new public art project happening down there. Every block had a piano painted with a different theme! I immediately connected the masculine piano with the feminine way they were painted.

This photograph is by far my favorite. My only regret with this project is the lighting I shot in was not the best. But I think I learned my lesson for next time!

Happy Times

 

This weekend I had the opportunity to go home to Colorado Springs to visit my boyfriend and

make a trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo! There's my Sean getting prettied-up in the hotel.

The view of Colorado Springs from Cheyenne Mountain was beautiful.

But the best part of the trip was getting to see this adorable wallaby! He was one of many baby wallabies hoping around. 

Last Camping Trip

Summer is officially ending. My friend Ariel and I took our annual September camping trip on my Grandmother's property in Guffey, Colorado. Good times with s'mores, fires, swimming (surprisingly it was warm enough), and a tent that would not stay up.

 The water was nice and clear for a change (meaning no one was building a dam/pond upstream anymore).

 We were even lucky enough that the Guffey swimming hole was not packed with teenagers cliff-diving.

In a stream I found this cow vertebrae with some new life growing out of it.
The field we camped in was covered in these little white daisies!

The sun was setting in the distance casting some pretty cool light onto the log I was sitting on by our fire.