Just Lacks.... Something

All photos are accurate. None of them is the truth.
-Richard Avedon

I love photography. Amusingly though my own curiosity with the medium has begun to focus less on imagery, less on depicting a place or moment, and more concentrate on what's lacking from that moment or place that photographs record.

Take the image shown here, we see a person reading a menu at a table with red and orange lights painting the scene. Yet, I can't express through this image the smell of smoke that filled the air from an open fire, the brief smells of food cooking, can't express the sounds of the pool players, sounds of dishes clattering, can't express the smooth finish of the dark wooden table we sat at. I can't even guarantee the authenticity of this image - I could have easily grabbed the menu from another place because I liked the name, and brought it to this location because it was visually more appealing (I didn't, but it's an amusing prospect). The idea of photographs as truth is another concept I like to play with.

But how to represent these smells, sounds, or tactile stimuli? Well, text does the trick nicely but is also lacking, but text can help guide the idea, and that is what I like to work and play with: memory.

With a little text I can trigger someone's imagination. With my own work, at times, providing so little actual visual information the majority of what the viewer has to rely on is text, forcing them to rely on their own experiences, their own memories to complete the picture.

There will be times when you will be in the field without a camera. And, you will see the most glorious sunset or the most beautiful scene that you have ever witnessed. Don't be bitter because you can't record it. Sit down, drink it in, and enjoy it for what it is!
-DeGriff

Hey, Some New Work

These images came about from a semi long period of photographers block I had a relatively short while ago. Struggling to conceive of any form of imagery or concept I turned to my moderate sized library of photo books to look for inspiration. Upon looking through the second or third book it dawned on me how odd it was that I was looking through texts to find some form of insight. Instead of looking to past experiences, or even my own previous work, I went to the books, and it was this act that compelled me to create this piece, this amusing idea of learning to create a "perfect" photograph.

The idea just tickles me funny, that I'm learning to create art by reading these books and old notes, that the entire process of making this "perfect" photograph is equivalent to studying for a quiz. Rather than going out and experiencing life, or getting some practical experience by going out and actually taking photographs, one just needs to read books to create that "perfect photograph".

Certainly being a student influenced this piece, this overwhelming amount of information and paper. For the shot I piled up every photography book I have, including old notes and film. The flame in the third image is open for interpretation, I have my own reason for it, but I'll leave it open for now.

I Guess I'm Gonna Stick Around

Almost been a year since I posted anything, but I was told today that images from this blog are being used for this years Digital photography class at the U of O, so I've taken this as a decent reason as any to start posting again.

So, had my first BFA review today, that's Bachelor of Fine Arts (in photography in my case), it was a 3 hour get-together of us photo BFA's (there's 5 of us in the program, unless I'm missing someone) discussing our ideas and images, basically trying to convey what we're hoping to accomplish for the year. Some truly great work being produced, as for myself..... Well, not my most solid production. My concept itself is solid - no problem there - the images however simply didn't work, which is fine; not much point for me to be in the BFA program if I'm already able to "get it right." The reaction against the images really wasn't all that surprising actually; the photo's were experiments, and because of their experimental nature I didn't play it safe. Which, to be honest, is kinda fun from time to time, and a lot more helpful I feel. I got some quirky ideas I wanted to try with the photographs, I tried them out, they didn't work. Bit disappointing, but not too much, its far more liberating, and far less nagging at the mind in the long run to at least try. I suppose that's rather clichéd, but hey its one thing to say, another to actually do.... hmmm thats also rather clichéd.

So instead of posting those failed images, here are some recent "successful" pictures from my conceptual photography class. Currently entitled, "Guiding Water With Some Helpful Directions."

Final: Sense of Place

This project.... Well, it started as a piece of portraiture of my grandma. She despises having her picture taken, so naturally I followed her around for a week taking thousands of pictures of her, capturing her various routines and movements through the house. Even trying to capture her hatred for cooking. I eventually evolved the series to include images of the past - overlaying images from photo albums to show what areas of the house used to look like, showing moments that occurred in those spaces. Due to time I was only able to apply this "effect" into a few of the photographs. In one image, in my grandparents living room, there is an older picture of me (in my cuter days) and my cousin Emily when we were little kids - this picture is imposed over what the living room looks like now. Another picture shows what the kitchen used to look like, and the last image shows what the exterior of the house looked like when my grandparents first bought the house.

I wish I had the time to apply this past-present look to more of the photos, I found it interesting to see how much work my grandparents put into this house over the years.

Critical Mass: Art of The UO

I actually got this idea last year but never did anything with it, and actually completely forgot about it until last Thursday when I was looking at a drawing of a skull-thing in a bathroom stall. Basically looking at various visual quirks of the University, and not so much at what I suppose would be called "legitimate" art, such as some of the painted murals around campus.

Maps: Contact Sheets

Maps

Initially the idea that arose from this image was that of being lost: imagery blending together; familiar signs, road markers, telephone wires, all a blur. There's no sense of what's coming, of what's around the corner, only fragmented images of where you've been. In the end this became an image of being lost not necessarily in terms of physical location, but of a person who's trying to remember where he's been, trying to put the pieces together.

With this thought of the image being that of a memory, I took on this idea that the telephone wires were reminiscent of synapses in the brain; thousands of wires connected together. I could imagine the wires all pulling at each other, pulling the various elements in this picture together, but becoming lost in the fog.

When I began working on this image I didn't have any clear idea of what I wanted out of it, where I wanted it to go, I simply started randomly putting pieces together. In the end I find that an appropriate work method for this picture: no clear idea of where your going, or where your at, no sense of conclusion.

More Studio Work

Ceramics Studio, 709 photographs, 1 hour

Painting Studio, 64 photographs, 10 minutes

Painting Studio, 48 photographs, 8 minutes

Singular Image

271 photographs, 30 minutes

Basic Idea: I wanted to look at the movement through a space (a studio in this case) - how the space is used over a period of time. I actually decided to start a series from this concept: looking at how different studio's are used; the interaction amongst the students; seeing how different classes, different setups evoke a certain mindset: how the students work, and how they think about their work.

This has been a pretty fun experience; I've been able to photograph a ceramics studio, painting studio, and a drawing class. I'll post some of the other images later.

Time to Celebrate!

My blog is no longer spam! So it's time for a celebration - sparkling cider all around. Plus a couple of pictures of two Tytonidae (Barn Owls) from early summer.


This was actually quite a creepy moment to photograph. I passed this small white church (that I've driven by hundreds of times), and saw these two wooden brown carved squirrels at the front of the church doors. At least thats what I thought I saw, it took me awhile to comprehend that they were Barn Owls. I didn't have my camera, so I went home to get it, drove back, and to my lucky surprise they were both still standing there.

I was able to get within 4 to 5 feet of them, shooting through this bush for cover to get some shots. What made this a creepy experience was one: the fact that these two owls were out in broad daylight; and two: there was this classical Beethoven music blaring from inside the church. I amusingly thought that these two were standing by the door so they could listen to the music.

Apparently these owls don't see too well during the day, which may explain why I was able to get so close, but also the outer most owl was protecting the other which seemed to be injured. An animal rescue service was called (its name escapes me), so I hope the two critters ended up okay.

Herd: Contact Sheets

Herd

|hərd|
noun
1. a large group of animals, esp. hoofed mammals, that live, feed, or migrate together or are kept together as livestock
2. a large group of people, typically with a shared characteristic: : I dodged herds of joggers and cyclists | he is not of the common herd.

verb [with adverbial of direction ]
1. move in a particular direction
2. keep or look after (livestock)

"Untitled"

"Coming & Going"

"Against the Flow"

After moving through this mass of students between classes for the past year, I got this amusing thought that I was moving through a gigantic herd. Visually I wanted to cram as many students into one shot as possible, to give a somewhat claustrophobic feeling - so it would seem as if everyone was shoulder to shoulder. I also didn't want there to be a single focus on any one individual - in part to keep the viewer lost in the crowd, but also to try and keep the viewer from identifying with anyone in the scene. I wanted their to be this lack of individuality so everyone in the shot just blends into this mass sea of people.

The one color shot I included to give context to where these students are. The two black and white photographs I wanted to capture nothing but the crowd, but with the color image I wanted to show the beauty of the scenery around these students, and to show that no one in the shots really seems to take notice of this beauty: their just looking ahead, moving forward, concerned with just getting to their destination.

Influence

Fritz Lang's Metropolis. (1927)
In 2026, the populace of this "metropolis" is divided into two groups: one of planners and thinkers, who live above ground in luxury, and another of workers who live underground running the machines to sustain the city for those who live above.

The imagery in this film is breathtaking, and not just with the special effects or the massive sets, but also with the emotionally exaggerated performances. The opening scene for this film is amazing: we see a shift change of workers, "the day shift," the movie explains - hundreds of workers begin trudging forward; their movements in sync with one another, rhythmic, almost machine like. Their heads down, shoulders slumped, a real sense of despair, and from this an understanding that these are broken men.

Videos are unfortunately no longer available

Metropolis Opening Scene "The Day Shift"

My interest in this movie stems partly from its shear visual power, but also its exploration of the human condition and social division of the worker and elite classes in the film. Though it's clearly a theatrical and fictitious piece of science fiction, the imagery (such as the workers) still holds quite an emotional punch. With my own work I've looked at various aspects of society, from things we ignore, to leftovers on a plate, to individual portraiture that explores who, or what a person is like. While I'm more interested in aspects of individuality, Metropolis looks more at an entire society and the conflict that stems from the social division within the city, but what I hope to take from Metropolis (in small doses) is the theatrics. I love portraiture that reveals something unique and truthful about a person, but sometimes a bit of theatrics, a bit of direction, can help someone loosen up and possibly in the end show more of who they really are, and create more powerful imagery.


More on Metropolis
This film is a marvel of technical achievements, it was astonishingly ahead of its time, I have to keep reminding myself that this movie was released in 1927 when admiring the visuals, and I keep asking myself "how the #&*!! did they do that!" For the opening sequence Director Fritz Lang got over 1,000 extras with shaved heads to play the workers. The whole movie employed over 37,000 extras. Below is a link to a trailer for the most recently restored version of the film.

Videos are unfortunately no longer available
Metropolis Trailer

Previous Work

After excruciating over what pictures to post I decided to start things off with some photographs from a tattoo portraiture series that I've been developing for a couple of years. I've photographed friends, family, some people I hardly knew, even the president of Clatsop Community College in Astoria. The idea is to look at how personality and attitude relate to the tattoos, and how the tattoo's define the person. I've even gone to a couple of tattoo parlors to photograph the process (Nine Lives, and Area 51 tattoo parlor below). It's been fun, and it's something I hope to continue to develop and evolve. Enjoy.