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Memory

I think we can photograph something that will become a memory or we can recreate a memory for a photographic exercise but I do not think we can photograph an exact memory. Memories are things our mind captures but a memory can be altered by other people’s recollection of their memory of the same moment. In photographs, memories can be reproduced either directly or indirectly. Patricia Voulgaris represents memories by showing the fragmentation that happens to people’s memories, whereas, Diane Buckler represents memories with actual images that may or may not be connected to each other but are connected to a memory. Both artists show the fragmentation but Voulgaris shows fragments without connection where Buckler seems to connect the fragments.

Diane Buckler uses multiple images to make connections to a memory. Each of the images she uses are fragments of one kind or another thus representing the fragmentation of memories in the mind. Patricia Voulgaris uses negative space and simple colors to give us the image of a fragment. She does not represent what that fragment might be, like Buckler, but just the idea of a fragment. They don’t have any imagery in common but they use similar ways to represent memory. Voulgaris uses humans and fragments of bodies and uses the allusion to show fragments whereas Buckler uses a surrealist approach to fragmenting memories.

As for whether we can photograph a memory, I do not think we can because we will never have a complete picture of what our own memory is. A memory will never be completely accurate or accurately represented by a photograph. As we recollect experiences or events that are in our memory things we remember are always different as time and life influences them. Other people’s input into our memory will alter what we remember, therefore trying to recreate a memory for a photograph may or may not be the actual experience. If you could recreate a time when an experience happened for a photograph, the experience would never be the same as the first time.

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Deconstruction

My thoughts on the theory of deconstruction are that we, the viewers, can take something someone else created and mold it to fit what we want it to mean or feel.

The creator of said object, building, or artwork had one intent when they created their creation. They had their own feelings and thoughts behind their work. They also had some intent on how they wanted their creation to be viewed, used or enjoyed but we will bring our own life to the creation. Our own lives and experiences will always influence how we view the world and how we feel about anything. Therefore, they, the creators, have constructed something from their own lives and experiences but we, the viewers, will deconstruct it in our own way.

For this post, I visited the Walt Disney Concert Hall which was designed and created by Frank Gehry. When he created the Hall it had a specific purpose and he seamlessly combined design and function into the building. I went there and saw what I found to be interesting and compelling about his design. What I saw may not be exactly what he intended for people to see but it was what I saw. Therefore, I deconstructed his design to take from the building what I felt was interesting.

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The Aura

Here are some examples of works that have been reproduced in some way. 

Sherrie Levine reproduced Walker Evans works simply by taking photos of the original photos. 

The image of Jackie Robinson sliding into a base was a regular occurrence in Dodger baseball and can be seen in a variety of different photographs but there have also been other mechanical reproductions of this image. 

Nancy Webber is a photographer who has taken different artworks and reproduced them in photographs. I feel this the exact thing that Walter Benjamin was talking about in his essay. Reproduction by mechanical means. 

These are some images that I took that also seem to be the exact things that Benjamin was talking about. I used images in magazines and added miniature figures and took pictures of the images. Some of these images are already reproductions as well since they are images of other works of art. 

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Street Photography

I have a very hard time taking street photography. I would rather catch someone in a candid shot than a staged shot but then I also do not want them to feel violated. With this contradiction going on in my mind, it makes taking street photography very difficult for me.

Static environmental photos require some interaction between myself, as the photographer, and the subject but then you do not have that candid photo. Irving Penn, Walker Evans and August Sander were able to take these static environmental photos very well and make them look almost like portraits rather than street photographs.

Lyrical street photographs provide more candid photos because you are catching something happening. These shots usually can tell a story better in my opinion. Because you are not interacting or interfering with the story of the people you are shooting, you can get their story a little better. Lyrical photographer are harder to get unless you are really good or really sneaky because you want to ensure there is no interaction with the camera.

Ethically, I believe that static environmental photographers are more ethically sound because you have that permission to take that photograph. Because of all these contradictions, street photographers have a really hard job in telling the story of people. 

Here are some examples of photographs I took.

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Day at the races

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“Cuba Is”

At the Annenberg Space for Photography, a photo exhibition highlighting the unique culture of the island nation of Cuba entitled “Cuba Is” is currently on display. A few of the photographers are local to the nation, where others are connected to Cuba through other ways but are not local to the nation.

Tria Giovan is a New York based photographer who has been known for documenting people, places, and things in a visually interesting way. In 1990, she began a six year project that had her in Cuba for 12 month-long trips over that time period. Many of these pictures capture the culture of Cuba during a time of political transition due to the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. During this period, Cuba was trying to survive economically but the culture of the people still thrived and that is shown through the series done by Giovan. I chose the below picture because it stood out as something seemingly normal. Just a girl and her horse. How many times have we, as Americans, seen pictures of cowboys and their horses depicting the “old west?”

Tria Giovan

At the Beach

Leysis Quesada Vera is a Cuban born photographer who is known for photographing her town and the people around her life. In her statement, she states that she usually identifies with women and their lives and struggles. In her early work, she focused on the campesinos (people from the countryside) in Cuba. She was fascinated by their way of life and how they went about their lives. The photo I have chosen came from that time period. This image felt like it came off the wall to me which is why I chose it. This photo again seems like just something normal and American. But it is also very clearly Cuban culture.

Leysis Quesada Vera

Cowboy

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Exhibits & Books

One groundbreaking photographic exhibit was when Matthew Brady exhibited the The Dead of Antietam in his New York City gallery. This exhibit was shocking to the public because this was the first time people had seen what war was really like and the ravages on American people.

Alexander Gardner

A groundbreaking photographic project was when Franklin Roosevelt assembled a team of photographers to document and record the effects of the Great Depression and the Dustbowl on the American people. These photographers, such as Arthur Rothstein, Dorothea Lange, and Walker Evans, were instrumental in showing the American public what it was like living in the Dustbowl region and what Roosevelt’s programs were doing to help those people.

Arthur Rothstein

Dorothea Lange

Walker Evans

A groundbreaking book was by Robert Frank entitled The Americans. This book consisted of photographs of the American people during the 1950s. This book showed how photographs and photo books could be “personal, poetic, and real.” (https://www.lensculture.com/articles/robert-frank-the-americans)

I have checked out a book from the NYFA library published by Edward Weston that shows some of his best photographs from his many years of photographic production. Weston is best known for his sensual photographs but he was able to capture the details of the world in a different way than most people.

Another book I have reviewed is a book assembled in 2015 of photographs that have been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1960. This book shows examples of work from photographers like William Eggleston, Richard Avedon, and Andreas Gursky.

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History

I can not say that I have a particular interest in any one movement of photography but my own photographs tend to focus on the details of the world. I try to see things differently than others might. I do not know that my photographs will have any historical value to anyone in the future but I just capture the world as I see it. Photographers like Edward and Brett Weston see the world in a unique and detailed way.

Edward Weston

Brett Weston

I have a large interest in history in general and it is wonderful to see photographs of great historical events and the history of the world. With my travels, I have seen many places that have been ravaged by war but with the advent of photography, I am able to see what those places looking like before man’s destructive nature took hold. Robert Capa, Joe Rosenthal and Alexander Gardner are good examples of photographers who capture man’s destructive nature.

Robert Capa

Joe Rosenthal

Alexander Gardner

It is also of interest to me to see what the world looked like in the past. With my interest in history and my visual nature, photographs from the past allow me to see the world as it was and the people in it. Photographers like Alfred Steiglitz, August Sander and Lewis Hine were able to capture the people of history in their environments and how they lived or worked.

Alfred Steiglitz

August Sander

Lewis Hine

Examples of my own work

Keys

In Memoriam

Spores

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Retro

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In the Style Of

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Documentary

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Landscapes