" photowalk homework results "

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this past tuesday i gave out a homework assignment that asked you to show me something new. congratulations to the two of you that had something for me to look at.

i can only think that one of two things happened:

01. you don't know of this blog, thus you never read the post, and subsequently you never read the homework assignment and most obviously didn't do it or send it to me.

or

02. you are a lazy photographer that couldn't do what your heart, hands, and brain wanted to do, but for some reason felt as if it was too labored a task.

both of which are fine excuses. in the end, who cares what i have to say about the work itself. it is in the act of taking the photographs, that we validate our craft and ever-become the photographers that we are.

if you didn't have the time due to some certain circumstance that was more important, respect. i am always available for discussion and critique. so with all that said and done, onward to the images.

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lafcadio:

comment:

there is something both comforting and eerie about this image. for me, it touches upon the passage of time, and the wilting of hopes. the ochre-mustard of the windshield frame cries out amongst the rusting veneer of the hood and chassis. it is a somber photo and one that i imagine hides a person in the backseat, sleeping soundly while clutching a jacket around them, not their own.

geoff scott:

comment:

a snapshot yes, but one that encapsulates the experience of road travel and the permanence of curiosity. i like how the sign is also rusted (a theme perhaps of this week?), and how it's shape juts forth, away from the side of the building and is announced, bold and against the blue sky overhead. indeed we are in parts unknown, and where do we go from here?

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" photo contests & the wrath of mediocrity "

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just off the bat, here are links to two photography contests whose submission period is about to end:

01. capture brooklyn

02. viewbook photostory

there is something inside of you as a photographer, that must be sated. you have a unique eye for the world, that much is a given. we're about as varied of visual artists as we are cell-based organisms.

we have bodies that are comprised of matter and have weight in the world; we displace the absence of space. we are here, and we exist.

your photographs too must embody a space. there is a place that your images displace the absence of not a thing, in which it will reside and flourish.

contests, and specifically photography contests, are sort of a gray area that photographers meander in and out of at times.

- should i enter?

- will i even have a chance at winning or placing, or am i just funding the contest itself.

- am i the $35.00 that will allow a higher budget for that banner on the site?

- will i feed some web designer's kid for 5.73 minutes?

- is it worth it?

these are questions that we all must ask ourselves when faced with an opportunity of a contest, whether or not there is an entry fee or not. one this is certain; someone, and perhaps there is a possibility of only one "someone" will see your work.

that promise is an intoxicating one. even in the age of self-publication, facebook-edness, emails to grandma, and other methods of imagery-based bombardment, it at times matters who will see it, rather than how many of faceless/nameless individuals will happen upon your specific image, like so many "next-blog-clicked-buttons" of discovery.

so i say go for it.

stick your toes into the waters and see how soothing the shallows are, or how mysterious the depths can be. you'll never know if you don't try. you'll never broaden your palate unless you give it a taste.

you'll never have a chance, if you don't take that risk.

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" twenty-three days have passed, and the world has changed "

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been upstate, and now that i return to the city, it's turned cold and rain-gloomy on me.

despite my dislike of the change of seasons, i still have to remember that there are images out there in the world begging to be experienced.

for a while now, i've been taking long photowalks from various point A's to different point B's, and sometimes stopping at point C's and D's along the way. you have to be in the street to do street photography. you need to be near people to for people portraiture. there's just no way around plain facts.

something that i always learn on these walks, is that i'm never going to stop seeing something that catches my eye or piques my interest. the exploration of a place, theme, or person is one of the more interesting things you could do with your day.

and it's all out there, waiting for you to click, click, click.

tonight's homework:

get your camera out, take a lot of photos, and by friday, edit it down to one image that represents your best image of the week. email it to me. i'll choose three of the most interesting photos, and give my comments as well. you may or may not agree with my choices or what i have to say, but you'll at least have given it a go. show me something new.

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" something has got to give "

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nothing is getting in the way of you and your artwork. i mean really getting in the way.

you could have no computer for a time, or film, or your memory card is full. but you mind is still reeling and flexing in the interim.

despite the inherent lack of tools at times, what artist are you? are you bound to these items in order to create and express?

i believe that in light of our perceived limitations, we must allow ourselves the self-respect enough to know that we bring our talents and vision to these tools, and that without them, you are still whole. you are still intact, and you are still valid.

if you are in a pseudo-rut, as i seem to find myself in, don't take it out on yourself, or others. it's just circumstance. it's just life happening, and you should feel confident and secure in the fact that your input makes just as much a ripple as the output.

take risks and long strides in unknown directions. be bold, be bright, be honest and true. remain true to your craft, and remember that without your attempt, there is no successes.

tonight's homework:

take a photowalk around an unfamiliar (but of course safe) area on your way home. make at least thirty (30) new images that define something about that area, then edit those images down to ten. have someone you trust look at these ten edited images, and ask for their feedback on your sequencing. be open and brave enough to hear the criticism.

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aout 01:

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