If I were a collage, I would be…

Of the two Black & White versions, I prefer the one with a little bit of color. I think it warms it up and works a lot better.

Flaneur

Self-Portrait

My room contains my life. Everything that I have accumulated, all my favorite things, are in my room. The constant mess is representative of my chaotic life, and each object represents a little piece of me.

Instead of a field trip I painted faces…

I couldn’t go on the field trip because I nanny every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Here I took some pics of Kraer, the youngest (2 yrs), after I painted her face.

Take Two….

 

Water Slides- Hampton Beach

 

Colony Motel- Hampton Beach

 

Winter Surfing- Jenese Beach

 

The Strip II- Hampton Beach

 

McDonald's II- Hampton Beach

First Take on “Social Landscapes”

 

 

Hampton Harbor Docks

 

Hampton Harbor Boat

 

Hampton Beach Pirate

 

Hampton Beach Fence

 

Hampton Beach "The Strip" I

 

Hampton Beach "The Strip" II

 

Hampton Beach McDonald's

 

 

Hampton Beach Blue Buildings

I believe that the term “Social Landscape” is referring to the relationship between humans and their environment. The environment could be a city-scape or it could be a countryside. The human aspect doesn’t necessarily need to include real people, but it should show the human touch. I believe a social landscape should be something encompassing nature and an alteration to that nature made by humans. This as a subject will be most interesting if the focus is about a juxtaposition between the altered and the natural.

A day in my life

 

7:00 am- Alarm goes off

 

8:00 am- Just getting out of the shower

 

9:00 am- Time to decide what to wear

 

10:00 am- Watching the end of Ellen

 

11:00 am- Finally getting around to blow-drying my hair

 

12:00 pm- Make-up time

 

1:00 pm- Finally leaving my apt

 

3:00 pm- On my way to Portsmouth

 

4:00 pm- At the Whale Wall

 

5:00 pm- Downtown

 

6:00 pm- I found another random glove

 

7:00 pm- Messing around with scarves

 

8:00 pm- Summer Heights High "I said Puck you, miss, with a 'P'."

 

9:00 pm - Swinging x-mas light in the dark=fun and neat pics

 

10:00 pm- Still swinging lights for neat effects

 

11:00 pm- Just getting home with a bright full moon

 

12:00 am- Check my Facebook of course

 

1:00 am-Just about time for lights out

 

2:00 am- Pretty much asleep

 

3:00 am- Took this pic in the dark of my ceiling (oops)

New Englanders

I particularly enjoyed Robert Adam’s chapter on Paul Strand. I had never heard of him but as soon as I learned he did an entire book on the people of New England, I knew I would love him.

 

Side Porch by Paul Strand, 1946

 

 

“What could have been more appropriate than picturing the area where the United States began, a place geographically beautiful, rich in traces of the nations past, and inhabited by citizens of evident character.” This says what I have always felt about being a New Englander, and what I believe most New Endglanders have always felt about themselves. We pride ourselves on being resilient under harsh circumstances (just look at the dedication we had those 80 years to the Sox ), which inevitably causes us to be very patient, down-to-earth, practical people. Yes, we are a very proud people, and for good reason I believe (Bill Belichick), but I had always thought that it was only us that recognized that unique character that every New Englander posses. So when I read what Robert Adams had to say about New Englanders, I have to admit, it made me even more proud to know that people from outside the region can see what makes us special.

 

Burying Ground, Vermont by Paul Strand, 1946

 

 

He wrote:

“Mr. Bennett is every Yankee, but every Yankee is by definition his or her own person… No one is wholly interchangeable with another… [they are] citizens as particular as a name on a mailbox and as general as those of whom the constitution speaks- we, the people.”

This is a pretty good summary, in my opinion, of the New Englander, especially by someone not from New England, but from New Jersey… New Englanders are the everyday American, proud of their land (or at least the region within their land) and the freedom that comes with it. At the same time, they are proud of their unique-ness and the community created by each individuals contributions. It is a place where there are not so much challenges, but steps that have yet to be taken, and our demanding winters are an annual reminder of this. Needless to say, I am very proud to call myself a New Englander, and you only need to go to a Patriots game, or any New England sport for that matter (Red Sox, Celtices, Bruins), to see those who agree with me.

 

Rebecca by Paul Strand, 1922

“You want me to say it worse?”

Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon

In the begining chapters of Why Do People Photograph by Robert Adams, he begins to break-down why photographers are drawn to take pictures. In the Chapter “Teaching,” he begins by describing art.

“Art is by nature self-explanatory. We call it art precisely because of its sufficiency. Its vivid detail and overall cohesion give it clarity not ordinarily apparent in the rest of life. And so if the audience lives in the same time and culture as does the artist, and if the audience is familiar with the history of the medium, there is no need to append to art a preface or other secondary apparatus.”

He goes on to say:

“Words are proof that hte vision they had is not…fully there in the picture.” (i.e. the result is not art and is unsuccesful)

I agree with these statements and I feel that they fully sum up how I feel about art. As one of my professors said, “There is no bad art.” Something either is or isn’t art.

I also enjoyed the story about Robert Frost. It said that upon being asked to explain what one of his poems meant he said, “You want me to say it worse?” showing that he was of the same thinking that his art was whole unto itself. That is why I chose the picture of Marilyn Monroe, taken by Richard Avedon. It is a beautiful picture but it also says more about who Marilyn was. I feel that this photograph is one of the most complete pictures I have come across.

my first blog ever

Why do I photograph….

"Les Demoiselles de la Nuit" by Juergen Teller, W Magazine, 2006

"Les Demoiselles de la Nuit" by Juergen Teller, W Magazine, 2006

Juergen Teller

"Stephanie Seymour: MORE" by Juergen Teller

"Kiev No. 10" by Juergen Teller

I was first struck by Jeurgen Teller’s photographs while looking through a magazine. I was intrigued by their timeless-ness and the magical way they evoke a sense of innocence lost. They are raw and sexy, and eerily beautiful. I just love them. They are photographs taken for fashion magazines, yet he manages to make them so much more than that. Capturing human emotions, like humor and helplessness, it is his sensitivity toward his subject that makes them so beautiful. But the designer clothes don’t hurt….