VISUAL NARRATIVES

Tom Jones was probably one of the most interesting speakers we’ve had, or at least one that I have gone to listen to. I did not read the introduction to him in any of the emails, which was my mistake, and I think it got me off on the wrong foot about him. I didn’t entirely understand why he started off not talking about his photography, but about his tribe. I thought the history and the traditions of the tribe were very interesting! I guess I have never thought about different traditions other than my own, so that was a large eye opener. However, there was a certain aspect of his work that I didn’t like, or how he portrayed his work. I thought with the emersion of contemporary or modern America in the Native American culture would have broadened his view on “white people” as he stated. I didn’t really like that he labeled us as that, because times have changed, as he stated in his work.

I thought the lecture by Tom Jones was interesting. I thought the stories of his culture and the Ho-Chunks were more interesting than his work. I liked his earlier work a lot, the black and white photos of American Indians. I think his best piece was of his grandfather watching the Oprah show. I like how he is mixing contemporary ideas/materials with old traditions and family. I envy him for photographing children and the elderly, I think they create so much value to his photographs. It is similar to my recent work by using digital photography but using an old process(cyanotype) and toning my photos to look aged. I think it was really interesting how his work changed a lot over the years, he started off in black and white and more traditional looking and then went to digital with color and in a studio. I am inspired by photographers who have their work in multiple countries and really believe in their concepts. He really wanted to make a statement with his art and his work proves it.

I went to go see Tom Jones’ presentation that was a part of the VCLS. As stated in his bio, he is a teacher and a photographer. He is also a Ho Chunk Indian. I thought that his presentation was really interesting. He didn’t really talk much about his work as a professor; most of the presentation was about the Ho Chunk community and examples of his work. I liked that he started with giving us a background of the community. I don’t think that I had ever heard of that tribe before; their history was really interesting. I also liked the work he showed the audience and the concepts behind them. Most of his work involved the Indian community in the current culture. I think that my favorite series he showed us was a sequence of portraits framed with pieces of sand blasted glass on top of them. The glass had different words or groups of words etched onto it. The words described that person in relation to their Indian heritage. Some have been adopted into it, others banished, others unable to join because they are 1/16 not Indian enough. It was a really cool series. I am happy that I got to go see his presentation, and I think that I will add him to the list of photographers that I follow.

I went to watch Tom Jones speak and I feel like I learned a lot from him. His photographs always seemed very person to him, not just on a subject he cares about but in a way they are about him. I thought this strategy is a really important one that we, as young art makers, need to remember to use. It was very interesting seeing the world of his tribe through his eyes, something that most of us never would have had the opportunity to see. I loved how in his series "I am an Indian First and an Artist Second" he used the toys that are a stereotypical Indian figure and used them abstractly to make his compositions and get his ideas across. Another thing I enjoyed was is his series "Native" Commodity, I thought it was interesting seeing the way that cultures take from one another and adopt different ideas. Overall I enjoyed listening to Tom Jones talk about his work, and I feel that I have learned lessons that will help me in my own work.

I attended the Tom Jones lecture hoping to learn about the style of his photography and techniques that he uses. I was expecting more technical advise on how he lights his subjects or about the concept behind each detail of the images. Its not that I wasn't interested in his background in the Ho Chunk tribe, I just wanted something to relate to in a stronger way. I would describe his style as photojournalism or more about documentation than concept. He does a wonderful job at portraying his people because he is able to gain access to intimate parts of their lives. This is something that I have a strong respect for. All photographers know how difficult it can be to earn the trust of someone they are shooting, and in turn be given naturalistic images. Tom Jones does this quite well. Along with his ability to show truth in photos, he, unlike many American Indian artists, embraces his culture and the label that comes with it.