Please read this entry carefully: This assignment is worth 5 points and will be due by midnight, May 1.
Please visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art exhibit Facing the Lens: Portraits of Photographers (http://artsmia.org/index.php?section_id=2&exh_id=4026) and do TWO things:
1) Choose one photograph from the show to which you feel a strong connection or have a strong response. Describe the photo (including the title and artist) and explain your connection/response to it in a comment to this entry.
2) Participate in the Exhibition: (http://www.flickr.com/groups/facingthelens)
Upload your self-portrait to the MIA's Facing the Lens: Portraits of Photographers group on Flickr. All photographs in the pool will be shown on a screen in the Harrison Photography Gallery for the duration of the show. The MIA requests that you include your name, title of photo, and the date the photo was taken (this information is added to the photo from your Flickr page). Once you have added your photo, please post a link to the Flickr page of your photo (under "Share This" option near the top left of page, choose "Grab the Link") as a comment to this entry.
Both parts of this assignment need to be completed by the deadline to receive points.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61025160@N02/
I chose Arno Rafael Minkkinen's photo "Fosters Pond Millennium", that was created on January 1, 2000. I felt strongly connected to this piece because of it's athletic appearance. The photo was a self image of Arno's arms and legs reflecting on top of a pond's surface. The photo is in black and white and clearly focuses in on his limbs and their reflections. The tone of his muscles cast an energetic feel that made me want to go out an run. The performance and endurance running takes is illustrated quite nicely in Arno's piece. As an avid runner myself I connected to the true simplicity and excitement of the photograph.
Part One: The photograph I chose was titled "William Eggleston in his Music Room" taken by Alec Soth. A swarm of different emotions hit me while viewing this photo. I found myself continually coming back to it. It was one of very few portraits in color, and its size was very attractive. It was a fairly large piece. To me, it didn't seem like a portrait. This man was the only thing in focus, and the only thing he was focusing on was his piano. He was seated on a wooden box rather than a comfortable looking chair that was close by. He was surrounded by musical equipment that was just scattered about. This photograph represented the significance of everyday nonsense. It's a celebration of simplicity.
Part Two: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62339720@N02/5674083567/
The photo I chose was titled "Fosters Pond Millenium, January 1, 2000." It was a black and white photo taken outdoors at a pond. The photo showed just the legs, feet, arms and hands of the photographer- not any other body part. His body was positioned in a way that looked as if he was bent down and about to take off running, but I couldn't be certain because the rest of his body was not in the photo. He was positioned in the top center half of the photo, but his body was reflected in the pond and continued down to cut through the entire middle of the photo. To me, his limbs looked like trees taking over the photo, and his fingers and toes looked like roots.
I felt a connection to this photo because, as humans, we have placed ourselves in the center of nature and made ourselves "bigger" and more important. This idea was presented in the photo. The background of the photo was foggy and the trees behind the subject were difficult to see.
Part 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62394011@N02/?saved=1
Matt's entry:
I also chose "Fosters Pond Millennium" by Arno Rafael Minkkinen. I was able to find it online here: http://bit.ly/jBcsxV
There are several aspects of the picture which are effective. The abstraction of the limbs makes them appear similar to the trees in the background, reaffirming humanity's bond with our environment. As Ashley mentioned, the muscle tone and runner's stance evoke feelings of energy and athleticism: humanity's capability and promise.
The reflection adds intrigue and a factor of technical wizardry. The subject appears to be standing in a pond, but no ripples or waves are visible. How is this accomplished? Is it a sheet of glass instead?
I added my portrait to the Facing the Lens Photostream today so it hasn't been approved yet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32197367@N00/5675647355/
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Thai's entry:
The photograph that I chose is calls “Here, This Is Stieglitz: Faith and Love” by Francis Picabia. In the photograph, is an old camera with its bellows and lens board extended beyond their normal limits. The lens could extend away from the camera body by two crossing sticks which can fold back in and out from the camera. The reason that I chose this photograph is because the mechanical works within the vantage camera. I always have an interest in old mechanical works. It always catches my attention because the works and the times someone put in the mechanic works in order to figure out how each parts work is just amazing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62383173@N02/
This is the picture that I added to the MIA’s Facing the lens is the link above. I have to wait for the MIA to accept it. The tags of my photo is Neng, Thai, Wat Tham Krakok.
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Annelise's entry:
The piece I liked the most was "ID Documents with Photographs". It was an arrangement of nine types of IDs, each from a different local photographer. The description pointed out that these photos are what are supposed to "officially" represent and identify us, even though most of them are bland, unflattering, and taken by an untrained photographers. The types of IDs included were passports, drivers’ licenses, work badges, and travel permits. I connected to this piece because I always like to dig through my family's old stuff, and IDs and things like that always come up, like my parents' old passports, my aunts and uncles' drivers’ licenses, old yearbooks, etc. I think it's fun to look back and see everyone how they were at that time. This piece made me realize how those old photos I find really were an "official" type of representation of my family, and how the ID pictures I have now are supposedly suppose to identify me, even though I prefer they didn't...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77569864@N00/5662222243/
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Ciarra's entry:
Part 1: After walking through the Facing the Lens photo gallery and looking at all of the different photographs, there was one set of images that stood out to me. “Pulled Lips, Pinched Cheeks and Pulled Lower Lip” was a set of three different self-portraits by Bruce Nauman. When I first saw these photographs I was enthralled in them and captivated by the detail and strategic placement of each shot. Each photo was zoomed in on the face being forced to do something different by using the hands. These images were interesting because although you couldn’t see the eyes or the entire face of the person, there was still a sense of personality and emotion being portrayed. The photos also had a yellow saturation effect placed over the photos, which added a fun feeling to the photos. Overall, I thought that these images were extremely interesting and stood out to me and I formed some form of a connection with in relation to the other self-portraits.
Part 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62390819@N03/
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Mallory's entry:
Part 1: The photograph I chose was titled "Myself and I" by Wellington Lee. I found the photo to be very interesting and couldn't stop looking at it. The emotions in his facial expressions in the photo were intense and you could tell how focused he was. It almost felt like you were right there with him in the picture focusing just as hard as he was...it had a way of drawing you in and keeping you there on the edge.
It was a double exposed photo, giving an image of himself doing two different things in the same picture. These kinds of photos are very cool and I found a connection to it because in high school I got to create a double exposed photograph similar to this one. They are very fun to create and it is really cool to manipulate the exposure in such a way.
Part 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/malhan07/5678368714/
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Eric's entry:
The picture that I found was interesting was labeled "ramp mirror" because mostly it caught my eye and made me wonder what it was about. I thought it was interesting, because when it is a small thumbnail, it looks like it might be a piece of cookware, but you can't really tell until you click on it to make it larger.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/facingthelens/pool/add
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Ian's entry:
I chose the photo Edward Weston, Tree, Carmel, California by Ansel Adams. It depicts a fairly large man next to a humongous tree. The main reason i chose this picture because of its visual appeal. The tree has many lines that draw your eyes down the picture to the man. The second reason I was drawn to it is the connection to nature it shows. It shows how little we are in comparison to the vast expansiveness of nature.
Part 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62417477@N06/567876965
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This is my own entry to the Facing the Lens exhibition:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26730981@N02/5559554993/in/pool-1526234@N24/
I chose Foster's Pond Millenium by Arno Rafael because it spoke to me in the simplest visual form. IT seems both supernatural and natural all at the same time. And I feel as thought the black and white helps you to understand what is happening in the photo and it really helps make the water look more like a mirror that it would in color.