Contemporary Artist Review

            The contemporary artist that stood out to me was Frank Breuer.  His work in “Project 3, War Memorials”(http://www.frankbreuer.com/projects-3.html) is interesting to me because within the memories of war, the memorials give it a coat of beauty.  Each memorial has its own specific identity and sense of spirit that the work does not seem to get old.  

            Within this project, I appreciate that Breuer is not just stuck in one country but he is expanding the notion of war and how each country shows their love to their soldiers in similar ways.  I feel that Breuer shot the structures at a more straight on viewpoint to express the pure beauty in life and how we sometimes take it for granted.  I also can see that his work could cause some disputes between those for was and those against and the advantages and disadvantages it causes. 

            In the background of each photograph, there is not a beautiful, blue sky.  It is grey and dreary.  I believe that this is not a coincidence; I believe that Breuer wanted the skies to be dull and lifeless to emphasis the sadness that the monuments symbolize.  Even though the monuments seem a lot alike, each one tells an individual story of who was all involved, the hardships and everything in between. 

            When most people see a historical piece of the world, they tend to think back to that time and what it may have been like to go through the events firsthand.  The monuments capture that immortal feeling.  It was hard to choose a favorite photo from the whole piece but I really wanted to pick one that stood out to me.  My favorite memorial is the Neuville St.Vaast, F, WW 1, French because I absolutely love the arm holding up a torch; it expresses that, even though the men are buried, they had victory.   

            I could not find anything on Breuer’s own interpretation of his work, so I decided to email him asking what his intentions were with this piece and how he wanted his audience to perceive it.  He did not get back to me in time but I would think he would agree with at least a few concepts I have brought up throughout my interpretation.

            If I could speak to Frank Breuer, one on one, I would express my appreciation to him of this piece and how much such a simple shot of each monument symbolizes differently to each person individually.  They do not just symbolize death; they show passion, protection, and hope for the world.  I hope to, one day, be as good of a photographer as Frank Breuer.

Final Project with Artist Statement

For my final project I wanted to explore the different bad habits of individuals and for what reasons they often seek comfort or security within them or just plain laziness.  Especially nowadays, students come up with crazy, yet now normal, ways to cope with stress in and out of the classroom.  It has always been interesting to me, not just because I am guilty of some nail biting, but because of the reasons behind the specific habits of people.  Some photos are underexposed to enhance the anxiety factor.  Most are up-close and personal because I believe that when you focus the lens on what you want your audience to also focus on it has a direct relationship with the artist and their idea.

In Progress

For this project, I am trying to show everyday habits people( mostly negative), not only students, but everyone have.  Either stress related or just plain careless, these habits are inevitable. I would love to know what you guys think and what might come to your minds.  Any ideas on how to express this in the gallery would be welcomed.  I am planning on exploring more negative habits, if any ideas come to any of you, please share them with me!

The Crisis

In the article, Andy Grundberg defined postmodernism as "...a reflection of the conditions of our time."  To me, postmodernism is a way of swirling everything from the past, present and future all together into this one era of complete expression.

 Postmodernism relates to architecture, dance, language, and much more.  It challenges the tradition of photographic practice by photographers using their skills in photography to explore other elements of art.  It was also a way to mix mediums of art together as with painting in a video, or taking a picture of a sculpture.  There were many conceptions of postmodernism,  and everyone added their own twist to it which, ultimately, made it what it is.

Final Proposal

For my final project I want to explore the different bad habits of individuals and for what reasons they often seek comfort or security within them.  It has always been interesting to me, not just because I am guilty of some nail biting, but because of really the reasons behind the specific habits of people.

I was thinking of documenting all of the habits I can possibly come up with like: biting nails, picking skin, tapping pencils, shaking legs, smoking, popping pimples and plenty more.  Especially nowadays, students come up with crazy, yet now normal, ways to cope with stress in and out of the classroom.

Fiction

For my fiction project, I was trying to communicate the expected and unexpected.  In our lives, we expect things to be organized and sorted a certain way and how we associated certain areas of space and certain things to fill that space.  I wanted to show that view through my photographs.  

I started off wanted to take a photograph of one area and then take another of something that would look "right" in that one particular space that was nowhere near it and making it into one in photoshop.  Then, farther into the process, I thought to why not do the opposite?  I ended up taking the last few photographs of objects that did not make any sense in a certain space.  I ended up loving this

 idea even more.

Throughout the process of this project, I kept fighting with my self between both ideas and trying to figure out which would be the most interesting.  In the end, I chose to use both in a whole composition because variety is always key!

Portraits

For this project, I am trying to express a different way to identify an individual; through handwriting.  I was able to come up with a substantial amount of adults that would be expressing themselves through only a maker and a piece of paper.  I used a tripod to capture each image by first, having each person hold their paper in front of their face, and then, relieving themselves for a second photo. 

My plan was to just compare each person's handwriting by using one word, hello, but it evolved into how they would physically say hello.  This, alone, got more people involved.  I felt, throughout the process of taking the photographs, I learned a lot about others in such a simple way no one else has thought of except for forensic teams.

I am ultimately happy with the results of the photographs and am glad I decided to create a grid of all the different expressions than just picking a few to show to the class.  I feel, this way, everyone will receive the idea much better and in such a clearer light.