Month: September 2017

These two photos were taken when I was completing the Gestalt Principals Photo Project for Visual Studies. I walked from Oltorf Street, down South Congress, finding Gestalt Principals in this area.

I believe that the first picture is one of my strongest and most visually appealing photos. This photo ended up not making the final cut for my project, and instead I included a few weak photos to make the overall presentation flow much better, as this photo was out of place, so to speak. I feel that my final project was just right. I completed it the way I saw fit, and it garnered praise. I am content.

The Medium Is The Massage was written in the 1960’s. This was a time when computers were beginning to populate work environments. People felt threatened by these strange machines. Would they lose their job? What would happen? I remember a timely episode of Mad Men in which poor Michael Ginsberg becomes deranged when SCDP opts for the latest and greatest in technologies: The Computer. This was the one thing on my mind when reading. It’s subtle, but you can tell that they were afraid of these computers back then. Words like “circuit”, “wire”, and so on are repeatedly thrust into some of the paragraphs that it makes you wonder what the deeper meaning of this is. There’s the “out with the old, in with the new” theme, too. The book is populated with these types of quotes. One other thing that struck me was: Children. Children are mentioned quite a lot, as well. Perhaps it is the childlike creativity or naivety that draws the authors to speak about them so much. Nevertheless, Computers were the scare back then, and all I could think of was Mad Men. I really need to re-watch that Television show.

Interestingly titled “Canopy”, Saul Leiter’s photograph depicting a busy New York street during a snowstorm has gained my attention ever since I visited The Art Institute of Chicago. “Canopy”, at first, might seem like a black and white photo. The black “petals” of perhaps an umbrella or canopy take up roughly 80-90 percent of the shot. The other 10-20 percent depicts a snowstorm with passerby braving the harsh winds and deep snow as they walk to and from work or recreation. At first, you might think it’s black and white, only, but then you see the fleshy skin tone of the closest man that tells you it’s a color photo. I find it fascinating that at first you think it’s a black and white photo, but the longer you look at it, it’s a color photo. I tried to replicate a photo similar to “Canopy” during the rest of my trip to Chicago. Unfortunately, nothing I photographed came anywhere close to the wonder and mystery in “Canopy” that Saul Leiter created. Saul Leiter who was a part of the “New York school of photography” has been the only inspirational photographer to me. I’ve seen many photos and liked them, but when I saw the photo in the museum, it made me want to create something as awe inspiring as “Canopy”

I realize that I spend a lot of time hanging out with friends. I suppose that’s how i can unwind after a busy day. I changed my sleeping schedule and wake up about an hour earlier, starting on Tuesday. I feel more refreshed. I would originally wake up at 8 and then fall back asleep. Now I wake up at 8 and stay awake.

Below are some of my favorite medium format pictures that I took with my RB67.

1. “What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Artists” talked about how artists are on the rise. They listed 12 traits that artists share and described them as empathetic, well rounded, and strong individuals. “Are Artists Entrepreneurs?” talked about how artists and entrepreneurs can be each other, but for them to be successful, they need to work together, instead of alone.
2. Artists need to learn that teamwork and cooperation, as well as building a “supporting network of people and companies” who will help them, is the key to success.
3. Artists can be entrepreneurs if they focus hard enough.
4. Artists are passionate about their work. I feel that this is one of the most important characteristics of an artist. Every artist that I’ve come across is extremely passionate about what they do, be it photography, painting, sculpting, or anything.
5. Artists are themselves. I think that a 13^th characteristic of artists should be that they are unique. Many artists have their own style. Although some may seem to “copy” other artists, they put their own “spin” on the final product, thus making it unique.

 

Got Grit?

I sure don’t. I really need to work on my grittiness. I could get rid of all the distractions imaginable, but my mind would still wander to something else. It’s hard for me to stay focused sometimes. I suppose I could just try my hardest to stay focused.

As I was listening to Michael Kiwanaku’s explanation of how his song “Black Man In A White World” came about reminded me of one thing: gospel. There’s so much gospel influence in the song, especially with the backup vocals. The title itself is one to think about. What is a black man in a white world? He spoke about how he didn’t want to come off as racist, but he feels that because he is black, he’s supposed to make a certain type of music. He doesn’t necessarily feel this way. He wants to make the music that he enjoys.

I enjoyed this track. It isn’t something that I would listen to more than once, since it doesn’t fit into the genres of music that I enjoy, but the lyrics, beat, and melody were all spot-on. He did a wonderful job. One thing I also noticed was that when he is speaking normally, you can tell he has an accent, but when he sings, that accent seems to disappear. It’s a soulful song…

As I was watching Dan Brackage’s Stellar, the only thing that kept coming to mind was: flesh. I don’t know why, but the visuals on screen had a fleshy feel to them. When the yellowish green hues popped up on screen, they resembled rotting faces to me. I don’t know if this was supposed to be a horrific display, but it sure frightened me.

With a name like Stellar, one might think of outer space, and that thought came to me near the end as the colors of purple and blue kept popping into my mind. Perhaps these colors can represent outer space. As I stated before, the yellows and greens reminded me of flesh. That’s the only thing that came across my mind…

As I was watching and listening to Amy Tan’s TED talk, I found myself nodding slightly at a few of the things she talked about. Creativity comes from many sources. Our past, and present can influence our creative minds. She talked about her childhood and how her mother expected so much from her. That led to her being the writer she is today. She also suffers from medical problems, which also fuel her creatively.

I thought about how I’m inspired. Just today, during Visual Studies, I was having trouble with Adobe Lightroom, and in a matter of seconds, my friend showed me exactly how to fix the problem I was having. I had put myself in a foul mood and just then, it turned around. I decided to edit some of my photos and he suggested using a tool at the very bottom of the list, and it made my images a lot clearer. I was ecstatic and fueled by this, went on to edit the rest of my photos to the way I envisioned them.

So many things, and people, can influence you in ways you cannot imagine. My friend helped fuel my creativity and it made me happy in the end.

As I was reading What Is Design? by Kenya Hara, one thing stuck out to me: Originality. Hara stressed originality multiple times in this excerpt. I looked at some of his work and it’s very intriguing. I must say, it does look very original. It’s interesting how he speaks about a gradual progression of design. He’s very vague with a lot of what he is talking about, I think. Maybe I didn’t read that in depth. Maybe not.

It’s interesting to think of everything as being either a stick or a vessel. I’ve never thought of things that way. They are the basic tools that make up everything. You can use them separately or together and they can create many different things.

I like the part where he talks about the Bronzeware and how we are naturally drawn into the intricate items rather than the plain items. Such with life, we don’t seek to be bland, we seek to be intricate, different, unique, and special. We seek to be original.

As I was reading Daniel Pink’s High Concept, High Touch, it seems to me that I chose a good school to attend as well as a good degree plan. Studying an art might have been looked down upon back then, but it’s very reassuring that it’s becoming a necessity. I feel like I’ve made a good choice and that I will be rewarded for all my hard work. I will surely devote a good amount of time and effort into doing my very best here at St. Edwards.

It’s interesting to see the gradual progression from Agriculture to Industry to Information, and now: Conceptual. I had no idea that we were in a conceptual age. I did recognize a few things that Daniel was talking about, such as an immense increase in graphic designers, and the need for them. I was one of the first to take the “new” SAT test with the optional writing portion. Daniel did touch on that part in the excerpt, although I don’t know how old this information is.

We’re entering a new age, and it doesn’t feel like it. Maybe I’ve been in the Conceptual age since birth, or have gradually grown up in it. Who knows? I’ve never heard of this, and I’m interested in learning more about it. Time to check out Daniel Pink’s book: A Whole New Mind.