Going a little crazy

Today I spent the entire time trying to find this house that I photographed three years ago with no luck. I don't know why yet but there is something about this one house that keeps calling me back but since I can't find it I was not able to find out what that was today. So for critique I am going to have to use the photographs that I shot three years ago. The Eugene Richards' book came in today but since I am not in Richmond I am unable to go through it at the moment. I am going to present three different pieces on crit day. One is going to be a photograph of a house but split up so that the pieces don't go together, like a puzzle that is ready to start. The second is going to be a straight shot of the house behind a window. The third is going to be a panoramic of the property and he house. Here are some of the images that I am thinking about using:

Artist Lecture, Ulrich, Anna Tingle

I really enjoyed Brian Ulrich's lecture. Since I am exploring something very close to the content of his newest photography I was very intrigued. Even though the content is very similar the intent behind it is very different. Ulrich concentrates on consumerism where as I want to display the houses that I photograph as something to be explored emotionally. We both want people to ask questions when they look at our work but those questions couldn't be farther apart. I was very interested in his techniques. I think the night photography is something that I should explore, also getting inside the houses is a definite must. I however want to continue to shoot in digital. I think that shooting in digital will show how time has passed along with the fact that the houses are run down. I want to shoot the houses in film but don't think that the effect that I want will be achieved with film. Again with Ulrich as the same with Umbrico they both found something new while they were working on their work. I want my work to do the same for me. While I am working on the houses find something else to branch off into.

Up and coming

I have decided to give up on Cabell Library for the Eugene Richards book The Blue Room. I ordered the book from borders and should receive it by the end of the week. I went to go photograph the house again but came across some trouble finding the house. When I first starting visiting the house I did not have a gps system and there are typically no houses next door to get addresses from. I decided to ask the class what they thought about some photographs that I have taken of parts of the houses and got some interesting responses and made me think. I really like Griffin's idea of framing a photo of a house then hanging it in the house the photograph it. Not sure if that is going to give me the effect I want but I am going to try. I also have been thinking about taking a photo of the house then breaking it up and moving the images around in the different panes of the windows that I got. Again I am still not sure what kind of effect that is going to give but still going to try. Hopefully the critique will give me some more comments and let me know what effects my photos are giving off.

New Idea

I have been thinking a lot about the houses and after the Umbrico lecture came up with an idea. Farris suggested that I digitally impose a window onto the photos of the houses. I liked the idea of the window but not the digital part. Then when I saw Penelope Umbrico's work and how she used different materials to mount and display her work I got thinking. My mom and some of her friends use old windows that are taken out of houses to be replaced with new ones. I am going to print the photos of the houses and then adhere them to the back sides of the windows. I have done some work digitally to see what the final product might look like. Of course the windows will be worn and old looking but this is what I've got so far:

Homework From Tom

Tom asked me to find 9 other images along with the photos of the houses to equal 10 things that say what it is I am trying to say when I look at these houses. When I look at these houses I am instantly intrigued. Questions come to mind: Who lived there? What was life like when they lived there? What happened to the owners that let the house get to the state that it is in? I see history, freight, beauty, and mystery. These are the images that I have come up with:

To me a window is a portal that you look through to the past, present, or future.

The rose symbolises beauty.

This thing is pretty scary.

The grim reaper is a symbol of death and most people are afraid of death

The dinosaur represents the past ergo history

hidden areas of self, often hiding treasures

Butterfly's symbolise life and the transformations that one goes through to become the beautiful end product

A walk way between the conscious and the unconscious. Moving from one perspective or even area of life to another new or undiscovered part of self

I found a website that says that a house symbolises another representation of self, the different rooms signifying different aspects of your life. This could be another reason I am so drawn to these houses, because there are so many different aspects to my life and who I am.

Artist Lecture, Umbrico, Anna Tingle

First let me just say wow! Penelope was very intriguing with her lecture. I have always hated getting junk mail but never looked at the way she does. I will never look at a catalog the same way again. I really liked how when she would start one body of work it would lead her to another. I can only hope that my work will do the same for me. I thought her use of multiples was interesting. I keep thinking about it and I think that her work wouldn't be that same without it. I also keep thinking about would multiples work for my work? The way that Penelope would show and mount her work got me thinking also, so much so I think that I have come up with idea on how to display my work. I liked the way she would engage people in her work. When she posted the tv's on craigslist and her work with the suns on flikr. She really thinks about the way humans operate and uses that in her work. She really got me thinking the entire lecture about her own work and what I need and could possibly do with my own work.