How often do we wake up in the middle of the night in a dark room and mistake a hanging rob for something completely different. Our eyes are very sensitive organs and they see what there are presented. Sometimes we are able to see beyond whats in front of us but there still has to be a base. Just the angle at which a subject is presented could provide a different vision.The top photograph is an image of the side of a building, but the way its presented could possibly mean something else to the viewer. The bottom photograph looks like the most painful experience in life, but in reality, I'm sure it something completely different even though I don't know how it was put together. What the eyes sees and what an object really is can be a world apart.

John Anthony Muth

I was completely baffled by this assignment.  I had some ideas but nothing was inspiring me.  I had been out four times this week from about 8PM to anywhere until 4AM.  I went to Phoenix, Tempe (climbed a huge rock), Apache Junction, and in Mesa in my own backyard so to speak, it was a vacant lot near where I live.

I choose the photo below because I am amazed at how much detail the photograph has of the stars but I know from personal experience that a 30 second exposure with have stars shift in the sky and there is no shifting in these photos.  Photographer Royce Bair must be using an exceptionally high ISO.  I would also think that an very large aperture would be required too but everything seems to be in focus with no shallow DoF to be seen.  I am stumped to say the least.

I get a lot of ideas

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/deborah-oropallo-guise#slide-6
https://www.lensculture.com/ldemaison
http://fontcuberta.com/

Seeing many of the images on the lens culture website helped kick start my creative process. The works of Deborah Oropallo's series GUISE use famous paintings of men from the 17th and 18th centuries layered with photos of women in fetish costumes. Laurence Demaison's series "Moving performances, still photographs" uses long exposures and moving subjects, showing trails of light hands against a dark body. Joan Fontecuberta created animal mash ups before they flooded the internet. For me these three artists' creations combine in my head to form a loose idea of where I want to try to take the vision and reality project. I am thinking about portraits, perhaps self portraits, layering with appropriated images - either comic book art (superheroes, villains, monsters, and creatures) or images from video games or images of animals. Perhaps in a way which reveals the inner thoughts or self perceptions of the subjects. The ideas are still bouncing around in my head.

Vision and Reality - Research/Thought Process
Darcie Naylor

"Photography's gift isn't the ability to reproduce reality, it's the ability to expand it."

The photo above, the quote, and the excerpt below is taken from a blog posting by photographer Gary Hart.

"When I hear a photographer say “That’s exactly what I saw when I was there,” I cringe. Not only is capturing human reality in a photograph impossible (really), attempting to do so is so limiting. I’m a strong advocate of “honest” photography, photography that depicts a natural truth without digital deception. But photographic truth is not the same as human truth, a fact photographers should celebrate, not deny. Your camera’s reality opens the door to revealing nature in ways humans can’t."

"Photographers jump through lots of hoops to overcome limited depth of field and more closely approximate their own experience of the world. Tiny apertures, tilt-shift lenses, and blended images will do it, albeit with trade-offs. And when all else fails, we’ll bump our ISO into the noisy stratosphere. All that is well and good, but let’s not forget that there’s no rule that says your capture must mimic your experience. Sometimes we can use our camera’s ability to severely limit depth of field to our advantage by eliminating distractions and turning uninteresting backgrounds into a complementary canvas of color and shape."

About the photo above: While taking photographs near the Pohono Bridge in Yosemite, Gary Hart's eyes saw an "overwhelming variety of input:" dogwood blooms, the Merced River, cars, other photographers, all beneath what he describes as "a boring pale blue sky." While these elements made up the whole of the picture before him, he really only wanted to "convey the dogwood's elegant grace in the context of its simple verdant setting - everything else was superfluous."

Even though his eyes saw everything around him, he chose to focus on the bloom using a telephoto lens and large aperture, this allowed him to "[reduce] the rest of the world to a soft canvas of variegated green." He states that while "this image is nothing like what [his] eyes saw, it is what [his] camera saw." 

Pasted from <http://garyhartblog.com/2012/05/12/photographic-reality/> 

I think that is going to be my challenge with this project, to reduce the rest of the world around me and focus only on what I want the camera to see and thus show my viewers. I will be trying to capture my vision of what is around me with the smallest amount of visual noise. This should be interesting.

The photo below is from Abelardo Morell's Camera Obscura collection. It intrigues me. I love the vision of the room through the glass lenses. This particular photo is giving me food for thought on what I want my project to be.

ICP past exhibitions - Christer Strömholm: Les Amies de Place Blanche

http://www.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/christer-stromholm-les-amies-de-place-blanche

I liked this exhibition because it probes the meaning of gender and gender identity, which I have been interested in for years.  Christer Strömholm was a Swedish photographer who spent ten years living among transgendered "ladies of the night" beginning in the late1950's in Paris. From the ICP PDF press release for the exhibit - "As Strömholm wrote in 1983: 'These are images of people whose lives I shared and whom I think I understood. These are images of women—biologically born as men—that we call "transsexuals." As for me, I call them "my friends of Place Blanche." It was then—and still is—about obtaining the freedom to choose one’s own life and identity.'" The Press release also goes on to say that these women were mistreated by authorities. I see the relevance in today's society where the transgender community is still misunderstood and not accepted by the general public. In Russia and other countries they are abused and arrested. It is getting better but not fast enough. All the photos are from the 1960's in black and white, so they show popular fashion of the time. The subjects seem so glamorous to me. They were so brave to live honestly in that time period. I am especially impressed with the fact that they allowed themselves to be photographed.

ICP Past Exhibitions - Justin P.

For this week's research I chose the 'Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now' exhibition. Fashion photography is one of my favorite, so I was instantly drawn to this by the title. From the description it seemed like a magnificent show! Not only did they have the original prints of the photographs, but they had hundreds of tear sheets and magazine covers featuring the photographs. I feel like all the big designers would be there and everybody would be wearing some crazy high fashion outfit (like from Zoolander or something), which would be awesome. Once I took a look at the photographs I knew instantly that this is the one that I'd want to go to. Now if only we could create a time machine so I could go back to January 2009...

Photographs like this remind me of an Annie Leibovitz of the fashion world. They are almost 'caught in the moment' like it could definitely be Marc Jacobs just goofing around or it could be planned out and posed, you just don't know. His expression makes me feel like it was posed because it's so stern, if he was goofing you'd think he'd have a smile (and his drink would be everywhere). However, the body position makes me feel like it was caught in the moment. Who knows, and does it really matter? It's a great photograph.

ICP Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best

Hayley Vrana

I really liked this picture but it wouldn't blowup, but I put it up any way, because I really like how the fog is covering the New York skyscape and the woman in the foreground is crisp and clear.

This Exhibition was to showcase Elliot Erwitt's photos. He was known for documentary and commercial photography. He has photographed many well known people from Marilyn Monroe to Jackie Kennedy.

I chose this collection because I looked through all the pictures and it definitely represented the past's history. He had a picture of Jackie Kennedy at the funeral  for her husband, he had a picture of the white and colored drinking fountains. I didn't really choose a picture that showed the history, but I just really liked this one. The way the man and woman are kissing in the mirror with the ocean in the background is just really pretty. I like how the ocean is blurred and the car and people clear. This picture just reminds me of the old Elvis Presley movies, with him romancing the girl.

ICP 

by John Anthony Muth

I choose two photos for this assignment from two different exhibitions but that overlap in meaning.
The first photo is from;

Other Weapons: Photography and Print Culture During the Spanish Civil War.  This is a propaganda poster from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).  It addresses the plight of the spanish people against their dictator Franco, but it also shows Nazi involvement in this struggle.  Publicly Franco borrowed Germany's air force to subdue the revolution in Spain.  In reality, Hitler used his Luftwaffe, with German pilots, to bomb the Spanish rebels as practice for the world conflict to come.  
The poster uses vibrant warm colors of red and yellow mixed with purple combined with organic lines to express fire and strife of being bombed and oppressed by the Franco regime and the Nazis as communicated by the Swastika over the words "Cultura Facista." To me this poster demonstrates the idea that the culture of Fascism is destroying the people and it's artistic culture as represented by the woman, child and statue.  

The second photo is from;  

We Went Back: Photographs from Europe 1933–1956 by Chim.  This is a photograph of Pablo Picasso in front of his painting "Guernica".   I also chose this photo because "Guernica" was painted because the it represents a similar idea as the poster above, but it is more specific. The painting "Guernica" symbolizes the destruction of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. I would love to attend both of these exhibits because of my fascination with history.

Library of Congress : Great Composition

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/thc/item/thc1995000053/PP/resource/

This image is very pleasing to look at for many different reasons. The first thing that draws my attention is how the trees frame the landscape and give it balance. The piece of land with trees jetting out and the Capitol in the background give it three dimentions which further draws you in. The contrast of the black and white image also ad to it.

Tammy Kelton

I loved this photo.  There is so many leading lines your eye follows the road into the photo and then your eye tends to travel in and out of the photo.  I like the composition of this photo.  It give you a feeling that it is peaceful.  I want to travel to this place and just spend time outside to photograph the entire area.  It also leaves you with a feeling that it is a cold place. Maybe even a lonely feeling.

I like the use of lighting.  the house being darker in contrast give a since of lonely dark place. Yet in the back ground it in lighter and leaves you feeling like exploring the region.  And the use of foreground framing adds depth to the photo.

Can't pick just one.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/kskm/

This is the Kandell collection. It is full of portraits, landscapes and still life photos of daily life in Sikkim as well as special events. I had trouble picking just one photo from this collection to share. I think this one labeled : [Prince Palden (second from left) making silly faces with friends, Sikkim] is one of my top favorites. It shows a royal acting like a regular kid (although I can't say more about the monachy of Sikkim to be sure of how strict the royal family would be about pomp and circumstance at his age in the photo). This fun portrait shows the friendship between the boys by their proximity. Also, they all seem to share a sense of humor. It shows the universality of "making silly faces". The boys are arranged in a tight triangle. The Prince isn't dressed as colorfully as his friend or even taking the position in the triangle one would expect a prince would. 

Another photo is this one of a woman churning yak butter tea :

I love that she seems to enjoy it. The motion blur is just enough to show the activity, while keeping the rest of the photo in good focus. 

Library of Congress- Daguerreotypes 
Hayley Vrana
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/dag/

This daguerreotype is of the Editorial staff of the New York Tribune. Daguerreotypes were mostly portraits because of the slow shutter speed, but this collection also has some outdoor views. I chose this type of picture  from this section because last semester I took a History of Photography class and we went into great detail over these types of photos. This picture really amazes me because there are seven guys in it. You usually see one or two people in a daguerreotype because of how slow the shutter speed was, but to have seven guys keeping perfectly still is very neat. I also just like seeing old photos and how different the times were when photography was first coming around.
In Daguerreotypes it's funny to look  at all the different expressions on each of the guys faces. All of the guys have completely different looks from bored to staring off in space looks.

Library Of Congress: Sikkim Photos

Dr. Alice S. Kandell gave over 15,000 images to the library of congress in 2010.  A selection of around 300 of them, which are included in the "Prints & Photographs Online Catalog," show the lives of the Sikkim Kingdom in the high Himalayas.  She took the photos in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  The photos show a culture that is slowly diminishing.

I enjoyed looking at this entire collection and had a difficult time picking out just one.  The photo above is titled "Reincarnation of a holy lama takes a break from his reading. He holds a prayer book covered in wood."  I've always found it fascinating how young the holy lamas are and what their lives must be like to be raised and live their entire life with that mantel.  I also enjoyed the composition and candid nature of the photo above.  Dr. Kandell had special permission to take these photos and get some pictures outside of the typical more formal shots you'd see.  

Taking photographs that few have the chance to take, documenting something that is fading and may soon be gone, adventure in new and foreign lands... these aspects of the photos all interest me.  It is interesting to look through the collection and see where modern amenities are slowly working into the culture.  I wonder what it looks like now?  40 years later.

Technically, I think of the great feat it is to get a photo in film without the instant feedback of our digital cameras and the range of equipment that is readily available to us now.  I see some minor composition changes I would make to the photo above in the digital darkroom, but I think she hit the exposure spot on.  It could have been posed, but looks like it was something you really would see even if she just said "wait, stop right there" while she snapped the photo.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/kskm/

Library of Congress: World War I War Poster, 1917.

by John Anthony Muth

This poster shows a marine in uniform marching along a dock with ship, fort and city skyline in the back ground.   I really love old graphic art because it usually is woven with color and design qualities that are not as preferred in today's modern advertising campaigns. The bright warm yellow is the first thing that captures the viewers eye which is in sharp contrast to the dark and light blue uniform of the marine's uniform.  The dominating primary colors grab the viewer and the simple use of overlapping draws the viewer in.  Combine that with the direction of the smoke and the marines march which leads the viewer directly into the slogan "SEVICE ON LAND AND SEA."  I believe this is an excellent example of a advertising poster that typifies the future of war posters in World War II, with emphasis on design and color to capture the viewers eye and create an emotional response.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g09855/?co=wwipos

Paseo del Prado, Habana

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/det.4a31854/

This photograph is part of a series of photographs that were taken c1900 in and around Havana Cuba. I Googled the street name and city and found some photographs of this street in modern day. The feeling is still there, but it is, of course, much more modern with paved streets and a large cement walk down the middle that has been poured around the trees.
This particular photograph caught my eye for several reasons. It's an outdoor photograph and I definitely lean toward that type of photography. The coloring is both beautiful and intriguing. Because the colors are mostly pastel, (which is usually NOT a color palette that I favor) the photograph looks like a watercolor painting to me and the beautiful deep green of the trees is a wonderful contrast to the soft colored buildings. The vanishing point of the sidewalk together with the row of trees leads my eye into the photograph and then makes me want to keep walking through and see what's at the end of the street. I love the texture that is represented in the ruts of the dirt road, the bark of the trees, and the architecture of the buildings. In addition I love how even though the buildings on the right look very similar to one another - the round columns out front, the height of the buildings is similar, most of them have second story windows - they are individual in their own right. They are painted different colors, the architecture of the second story windows is different for each, little details have been added to make each one stand out. This shows to me that the people in this town, or the people that owned the buildings, took pride in their surroundings and cared enough to make sure the building they were in charge of looked as good as it possibly could.
I would love to walk along this street or sit on one of the benches under the canopy of the beautiful shade trees. This photograph is peaceful to me.

Music has always been an essential part of human life, from singing to playing all kinds of musical instruments. This photograph is very striking and there is a level of humanity attached to it and it looks like an image from the 50s or 60s. The man is either sitting out on the porch of his run down house or he is working on the house. Either way, he finds time to play his guitar to feed his soul after a hard days work. I find this image to be an uplifting image because it points to the fact that regardless of what’s going on around “one” there is a always hope. The photograph has beautiful lights and shadows. The shadow on the door emphasizes the “darkness” in the house. The steps are falling apart, the man’s shoes look warn and the bucket or basin all together describes a lifestyle.  The rule of thirds is evident in the composition of the photograph. The man sit at the left third and also the bottom third of the photograph.

Line, shape, form - Justin P.

There's something about the human body that intrigues me. For this project I'm going to take shapes made from the body to create a larger picture. Probably not going to use any butts like the photo above, but it does give you an example of how you can create lines and shapes with the human body. Also, having a human person to photograph it is easier to create those shapes because they can move and understand you, unlike plants and animals.

http://char.txa.cornell.edu/language/element/form/form.htm

This is my second attempt at posting on this great article on Line Shape and Form.
This article uses some interesting language, it calls shape "2D form".  The author also points out the differences between organic and geometric as well as realistic or naturalistic as opposed to abstract. The article got me thinking about the photos I had taken for this assignment and how I have both natural and geometric shapes, and how I could combine them or contrast them in the work. Also the article points out the importance of the shadows and negative space, which influenced the way I have shot pictures since reading the article. In rereading the post and article I remembered that in the first post I had mentioned that the article also mentions the use of Perspective, negative space, and lighting and shadow to create different tones and evoke different feelings even of the same subject.

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/10-things-successful-photographers-dont-do/

I stumbled upon this article on Facebook as a post by one of my favorite photographic artists. I know it has nothing to do with the line/shape/form discussion, but it is good information for creative photographers.

LINE, SHAPE, FORM - Darcie Naylor

http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/2776/visual-design-using-shape-in-photography/

This website has given me some more ideas to use in the upcoming project on line, shape and form. I especially loved this photo of  a small stalk of foliage. The way the smaller "leaves" curve around themselves mimics the way the overall stalk curves. I also love the way the lighting in this photograph highlights the stalk and their colors. The author of the piece tells us that "Sometimes you need to become a viewer in order to become a better photographer." I know that in my busy every day life I fail to notice the details that surround me. I hope this assignment will help me be a better viewer.