Movie Review

Born Into Brothels: This was the first film I watched out of the 3 and ended up being by far the most moving. BIB is a documentary that takes place in the red light district of Calcutta, spotlighting on a group of children that are born into and raised in the brothels. It isn't until Zana Briski comes with her passion of photography, that these kids are aware of how much potential they hold. She eventually teaches them the photography basics, and begins processing and selling the photos they take to pay for their own education later on. The movie is extremely inspiring for anyone who feels that they're not making enough effort to make a difference. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pecker: I thought this film was hilarious, and very accurate at who/what they were making fun of. The art-world is a fascinating one, but also one that is very easy to poke fun at. One scene that I found funny and also eye opening was when Pecker was on the phone with his art dealer and she was telling him to photograph his family while they were sad and suffereing from his first set that sold. No one wants to exploit their friends and family while they're upset, but everyone would know how great those photographs could look.
I found this movie quite inspiring creatively, even without the teabags. I'm always trying to make myself and my camera dissapear in public, and in the movie, Pecker did a great job and not letting his subjects think about the camera in his hand. Good movie.

I Am Cuba: I also really enjoyed this film. The cinematography was beautiful, and I found the storylines to be quite powerful and sadly true. The movie made me think a lot about how unfair capitalism has been to millions of people and how countries are still suffering from it today. The film was split in to 4 different stories, all in black and white. This definitely was the first movie I've seen of its kind. Overall, I would watch it again.

IS3 - Internet Research

One genre of photography I'm excited about exploring and hopefully mastering is illness and war photography. It's just such a powerful genre that I'm sure over 50% of viewers turn away from. It's really amazing that so much emotion and feeling can be captured on a single 2 dimensional image. 

It's also a very difficult genre to excel at. You have to have the heart for it, to be able to document sadness, violence, or even at times death. The photographer needs to know how to take in all these feelings, channel it through the technical aspects of his camera, and portray the image the way it made him or her feel when they saw it happening in front of them.

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These were the websites I got my inspiration from.

Magnum Photos

War Photo LTD

James Nachtwey

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Image 1

 

I chose this photo because it clearly represents the pain and sadness this 24 Cambodian AIDS victim is feeling at that moment. The photographer Paolo Pellegrin uses high contrast and low exposure as emphasis in this image. 

Image 2

This photo by Alixandra Fazzina is another great example of capturing emotion and portraying it on to an image. This 17 year old boy gripping a rifle is a child soldier in Northern Uganda. The expression in his face clearly tells the viewers that even growing up in a those conditions, he knows it isn't right. The photographer again uses high contrast and great subject placement in this photograph.

Image 3

Breaking the black and white trend I was following with the previous two images. I chose this photo by James Nachtwey as a great representation of war photography. This was taken in New York City on 9/11 as the south tower fell. I love how he composed the shot with the cross in front of the chaos. My initial thought when I saw this photograph was that even though this was a conflict between 2 different countries, religion is definitely in the foreground.

Favorite Photo Site

I would highly recommend viewers to visit this photographers site.

Her name is Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir and she is a self-taught photographer for Iceland. The reason I'm recommending her is because she IS self taught and has developed a very unique style of capturing the beautiful country she is from.

I've never prefered digital over film because of the manipulation that is at the photographers fingers tips. But there is something about her images that surpass the digital characteristics they hold. They hold emotion of where she's coming from and I've always been captivated by it and it only raises my desire to travel to Iceland (where my blood comes from) and see it for myself.

Christopher

Assignment 1

I read a lot of skateboarding and music magazines when I was younger, and I remember beginning to pay more attention to the work that went into making these great photos as opposed to the subject in the photos. I believe these were the initial thoughts and feelings that first attracted me to photography.

By the end of the diploma year I want to have discovered and developed my own voice for photography. I want to be able to capture feeling and emotion on a photograph instead of just a professional but still empty photo. I want to be well versed in the analog and digital world as well as darkroom and photoshop.

If I could go back in time to meet any one person, I think I would go back to meet the late great George Carlin. Even though Carlin died no less than 2 months ago, I must say he had a legendary status even before his death. His stand up comedy took so many sharp turns as it developed through the decades. Goofy and playful in the early 70's, to brutally honest and genius from the early 90's to when he died. My outlooks on many aspects of life I would say have been changed by his material and I wish I could have had the opportunity to tell him that in person.

First Post

Photo by Duncan McNairnay

I know that I haven't found my voice when it comes to photography, but this program will definitely help me realize what aspect I enjoy the most. Right now I would say my favorite genres of photography would be nature, architecture, and skateboarding. However, the more I learn about this vast and fascinating practice, who knows what my obsession will become.