Jeff Wall Flooded Grave and Dead Troops Talk Comparisson

Jeff Wall's Flooded Grave

Jeff Wall's Dead Troops Talk

Visiting the MoMa to see the Jeff Wall Exhibition was an experience. Jeff Wall is a photographer who inspires me with his raw and staged photographic technique. Walking through the exhibition, I noticed a photograph titled "Dead Troops Talk" and it instantly stopped me in my path. I chose Dead Troops Talk in comparison with The Flooded Grave because I was really amazed by the stopping power created by the dead troops. The Flooded Grave by Jeff Wall is actually one of my least favorite photographs in the entire exhibition. Although the Flooded Grave has lots of value and I understand that a lot of work went into producing that photograph, I dislike it because the photo feels too real and it makes me feel as if sea life in a grave is very possible, while other photographs at the exhibition are fun to look at, for example Dead Troops Talk, which brings out a humorous side of life/death. Dead Troops Talk shows a situation which is rather impossible to see in 'real life' and the photograph has a very raw and dirty feel to it, where the colors are almost dull, but the blood of the guts is muted blood, which stands out a lot. If a choice was given, I would rather compare any work by Jeff Wall to Dead Troops Talk, because Dead Troops Talk is a very expressive piece of work by JW.

World PRess 1st Prize winner

Victim of violence against women, Guatemala

© Walter Astrada, Argentina/World Picture Network.
2007 World Press Photo Contest.
1st Prize Contemporary Issues Singles.

Great photograph. I think that this photograph is very effective and shows clearly that this scene is not a happy scene. The light is almost non existent, which creates a gloomy photograph that is striking. The low lighting conditions create a point of focus for the viewer. The person that lies dead or injured is visible clearly, which captures my attention. The photographer was well aware of the surroundings in the photograph and of the position of the main subject, which shows a sense of vision, because nothing is distracting in the photograph and everything just seems to flow within the frame. I think that the way the light was captured in the photograph really makes use of the surrounding objects by making these random objects work within four corners. If the lighting was bright, the photo would not be as effective in stating violence or shock, and would allow for surrounding objects to be too visible, which would be a major distraction.

Happiness 101 ideas

Happiness 101 is an interesting article, which focuses on a new course that is being introduced to certain colleges/universities. I developed a few ideas of how to approach the photo shoot for this article. One of my ideas uses a simple documented photograph, which has a student writing or checking the assignments for happiness 101. The assignments on the list are geared towards self enlightenment by going and doing good deeds, whether the deeds are good to self or to others is irrelevant, since Happiness 101 is a class that is geared towards personal growth and happiness. I would like to have a behind the subject view, where the photographer will take a photo from behind the subject and focus onto the notepad where the 'student' is checking off his list of good deeds. I would also like the shot to be somewhat bright and lighthearted, so that Happiness is subliminally incorporated into the photograph. Hope this ideas works. My other idea for this assignment is to take a photograph of a student in a cross legged yoga sitting position. The student will not have any objects around, besides some classroom furnishing, or maybe the student will be on top of a desk, sitting cross legged. There is more to this idea, than having a student cross legged. To make this photograph interesting, a few photographs will be compiled together. Basically the student will be sitting cross legged with eyes closed and random 'good deeds' floating around the students head. The random good deeds symbolize the students thinking about the next good deed that needs to be accomplished.

Workignas a photographer for an "art director" class work

Working as a photographer for Ronald the Art director was not as easy as I thought. First of all, photographing is fun, but working as a professional photographer I can't say that having the art director looking over the should is fun. As a photographer, I should do my job as the photographer and not get influenced by the art director. With digital photography available everywhere, it is very easy to be tempted to show the instant results to the art director that appear on the camera. Although temptation exists, a photographer should not show the results and ask for criticism every single shot. The problem with showing every single attempt to the art director is that the photograph will never be perfect, and the photo shoot will take longer than expected. The art director is basically the client, and clients are never ever fully satisfied with a photograph that is shot for them and so the photographer will struggle by trying to achieve the ideal photograph. Other than having the 'client' present at the shoot, the job was not bad. Very interesting idea was presented to me by the art director and I had a great time putting my vision to work for the 'client'. It is great to be allowed the freedom to use my judgement as a photographer for a particular photograph, but like I mentioned earlier, when the 'client' is present, the freedom aspect of being a hired photographer disappears, so watch out for picky clients. Ronald as an art director was not the typical annoying client, and I had fun working with him and his idea.

This is one of my other favorite class images from the past weeks. To me, this image is dark and technical. Light is used in such a way that every detail is visible in this photograph. I really like details and I also believe that cars should be shown with all the little grooves that are no the car. As well as lighting, I like this photograph because of the angle of the camera. This angle is basically a worms eye angle, and this angle makes the subject look and feel powerful. Although it is very hard to see the "candy corn toy" inside the car, the angle which I used to produce this photograph, makes the "candy corn" look bold and powerful

Animaaaaaal

This was one of my favorite images shot during class. This is a photograph of a lily, which I shot in a way that makes the lily look dark, creating the silhouette which is now visible. This photograph appeals to me because the silhouette is strange and vulgar. Although the actual subject is a lily, the photograph looks like it is a silhouette of a weird creature. Sounds silly, but that is the reason I like this photograph. The vulgarity in the content makes me attracted to the way light and dark mesh together.

Orlando Psychadelic

This is one of my favorite photos that I have taken recently.
I like this photograph because the blue tone in the photogr-
aph came out the way that I wanted it to come out. Trying
to make this tone was hard work, and I worked with a blue
flashlight. With that "set-up", I had no other sources of
light and it made it difficult to focus on the subject, which
is another reason for me liking the photo. A challenge is
motivating.