From the MoMA's New Photography 2010 exhibition: Alex Prager
Susie and Friends. 2008. Chromogenic color print, 48 x 76 1/2″ (121.9 x 194.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the generosity of the Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art. © 2010 Alex Prager, courtesy Yancey Richardson Gallery
I chose this image because I think it is fun. I am so excited to have discovered Alex Prager. I love her work! It is very reminiscent of Cindy Sherman. I think Susie and Friends is an interesting photograph. I like the lighting, the composition and the subject matter. I wish I was in the photo! :)
From the MoMA's New Photography 1985 exhibition: Judith Joy Ross
Untitled, from Eurana Park, Weatherly, Pennsylvania
Judith Joy Ross (American, born 1946)
1982. Gelatin silver printing-out-paper print, 7 11/16 x 9 5/8" (19.5 x 24.5 cm).
Gift of Patricia Lawrence. © 2010 Judith Joy Ross
Judith Joy Ross:
In 1982 I was very sad after the death of my father. I was seeing such sadness on everybody's face. I needed a place where things were safe, and I found that Eurana Park was filled with happy kids, very comfortable with themselves.
This picture of these two boys crouched in the woods, I remember the exact moment I saw them. It was so magical. I must have been in my thirties. And these kids were doing just what I did when I was a child, looking for salamanders and being near a little running brook that I knew. I noticed that their legs were growing and their arms were growing faster than I thought was possible. They looked like daddy longlegs themselves. It took quite awhile to get my camera on this tilted bank. They stayed so still. When people really, really get that you think they're fantastic they can maintain their expressions. And this print has a gray tone to it because there is a sadness in the idea that they are growing up.
I chose this photograph because it immediately grabbed me. For some reason it seemed familiar to me. Maybe it's because it reminds me of photographs I've seen of my grandfather when he was young. Always outdoors, and coincidently in Pennsylvania. I also love the story that she included with this photo.
The two photographs from 1985 and today in 2010 are similar in that they are both portraits that convey emotion and personality. Although one photograph is acted emotion and the other is more or less "requested" emotion, they are both strong and personal images. They are very different, obviously, in that one is staged, while the other is happened upon. Technically, the first is digitally printed in color, and the latter is an "old school" black and white silver gelatin print.
In the New York Times article "Art Review: Ignoring Boundaries and Borrowing Freely" by Karen Rosenberg, Rosenberg claims that today's artists in the 25th anniversary of the museum's New Photography exhibition have abandoned theory and replaced it with "visual literacy." Her opinion is that modern artists are not critical but openly nostalgic. It could be argued that this "visual literacy" she speaks of is in fact the evolution of theory.
My three photos...
Happy Halloween! Diana actually took this, but I love it so much I had to post it. I bought this mask because it really freaked her out, and I liked that. I always buy the weirdest things when we go shopping together...
This is from a recent wedding I shot. The bride is a ballerina and choreographed the couple's first dance (which was mostly her dancing around him). It was very unconventional and interesting. I love the lighting and the motion blur in this shot.
This is from a family portrait session I did with some old friends. I like the composition from behind Mike and Nancy while their son, Truett is facing them and chattering away.
