Graduation!

Congratulations!

Congratulations, everyone. This blog is done for the year! Thanks for a great semester.

And don't worry, interwebs, HoP will be back in 2013.

Over and out....

Soldier

Soldier is a compelling series done by photographer Suzanne Opton. She photographed soldiers who had returned from Iraq or Afghanistan and who were scheduled to return after more training back in the US. The pose of these photographs is so intimate and unlike anything we've seen in class, which really drew me to them. She had each soldier rest their head on the side of a table facing her 4x5 camera. The eyes of these soldiers tell everything, yet nothing at the same time. Some are hopeful, while others look weary and anxious. In a time when it seems people have distanced themselves from the reality of war, I think these photos can help us to understand what these brave soldiers have gone through for us and what they face in the future.

Sally Mann vs Lewis Hine

After seeing the presentation of Sally Mann in class the other day, it led me to see a connection between her work and that of Lewis Hine. Their work is very different in many ways, but it also has some connections. The biggest thing that caught my attention in Sally Mann's work was the image of the young girl with the cigarette. You can tell that she is a very young girl, but her stance and the way she is looking at the camera gives a feel that she is a grown adult and very mature. I also got this feeling and sense of maturity in the Lewis Hine photographs of the child factory workers. These young boys also have cigarettes in their mouths as children. Interesting how the work is completely different but you can also get the same feeling from both works.

Know Where You Stand

Hey all,

Thought this was super interesting and wanted to share!
These images are very powerful and really get you thinking about all of the places you've stood where something important happened.  Check it out!

http://sethtaras.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/history-channel-brand-campaign/

Cranbrook Students

These are what some of the graduate students at Cranbrook are up to these days. Check out this amazing technique! Here is the photography department website.

The MPG

The MPG or Mobile Photo Group was established in 2011. It's an international collective of mobile photographers dedicated to promoting their work and presenting mobile photography as an important and evolving form of photography. I think their struggle of promoting their work as an evolving form of photography is going to be similar to when cameras were first introduced and the struggle those photographers had making people believe it was fine art. 

I really liked their website, they have twelve different photographers, my favorite being Benedicte Guillon. On her personal page she is quoted saying, "Iphoneography is about interactivity and community, the rest is photography". I really liked this and it goes along with another MPG photographer who said that he wouldn't be able to get the personal shots of the city with any other camera.  

Here are some of my favorite photos from Benedicte Guillon. 

Robert Frank Tumblr

Check out this Tumblr about Robert Frank from his series "The Americans" and well as other photographs from other, more dark, series. I found this photo especially haunting.

Supposed Civil War Tintype

A Civil War tintype was for sale on Ebay.  It's thought to be a spy photograph.
click me!

Mischa Keijser

I recently found a great photographer named Mischa Keijser. He's a Dutch photographer whose photographs take a look at the Dutch people and the nature that surrounds them. From his website: "His work offers us an insight into the way in which modern-day Dutch deal with issues such as spatial planning, food and animals. He looks at this process critically, but at the same time demonstrates a love of this same cultural landscape, which he translates into images in lyrical and often unexpected ways." He photographs a variety of subjects, but I was most intrigued by his landscapes.

He captures the light so beautifully making each image is dramatic in its own way, and I love the natural geometric shapes you see in the photographs.

Peter Lippmann

This series "Abandoned cars," was such a gem to stumble upon.  In my own work, I have always enjoyed photographing old abandoned cars.  I feel each one has such a story to tell, and you can't help but ask questions like, how did it get there, why would you leave it in such an odd spot, and how long will it take for the earth the re-consume it. In addition to these questions, the aesthetic qualities and beautiful combination between man-made and natural turn these photographs in a true treasure.

Tom Hussey

Tom Hussey's did a project called "Reflections," this reminded me of one of my favorite memories. It was when I was young and in church, for Veteran's day they projected photographs of the older men when they were in the war. I loved seeing how the older men looked when they were young. I think this project by Tom Hussey is really interesting because of the interest in knowing what someone once looked like.

Amanda Jasnowski

I stumbled upon this great series of Instragram photos by Amanda Jasnowski. She is a young photographer who lives in Brooklyn, NY and is an avid user of Instagram. I know some people love Instragram, while others don't care for it, but these photos really stood out to me. It's a series of different images of hands in various situations. She takes most images with the native camera ap on the iPhone and does slight editing in Instagram. I think the composition of these photos is great, and they have inspired me to take my phone out of my pocket more and use it to see the possibilities in the world around.

 

Unknown

I was stumbling around on the world wide web tonight and I came across this photograph. Normally the first thing I would think is, "Wow! How'd he get up there? That's so dangerous!" However, that was my second thought. My first thought was, "Whoa, I bet Stieglitz would love this." I then proceeded to find all of the lines, boxes, shapes, etc throughout the photograph.

Unfortunately I have no idea who took this or where it was taken.

Just thought I'd share!