James Casebere

James Casebere's 2005, Abadia from upper left is a quiet image. The entirety of the image consists of the architecture of the hallway and what appears to be its natural state of illumination. The lighting in this photograph is a warm gold, which contrasts the cold of the stone material being illuminated. Each arches' values are different. The lighting draws the viewer eye back into the image by increasing in brightness as the hallway recedes. Emphasizing a vanishing point with the lines of the architecture extending back into the hallway also draws the viewer’s eye into the image. The repetition of the arches adds to the recession of the hall, but also allows the eye to follow the arch around the image as well as back into the depths of the image. Awareness of depth in this image also comes from the depth of field; keep everything in focus as it goes back in space. The Abadia comes across as inviting with warm tones and luring recession into its depths.

Klett & Wolfe Response

Through exploring the images on the site, I am intrigued by Mark Klett's and Byron Wolfe's use of time. The combinations of past and present draw the viewer into a time warp. By combining the images of the present with images of the past, in bubbles and frames of various sizes, causes the audience to look search through the images with more investment than a diptych might. The precise arrangement of the images lining up perfectly from different time periods adds to the intrigue and longevity of nature. The use of nature is especially interesting, because landscapes remain more constant than urban or man-made objects. A single mountain has been looked at and explored by generations for centuries. The eternal structures of these landscapes become apparent, and that for generations to come, the same structures will remain. Nature in the commonality we share with the past and the future.

One of the pieces that demonstrate the continuum of time is the Woman Viewing the Twentieth Century Canyon. All the images recreating the canyon are taken from different periods of time ranging form 1902 to 2011. This image allows one to view the progression of film qualities and styles over time as well as the eternal sense of the Earth.

Diptychs

Anna Atkins

Alaria Esculenta is a cyanotype by Anna Atkins in 1843-53. Cyanotypes are contact prints meaning that the object rests on top of the light sensitive material, which is then exposed to light. Through this contact process a sense of depth is lost in the resulting images. Atkins implies a third dimension to her work mainly though portraying her subjects overlapping elements as seen in the leaf above. Though her work was scientific in purpose, it maintains a pleasing aesthetic. Cyanotypes always come out blue, in Atkins' Alaria Esculenta, the cool blue adds to the clam stillness of its subject mater. The way the plant is displayed causes the eye to follow the path of the organic material. In other words, Atkins sets up her subjects in a way that implies movement, filling the page. The variation in transparency between the organic materials suggests that the leaf, flowing throughout the page, constitutes of a more delicate material than that of the solid base it sprouts from. This image gives no implication of the plants natural coloration, however, the viewer obtains a strong grasp for the three dimensional shape portrayed, and a good sense of the plants various textures all seen through, ultimately, its silhouette. This "photogram"/ cyanotype relies on shape and line to communicate to the viewer.

Inspiring

Gravity Glue

This website has fascinating sculptural value and beautiful photographs.

Response: The Thing Itself

This article, The Thing Itself by Bill Jay, causes its audience, especially young photographers, to re-evaluate there relationship and expectations about artistic photography. I found it interesting that in this article he emphasized that it is less about the individual who made the photograph and more about its subject. Whereas in the last article Photographs and Contexts by Terry Barrett, he talked about the academia and gallery putting the emphasis on the artist who did the work and less on the subject. I agree with Bill Jay that today with the vast number of pictures taken we definitely "have no Knowledge of, or interest in, the author," (page 2). I do disagree however with his implications that it does not matter how you take a photograph the only thing that matters is the subject of the photograph. "...what you photograph is usually more important than how you photograph it," (page 3).

Overall, this article made me face the realities about the possibilities available to me by perusing an art degree. It also gave me some ideas on how to work on practicing and enhancing my photography and thinking about my future and the role photography will take in it.