Day Two: Hitting the Books

Today consisted mostly of photo editing, hitting the books, creating an artistic nest, and eating dark chocolate.

I woke up today around eight o' clock, made myself a bowl of stale cheerios and sat down to a couple of photography books that John lent me to look over. I began with a book filled with photographs by Emmet Gowin. I admire Emmet's ability to capture the mood in a single, and usually candid, shot.

The second collection I looked at were the Lee Friedlander Photographs. In this collection, Friedlander aspired to capture the essence of America through candid photography. Friedlander traveled, as an outsider, to America to complete this goal. The photographs left me with a rather anxious, lonely and alienated impression. Opposed to Gowin's photography, where I felt a powerful connection and compassion for the subjects, I felt completely separated from the subjects as though I were an alien looking into an alternative universe. Friedlander's work and mine are completely different. It seems that Gowin is more of an observer of his subjects and is thus more removed from the moment. I like to be socializing, bonding, reacting, and feeding off of the energy of my guinea pigs when I am taking pictures. I'm interested to see if my exposure to Gowin's work will influence my photography in the future.

With breaks to take pictures, eat, exercise, and breath the fresh air, I looked at a couple more artists. Some of these photographers were Henri Cartier-Bresson, some dark images by W. Eugene Smith, and the absolutely disturbing works of Eugene Richards. The Knife and Gun Club by Eugene Richards involve the darker sides of candid moments. These moments that Richards decided to expose took place in the emergency rooms of hospitals. I wouldn't recommend these photos to anyone with a weak stomach or to an individual who is prone to sympathy pains. The pictures in this book do an excellent job of portraying human emotion in times of emergency, pain, misery, and hysteria. This book left me feeling incredibly provoked and perturbed. Although I may be too scared to pick this book up for a while, it did leave a strong impression on me that I have yet to process.

After reading, bookmarking and taking my dog for a walk, I sat down for several hours to edit and compose my best pictures. I plan to show John these pictures tomorrow on one of his big computer screens for a session of critiquing.

Until then...peace

-jax