Digital Photography is it Diminishing the Visual Art

 

 

 

A.O. Scott investigates the many questions about the increase of photos in regards to digital photography. Scott uses the article, “On Photography” as his vehicle and partially his source to navigate through. Since the creation of digital photography there have been many wondering and taking sides on the matter. From the beginning, professional photographers have been concerned that once cameras were made available to the masses that their careers could be negatively impacted. When film cameras became accessible by even poor families, professionals became worried. They felt that it wouldn’t stand the test of time. Well weren’t they wrong? Now bringing us to the present, Scott retells the Susan Sontag’s view on digital photography and multimedia.

 

The article “On (Digital) Photography: Sontag, 34 Years Later,” A. O. Scott presents more questions that lack solutions. Scott reiterates similar points in Susan Sontag’s “On Photography” in 1977. Then again he is mainly, but not limited to, referencing Sontag. Scott mentions how Sontag predicted this, “overwhelming array of photography as technology of the future.”(Sontag,”On Photography”) The surplus of images coupled with the recycling of pictures can flood our web experience. This left people like Sontag and Scott asking questions, Like why we don’t preserve the art of photography, or is photography a craft anymore? Does technology and the internet have the ability to take away from the strength of individual photos or the whole subject entirely?” (Scott,”On (Digital) Photography: Sontag, 34 Years Later”) Sontag was a writer, observer, and a critic. Her work covers photography, media, illnesses, and aids. Sontag was acknowledged for her many works. She received many awards recognizing her scholastic and creative talents, but this article isn’t about all her work. Scott concentrates on photography and what it was then and what it is now.

 

Digital photography gives the everyday person access to take decent if not wonderful pictures. Great photography is not diminished by the lesser advanced images or plagiarism as Scott speaks of,” cutting and pasting photos online.” (Scott,”On (Digital) Photography: Sontag, 34 Years Later”) A successful photographer will take precautions to keep their work safe. The recycling of an image doesn’t make it yours, it’s stealing! Sontag claims,” that industrialism brings forth accessibility to the camera and that social convention demands more people to obtain and take their own photos.” (Sontag, On Photography”) Sontag subconsciously mapped out the theory that photography-as-art is born. Undoubtedly, the few engineers’ and professional photographers of the mid 1800′s were threatened by households taking over their own family portraits. In this day and age there is always that reluctant question; did the digital camera kill the art of film photography? No, I have to agree with Scott here.  There are people who still treat it like a great endeavor, or even a ritual. There are still artists like Sally Mann who use film and vintage cameras .  As consumers and viewers we have to decide situation-ally, what is everyday family photos and what is art. It’s a lot to file through but there is am-matures and then there are professionals.. Digital cameras and technology have not killed the art form.” It just makes the archive of scenes to look through immense and overwhelming like Scott recites.” (Scott,”On (Digital) Photography: Sontag, 34 Years Later”)

 

  This debate has been ongoing. Did digital photography kill the art? I feel strongly that it hasn’t. Yes, there is an overflow of images online and our computers. Making it tedious to find something with substance. Still it’s very possible to discover impressions of priceless moments or artistic designs in the sea of prints. The accessibility to cameras and being able to edit our own photos produces immense pictures. The chances of creating an interesting piece of art is high because of that. We can take a photo and immediately see it and retake it if necessary. Having the ability to correct a shot at the very moment provides a higher chance of an unprofessional photographer to maintain consistency. All you need is a desire to manifest your imagination through your visual arts. Most households have internet and digital cameras, this gives us all an option to learn and make art. The willingness to become informed and being equipped even with the simplest cameras boosts our abilities.

 

 

 

Work Cited

Scott, A. O. “‘Capturing a Single Moment Of Perfect Stillness’” The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 May 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

 

 “Funny Memes”

  This selfie is taken from an unknown Las Vegas building. I would consider this selfie artistic and oh so dangerous. The perspective is so extreme in this photo. This adds depth and distortion also. The subject is on the rule of thirds contributing to the artistic side. The depth of field imparts dimensions and distance. This appeals to the viewer subconsciously because we wonder and ask questions. Curiosity can be a tool an artist equips themselves to generate talk. I couldn’t fathom the preparation for this image. It’s definitely edgy and daring.

 

  Another photo that has a decent composition and dangerous subject. Looks like the rider is jumping with a BMX bike. You can see another rider on the back giving the picture depth. The bike course lined with hills, grass, and dirt contributes texture to the photo. I also enjoy how the subject is holding the camera. The closest part of his arm is slightly blurred as it directs your focus on his face. Blur if used correctly will fame a picture. This suggests the importance of the subject. It guides you towards him first, everything else is secondary. The main focus is on the rule of thirds. The value of rule of thirds makes a composition much more interesting. The centering of a subject is boring and mundane in the realm of art.

 

 

  I believe this hoax was edited with photoshop or a photo editing app on his phone. The idea is creative but it loses it’s luster as you can see he’s almost centered. Plus the background is ho-hum and tiresome. If you have this great idea to levitate in a photo why wouldn’t you change the background to create a better composition that would make more sense. Even with that being said I still consider this clever and artsy. Unfortunately though because of the above reasons I don’t think it’s a great attempt. Still it reflects an interesting idea for a potentially excellent creative photo.

 

  What I really appreciate in this selfie is that you can’t see the phone camera. The lack of a camera emphasizes it’s a portrait. And it states there was a thought process in taking this picture imparting some level of thoughtfulness. You see the resemblance between the picture of Jesus Christ in the back wall and the young man mimicking religious artwork. The subject and photo of Jesus are both cropped on both sides of this selfie. The depth is alright but not that significant. Cropping again raises wonder and what’s on the left and right. It also suggests continuation.

 

 

  Good artistic practice has the viewer thinking. I like this attempt to replacing the subjects face with their dogs is ingenious. Again his arm acts like an arrow drawing our eyes towards him. It’s a decent intent but the focal point almost centered negates everything. The background is ordinary and dull. The artistic nature is alive here even though it’s not a great setting. The background loses power in this scene. I think we can say freely that something can be art and imperfect.

 

 

  There is no artistic motive in this selfie. The picture probably has only one purpose which is to show everyone she is fit. She is showing off her body. Maybe she is doing this because of a sense of an accomplishment and pride. Is this art? No, I don’t think it is. There aren’t any design principles being used here. The photo has a purpose but it’s not to make us think but to admire the commitment she practices to have a healthy body as she does. Again selfies are not created for artistic connotations but to share images of ourselves. What we want the world to think we are like. That doesn’t mean that a selfie couldn’t intentionally be creative and meaningful.

 

 

  My last example that I’m critiquing is a common practice in selfie land. I chose this selfie to show you that some people use this method to overexpose themselves. The internet is swamped with similar images. This photo like the one before has a purpose but not imaginative. The subject wants you the viewer to know how nice their body is. She’s centered not very imaginative or expressive. It looks like she might be in a dressing room. If I didn’t think about it I might have thought she was just taking a photo to text someone the picture of an opinion on the bikini. Her hand lowering her bottom imply something else more. It’s not a deep thought but a shallow and vain maneuver. So I do not think this is art just a need for attention.

  I found all these pictures in,”Distractify /The 31 Best Selfies From The First Annual Selfie Olympics”. This year twitter had this game going on for individuals to express themselves through selfie posts. This is the first year that they had the selfie Olympics event. It looks like they will have this contest annually.

Work Cited

Distractify /The 31 Best Selfies From The First Annual Selfie Olympics

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Grimshaw Gudewicz Art Gallery at BCC is currently exhibiting artwork from Joan Backes and Todd Moore. My sound design class had gone to see the art exhibit last Friday. So I took advantage of this occasion to observe this interaction. This class is new to BCC. It’s literally the first semester that BCC student’s have this opportunity. The class covers more of the concept of sound design. Which has created a smug attitude amongst the majority of my classmate’s who expected to learn the technical part of producing and creating tracks. Our instructor Mary Edwards most likely decided to teach the class in this manner because not everyone has the same experience level. There is no prerequisite for this course.

  The art gallery is located in the H building in the northeast part of BCCs campus. It’s on the first floor off to the right of the building. This particular building is reserved for the art, theater, and music classes. But there is a few other classes taught in this building also like history and sociology. The auditorium is also here in the center of the first floor. The presentation was a bit cold with muted colors. Backes work consisted of the frames of a typical and simple structure of a home. While Moore’s paintings were of New England’s rocky coast. The gallery walls are white and so is the ceiling. The combination of the white space and dull colors begins a drab experience for the viewer.

 My classmates walked around inspecting the work. As far as I could tell no one really seemed stimulated by any of it. I could over hear students say, “this blows”. People walked through these house structure’s uninterested. Some of them viewed the display’s in a linear fashion while others shuffled around in a non-linear movement. Most of them whispered amongst each other in disbelief. One student implied that this was a stupid exercise. The student’s were very bored with this examination intended to inspire our mid-term paper. The class also was very confused to what our instructor meant through this exercise. But that’s because no one really wanted to do this. A young lady turned to another and questioned when were we getting into the recording and technical aspect of the course. It was very clear to me that it was just a tool to motivate us as individuals to write about our sound design process. Still I could hear them complaining about the purpose in the gallery. The word’s dumb and stupid were tossed around by more than half the class. Some of us did take picture’s and notes until Edwards told us the mid-term paper didn’t need to be based on the exhibit.

  These kid’s are young and some are really immature. The arrogance is rampant in this class. A specific young man we will call Jay rolls his eye’s and talks other peoples work down in class. Someone was showing her animation to the class. Jay like usual made a face and when she was done with her presentation he says to all of us,”I don’t use that program it has presets. The software I use is so much more difficult that was nothing.” I could see in her face that she was a little hurt and embarrassed. I really felt bad for her. It’s so unsettling to me how Jay acts but a lot of them go along with him. And I just ignore him. But I tried not to be a part of this observational act. I didn’t engage in their remarks. I just kept watching them and analyzing the framework, painting’s, and my classmate’s.

  The class trip to the gallery is what these kid’s would call an epic fail. I didn’t share with my classmates how boring I found the visual. They already made that clear by being disrespectful and calling the work stupid less than. This was not the point. I was there to see how people interacted with the whole situation. The whisper’s echoed throughout the gallery but you couldn’t define what was being said. Unless you were a few feet away from the person. I have to say that a part of me hoped that our Professor didn’t hear them. At one point she went back upstairs to the class without us. A few student’s left right after her. But they didn’t go to class. One young man just left and didn’t return to class at all. The others just hung out in the parking lot until they realized most of us returned to class. I was one of the last student’s to go back to the room. For the obvious reason’s that I continued this  assignment.

Memoir Essay

  A typical day with my daughter London is filled with imagination and creativity. Let’s take a look at an average Saturday. When London wakes we have breakfast together and I allow her to pick a movie to watch. Periodically during the movie I begin to gather art supplies so we can begin the craft of the day. She usually manages to watch the whole movie. If not that’s okay with me because I would rather spend our time creating a piece of art. If I have a specific project in mind I just guide her through it. But other times we go on a little field trip to the local dollar stores or for a walk on the beach depending on the weather of course. I believe London enjoys these treasure hunt’s as she calls them just as much as making her piece’s.

  The process begins once we decide on what medium we are tackling. She mainly works with finger paint and acrylic paint. One instance she used different shaped sponges and finger paint to create a wonderful picture for her dad. London favored the star shape and red paint. She giggled when some of the blue paint overlapped the red making purple. I tried to explain how the primary colors mixed with each other develops the secondary colors. This concept gets lost in the explanation but I believe after a while my three year old will get it. She is still very young and has plenty of time to acquire the knowledge and ability of color theory. These tools will be more apparent to her as she learns more about Art and Design. Which I can see her gaining this information when most of the time she sees me doing assignment’s for school and my own work for myself. Plus she is always opting to get into it all.

  Once we were done with the sponges and paint I attempt to motivate her to clean. This isn’t always successful but I have to try. I can’t see her making a mess and walking away from it. She can be difficult during cleanup but I per-sway her with music and new supplies. London tends to get excited about more things to make her design’s. Next we clean her up because as you know children especially small children make lots of messes. And she is no different.

  It’s close to lunch and we plan out what we will consume. We eat and London starts to talk about a new idea for our afternoon session. And like you might have guessed she wants to paint. After a while I get tired of painting but it’s her favorite thing to do. She doesn’t get that love from me. I lean towards photography and Adobe software that imitates illustration and drawing. My tool of choice is the computer but she adores her brushes. So I encourage this because it’s true what they say, “practice makes perfect.”

  So the afternoon has sneaked up on us and my kid is ready for another painting marathon. If I leave her to her own devices she is fine. London is very independent but I have to guide her in her artwork. I notice she flourishes when she is playing with her crafts. My participation helps her carryout the task and finalization of whatever she is doing at the moment. Which is very gratifying to accomplish something small or big with my daughter. The reaction I get is huge kisses and hugs and this mommy isn’t complaining. It’s exciting to see artwork through your child’s eyes. They’re so inventive. They see stuff in everything around them. The clouds become Dumbo flying or a dinosaur. Doll’s speak to each other and have teatime. Neverland is always around the bend. I consider pretending to be a great tool for anyone that wants to become creative adults. That’s what the majority of her evening consists of. She plays pretend or sings us songs. London is very theatrical bowing after every performance. It’s very exciting for her to express herself.

Initially we begin with painting and the afternoon is more painting with cutouts. London picks the shapes she wants and I prepare these for her. Showing her step by step, we make pretty much anything she can come up with. Last Saturday she made me a bunch of butterflies out of triangles, circles, and ovals. Those butterflies are very colorful and geometric. They’re hanging on my dining room wall where I showcase her favorite project’s. We have chosen a specific wall she can display her art. I see the pride in her face when it goes up or when someone inquires about them. These are the moment’s in my everyday life that are priceless. I hope art can be as therapeutic for her as it has been for me. I’ve been giving her opportunities to cultivate any artistic abilities she may possess. She is imaginative and feels satisfied at the end of each piece of work. Always presenting her craft as gifts to family and friends for this all I’m grateful.