Eleanor Antin

Eleanor Antin works in photography, video, film, performance, drawing, and writing. She uses history as a way to explore the present. She takes things that have happened in the past, and mixes them with things that are happening currently, normally to find humor in something that was serious. She stages photographs as well as performance art, and even performs herself.  She researches things about history, and then finds a new way of looking at them.  For instance, in her "Helen's Odyssey" series, she found that Helen of Troy is often shown in art as a "dumb blonde because she was a much hated person". So Eleanor wanted to show different sides of her, being flirtatious, angry, big as life, etc.  I really liked looking through her photographs because even though they are obviously staged, they have a realistic side to them.  They aren't just photographs that you can glance at and understand, you have to take a deeper look into what she is actually trying to say through them.

http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/bernstein/blog/images/Antin-Eleanor_Constructng-Helen_2008-sml.JPG

The Lady of Shallot by Henry Peach Robinson

http://charon.sfsu.edu/TENNYSON/TENNLADY.HTML

The Lady of Shalott by Henry Peach Robinson, made in 1861 was made from 2 negatives. It is the only known photograph that illustrates the poem by Alfred Tennyson.  "I made a barge, crimped the model's hair, PR fashion, laid her on the boat in the river among the water lilies, and gave her a background of weeping willows, taken in the rain so that they might look dreary." Robinson received many criticisms about this photograph, most about it not being realistic. He was merely trying to illustrate an imaginary scene from the poem, however, this was before photography was used as an art form. I believe the concept was lost on those who only viewed photography as a way to keep records or document actual occurrences. Today, a photograph like this would not be seen as anything unusual. 

Assignment 3: Place

Urban Picturesque

 

Multiple Selves 

Reenactment of a Photograph

Social Cultural Document

Prompt 19

The only thing that I could think of that should not be photographed is naked children. I can see how some see nudity as art, but not when it comes to kids. I remember hearing a photographer talk about how she was taking pictures of her son by a body of water, and she came out with some really nice shots, but she was saying that it would have been better if he had been naked. I just didn't get it, I thought the photograph that she got was great, and didn't think it would have been better if he had been naked. I think it's only ok to photograph someone without clothes if they are a consenting adult. I really can't think of anything that COULD not be photographed. There are things that might be physically impossible to capture, such as someone's thoughts or imagination, but in the art world, people create things all the time that give an illustration of things that cannot be seen, (for example, someone in my class did a project where he took pictures of his little sister and they were about her imagination. He got some great shots and he just used costumes, props, and set up scenes to illustrate things that she imagined.)  I wouldn't really want to photograph someone who was severely injured or brutally killed.  I don't like blood and gore.  I can't imagine ever wanting to be in any situation with that sort of thing, like a police officer or a crime scene investigator, even a doctor or nurse that works in the emergency room...no thanks. I'd like to take pictures of pretty much everything else.

Place Photographers Research

http://www.anthonygoicolea.com/NewAnthonySite/shelter_series/ice_storm.htm

"'Sheltered Life' is a series of digitally constructed photographs that depicts fairytale-like, timeless places inhabited by contemporary characters. All of the landscapes are punctuated with alternative makeshift living spaces that are made up of, as well as incorporated into, the surrounding environment. Many of the figures in the photos are reduced in size and are almost swallowed by their surroundings. The characters are often masked, hooded, or seen from the back in order to preserve their identity. They operate as a single unit, living in situations that simultaneously reference backyard play dates and hippie communes, as well as detainment camps and disaster relief areas. Their living arrangements and concealed identities cement their status as outcasts or refugees from society. The composed wooded scenes depicted in many of the photos are bisected into two halves and are often times seen as a cross-section of themselves. In images like “Ice Storm” or “Dead Tree Forest” the bottom half of the photo is relegated to a violent underworld of roots, dirt, rock and earth which are stratified into a multi-layered platform or stage on which scenes are acted out. The shelters that inhabit the photos range in form from tree houses, lean-to’s and caves, to cardboard forts or dilapidated barns. Their playfulness undermines the sort of desperate haphazard construction and deeper desire to migrate or live on the outside of communities. The sense of foreboding tinged with playful fantasy characteristics of many of the photographs is mimicked in a suite of complex figurative drawings on Mylar. Androgynous figures an indeterminate age float on top of and through each other in a layered composition separated by planes of semi-opaque vellum paper. The ghostlike figures are caught in free-floating, awkward, transitional states: sometimes their images are doubled; sometimes they seem like as much animal as human. As the figures migrate through the forest in small packs, they fade in and out of each other in a series of tentative lines that read like traces of pervious drawings and refer to memory and transition." 

This image creates a sense of isolation.  This group of people out in the middle of no where together, creates a bonding experience.  They have nothing else around them to entertain them and must use each other to keep busy.  I think his intention about this space was to show closeness in isolation, and also possibly a sense of comfort in an uncomfortable space.  I think this image is effective because, being from Michigan, I have seen weather like this and have gone up north with friends when it's cold and snowy.  It gives me a feeling of friendship and warmth even in an unpleasant, cold place.

Prompt 16, 17, & 18

#16- “I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.” Duane Michals
I'm not sure if I would link this with photography.  Unless he is talking about something that you don't notice at first, until you see a photograph of it, whether it is physical, emotional, mental, etc. Sometimes something that you can imagine, is not something you could actually take a picture of, but I think that you can make photographs IN your imagination, we are able to see anything in our minds, possible or impossible.
 
#17- “Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.” Berenice Abbott 
I really like this quote, and completely agree.  When someone takes a photograph, that moment in time can never be repeated.  People can recreate the situation, or recreate the photograph, but then it's fake.  The subject or place might continue to exist, but it will change. It can only be exactly the way it is in the present.


#18- “Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams
I'm not a huge fan of landscape photography, because sometimes I look at photographs of landscapes and think, anyone could take that. Maybe that's why he says it's the supreme test, to take a photograph of a landscape, and see how you can make it better or different that someone else would.  Looking for specific details to capture, waiting for the perfect lighting or time of year, etc.  I could definitely understand being disappointed after taking a picture of a landscape, and not seeing anything different than they'd seen before.

Working Collage

Artist Statement 2

Part 1: In my first image, I tried to get as close to the subject as possible, while still letting the viewer know what was going on. I just told him to put his hand up and look angry, like he wanted me to go away and stop taking pictures of him, so I got his face, a bit of his upper body, and cut off most of his hand so it was just implied that he was holding his hand up. I wanted the camera close to him to reiterate the privacy and intimacy of what he was doing. I wanted to capture an image of someone doing something intimate, and when I was at my friends house, he was laying on his bed and I got the idea to have him pretend like he was sleeping.  I didn't really change anything in the scene, I just took it as I saw it.  I wanted people to be able to relate to this picture, because everyone has had someone wake them up and been upset about it, even though sleeping is such a personal thing. 

In my second image, I went around with my friend on campus and tried to find different backgrounds.  I noticed some flowers and leaves so asked her to go near it.  She was actually the one to sit down, and when i looked through the lens, decided that I really liked seeing her from above, so instead of getting down on her level, I just asked her to keep looking up.  I also tried to capture her to the side a little, because most times when subjects are right in the center it really bothers me.  I was really just trying to capture her in a place that is a big part of her.  We used to be in a singing group together, so we took these pictures outside of the music building, where I met her and spent the most time with her. This was more about my social relationship with her than anything else.

In the third image, I was actually going for the same thing I had captured in another image. I went on study abroad and took a picture of my friend where he reached towards the camera, and I really liked the way it looked. So when trying to think of things for my subject to do, I thought about that image, and decided to try to recreate it.  I didn't want the viewer to see all of his hands, but for the image to imply that he was grabbing for the lens. For me, this image was about trying to recreate something that I had done before in a completely different place. The other picture I took was outside when the sun was bright, and in Paris right next to Notre Dame.  The image I took for this assignment was in my friends basement with the lights on.

In the fourth image, I just told my friend that I wanted to take pictures of him. He got really excited and said he loved to set up scenes. So he set things up in his room, and it was his choice to take off his shirt and pants, but I thought laying the sheet over his boxers was necessary.  His room was very dim so I plugged in a couple green lights he had and pointed them towards him.  I thought the sunglasses were a good idea because it keeps him more anonymous than if he didn't have them on. I feel like what he's doing in the image could get him in trouble, so anonymity is a good idea. I had more pictures with his entire body in them, but I liked the images closer to his face because without seeing his whole body or the whole room/bed, you see what is going on in that one area, but it makes you curious as to what has happened to make this scene.

Prompt 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15

#11- A place I remember is standing on a dock up north.  My friend Jenn and I went to her Aunt's house about 3 hours away, and we got there at night.  After we took our things inside, we made some food, then went out onto the dock on a lake and talked.  I don't have any pictures of this, but if I had taken a picture it would be dark.  The stars would be bright, and light would be coming from other houses that were around the lake, and reflecting off of the water.  The picture would be Jenn and I sitting on the dock with the water, houses, and dark sky behind us.  We would probably be mid conversation.  If I went back there today, I don't think much would have changed, besides her and I looking a little older.  There would not be much color in the image besides the hues of the sky and lights, and possibly the color of our clothes.

#12- A picture that comes to my mind is a picture of my mom, brother, and I sitting on a couch in our living room when I was about 4.  We were dressed up for something, maybe going to church on Easter? My mom is laughing and grabbing my brother's shirt, my brother is starting to get up and walk away, and my face is scrunched and smiling.  If we took this picture now, the couch in the living room would be different, but the living room would be the same.  All of us would look much older, and my brother probably wouldn't even agree to reenact it. Thinking about this photograph makes me remember a time when things were simple and family came first.

#13- I am always interested to see these while driving, I would take a picture of a landfill.  From far away they look like huge hills, then when you get closer you see it's a hill made of garbage.  I think even just taking some trash and putting it in nature, making your own hills or whatever, could be interesting.  I would want to make the image look like it was something that was beautiful and natural, and then maybe have another image that showed the garbage for what it really was.

#14- In a picture of a familiar place, it might show that there has been something that has happened here.  For instance, a deserted house may be empty now, but there is proof that someone once lived there.  Whether it's the house itself, or things that you might find inside of it.  I would want to take pictures of things that were inside.  In a faraway place, I would imagine something that had no proof of anyone being there.  I would imagine a picture where all you saw was the landscape, like a picture of the ocean where all you can see is water.  Obviously the ocean is used by humans all the time, but I wouldn't want anything leading the viewer to know that.

#15- I would take a picture in Florida, and a picture in London.  I lived in Florida and worked for Disney for about 6 months when I was 19.  I hated it, and just wanted to come home to my family, friends, and boyfriend.  Then last summer I went to London and absolutely loved it.  While I was there, it felt like it was home.  I didn't ever want to leave but obviously had to.  I would like to be able to put images of me in each of these places in the same image, to show how differently I felt about each place. Also to show that "home is where the heart is", my heart was definitely in London, and it felt so comfortable. Also I feel that this image would show the growth I've had in the past few years, physically, but it would imply the growth that has happened mentally as well.

Prompt 8,9, & 10

#8- “My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon.
I think in a way photographs in general can be more about the photographer than the subject. The photographer is the one who chooses who or what they will photograph, how they will photograph that subject, and why they are photographing that subject.  If you look at an image, you can see what is there, but you can't always necessarily see the meaning behind it.  Most photographs are personal to the person who took them, and by seeing their images, sometimes it's like seeing into their mind and heart.

#9- “You don't take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams
I feel like people who take pictures are definitely making the image, as I said in the last prompt, they are the ones who choose what, how, and why to make a photograph.  A photographer can set subjects up in a certain way, use certain lighting, etc. to get it to turn out the way they want it to, so they are making the scene, as well as making the physical image.  However, in some cases (like photojournalism), I would say that photographers do take photographs.  If someone photographs something that is going on in life without being altered or set up, they are literally taking an image of something that is already occurring without their help.

#10- “All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.” ~John Berger
 I'm not sure if I would agree that photographs are the opposite of paintings, but I would definitely say that they are different.  Even the best painter probably could not make an image that is EXACTLY like the actual occurrence, however I've seen paintings that have gotten it extremely close.  But I think that the meaning for either can change for different people, because both can record what the person making it remembers.  A painter and a photographer may choose to focus on specific things that happened, while another person who was there at the time may not have even noticed.